'Freight Forward' Month....

[12345jamesstamps]

Had two 'freight forwards' a few weeks ago.

One to Kahkistan from Delaware and one to Colombia from Miami.

Got a positive feedback from buyer in Colombia already ...mailed Nov.5th-delivered Nov.26th.

Yesterday I got two more 'freight forwards' :

One from Delaware to Ukraine...that should be interesting.

One from Miami....heading of address was 'Ideal Frieght' which buyer misspelled on purpose?

Old freight forward which never shows delivered but still open...LOL

[a_c_green]

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

Had two 'freight forwards' a few weeks ago.

One to Kahkistan from Delaware and one to Colombia from Miami.

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ITYM "Kazakhstan"...?

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

One from Miami....heading of address was 'Ideal Frieght' which buyer misspelled on purpose?

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Doubtful. The USPS doesn't care about the Addressee name except for Restricted Delivery Signature Confirmation, which this isn't. There would be no advantage in misspelling that, as it has no bearing on a Delivery Confirmation. They just need to get the street address correct. Anyway, the USPS probably has their hands full trying to figure out where Kahkistan is. 😉

[monroe67]

"Yesterday I got two more 'freight forwards' :

One from Delaware to Ukraine...that should be interesting."

My selling ID has sold several things to Ukrainian or Russian buyers who provided shipping addresses in Delaware, which are obviously freight forwarders.  I have never, ever, not one time, had as much as a hiccup in any of those transactions.  

An eBay transaction with a Ukrainian buyer need not be "interesting."  Once the tracking shows that the package was delivered to the Delaware address, you, as the seller, are "off the hook."  If the package never reaches the buyer, for any reason, you will not be held responsible for an Item Not Received (INR).  

One thing you need to be aware of, however, is eBay's International Fee.  It is 1.65% of the Total Amount Paid by the Buyer, and it applies when, as in your transactions, the buyer's eBay registration address is outside the United States, regardless of the mailing address.  Even when the mailing address is within the United States. 

(Please Note:  This International Fee has nothing  to do with the buyer using an "international" credit card or whose payment is from a non-US bank.)  

[12345jamesstamps]

Never had a problem with freight forward...just thought it was the month of 'freight forwards'...

So what causes the International fee then?

[monroe67]

This is what eBay's User Agreement says about their International Fee:
(note:  "you/your" in this excerpt refers to eBay seller/s)

(Start Quote)

International fee

If your registered address is in the US and you offer eBay International Shipping  for your eligible listings, you won't be charged an international fee when your eligible item sells.

If you're not using eBay International Shipping to ship your item, we charge an international fee if either:

• The delivery address for the item (entered by the buyer during checkout) is outside the US, or
• The buyer's registered address is outside the US (regardless of the delivery address for the item).

This fee is calculated as 1.65% of the total amount of the sale and is automatically deducted from your sales.

If your registered address is not in the US, please refer to the fee page for your country or region of residence  for your international fee information.

(End Quote)


The first paragraph doesn't apply to the situations you described in your original post.  When an eBay seller ships through eBay's International Shipping program (eIS), the delivery address is in Illinois.  The name of the town escapes me at the moment.  I think eBay may have considered setting up an additional location in Commerce, California, but I don't know for sure if that has happened yet.

When an eBay seller sells to a buyer who contracts with freight forwarders, the shipping address is often in Delaware, sometimes in Oregon.  Why those two states?  Those two states do not impose sales taxes. 
(Other no-statewide-sales-tax states are Alaska, Montana, and New Hampshire, alphabetically.)
Transactions that are to be mailed/shipped to freight forwarders are, by definition, not part of eBay's International Shipping Program and they ARE subject to eBay's 1.65% International Fee.