TOPIC:

I don't get the thing about not shipping "abroad"...
A lot of Ebay auctions are listed as "UK only", "US only" etc, but I can't figure out why...

Is the local post office deemed far more reliable than other countries?
Is it too much hassle to add that one extra line on the adress label?

The only effect granted for most of these auctions is that they will end at a lower price than if the "whole world" was allowed to bid....
Sellers loss I guess, but I would like t know how they rationalize the decision?

-Lars
(sorry, it's not really a rant... )

Might have something to do with fear of getting ripped off by a fraudulous PayPal transaction.
Maybe they estimate this chance to be higher when shipping abroad.
In a case like that a seller hasn't a leg to stand on.
There's quite a discussion going on here about the lack of rights that PayPal sellers seem to have.
And the inability to confront PayPal with this because they operate internationally.
It's very much an enterprise for buyers. Which is to many people's advantage. But not to the seller's sometimes.

Some people might also just be too lazy to take the trouble...

But the Paypal issue doesn't depend on location/country.

-Lars

That's true but maybe they'd rather take the chance inside their own country than have an "international" PayPal conflict.

Another reason I can think of is that the seller might think that the item is more interesting to purchase if the shipment cost is low - so national. In that case I guess they underestimate the value of their own item.

Could it also be that they fear a package has a higher chance of getting lost when sent abroad or a long delivery time?

I'm just associating thoughts about the subject...

Hi Edou,
I agree in everything you say, if the seller is rational.. Some sellers are, but I suspect many are not.
I have met quite a few sellers that are confident that shipping abroad is more risky than shipping domestic. For example, a lot of US sellers will not ship "overseas", but does not consider shipping to Hawaii or Alaska as equally risky...
Or, UK sellers willing to send to "Britsh isles" (including Ireland), but not Norway..

-Lars

I didn't want to mention this before but not all people think like global citizens.
Especially in these times keeping everything close to home seems to be a regular motivation.
Don't know where the exact line into narrow mindedness is...

I think it's laziness, ignorance, or a combination of both.

Usually, if you ask they will make an exception.
But I've found mostly US sellers will do it because I'm Aussie!
UK sellers will sometimes do it, but not as willing.

Here's an example -
I wanted some parts recently from the UK.
I sent a message asking if they'd ship to Oz.
Was told no. Waited a few days, had only one bid for it.
So I politely asked again if they'd reconsider international shipping,
no added cost to them as I'd pay for shipping, and pointed out the sale price will be higher if I bid also.
I received a copy/paste of the previous response.

So the auction ended, bargain price for the buyer.
I was willing to pay over twice what it sold for.
So the seller missed out on a higher price, I missed out on the parts I wanted,
all because it was apparently deemed 'too hard' to ship internationally.

Oh well.

But I have also found that some sellers are more than accomodating.
They make effort to find out shipping costs, and give me a prompt response.
Then I feel bad if I get out-bid as their efforts were wasted!

yes guys, this is all very sad...many times I've selected Ebay.com, (US site), and found many cool items that are only available to the US bidders due to certain people not wanting to ship to any other country other than the US....all the above in this thread are correct....I've found many great deals, but wasn't able to convince the seller that Canada was attached to the US But most are just ignorant because they assume it's going to be too much paperwork to fill out...but just like Lars said, it's only 1 or 2 extra lines that are needed to be filled out...
Some are willing to bend after you've explained in detail what extra few steps there are, and how easy it actually is.., many agree top ship the item....but you'll always find those few that wont. I've always been pretty fortunate, but I've come across those few..
Personally, I prefer to buy from overseas....shipping is surprisingly much quicker, with less hassles from customs...I've ordered parts and cars from say 1000km south of the border that had taken 11 days to arrive, then I've ordered the equivalent from a UK seller that took only 4 days...go figure.
But I say don't give up....keep emailing these "no overseas shipping" , or "US only" shippers one by one, and sooner or later they will bend.....just my 2 cents

RS6TT wrote:

Personally, I prefer to buy from overseas....shipping is surprisingly much quicker, with less hassles from customs...I've ordered parts and cars from say 1000km south of the border that had taken 11 days to arrive, then I've ordered the equivalent from a UK seller that took only 4 days...go figure.

This is very recognizable. I live in the Netherlands and shipments from the US or HK often take only 4-5 days.
Inside Europe on the other hand it's more likely to take 1-2 weeks.
Had ball bearings coming in from the UK (twice - go figure) that arrived after 3 weeks!

Staying more on topic I would like to add that indeed some sellers do not offer to send abroad.
But every now and then you can find someone that does but quotes unreasonably high costs to do so.
What's up with that? Seems to be more of a statement to purposely keep the transaction local...

Edou wrote:

But every now and then you can find someone that does but quotes unreasonably high costs to do so.
What's up with that? Seems to be more of a statement to purposely keep the transaction local...

I think it comes down to laziness again.
They just get a generic quote from somewhere , without looking for a cheaper option.

I posted a thread on TC a while ago asking the same question.
Link
Easier to link than relay the responses.