Internation buyer wants to do courier pick up

shop2drop1

shop2drop1

On a ball field
Sep 1, 2007
3,470
0
#1
I have a potential sale to a buyer in Indonesia. I prefer to ship within the US, but am considering making an exception. I told the potential buyer that I would ship to them via USPS Priority International and declare the full amount for customs. The buyer is suggesting that they have a courier pick up the bag. Below is the communication from them with their request.

email #1: i see that you don't do shipping outside US,i am not in US but im interested to bid,is it possible to do a pick up by tnt or dhl?

email #2: Hi again,im in Indonesia. I prefer to do the pick up because if you're the one who send it,the custom and tax fee to get in to country is almost the same price of the bag.If you're ok with it pls let me know,i will use a courier (tnt or dhl) to do the pick up

I guess I'm trying to figure out what the shipping procedure would be. I have already asked the buyer several questions such as will they pay for the shipping and will it be fully insured in the event that it is lost or damaged?

I've checked out their feedback and nothing looks out of the ordinary, but I am a little nervous since I've never had a request like this. At the end of the day I don't want to be scammed or end up with a "lost" bag.

Any guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated!!! TIA
 
#2
The ONLY way to do this would be if the courier brought you the money or the buyer wire transferred the money into your bank account before the courier arrives. If paid by PP, you would have no protection.
 
#3
I am not sure how come a courier pick-up means the buyer won't pay any taxes?

In principle, I'd strongly suggest that you use a courier service when mailing to Indonesia because this country does not have a reliable postal service. The buyer is being prudent when suggesting something like DHL or FedEx. You can insure the bag and get signature confirmation with a courier service. That what I'd do if I were to send expensive stuff to Indonesia.

I am afraid the buyer is a bit optimistic about the taxes and DHL though.

p-WA
 
#5
shop2drop1 said:
I have a potential sale to a buyer in Indonesia. I prefer to ship within the US, but am considering making an exception. I told the potential buyer that I would ship to them via USPS Priority International and declare the full amount for customs. The buyer is suggesting that they have a courier pick up the bag. Below is the communication from them with their request.

email #1: i see that you don't do shipping outside US,i am not in US but im interested to bid,is it possible to do a pick up by tnt or dhl?

email #2: Hi again,im in Indonesia. I prefer to do the pick up because if you're the one who send it,the custom and tax fee to get in to country is almost the same price of the bag.If you're ok with it pls let me know,i will use a courier (tnt or dhl) to do the pick up

I guess I'm trying to figure out what the shipping procedure would be. I have already asked the buyer several questions such as will they pay for the shipping and will it be fully insured in the event that it is lost or damaged?

I've checked out their feedback and nothing looks out of the ordinary, but I am a little nervous since I've never had a request like this. At the end of the day I don't want to be scammed or end up with a "lost" bag.

Any guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated!!! TIA
Click to expand...

It is a scam, stay away
 
#7
I've just shipped to Indonesia and the buyer begged me to send it with a declared value of 100 GBP on a 1000 GBP transaction because of taxes. They didn't offer to sort out their own courier though. I refused to under-declare so the buyer is aware they will get taxed but still wanted to buy.

If the buyer arranges their own shipping and then claims 'item not received' - how would you prove otherwise? I don't think I'd agree to it.
 
#12
Thanks all for the responses and advice. I called Paypal to discuss the situation and see what I would need to do to remain protected under their Seller Protection policy. The said as long as I had online tracking information and proof of delivery with signature, then I would be protected. My greatest fear is that the bag will arrive and then the buyer will claim that it was never delivered. I explained that to the Paypal representative and they said that as long as we could prove it was delivered with tracking and show that it was signed for then I would be covered.

So, I'm still trying to determine if I should agree to ship or not. Thank again to all who have responded!
 
#13
I had a buyer ask me the same question, after much back/forth with the messages turned out that the "courier" was in reality some friend or a relative who was visiting the USA. However because the buyer was insisting on Paypal I knew liability-wise I would be exposed and so I declined the sale.
 
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