bugger it!

[thebestnoobcake]

I have just been told 3 times in the last week (just back from Thailand) that

"no we do not ship to Australia"

=[

International Shipping is not THAT much of a hassle if done properly right? I always like to buy insurance if possible.

Grr darn "CONUS" and "US50 only" rant rant rant blah blah

[The Deacon]

I can understand your frustration, but I can also understand why some US sellers do not ship to other countries. First there's the difference in credit card laws that make it easier for buyers in many countries to cheat the seller. Next there's the issue of laws, some knives which are legal here are considered illegal somewhere in the world. Others are subject to questionable decisions by foreign customs on a hit or miss basis. And, for example, if a knife is seized by Australian Customs as an "offensive weapon", that loss would not be covered by USPS insurance. The paperwork toot can be more of a hassle, especially for sellers not equipped to print their own postage. There are two different customs forms, some countries require the short one, some the long one. Some have additional paperwork requirements as well.

As a result, some sellers are willing to forgo the opportunity to increase their customer base by shipping worldwide.

[telemeister]

I have just been told 3 times in the last week (just back from Thailand) that

"no we do not ship to Australia"

=[

International Shipping is not THAT much of a hassle if done properly right? I always like to buy insurance if possible.

Grr darn "CONUS" and "US50 only" rant rant rant blah blah

Frustrating, isn't it. Particularly when you find a perfect knife with a really good price! I usually use knifecenter or SpydieGuys - no problems with either shipping to us antipodeans!

[bh49]

I believe that Paul gave very good explanation. I sold few knives oversears. Some of them were good experience, some of them turned to be a headache, even with insurance. When we sell anything we need money and need them fast. To sell out of country is more complicated process, which also takes more time to complete.

[Azad]

Be thankful you're in Australia... Trust me, it's a whole lot tougher for me to get sellers to ship here to Singapore.

[Donut]

For me, it seems like limiting shipping to only the United States stops a lot of spam and fraud from happening, also not having to deal with lost packages during international shipping would be worth not doing it, too.

I'm not pointing at Australia, but there are a lot of countries that aren't very nice to ship to. Australia has the customs thing to worry about for knives. =\

[Azad]

For me, it seems like limiting shipping to only the United States stops a lot of spam and fraud from happening, also not having to deal with lost packages during international shipping would be worth not doing it, too.

I'm not pointing at Australia, but there are a lot of countries that aren't very nice to ship to. Australia has the customs thing to worry about for knives. =\

I'm very sure fraud is not a something that happens only outside of the continental US.

[npueppke]

I've sold out of the country on Ebay and offered to on the forums, it's a bit of a hassle but no big deal once you figure out the customs forums. Luckily I haven't been 'scammed', I used to hear that paypal was unsafe to use internationally because the buyer could just claim that the item didn't get there and Paypal would refund without hearing your side, but I've not had any problems. I always make it very clear that it's not my responsibility if the package gets lost, and I'll follow the Buyer's instructions if they want me to mark the customs forms differently. I'll also offer insurance and that sort of thing, when I ship domestically I generally buy delivery confirmation and nothing else unless the buyer specifically requests it.

The only other issue is that I don't have as much of a feel for shipping costs to different countries, so I generally quote priority mail. The small flat rate boxes work great for knives and can be sent virtually anywhere relatively inexpensively.

[Donut]

I'm very sure fraud is not a something that happens only outside of the continental US.

That is very true, but delivery confirmation is much cheaper and actually works if you only deal with one postal system.

It is difficult to know if something is up when the person you are selling to does not speak good english.

[JD Spydo]

I had some pretty interesting experiences when I was buying, selling and trading knives to brothers around the globe. I found that when I sold 2 knives to guys over in Russia I had far less hassle and far fewer problems than when I sent stuff to Canada . I sent 2 knives to the Phillipines and have sent several to different countries in Europe but I still didn't have the hassle I had dealing with Canada. Now using UPS helps when shipping to Canada. The trouble with them is that they seem to hammer the recipient with import duty charges. Sometimes it's almost the price of the knife.

Always without exception when you ship to another country put insurance on the package. I had 2 of them lost in Canada through UPS and I got no explanation what so ever. I'm sure some guy or gal in a brown shirt got a nice new knife :mad: But UPS here state-side did pay up the insurance claim very quickly. That's another thing about UPS. The Post office takes forever and a year to pay an insurance claim and I've heard one guy say he never got one of his claims paid on a $100 knife that was lost. So if I'm going overseas I always try to use UPS.

It's a down right horrible shame that you can't do business with guys and gals around the globe without it being an imperial hassle. It sure doesn't help the economies of other countries when people on this side are afraid to do business with them. But I do think that it is slowly getting better thanks to the internet.

[FLYBYU44]

I had some pretty interesting experiences when I was buying, selling and trading knives to brothers around the globe. I found that when I sold 2 knives to guys over in Russia I had far less hassle and far fewer problems than when I sent stuff to Canada . I sent 2 knives to the Phillipines and have sent several to different countries in Europe but I still didn't have the hassle I had dealing with Canada. Now using UPS helps when shipping to Canada. The trouble with them is that they seem to hammer the recipient with import duty charges. Sometimes it's almost the price of the knife.

Always without exception when you ship to another country put insurance on the package. I had 2 of them lost in Canada through UPS and I got no explanation what so ever. I'm sure some guy or gal in a brown shirt got a nice new knife :mad: But UPS here state-side did pay up the insurance claim very quickly. That's another thing about UPS. The Post office takes forever and a year to pay an insurance claim and I've heard one guy say he never got one of his claims paid on a $100 knife that was lost. So if I'm going overseas I always try to use UPS.

It's a down right horrible shame that you can't do business with guys and gals around the globe without it being an imperial hassle. It sure doesn't help the economies of other countries when people on this side are afraid to do business with them. But I do think that it is slowly getting better thanks to the internet.

Your first mistake is using UPS to ship to Canada. Use USPS and it will get to us just fine. You see, USPS integrates seamlessly with Canada Post, however UPS is just a courier and they seem to like the charge huge "brokerage fees" for delivering the package. Hard to believe you pay them huge money to ship and then they hose the receiver for a bunch more money before they even see the package.

[thebestnoobcake]

I always thought that Australia was one of the "safer" countries to ship to. The only problem would be that AOs, Autos and the obviously anti-personnel knifes would be confiscated by customs (rightly so IMHO)

@telemeister: Spydieguys sent me an E4 last year and it got lost somewhwere and they are sending me a new one =p

@azad: are you allowed to have nice knives in sg? I gave my mate who's doing NS a tenacious and I hope they don't take it off him

I guess I'll just have to miss out on the awesome CS and PF deals <sigh>

[Joshua J.]

Just find someone you like and stick with them.
Everyone offers a good deal on something you want eventually. You also have the chance of getting to know your dealer.

[The Deacon]

I always thought that Australia was one of the "safer" countries to ship to. The only problem would be that AOs, Autos and the obviously anti-personnel knifes would be confiscated by customs (rightly so IMHO)

In terms of the risk of outright theft by postal workers and the risk of being scammed by the buyer, it is one of the safer countries. Biggest problem is Australian Customs somewhat fluid definition of an "offensive weapon" which makes seizure a much greater risk that it would be shipping to Spain, for example. It means that, even if the last three "Wazookies" you shipped to customers there were opened, inspected, and then delivered, there is still no assurance the next one you ship will not be seized.

Plus, some dealers just find it simpler, and in some ways less offensive, to say "no international sales" than to pick and choose the countries they will ship to.

[gac]

Let Rolf cheer you up. Link.