International shipping question

[green-vegabomb]

I’m in Michigan and sold an item to Canada with a sale price of $750.00. When I created the listing I put in the box dimensions of 5”x13”x18”. The buyer selected a usps envelope as shipment method and paid for that. It’s less than the price to ship in the box. Also… eBay says I need to get a signature confirmation to have seller coverage, it’s not an option. Can anyone help?

[lacemaker3]

The listing just says "USPS First Class Mail International Parcel" for $32.92, and eBay Terapeak Research confirms that's how much the buyer paid for shipping.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/305331859417?nordt=true

Why do you need a 5" thick box to ship a comic book? Or such a large box in general?

[green-vegabomb]

It’s an expensive comic in a plastic grading container. I’m just confused how a buyer could select an envelope when I put the dimensions in when I made the listing.

[wastingtime101]

The buyer paid for a 3 lb package, and they paid the online discounted rate because your listings are set up to pass carrier discounts to buyers @green-vegabomb .

It's correct you cannot get sig conf through eBay with USPS first class package international. It's also correct that you need sig conf on orders $750+ for protection against non-receipt claims.

Due to the value and signature requirement, you may want to let the buyer know you have to switch from USPS to UPS and get their approval before you ship.

You can get a UPS international label through pirateship.com with signature required. It's probably going to cost more than you charged the buyer for shipping.

I'm looking at one of my current sales to Canada, an 8x8x8 box, 2 lbs, and the UPS Standard rate is about $24 including sig conf. UPS Worldwide Expedited is showing $40 for the same package. Those rates can vary based on where you live in the US and where the buyer lives in Canada, in addition to differences in package size and weight.

The thing is, UPS often charges buyers broker fees to deliver in Canada so that's an expense your buyer isn't expecting since you advertised USPS. Buyer may not be expecting to sign either. You should always disclose in the listing description when sig conf will be required upon delivery.

You may want to consider changing your active listings (or at least the $$$ ones) and removing direct international shipping in favor of offering eBay International Shipping. With eIS you ship domestic to a US hub, then eBay takes over international shipping so you won't run into situations like this.

FYI, the setting to offer buyers discounted rates can be found on your shipping preferences page under the carrier specific discounts setting: https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf

Since eBay charges a fee on total cost buyer pays (item + ship + tax), by charging commercial rates you are losing money on every single package. If you want to make up for that you can add a handling fee or increase your item costs - or simply charge retail rates for a built in cushion instead of passing on the discounts.

[lacemaker3]

The retail cost for a 2 lb First Class Mail International package, 18" x 12" x 5" is $$23.40. So the buyer paid more than enough for you to ship this.

18" + 12" + 5" = 35", which is just under the maximum limit of 36" for this service. The package size seems to be overkill, even for a comic in a rigid case.

The buyer can only select from the shipping options you set up, but that doesn't have anything to do with your options when you go to purchase a shipping label. Sorry, I can't advise you how to move forward, but someone should be along soon who can help.

[wastingtime101]

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@lacemaker3 wrote:

The retail cost for a 2 lb First Class Mail International package, 18" x 12" x 5" is $$23.40. So the buyer paid more than enough for you to ship this.

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That's for a 2 lb package. OP set their listing up for a 3 lb package. Retail rate $34.65 to buyer's location / online rate $32.92 which is what the buyer was charged. That price is uninsured and without sig conf.

If the OP is using a slightly oversized box plus a lot of heavy packing paper plus the comic has a plastic case, I can see the package exceeding 2 lb. Box can be cut down smaller with use of bubble wrap, peanuts or another lightweight fill, and still keep the item safe and secure.

But that doesn't change the fact seller needs sig conf so they should discuss with buyer about shipping UPS with sig conf instead of the advertised USPS>Canada Post.

[green-vegabomb]

Thanks very much. I literally already did the pirateship UPS option before I read this. 

I thought I DID have my auctions set up with the Eis. I’m not sure how I switched to something else.

[lacemaker3]

@wastingtime101,

I didn't see that the OP mentioned what weight he used, so just I took a guess. I thought 2 lb was reasonable, but I still think the box is way oversized unless the comic is 3 inches thick in it's plastic case.

I don't think its ever a good idea to ship to Canada with a courier, because of the brokerage fees. It's always best to use the post office.

[wastingtime101]

I agree package size and weight can be safely minimized, but 2 lbs or 3 lbs doesn't make much of a difference so that's not the big issue here. I know seller set a 3lb weight because of the rate charged. OP didn't mention the weight.

Seller can't ship with post office because USPS doesn't offer sig conf for any international services.

The error came with the service offered on the listing. Seller should have offered UPS international from the start (or eBay International Shipping) due to the item's value.

Seller chose to purchase a UPS label in the end because they can add sig conf, but I hope they communicated that with the buyer and offered to reimburse any potential brokerage fees.

[12345jamesstamps]

It does snow in Canada as well as Michigan this time of the year. At $750.00 I would eat any cost to shipping. Are you serious?

It should be in a box in a waterproof wrap.

And you need to request a "signature conformation" and not get that digital conformation which if you don't ask you don't get...Same cost.

USA actually gets a better deal with shipping to Canada with the USPS  than all other countries. I don't know if eBay does that with Canada as with other countries. I only ship USPS and they tell me all the time its cheaper to Canada than other countries.

[pjcdn2005]

To emphasize what others have said....If you are sending UPS rather than the USPS you stated in your listing, you must ask your buyer if that is acceptable before you send the package.  UPS will cost them quite a bit more in brokerage fees than USPS and they do need to do that. I'm in Canada and I know that I would not be happy if a seller changed the shipping method without asking.

[fm2000]

As a comic seller, I would absolutely ship it in a box like that. People's risk tolerance varies, but for $750 I do not fool around. Well waterproofed and padded on all sides of the grading slab, they are plastic and can break if dropped, if the grading slab is damaged, that can void the grade, even if the comic itself is undamaged. A buyer might have to get it regraded or at least reslabbed, and they would not be happy about the cost in money and time required to do that. Packing it like that was a sound decision, even if it ended up costing more.

Just beware messages from your buyer, those UPS brokerage fees he might have to pay to get the item can be severe, well above any regular duty/GST/HST he might ordinarily need to pay.