shamrocks Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 it seems like 80-90% of my oders come from Europe. I havent had a problem yet but im pretty paranoid about having no recourse when someone claims non-receipt. USPS shipping is about $15 to most places in Europe, but Ive been told that to get tracking or delivery confirmation, price jumps to $45. What do you guys use in these situations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefwahoo Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 You just have to deal with it. For what it's worth, I've probably shipped 100+ packages over the years via USPS First Class International (the $15 option) and have never had a problem. I actually prefer selling to international folks because it's so easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamfletty Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Yeah, we Europeans aren't that hard to deal with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youspinmeround Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I have noticed that most Europeans are not trying to rip you off. They are just happy you sent them the record. If they are new to the site and dont have feedback, I usually make them send the money as a gift because I have good feedback. They have no problem doing so bobfrombob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobfrombob Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 There are certainly people on Discogs who "don't ship to Italy" or whatever. Is that just paranoia? My problem is that Canada Post charges about twice the price to ship overseas as it does in North America so it's a killer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 The Italian postal service has a terrible reputation and if you send a package there, chances are it may not end up getting delivered. Hence, many sellers don't ship to Italy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamrocks Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 i guess specifically how do you protect yourself from claims when all you can do is ship with delivery confirmation and that difference seems to be $45 from $15 with USPS? Or do you just cross your fingers? Im not particularly worried about European buyers in general, just Paypal claims in general Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamrocks Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 The Italian postal service has a terrible reputation and if you send a package there, chances are it may not end up getting delivered. Hence, many sellers don't ship to Italy. of course this thread is prompted by my selling a $100 record to someone in italy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trashbum86 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I'm actually in your same boat. I've been selling on discogs the past year and had a $120 order to Italy before christmas and buyer says they have not got it. I've shipped all Europe, Asia and Australia without problems, but losing that much has prompted me to either not ship to Italy or up to registered mail just for Italy after all the research I've done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youspinmeround Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 You guys do realize that most international shipping has insurance built into the cost for like 70-80 bucks. I forgot which one but if they say they never got it, just open a claim with usps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepunkguy Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I sold an LP on discogs in July of this year to Japan. The buyer claimed he never got it and put in a claim. I refunded him his money and then, no joke, On Jan, 2 he told me he finally got the LP. The dude was so honest and nice he resent me the money and everything. For some unknown reason, the record took almost 5 months to get to him. PS. Never ship to Italy~! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
putol Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Yeah, we Europeans aren't that hard to deal with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 In October, I lost $350 on one record lost by the Italian Post. Never again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamrocks Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 You guys do realize that most international shipping has insurance built into the cost for like 70-80 bucks. I forgot which one but if they say they never got it, just open a claim with usps thats not insurance against item not received though is it? they told me there was no way to track or confirm delivery with the standard USPS shipping (which is like 14-16 dollars to most european countries) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Mike Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I have had "lost" packages to Italy, Russia, and Greece. I don't ship to those places anymore. The only legitimate mail fuck up I have ever encountered was a package destined for Germany that ended up in japan and the disappeared. I have no idea what happened. I did get my insurance claim on that one because I had done USPS Intl Priority (which had tracking) because it was a high dollar item. It took 6 months and many, many phone calls to resolve my claim with the USPS and get my money. I did eventually get the package returned to me 8 months later, it had been all over the world. Pretty bizarre. I currently use Stamps.com for shipping and pay for their insurance instead of USPS. With theirs you only have to wait 30 days to file a claim and you just need something from the buyer stating they did not receive the item (email works) and proof of payment (Paypal receipt). You don't even need tracking for international stuff. The few times I have had to use (on "lost" packages) it I got my check within a few weeks after making the claim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mem Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I live in Sweden and order a lot of records from the US. You can ship First Class International with a registered option to get a tracking number. That is around 11-12 usd extra. I've had a lot of trackable shipments from the US where postage is nowhere near $45, usuallt ~23usd for one record and a few extra dollars per record added. Oh, and hi, im new over here. moonbeams 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 With First Class International, can't you register it for $11.95 and doesn't that cover some insurance and get it tracked? Or is it no insurance and just tracking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamrocks Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 maybe i just asked the wrong postal employee but he was pretty adamant that i couldnt get tracking or delivery confirmation without giong the priority route which was >40 USD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamrocks Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 on a weirder note, i emailed the buyer and he sent $30 additional dollars to cover the shipping. I hate having to spend that much though, if I can find a better option ill be able to refund, but that was a surprise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Mike Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I was told by a USPS employee that registered only tracks to the sorting facility and not to the address. With paypal you must demonstrate that the item was delivered to the address, which is only available with International Priority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I was told by a USPS employee that registered only tracks to the sorting facility and not to the address. With paypal you must demonstrate that the item was delivered to the address, which is only available with International Priority. Funny enough. I was just told tonight that if I get an International First Class parcel registered tonight, I couldn't use clear plastic tape. I had to use brown-paper tape. Who knows what the USPS is doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Mike Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Yea, that is always the case with registered mail, You have to use the brown paper wet tape stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morfiend Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I ship internationally a lot and almost always through First Class mail unless the buyer requests something different. The only countries I've had issues with are Italy, Romania and Brazil. I'd say in a given year 1-2 packages end up "lost" in the mail to one of these 3 countries. I recently had a terrible experience with a total nut job from Romania so I'm considering no longer shipping to these countries at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I ship internationally a lot and almost always through First Class mail unless the buyer requests something different. The only countries I've had issues with are Italy, Romania and Brazil. I'd say in a given year 1-2 packages end up "lost" in the mail to one of these 3 countries. I recently had a terrible experience with a total nut job from Romania so I'm considering no longer shipping to these countries at all. I know Brazil can be a problem. Things just get held up in customs, in my experience. But I openly say I won't ship to Italy and the entire continent of Africa because I've heard so many things. Yea, that is always the case with registered mail, You have to use the brown paper wet tape stuff. Had no idea. Is that so it's easy to see if it's been tampered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mem Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I was told by a USPS employee that registered only tracks to the sorting facility and not to the address. With paypal you must demonstrate that the item was delivered to the address, which is only available with International Priority. At least in Sweden, registered first class mail is trackable all the way to my local post office where I go to pickup the parcels. I'm able to track all First Class Mail International shipments (registered or not) to the sorting facility within the US, by using the customs form number that usually starts with L-XXXXXXXXUS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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