Dealers who "won't ship outside the U.S."

Clembo speaks the truth. In my experience (on eBay especially) most sellers that set their shipping default to "United States" are more then willing to ship to Canada if you ask them.

 

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That's really not appropriate. We don't have a "measly worldview", and if some folks prefer to do business a certain way I wouldn't extrapolate so far as to criticize their "worldview".

 

That makes sense. Have things changed ? Isn't there a way to insure international ?

 

Absolutely, although there's a $2500 limit on it if I'm not mistaken. (From the US to Canada.)

 

Thanks !

$2500 is pretty good. That covers most stuff. I'll keep that in mind...

 

Let me guess, you've never sold something and been paid by PayPal?

Just a quick reality check for you. If you sell something to someone in a foreign country and they pay by PayPal, the ONLY thing they need to do to get that money back is to contact PayPal and claim they never received the item. If you can prove they did (need delivery tracking on all packages or signature on items of $250 or more) you may win. If not, you'll lose and PayPal will take the money back from you. BTW, the only way you can get delivery confirmation or signature is by Express Mail which generally runs $25-$40 for a standard package. Do you really think you can charge this much to buyers?

I should also mention that there are certain countries where the postal system is either the most incompetent or corrupt. I dare you to send a coin to Greece, Cyprus, China (mainland), Poland, Mexico, Russia, or Italy and on the customs form put coin and value $50.

Oh yeah, the Post Office also doesn't offer any real amount of insurance on packages going internationally. And while Express Mail allows you to purchase insurance up to $5,000, coins are an excluded category, meaning if you file a claim you'll get nothing.

Now, please let us know if your business acumen thinks it is wise for sellers to take this risk.

 

What's even more stupider is that alot of sellers refuse to sell to Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and the US Trust Territories. Hawaii and Alaska are states (50th and 49th respectfully) the last time I checked. Unless Russia reclaimed Alaska and the Hawaiian Monarchy restored itself without me knowing.

 

Mostly it has to do with the lack of protection, or any recourse a seller in the US has with buyers overseas.

I have sold occaisionally on eBay. One of my terms is: SHIP TO THE US ONLY.
I don`t or won`t deal with customs, exchange rates, foreign postal rates, extended shipping times that a non US buyer WILL encounter. And blame me for. NO THANKS!

 

Absolutely nothing wrong with that. What I used to have problems with was sellers who would not openly state such limitations. (We had this example, not my "case" though, of some US seller before who would accept PayPal only and then, later, said he accepts payments from US based PayPal users only.) These days ... well, I still buy from the US Mint and a few dealers for example, where "international" payments are not a problem. Buying from European dealers/sellers is just much less of a hassle. Maybe, if I primarily collected 19c US coinage, I would think differently about this.

So, as long as a US dealer/business says (preferably on the "front page") that orders from outside the US are not accepted, fine with me. One time however I put various items in my online shopping cart - only to learn, at the very end, about that dealer's "US customers only" policy.

Christian

 

Do any of you (US Guy's) buy coins from outside the USA? and have you come across this policy in reverse? The only other place that I have personaly come across it was with French ebayers

 

I did ... once. From the UK. Dude never shipped the coin. Took me months to get some of my money back, and even then only got about 70% (Ebay + PayPal helped out). Royal pain. The only bad deal I ever had.

On the two occasions when I've requested a refund stateside, it was prompt and easy.

I'm not saying "I'll never do it again", but I understand why people won't.

 

Not saying you're wrong, but how is it PCGS specifically has a section on their submission forms for international buyers (might be just Canadain) and a chart used to calculate return insurance/shipping costs, which usually adds up to $1 per $100 coverage, up to $2500?

Clearly they are shipping coins, and clearly they are getting them insured...

 

I don't know the specifics, but either PCGS self insures or (more likely) they have a private insurance policy that covers shipments.

I have a private insurance policy that covers my shipments both US and worldwide. I do enough sales outside the US that it is worth it for me to have this policy and jump thru the added hoops to make sure my packages are covered. Without this policy I'd greatly restrict my sales outside the US. It's just not worth the risk to send a $1,000 coin to someone in Poland and hope I don't get screwed. I can fully understand sellers wanting to deal with the US only. And for many sellers who do not do much business outside the US, I can understand them not wanting to buy an insurance policy.