International Sales [what countries would you never ship to?]

[codeine]

I have a dude from Italy who wants to buy a record, but I told him I am reluctant to ship there because of the legend of lost incoming parcels.

He told me he has heard about that, but thought it was only a legend and asked if it's possible if he pays for tracking.

International tracking costs an arm, a leg, and a nut, so I doubt he'll want to after seeing the price, but you never know how badly someone might want a certain record.

Sellers - Would you absolutely never ship to Italy or would tracking make it okay and make sure you don't get ripped off through paypal if the parcel gets lost.

Follow up question:  I'm thinking about updating my seller terms to state I won't ship there, or that I won't ship there w/o tracking, depending what kind of responses I get.  What other countries would you list as places to never ship to, and why?  Would you ship there with tracking, or just 'no' period?

Thanks.

[thetruthaboutheaven21]

I never ship internationally unless its canada or the UK in which the buyer pays shipping. Usually 12-20$ or more. 

[codeine]

I never ship internationally unless its canada or the UK in which the buyer pays shipping. Usually 12-20$ or more. 

Yeah, I've shipped within North America, to the UK and Australia and never had any issues.  I'm open to shipping just about anywhere, but I've heard that Italy is pretty much a no-go for a lot of people.

I'm mainly just thinking it might be a good idea to update my seller's terms on discogs so I don't get an order and then have to say 'sorry, I won't ship there.' Or 'here's your invoice with really high shipping costs cause I won't do it without tracking' then they say "that's too much, cancel my order."

Just to prevent that sort of thing.

[McCandless]

If you're uncomfortable with it at all then don't do it. It'll only leave you very out of pocket if it goes tits up.

[codeine]

Yeah I don't think it's going to happen.

Just thinking it would be easier in the future to have it stated in my terms which locations are off-limits, so to speak.

[shacknasty]

I've ordered hundreds of records from America, shipped to New Zealand, and the only one that has ever gone missing was the one time I bought off someone on VC.

[phelansegur]

I'm from Germany .. and I'm on Discogs for 2 1/2 years .. i've ordered 125 items in this time .. most of them (maybe 2/3) from the US .. the shipping costs are cruel, but 'till today everything I've ordered came to my house .. the only items I never got were ordered on band sites directly ..

[Out of Breath Records]

dont send to mexico or russia or south africa

[Metal Mike]

Poste Italia sucks balls, but I've never had a problem with a parcel I've sent to Italy getting lost.

 

I've had several packages that never made it out of Italy though.

 

If you use USPS International Priority, it has very good tracking, but isn't cheap.

 

I wouldn't blame you if you don't want to ship to Italy though.

[amnstypls]

Never ever ever ever ship to Italy.

[_stretts]

I recently shipped a record to a friend in Italy as a surprise record gift. Sent it via sea mail because airmail was fucking expensive (Australia -> Italy = $60 untracked airmail)!

 

It made it to him.. in 3 months... but it got there. Not sure why Italy is so much more expensive to ship to than anywhere else

[yarostino]

I'm from Germany .. and I'm on Discogs for 2 1/2 years .. i've ordered 125 items in this time .. most of them (maybe 2/3) from the US .. the shipping costs are cruel, but 'till today everything I've ordered came to my house .. the only items I never got were ordered on band sites directly ..

also from germany here and in almost five years of record collecting and ordering from overseas only 2 packages havent found their way to my place.

 

as for the high shipping costs: as a US-based (discogs-)seller id just advise people to ask for shipping costs before ordering (yeah i know, there are people who wont read the "fine print", but its still worth a try). the other option would be to just create flat options that you calculate once based on destination/weight (a record shipped to the uk should cost the same as one shipped to germany, right?).

[daegor]

It's BS not to ship (or buy from) particular countries.  Just make sure you're using a method that properly protects you (ie, eBay+PayPal, Discogs+PayPal), and make sure you have proof that you did indeed send the item.  I have never lost money in a dispute when I've provided adequate proof that I did in fact send the item.

[drummerboy032]

It's BS not to ship (or buy from) particular countries.  Just make sure you're using a method that properly protects you (ie, eBay+PayPal, Discogs+PayPal), and make sure you have proof that you did indeed send the item.  I have never lost money in a dispute when I've provided adequate proof that I did in fact send the item.

This is false. You need delivery confirmation otherwise you will lose an item not recieved claim

[hexrecords]

I have only had a package once not make it's destination, and even then I was skeptical.  That was in Russia.  but I honestly hate shipping records to other countries just because the shipping is so outrageous now.  I feel bad charging people more than the cost of the actual record in shipping just to send it to them.

[Cloudsbelow]

I've shipped all kinds of crazy places, mostly without tracking and never had any problems (surface to estonia, siberia, s.america).. I would never send a record that was worth more than $50 to anywhere but the uk/US/can without tracking though.. 

 

if the buyer has a 100% rating (or close to it) i might risk it, once in awhile.

[codeine]

Appreciate the responses.  Thanks!

[daegor]

This is false. You need delivery confirmation otherwise you will lose an item not recieved claim

 

I've won a claim without delivery confirmation, I had had a record of a conversation where the buyer declined paying for shipping that included it (against my recommendation), I provided receipts of shipping that was purchased, and took identifiable photos of the item and package before sending it out.  I believe they still refunded the buyer the money, but I got to keep my money as well.

[Sidney Crosley]

I've shipped to Italy twice, plus Russia, Portugal, Israel, and Ukraine. All packages have made it. For each of these, the value is pretty low overall ($10-15 record). I usually have a conversation with people in countries other than Canada and US to let them know that without tracking, I can't guarantee it, but so far I've had total luck. I really do think that there's a percentage of luck.

 

I have had three packages that have taken more than 8 weeks (to Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium no less), and for the most part, people have been patient, and the record arrived. In one instance, after 2 months, I discussed with someone what to do about a $10 record (with $10 more shipping) that never showed up. He was very reasonable, and felt it fair to be refunded just the cost of the record (not a huge loss to me - something I had kicking around for a while). Sure enough, three weeks later, the record showed up and he paid me back the $10.

 

Generally you can get a feel for whether someone is pretty honest/just a collector like you. I am usually willing to risk sending without tracking if that's the case. Maybe I'm a bit of an optimist, but so far I haven't run into any issues. I'm sure if I do I'll change my tune...

[somethingvinyl]

Never ever ever ever ship to Italy.

[shacknasty]

I have only had a package once not make it's destination, and even then I was skeptical.  That was in Russia.  but I honestly hate shipping records to other countries just because the shipping is so outrageous now.  I feel bad charging people more than the cost of the actual record in shipping just to send it to them.

 

Wouldn't worry, we're use to it. Average price for a pre-order from kings road or SRC is usually $34USD for me, after shipping. 

 

That's still less than the price that you pay in stores here tho...

[ookowalsky]

I´m from Germany and i´m selling stuff since 1 1/2 years now. No issues so far and i had customers from all over the world (Italy & Russia included, but i still prefer registered shipping). I sent a record to Brazil once and it took nearly three months to get there but i would do that again.

As a buyer two parcels got lost and some got damaged, all orders from the States. So if you ask me USPS is the worst parcel service in the world, i can send a record for 10 bucks to the States but the other way costs nearly 20 bucks, i will never understand this.    

[Guest deleted]

I´m from Germany and i´m selling stuff since 1 1/2 years now. No issues so far and i had customers from all over the world (Italy & Russia included, but i still prefer registered shipping). I sent a record to Brazil once and it took nearly three months to get there but i would do that again.

As a buyer two parcels got lost and some got damaged, all orders from the States. So if you ask me USPS is the worst parcel service in the world, i can send a record for 10 bucks to the States but the other way costs nearly 20 bucks, i will never understand this.

Canada to Europe is $37. Can you make sense of that?

If you want tracking, cheapest option is $60.

If you want tracking + insurance, it is $73.

So it would kind of suck if someone filed a Paypal claim for a Canadian seller, selling to someone overseas... losing the record AND losing Canada Post's exorbitant shipping prices, you're talking a loss of anywhere from $57-$93 based on shipping a $20 record.

Can any other country's postal system compete with these insane rates? Or does Canada Post hold the title?

[The Vool]

USA & Canada + China & Russia

[xfactor675]

I'm in Hungary and i have both incoming and outgoing records over the years with 99% of them were hassle free. My sent packages always arrived, and I only "lost" 1 record (it was the goddamn blue your favorite weapon repress...) and 1 hoodie.

 

Most of my outgoing stuff went to US, UK, CAN & Aus obviously, but I had shipments to more "exotic" countries like Malaysia, Chile, Greece, South Africa, etc without any problems. The why is might be that hungarian post offers registered priority mail for around 16 bucks to Europe and around 20 for anywhere else which is trackable (these prices are up to 1 kg, so most of the time 2-3 records tops), and in record times it's there basically anywhere within a week, but never later than 2 weeks! 

 

So yeah ship worldwide, don't be mad at someone for not being the same citizen as you, but loves the same music!