Anyone ship / sell ebay items to Italy (From US)

[Frankie Hunt]

I am selling an item on ebay and someone from Italy expressed interest. Is there anything to worry about? What about Paypal worries? Shipping?

I sold something several years ago to someone in England. There were no issues, other than the customer wanted me to put a statement on the box stating that it was a used electronics piece. (I think for VAT reasons) I think I shipped via US Postal.

I normally sell to US/Canada only.

My auctions is up tomorrow.

Thanks,

[skip coyne]

I know there can be paypal issues shipping out of the US I think its proof of delevery if the buyer says he never received the item .

heres a link to a good Ebay site you should be able to get some advice there

[Mark Rios]

LOTS and LOTS of scams out there with people buying from other countries. Don't take any payment where the check (cashiers, money order, etc) is more than the amount and they ask you to send the difference.

I've heard that getting resolution after a payment has gone bad is a nightmare.

I'm not meaning to impugn the motives of your buyer, just giving a word (or two) of caution.

[Mark Rios]

LOTS and LOTS of scams out there with people buying from other countries. Don't take any payment where the check (cashiers, money order, etc) is more than the amount and they ask you to send the difference.

I've heard that getting resolution after a payment has gone bad is a nightmare.

I'm not meaning to impugn the motives of your buyer, just giving a word (or two) of caution.

[Ian Barley]

Frankie

I don't think that there is any fundamental reason to worry but I would like to satisfy myself that whatever I was selling represented a reasonable purchase for somebody that far away. Otherwise why isn't he buying nearer home? Also - make sure that you ship with a Proof of Delivery service and that you have cleared payment before shipping.

[Rob Russell]

If it's a high dollar amount, you might consider using one of the approved international escrow services. Definitely ship with signature-required delivery.

There are forums on Ebay for sellers - search there on the topic. I'd bet you get a lot of info that way.

Rob

[Frankie Hunt]

Its not a high dollar item. $200 or so. From what I can tell from the links you fellows gave me (Thanks!) it seems you cannot trust the US Postal service to get the item to Italy reliably (Italian postal problem). Also there seems to be insurance issues using US Postal. So... shipping would be via UPS and from what I can tell it would be about $150 to ship.

The fellow has great feedback. I hate to miss out on a sale but I wouldn't feel comfortable shipping other than UPS, or Fedex.

As far as motives, with VAT and a different pricing structure, our stuff can be a lot less expensive for some Europeans. With the Russians it seems to be a matter of stuff not being available.

Most of what I have bought and sold on ebay has been ham radio items. $2000 and less. Mostly less. I have been hearing some real horror stories about paypal the last few years and I've been getting a little nervous. Paypal errors on the side of the buyer, it seems. I've heard a lot of stories about the buyer declaring that the item did not arrived and the seller is out of both item and funds. Pulling the funds back after you have been paid. (I agree with Ian and Rob on requiring proof of delivery)

Thanks,

[Rob Russell]

Something else you may not be aware of is that - when a buyer files a "non-shipping seller" complaint with Paypal, Paypal freezes the seller's Paypal account until the buyer clears the complaint. This makes a lot of sense in a legitimate complaint, but if you have a buyer who's trying to cause problems, I'd say the buyer has more power than the seller.

Shipping overseas, I'd double box the item. That's one way to guarantee it arrives safely and I've heard stories about UPS/Fedex denying claims from single-boxed items because they claimed the packing was insufficient.

[Frank Fusco]

I'll ditto the too many scammers out there overseas. They know all the tricks and have uncanny ways of assuring the seller that everything is OK. Getting/receiving wire transfers is a hassle and very expensive. Personally, I have had no problems with Pay Pal and am a fan. That said, I know from experience that many overseas scammers can find loopholes we would never even think of. To prevent problems, I simply will not even accept bids from outside the U.S. I have another layer of protection, even with U.S. buyers, if the buyer uses poor grammer that is difficult to understand, I deliberately assume that it is a scam. If the communications are not clear, a meeting of the minds is impossible. Guess who loses? Answer: The honest guy.

[Joe Pelonio]

International US mail is a lot cheaper but you do have to go to the post office and do some paperwork. I've sent things to Portugal, but not thru E-Bay. There has to be someone closer that will buy it.

[Scott Loven]

I sell ebay items to people overseas all the time and have never had a problem in 6 years.
Scott

[Russ Filtz]

At least with the post office you have to fill out some kind of export form. Since you're not a company, you should note the item as a "gift" to prevent any duties being charged by customs.

Also some countries still charge a "tax" on the item. I sent a friend working in Korea a cheap $4 toy airplane as a joke and he had to pay a $12 tax just to get the box and see what it was! He was xxxxxx. :D