wombatie Posted January 28, 2021 Report Share Posted January 28, 2021 I wanted to buy a couple of things from a couple of American sites but neither are doing International shipping at the moment due to Covid and the length of time it is taking to reach it's destination. Surely if we are willing to wait for it to get here they would be happy to have customers. Marg amazingkevin and OCtoolguy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBob Posted January 28, 2021 Report Share Posted January 28, 2021 I stopped shipping international from the USA because of the shipping delays and time I need to spend tracking packages. In the before covid time, it could take a month or more to get delivered. There are other issues. You don't know in advance what is going to happen in customs in a particular country. There is extra work, customs forms, etc. You also need to know the shipping requirements for the destination country. All of this adds to shipping cost, even more so if you pay someone to do it. OCtoolguy, wombatie and amazingkevin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted January 28, 2021 Report Share Posted January 28, 2021 If I were in the states, I would look into purchasing the item for you and then shipping it, but I am not in the States. Sorry. amazingkevin, OCtoolguy and wombatie 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryEA Posted January 28, 2021 Report Share Posted January 28, 2021 Do let us know what you are looking for OCtoolguy, wombatie and amazingkevin 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted January 28, 2021 Report Share Posted January 28, 2021 As some of you may know I offer a brass hardware kit for one of the clocks I built for the magazine. I have shipped parts to Australia and the UK and a few other countries. Yes there is extra work and cost involved, I warn customers upfront about the additional postage and they already know about customs at their end. If they agree I send the parts. I don't care about the extra time it takes me, I just want people to build the clock. I just did a shipment to Canada and for the first time used "Click and ship" It made it a lot easier. OCtoolguy and wombatie 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrampaJim Posted January 28, 2021 Report Share Posted January 28, 2021 1 hour ago, BadBob said: I stopped shipping international from the USA because of the shipping delays and time I need to spend tracking packages. In the before covid time, it could take a month or more to get delivered. There are other issues. You don't know in advance what is going to happen in customs in a particular country. There is extra work, customs forms, etc. You also need to know the shipping requirements for the destination country. All of this adds to shipping cost, even more so if you pay someone to do it. One of my first sales on Etsy went to France. Selling price was $48 including shipping, but shipping cost me $42, add it the cost of supplies and wood, and I would have been better off using the piece for firewood. LOL Lesson learned. wombatie, OzarkSawdust, OCtoolguy and 1 other 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 28, 2021 Report Share Posted January 28, 2021 (edited) Most things ship within 2-3 weeks for most of the world. I'd loose about 20% of my business if I was to drop international shipping. That's the difference between eating steaks or rice and beans for the year. Click n ship is the only way to go with shipping in my opinion.. and it fills out the customs form for you somewhat. Though I do usually change that to say one or two words to describe it.. (ie farm tractor ornament.. I just put ornament, as they don't care if it's a tractor or not LOL ). It is more work to keep up with the rules etc.. But that is a part of business and the shipping cost. High priced shipping? don't like it? they don't have to buy it.. That's for them to decide not me. Not all international customers know about the VAT tax.. so don't assume that.. I have a blurb about that in my policies and also the automated message to them when placing the order. Many times a customer will message after 3 weeks saying they didn't get the package.. I Don't bother asking the P/O here to look into it because they only enter the tracking number that you give to the same location as you would online.. They don't know that you can look up the main mail system at the destination country on their website enter the tracking and there it is.. setting in customs waiting for VAT tax to be paid.. some other countries are not very good at contacting the customer to let them know it's sitting there waiting for tax payment, and searching on our mail system tracking doesn't show anything once it has processed through our customs sorting facility. I get this a lot from the UK. so I look on "Royal Mail" website for tracking and it'll tell you about as good of tracking as domestic mail does here.. and will say something about VAT tax and or "tried to deliver but nobody answered" and if it's not in customs waiting for tax payment.. many times it was tried to delivered but nobody home etc and it is setting at their local mailing office waiting to be picked up or reschedule delivery.. That all said, I really have not had any more issues than I would with domestic mail.. so I'll continue with international mailing.. as I do like a steak every now and then. Edited January 28, 2021 by kmmcrafts OCtoolguy, Rolf, wombatie and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatie Posted January 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 I know that shipping is going to cost me, usually more then the items I have ordered, so that has never bothered me. Marg OCtoolguy, John B, kmmcrafts and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kywoodmaster Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 46 minutes ago, wombatie said: I know that shipping is going to cost me, usually more then the items I have ordered, so that has never bothered me. Marg Are you looking for something that one of us could buy and ship to you? Let us know and maybe we could go that way. OCtoolguy, wombatie and kmmcrafts 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBob Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 20 hours ago, GrampaJim said: One of my first sales on Etsy went to France. Selling price was $48 including shipping, but shipping cost me $42, add it the cost of supplies and wood, and I would have been better off using the piece for firewood. LOL Lesson learned. I don't pay for the international shipping. The customer pays. I was surprised what people were willing to pay. I had one that cost $65 to ship. If they want it bad enough they will pay the shipping. kmmcrafts, wombatie, OCtoolguy and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 9 hours ago, wombatie said: I know that shipping is going to cost me, usually more then the items I have ordered, so that has never bothered me. Marg I understand that for International shipping but I hate it when a Canadian company charges high rates for shipping in Canada. One of the reasons I hesitate to order from Bearwoods. wombatie, OCtoolguy, kmmcrafts and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 22 hours ago, GrampaJim said: One of my first sales on Etsy went to France. Selling price was $48 including shipping, but shipping cost me $42, add it the cost of supplies and wood, and I would have been better off using the piece for firewood. LOL Lesson learned. Yes, many of us has been there.. including myself when we first started online selling etc.. This is a big reason why I talk a lot about selling online.. I get a lot of PM's from folks asking selling / shipping questions and always happy to help share my bloopers ( experiences ) to maybe help another from learning the hard way. Many give up when they loose money or aren't making money like that think they should.. Giving up is when you loose, When you get back up and brush off is when you're closer to winning. Loosing money from shipping happens all the time.. it lets me know that it's time to adjust my prices.. not give up selling to other countries and loose business and customers just because one time you lost.. Loses happen all the time in business and in many ways.. When you solely doing it for the money those loses hurt more.. I do it for the money but also for my pleasure as well as making the customer happy in anyway I can within reason.. many times that means loosing money.. but that customer may come back and give a profitable order.. or a family / friend of the customer.. Happy customers talk and angry customers also talk.. no matter the case I strive to be talked about from the happy customer barb.j.enders, BadBob, GrampaJim and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrollerpete Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 3 hours ago, barb.j.enders said: I understand that for International shipping but I hate it when a Canadian company charges high rates for shipping in Canada. One of the reasons I hesitate to order from Bearwoods. I agree with you, I do not buy anymore from Bearwoods OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 6 hours ago, scrollerpete said: I agree with you, I do not buy anymore from Bearwoods And as much as I hate the way credit card companies handle the exchange rate, sometimes the prices and shipping are better than Bearwoods. OCtoolguy and scrollerpete 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatie Posted January 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 13 hours ago, barb.j.enders said: I understand that for International shipping but I hate it when a Canadian company charges high rates for shipping in Canada. One of the reasons I hesitate to order from Bearwoods. I know it's the same in Australia. It cost me $7 quite a few years back to send a magazine to a family member, I did the same last week and it was $15. Marg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meflick Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 Marg, let me know if I can help you out. I can get things shipped here and then forward to you if that would help. wombatie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.