Whats the deal with CONUS only?

[PolkaHero]

I've shipped goods all over the world, even Russia! Paypal makes custom forms effortless as well as currency exchanges. The only problems I've had is when the shipping address is not legitimate. Prime example was a buyer from Mexico whose address was something like "leave the package at the doctor's office next to the blacksmith". No street number. Needless to say that parcel came back to me and I refused to refund the buyer so Ebay did it for me and I still retained my sale.

 

[matti777]

After payment I put the goods in a box, go to the Post Office or FedEx office, fill out a form , pay and leave. That’s it.

 

[amper]

A lot of the problem is scammers. If your listing states that you ship internationally, you will automatically attract scammers, and because resolving a dispute internationally is so difficult, many sellers just refuse to sell internationally. But, Canada? Is that even a real place? That's like north of Quebec, right? I'll ship to Ontario, but Canada? Only meese and geese up there, I heard.

 

[Bass Viking]

Deals are a two way street. People do forget that you “buy the seller” when you buy something. Both have to be knowledgeable. Many have followed my lead with great success. In fact I get lots of questions all the time from American friends on here.

I think a lot of the problems come from anxiety. And a lot of that anxiety is inexperience. Try getting in touch with someone who knows the ropes.

I guess there’s a difference between an experienced seller and a casual seller. Someone who sells only occasionally may not want to bother with doing the research.

 

[bassballs27]

I guess there’s a difference between an experienced seller and a casual seller. Someone who sells only occasionally may not want to bother with doing the research.

And they’ll miss out on buyers.
It goes both ways where an American may be interested in buying a bass from a Canadian. It’s not rocket science, very simple process.

Shipping overseas isn’t challenging either.

What drives me crazy is people comment without ever having the experience or just add to others anxiety. Sometimes people would do better with less research and just go to the right source.

 

[bassballs27]

International borders have a mandate to protect their respective countries. What are their big wins? Stopping drugs, weapons, disease and pests (bugs in food). That’s the big fish to fry.

Having someone examine a veneer of rosewood on the fretboard. Come on, do they have the time for that? Private deals and one off transactions pretty much flow smoothly. In fact not all packages get examined, it’s a random inspection due to volume. Theres so much misinformation on this subject it’s laughable.

I’ve never been called by anyone at the border. I have however experienced situations where the shipping companies have screwed up. An entire FedEx plane didn’t get examined that arrived in Memphis where I had a package destined for Arizona. The packages was almost delivered in its time frame and the border recalled the entire plane for review. A two day overnight became 7.5 weeks. I’ve also had packages called back to the border because they missed inspection which caused a 1 week delay.

Then I’ve dropped off a bass on Thursday Night and it was delivered Saturday morning to a nice guy from Ohio.

Most shipping between US/Canada takes 3 days if you’re in a border town to 5 to 7 business days for items going in or coming out of Canada.

How do we end CONUS only? Awareness!

I’ve never lost a bass in transit yet.

 

[mikewalker]

I live in Canada and have a freight-forwarder account in USA but I haven't had occasion to use it lately. I recall one US seller just saying that they didn't want to bother filling out the customs form at the post office (it's one little extra 2-line form, same for us in Canada if we want so ship something internationally). Actually, here in Canada they are insisting now that you fill out international shipment paperwork online BEFORE you go to the post office. Maybe same now at USPS? (I used to live in America but that was decades ago...) I don't know why Russia is getting bad press, they actually have one of the best postal services in the world - sent and received many many parcels via Russian Post and EMS (I lived in Moscow 2001-2012; got out just 'before the insanity'...)

 

[bassballs27]

I live in Canada and have a freight-forwarder account in USA but I haven't had occasion to use it lately. I recall one US seller just saying that they didn't want to bother filling out the customs form at the post office (it's one little extra 2-line form, same for us in Canada if we want so ship something internationally). Actually, here in Canada they are insisting now that you fill out international shipment paperwork online BEFORE you go to the post office. Maybe same now at USPS? (I used to live in America but that was decades ago...) I don't know why Russia is getting bad press, they actually have one of the best postal services in the world - sent and received many many parcels via Russian Post and EMS (I lived in Moscow 2001-2012; got out just 'before the insanity'...)

Most border services (Canada has for awhile) have switched to electronic submissions only as a requirement. I believe since like 2018. They did this to expedite shipments across the borders and get duty figured out. That’s how they could move things much faster over the pandemic because the border is seeing the information faster.

By the way because no one knows this information, all shipments going into the USA are subject to duty if declared over $800USD. Canada is much worse at just $20CAD. So all those people thinking you can declare a bass valued at $4000USD as a “gift” to be sent to Canada, nope you’re getting hit with duty.

Duty for Canadians is 13% HST (or your provincial taxes) plus whatever the carrier charges you for brokerage and service fees. More info here:
Importing by mail or courier - Determining duty and taxes owed

For bass declared at $250USD, you’ll pay about $100CAD with FedEx and UPS and $60CAD if you use USPS / Canada Post. Brokerage isn’t charged by national shipping services, that’s why they’re cheaper.

I've yet to have an American be charged duty on my shipments because of the criteria I use to send my shipments.

And Canadians if you want to save some money on shipping, use Secureship.ca based out of Ottawa, Ontario. I’ve just saved you at least $50CAD per shipment!

Can’t find a shipping box? Long and McQuade is helpful but Uline.ca is great you just have to buy 5 boxes minimum and shipping is not cheap so you’re paying like $25 per box.

When the exchange rate is bad for Canadians, typically it’s better to buy something used over the border. New prices here tend to be not as heavily discounted as the United States. Then the used market tends to be more competitive since there’s a ton available. I’m really talking about brands like Fender. So this is why Canadians are interested in buying from the USA most of the time. But buyer beware, figure out the exchange and now you know about duty.

 

[amper]

All joking aside, I have no real qualms about shipping internationally, but I will charge a higher packaging and handling fee, since I will need to pack items more carefully and fill out more paperwork, and I always make sure that buyers understand up front they they will be paying for all actual shipping charges, that I will not attempt to defraud customs, and that the buyer will be responsible for all duties and other importation fees.

For international shipments, I use USPS, but you have to be careful, as there are different size limitations for different countries, most commonly 108" length+girth, if my memory is correct, and if USPS refuses the package, the only other options are generally 3-4x the cost (UPS, DHL, FedEx, etc), so it usually doesn't make sense.

About 20 years ago, I sold a StingRay bass to someone in France. Shipping via USPS Priority Mail International was about $120 USD at that time, and it just barely made it under the 108" limit (the postal worker saw the box and didn't think it would be under), but with how much StingRays sell for in the EU, it was still a bargain for the buyer. The UPS shipping quote was about $350. I hope he really enjoyed that bass, because it was a sweet one.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

It’s more than just filling out a simple form. I have to wait in line for international shipments at the post office. That can be a short wait at smaller post offices or an hour wait in line at larger postal facilities. Shipping within the US, I just print the label at home and drop it in the parcel box. Sure, you can’t do that with a bass.

 

[Sternodox]

If I lived in the US I probably wouldn’t ship internationally. Why bother when there’s such a large customer base at home?

LOL. I just thought of someone on Vanuatu selling a bass and stipulating he'd only ship to Vanuatu addresses.

 

[Bass Viking]

LOL. I just thought of someone on Vanuatu selling a bass and stipulating he'd only ship to Vanuatu addresses.

A clear case of "Honey, I tried."

 

[amper]

Probably the most annoying part of selling anything online is that to really do it right, you have to package the item for shipping before you even list it, if you want to be accurate with shipping charges. This, plus the unbelievable rise in shipping rates that shipping companies charge individuals compared with what companies like Amazon and Sweewtater are charged, is making it more and more difficult to sell anything for individuals. I've stopped selling larger items entirely, and I usually list my items with free shipping to CONUS only based on USPS Priority Mail flat rates, then build the shipping cost into my listing price. I've found things sell faster this way.

I recently sent two boxes of 50 brochures each to two different locations within my own state, and it cost $10 each via USPS.

 

[fhm555]

I get it, mailing a rather expensive piece of gear across a border may seem intimidating to a degree. But if a buyer is willing to pay the shipping and obviously accepts duties, why are so many reluctant? The buyer accepts all the risk and Im just in CANADA haha

I inquired on a bass on Reverb and they stated CONUS only, only to further drop the price a few days later. Even still, they said no dice when i followed up. It’s dropped 30% since it went up originally so i assume they want it offloaded.

anyway, just venting haha. Is there like an extra charge or some kind of additional liability Americans take on when shipping to another country?

i just want to give you money for your bass, but you would rather drop the price than ship within the same continent?
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I think it's a lot like the fear of anything but middle of the road pop, most of us fear change, or anything we don't understand. It's a no brainer to send it CONUS, but out of the country requires a bit of education and a certain bit of faith, at least it did for me when I first started shipping outside the US. I believe a lot of people just see it as aggravating/more trouble than it's worth, and my first experience was a bit of trouble. My problem was I trusted the USPS website, which was correct, but I underestimated the level of education on the other side of the USPS desk at my local office. The first minion I engaged said my papers were not in order, but I was prepared with instructions printed off the USPS website for the destination country, and had all the required paperwork filled out correctly. I had to wait for an office manager's blessing before we could proceed, but the upside was no more problems at that location when shipping overseas.

 

[murphy]

I would appreciate ad stating...Will not ship to Canada

I never mind paying the extra postage....But please don't take my money, then say Sorry I didn't notice you are in Canada!
So what? It's easy

 

[Matt-J2]

I haven't shipped much of anything, anywhere, for a few years now. Much less a larger package like a bass.

But back in the day(mainly 2000-2008ish), I used to buy/sell/trade gaming miniatures with folks from Canada, UK, Denmark, Norway, and Australia (might be a couple others but those were the main ones outside the US).

We definitely did a lot of the fill it out as a gift, value under $50, etc stuff to avoid customs payments. We were doing this because we didn't have money to buy new all the time, after all! But you had to have trust in the systems. I definitely had some long shipping times on occasion but it all seemed to work out.

Anyway, I recall being a little worried the first time or two that I'd messed something up on the forms or something but once you do it a few times it's not hard.

I think these days if I were selling a bass online I'd list that I'm willing to ship outside the US, but I'd need to know exactly what the destination country requires before saying yes for certain. I assume it wouldn't be too bad but every once in a while something catches you off guard.