01-27-2014 05:35 PM
I had a claim filed against me on ebay today from a buyer in Kazakhstan who says his book never arrived. It's been several weeks. I refunded but I'm curious, do any of you have experience with shipping to that part of the world, and how long does it take?
01-27-2014 05:41 PM
Block that country. It was part of Russia. I wouldn't ship anywhere near there. In fact, you can't even get insurance for most of that region. Guess why! At least email the buyer and see if they will agree to cancel the deal so that you get your fees back.
01-27-2014 06:12 PM
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I have a pretty regular client in Astana; I've never had a bit of trouble with shipping, nor any trouble insuring parcels.
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01-27-2014 07:24 PM
Technically, Kazakhstan was part of the Russian Empire, and part of the Soviet Union, but not part of the country Russia.
... I don't have an opinion about shipping there.
Fig
01-27-2014 08:26 PM
Actually I was surprised because ebay refunded my FVF when I refunded through PayPal.
fine, does it take a particularly long time for mail to reach this part of the world? I'm wondering if eventually the book will make it.
01-28-2014 04:08 AM
@keziak wrote:Actually I was surprised because ebay refunded my FVF when I refunded through PayPal.
fine, does it take a particularly long time for mail to reach this part of the world? I'm wondering if eventually the book will make it.
The Post Office kinda scares me; FedEx First gets there by 10:00am the second business day (they're eleven hours ahead of US Eastern Standard). I'd worry more about Customs than about the actual shipping.
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01-28-2014 04:28 AM - edited 01-28-2014 04:29 AM
@mandaradoni wrote:Block that country. It was part of Russia. I wouldn't ship anywhere near there. In fact, you can't even get insurance for most of that region. Guess why!
But you don't say whether you have actually had a single problem with a buyer from the region.
01-28-2014 04:32 AM
@the*bumping*squirrel wrote:
@keziak wrote:Actually I was surprised because ebay refunded my FVF when I refunded through PayPal.
fine, does it take a particularly long time for mail to reach this part of the world? I'm wondering if eventually the book will make it.
The Post Office kinda scares me; FedEx First gets there by 10:00am the second business day (they're eleven hours ahead of US Eastern Standard). I'd worry more about Customs than about the actual shipping.
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I see. I am guessing that the FedEx option is a lot more expensive and for an El Cheapo book I assume my customer would not have wanted it. The main reason the refund hurt was the cost of shipping by first class international which I am out. About all I can do is chalk it up to a business expense.
01-28-2014 05:50 AM
It might come back to you.
01-28-2014 10:39 AM
When shipping to a 3rd-world country like Kazakhstan, a few weeks is not near enough time to expect delivery. Two or three months is more realistic. If you wrote the name and address in Latin letters, they may be having trouble there in the Post Office reading it. since they use a Cyrillic alphabet.
01-28-2014 10:52 AM
@gtb-books wrote:When shipping to a 3rd-world country like Kazakhstan,
Second World, not Third World. The latter is reserved for "emerging nations."
""Second World" refers to the former communist-socialist, industrial states, (formerly the Eastern bloc, the territory and sphere of influence of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic) today: Russia, Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland) and some of the Turk States (e.g., Kazakhstan) as well as China."
Aside: their Literacy Rate os 99.8% as of 2010. According to a study conducted in late April by the U.S. Department of Education and the National In..., 32 million adults in the U.S. can't read. That's 14 percent of the population.
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01-28-2014 11:41 AM
@the*bumping*squirrel wrote:
@gtb-books wrote:When shipping to a 3rd-world country like Kazakhstan,
Second World, not Third World. The latter is reserved for "emerging nations."
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Quite aside from the dictionary definition, they have rather a lot of that useful stuff known as "oil" and "gas."
01-28-2014 11:56 AM
@argon38 wrote:
@the*bumping*squirrel wrote:
@gtb-books wrote:When shipping to a 3rd-world country like Kazakhstan,
Second World, not Third World. The latter is reserved for "emerging nations."
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Quite aside from the dictionary definition, they have rather a lot of that useful stuff known as "oil" and "gas."
AND teh VodkaNuts!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!!
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01-28-2014 12:08 PM
@the*bumping*squirrel wrote:
AND teh VodkaNuts!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!!
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And teh caviar.
01-28-2014 12:19 PM
@gtb-books wrote:When shipping to a 3rd-world country like Kazakhstan, a few weeks is not near enough time to expect delivery. Two or three months is more realistic. If you wrote the name and address in Latin letters, they may be having trouble there in the Post Office reading it. since they use a Cyrillic alphabet.
I thought about asking him to wait but since I have no idea how long it might take I issued the refund. Maybe some day I'll hear from him that it arrived.