Fuji Recommendations/risks for selling overseas

[Lachlan]

Hi folks,
I am currently selling an item in the Buy & Sell feature here and I've got someone who is interested in buying but who may reside overseas. I had stipulated in the sale that I wished to keep the sale in-country, but the would-be buyer has offered what seems to be a reasonable sum to cover shipping. I'm just wondering what risks there might be to pursuing this and if anyone has any recommendations.

Thanks,
L.

 

[Mikey]

Risks are that it could be held by customs and as long as your buyer understands and is willing to pay the premium for shipping (which doesn't seem to be a problem here) the you should be fine. Make sure you ask your local post office first about shipment cost. There's a one page customs declaration thing that you have to fill out at the post office which is tedious but necessary. And in certain 3rd world countries, door-to-door courier services like FedEx/UPS might be safer lest you want to risk the package to go missing.

 

[Lachlan]

Great advice! Thank you Mikey. Very much appreciated.

 

[Mikey]

Great advice! Thank you Mikey. Very much appreciated.

Hey, you're welcome. I underestimated shipping costs to Canada before so I've learned my lesson.

 

[jloden]

Hey, you're welcome. I underestimated shipping costs to Canada before so I've learned my lesson.

Yes, posting internationally can be a pain for those in the US who aren't familiar with it.

I got an estimate using the online calculator from the USPS that was over $40 for shipping a box to Canada for the size and weight of the package. Took the box to the post office instead and it ended up costing me less than half the online quoted sum.

I always recommend making the trip to the post office where you can confirm details in person when possible.

 

[Mikey]

Yes, posting internationally can be a pain for those in the US who aren't familiar with it.

I got an estimate using the online calculator from the USPS that was over $40 for shipping a box to Canada for the size and weight of the package. Took the box to the post office instead and it ended up costing me less than half the online quoted sum.

I always recommend making the trip to the post office where you can confirm details in person when possible.

It was about twice what it would cost to ship within the US last time I shipped a lens.

 

[MBBINVT]

One word of advice if you ever sell internationally on ebay (I know you were asking about selling on this forum).

Make sure to have the package tracked. I once shipped a camera to Singapore, where the tracking was either too expensive or unavailable, I don't recall. The buyer claimed he never got the package, so ebay took the money from my Paypal account and returned it to the seller. Only later did I learn from another ebay seller that this particular buyer had pulled this scheme several times before.

I pointed this out to ebay (through their wonderfully personal email complaint system), but of course got no reply. Lesson learned.

 

[Lachlan]

Thanks for the advice. Another reason why ebay a last resort for me for a while now. I went through my own scam/learning lesson through ebay. I was planning on listing tonight too. But I think I can restrict sales to North America (and hope for the best).