Selling to Australia from US - any problems?

photomj

Rocker Chic
O.G.
Aug 30, 2007
1,717
6
Hi Ladies -

I am pretty much an ebay virgin. I've bought a few things but am now trying to sell a few purses. I've read all the tips on here, actually use one tpf members idea about putting locks on the bags to discourage bait and switchers. I also do my listings to sell to US addresses only.

I had a girl from Australia contact me yesterday about a LAMB bag I have for sale. She really wants to bid because they can't get LAMB in Australia. She asked if I would ship to her if she won. She does have excellent feedback from both buying and selling - 100% with hundreds of transactions.

I'm assuming she is "safe" to sell to and she's even told me that in the past it's cost about $40 in shipping to get items to her. Does anyone ship to Australia regularly? Is there a best way to ship? This is a $700 bag so I need to know which is the best way to ship and/or deal with the transaction.

I'm already assuming that if I sell to her, we have to have an agreement that the extra shipping will be in her bid price? Or would I just "invoice" her through Pay Pal?

Sorry for so many questions!

Thanks!
 
I think you should find out the exact cost of shipping to her with insurance and signature confirmation, check she is in agreement before she bids and wins. If she is then add the amount on the invoice when the auction ends. If you don't agree beforehand and then she refuses to pay more than the $40 she paid before then you'll have to go through mutually withdrawing the transaction etc and relisting.
Make sure you include insurance and signature for your own protection as you won't get Paypal sellers protection to Australia (non-confirmed address). You will need to claim with USPS if the bag gets lost as she will be able to get a refund from you via Paypal. You will need the tracking number for this too.
 
Thanks Babyjlo!

I went on USPS site and it looks like $38 to ship and about $7 for insurance. She seems like a good person to deal with. I wouldn't do it if she didn't have a lot of transactions and the 100% feedback rating.
 
That sounds pretty cheap. Just remember that you need to get the tracking and insurance even if she doesn't want to pay for it, so either quote her the full price including insurance or pay that bit yourself.
 
It's true, we have limited designer brands. All my seller's have used EMS Global express with signature confirmation and never had any hiccups. It takes around 3-5 days to arrive.
 
Agree with what everyone has said above.

I'm in Aus, and frequently buy from overseas - never any problems, but I'm not sure if the Paypal seller protection policy would cover you becuase I don't think we can have confirmed addresses in Australia? (Feel free to correct me on that!!)

But if she has good feedback, and if you take out insurance etc so if anything does happen you are covered, then I think you will be fine.