Why does Italy want my RAM so much?

[juventasone]

Years ago I sold some used computer RAM.  The winning bid was in Italy.  Buyer disputed as not received.  No tracking, so I lost the item and the money.

Yesterday I list some used RAM.  This time I offer free shipping to North America, and $50 shipping for Europe (to cover international tracking).  Despite this, Italy is currently the highest bidder.

Considering how tiny Italy is, this is an unlikely coincidence.  Am I going to loose my money again?

[ted_200]

I don't know... Italy is a known problem destination.  I won't ship there.

Tracking should help with the INR problem (which is a problem I've had with Italy too), assuming it's ever actually delivered.  You should check the restrictions for Italy, to make sure RAM isn't prohibited.  Italy has a laundry list of stuff you can't ship there, and they seem to confiscate it all with great efficiency. 

[castlemagicmemories]

I've read that many sellers do not ship to Italy because of problems.  They are extremely particular about what they let in the country and there can be lengthy customs delays.

[juventasone]

Yes, I looked at the list.  I don't see anything that applies.

https://crossborder.fedex.com/us/assets/prohibited-restricted/italy/index.shtml

[cherry*fizz]

Italy is a problem country for sure. I've read that their postal system is corrupt, and there are lots of restrictions, etc... I did a gift exchange on Reddit and sent to italy and I was almost banned, actually I was banned for a while because it took 6 months until the recipient received my gift! I don't ship internationally on eBay but if I did I would probably block Italy because of my experiences. 

[mikeystoyz]

Besides Brazil Italy is the only place I have ever had issues with.  I will only GPS them at the moment for most of my items.

[ted_200]

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@juventasone wrote:

Yes, I looked at the list.  I don't see anything that applies.

https://crossborder.fedex.com/us/assets/prohibited-restricted/italy/index.shtml

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Is it going fedex?

I looked at the USPS list, it seems a lot different, but I don't see your item there either:

https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/il_008.htm

Note the requirement for an invoice, in duplicate, for the outside of the package.  This has come up as an issue with me before when shipping to France, which also has that invoice requirement. 

[jonathankirkland]

I must say I applaud those of you with the courage to ship internationally!

I am not brave enough to willingly send anything out into international waters and beyond. I have enough trouble selling in the contiguous 48!

[juventasone]

So perhaps the answer is that most sellers exclude Italy, so they're desperate for items?

[juventasone]

I thought with tracking I am safe?

[ted_200]

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@juventasone wrote:

I thought with tracking I am safe?

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Well, it has to actually be delivered, and scanned delivered.  Mostly INR scams are scams, but if the Italy Post or Customs actually steals it, it's not an INR scam, it wasn't received.  Then, you're not safe.

So perhaps the answer is that most sellers exclude Italy, so they're desperate for items?

That's pretty likely.  The thing I sold to France that caused an issue, there were a half dozen others on eBay at a lower price, but no one selling them would ship international, and demand for the item niche was pretty high in France, I sold a bunch of them to France for top dollar because of that. 

[ted_200]

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@jonathankirkland wrote:

I must say I applaud those of you with the courage to ship internationally!

I am not brave enough to willingly send anything out into international waters and beyond. I have enough trouble selling in the contiguous 48!

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I have as many (if not more) problems when I ship to dangerous and exotic distant locations like Los Angeles or New Jersey! 

[thallidguy]

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@jonathankirkland wrote:

I must say I applaud those of you with the courage to ship internationally!

I am not brave enough to willingly send anything out into international waters and beyond. I have enough trouble selling in the contiguous 48!

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I don't think that shipping international requires courage. But it probably does require a level of comfort with dealing with people who live in foreign countries.

I suppose I am fortunate in that before eBay even existed, I mailed letters and packages to friends who lived abroad, either Americans studying or working overseas or permanent residents. Neither of my parents were native English speakers, and so they were always writing to relatives living outside the U.S. and getting mail from them when I was a kid. When I was trading collectible card game cards over message boards, one of my frequent trading partners lived in Sweden. So I came to eBay with some level of familiarity when it came to international mail.

I guess if you don't have that experience, then international selling on eBay can freak you out.

[slippinjimmy]

I 'm another international shipper, I don't get many sales to Italy any more because many buyers avoid eBay because they are blocked so often (at least by US Sellers).

While the Postal service (actually customs) went through a REALLY bad period from about 2006 - 2009, shipments were taking forever (3 - 4 weeks) just to clear customs but the bottom line for me is more than 500 shipments sent and never a refund. The most recent few things I've sent there took about 2 weeks, just a couple of days longer than most other European destinations.

Everything I send is by First Class with declared values below the free limit.

As far as Italy being a "small country" the population (61M) there is just a few million less than The UK (66M) or France (67M).

[thallidguy]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

I 'm another international shipper, I don't get many sales to Italy any more because many buyers avoid eBay because they are blocked so often (at least by US Sellers).

While the Postal service (actually customs) went through a REALLY bad period from about 2006 - 2009, shipments were taking forever (3 - 4 weeks) just to clear customs but the bottom line for me is more than 500 shipments sent and never a refund. The most recent few things I've sent there took about 2 weeks, just a couple of days longer than most other European destinations.

Everything I send is by First Class with declared values below the free limit.

As far as Italy being a "small country" the population (61M) there is just a few million less than The UK (66M) or France (67M).

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Similar here; I can't honestly say that my rate of loss is much higher for international shipments is much higher than for domestic. And in any case, it's certainly just a fraction of a percent.

I can't say that my rate of problems for Italy is any higher than anywhere else, but maybe that's just me.

I do know for certain that I've benefitted greatly from selling international. What I sell, there's an audience for it throughout most of the world, but the products are often not available locally (or hard to find, or marked up horribly because they're imported). eBay is a very good place for those fans to shop for them. And I know for a fact that I have benefitted greatly on eBay from being willing to use letter mail instead of insisting on shipping light, inexpensive items as parcels. (Who are they going to buy from, someone who charges $2, or someone who charges $12 because he insists on tracking for an item priced at less than $5?)