On behalf of the international buyers, let me say just this, if you won't sell to me then I may as well sell up and find something else to collect. There is virtually no sellers in New Zealand so I buy exclusively from the US, Canada and the UK. If you guys choose not to even give me the opportunity to buy then I may as well call it a day.
It's very much like cigarette smoking in NZ. The government price hikes are determined to make a pack of cigarettes beyond the reach of smokers. The New Year rise now puts them at $20 pack of 20. Still 20% of smokers say they will still buy with one guy on TV last night saying I don't care if they go to $50 a pack, I will not stop smoking.
Well, (happily I'm not a smoker but when it comes to paying outrageous postal rates please at least give me the chance to pay them.

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:
On behalf of the international buyers, let me say just this, if you won't sell to me then I may as well sell up and find something else to collect. There is virtually no sellers in New Zealand so I buy exclusively from the US, Canada and the UK. If you guys choose not to even give me the opportunity to buy then I may as well call it a day.
It's very much like cigarette smoking in NZ. The government price hikes are determined to make a pack of cigarettes beyond the reach of smokers. The New Year rise now puts them at $20 pack of 20. Still 20% of smokers say they will still buy with one guy on TV last night saying I don't care if they go to $50 a pack, I will not stop smoking.
Well, (happily I'm not a smoker but when it comes to paying outrageous postal rates please at least give me the chance to pay them.

I couldn't agree with you more Sean.

I understand whole heartedly how all the people in the US feel, we are the ones that are paying for the postage.

And postage in Australia for local and international is way worse than what you guys have in the US. It is cheaper for me to have something sent from another country than it is to have it sent from another state here in Australia.

Please, don't take your frustration and anger of the postal system, out on the people who have absolutely no other way of enjoying this wonderful hobby and are willing to pay the costs.

btlfannz and Juelle Lou, I don't believe that a seller that sales International will stop offering it because shipping prices increase. Just read the comments. But I believe the International sales will drop a little because not every buyer is aware of what is happening to the USPS.

quote:

And postage in Australia for local and international is way worse than what you guys have in the US. It is cheaper for me to have something sent from another country than it is to have it sent from another state here in Australia.

Maybe your country have good deals with other countries postal services or they have some allowances to promote exportation.

In the USA is different. Since January 2012, the USPS decided that if you ship light weight items. You must pay the price of that insolence. In that time they double the prices for 1rst Class Package. Now in 2013, they are doing it again, but now with an excuse.

quote:

Please, don't take your frustration and anger of the postal system, out on the people who have absolutely no other way of enjoying this wonderful hobby and are willing to pay the costs.

Let see how it works 2013. For 2012 in eCrater I had 18% of the sales were from International buyers versus 31% for 2011. For 2012 in eBay I had 20% versus 27% for 2011.

Anyone know how to change 4000 listings on ebay at once from $4 to $8 for first class? yikes.

quote:

Originally posted by snoopy351:
Anyone know how to change 4000 listings on ebay at once from $4 to $8 for first class? yikes.

If you have calculated shipping it changes automatically, otherwise you can use the bulk edit feature.

Hey Tegan
Just came across this the other day that might be interesting for Aussies, Kiwis and other non-US buyers.
Article reads:
Q. I have found the most amazing website with the coolest things but it doesn't ship to New Zealand, is there anything that I can do?
A. You can enlist the services of a package forwarding company. These enable you to make purchases using their address, and when they receive the products they will send them on to you. This allows customers to buy from multiple websites and have them dispatched as one package. These companies can also help out when a site does not accept foreign credit cards- the forwarding companies pay for the goods themselves and add it to the customers shipping costs. Try www.myus.com or www.usa2me.com
End of article.
I don't know whether you have such service in your country but I should imagine they would. If you are buying from sellers who won't ship internationally or if you are buying a number of lots this may solve postage cost problems.

Hi Sean
I have heard of those kind of services, but never looked to much into them, I'll have to check out those websites. Thank you!

quote:

Anyone know how to change 4000 listings on ebay at once from $4 to $8 for first class? yikes.

Agree. Use the eBay online bulk lister. It is amazing works faster than the Turbo Lister.

Also one more thing. The USPS has the new Price List (Notice123) is available in PDF:

http://pe.usps.com/Notice123.pdf

I've just had a sketch card sent to me in the UK from America.

It came in a soft sleeve and a top loader case in an envelope. Cost of postage $1 as per the stamp on the front.

............and i know all the comments that are coming but it shows it can be done if you want to do it.

Agreed!
I just paid $10 for ONE CARD from US to Canada.

Ridiculous amount, but was not letting that card go!

It's blindingly obvious (and has been for years)that some Ebay sellers list expensive cards at a very low opening price and then charge outrageous sums for postage. If there is one thing that I religiously check when bidding it is how much is the seller charging to send to New Zealand. I queried one recently where the guy wanted $12 for the first card and a dollar a card thereafter. I can buy (and do so frequently) a dozen cards from America which come in a flat bubble pack envelope for $6. This guy says that combining purchases is "too complicated and not worth the effort". Needless to say I told him to shove it!!

Why I love to sell to International buyers:

I just sold 4 chase sets with a total of 52 cards for $40.
My ebay auctions clearly show by weight it will come out to $10 for shipping.

The buyer emails me that he only wants the items shipped with Online tracking to Russia. No problem, someone who wants to make sure he gets his winnings.

I send him an invoice for $35 shipping. That is what USPS charges.

He complained, Italy and New Zealand only charge up to $20. I let him know I am not making any money off the shipping this is what the postal service charges. He politely told me it is too much money for shipping and I need to cancel the transactions, He will not pay.

No problem, Now I have to spend more time to cancel all of the transactions and relist the items.

I don't get it. In big letters on every auction page I say email me with questions "before" you bid.

Also to Wolfie,
Actually a one ounce letter to the UK as of today would cost $1.05, but lets say you never got your auction winnings, what would you do? Probably ask for your money back or a duplicate. I know I would. And from what I have read here on Card talk most people would also. There lies the problem, If it cost $1 or $50 for the item and you didn't get it not only does the seller lose the item but now has to refund the money. That's a double loss for the seller, the item and the money.

There is no easy solution to this mess, AND sellers can't leave negative feedback to the buyer who refused to pay but buyers can leave negative feedback for the loss of an item by the post office.

I'm not without sympathy but in fairness how many of all international transactions go this wrong? I've said it before but I've had over 1000 transactions on Ebay over 10 years and have never lost a lot going out or one coming in. I will repeat what I have also said before that 99.9% of all no delivery/not received claims are pure 100% scams and fraud. There has to be a better way to stop these scumbags.

What I don't understand about the USPS is that back several years ago, all you heard is that they were hemmoraging big sums of cash and that they were headed towards eliminating Saturday delivery... so here we are with the PS still losing tons of cash, and we STILL have Sat. delivery. The ONLY thing that has changed is the added cost every year of virtually all shipping methods they offer!

GO FIGURE!

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
I've just had a sketch card sent to me in the UK from America.

It came in a soft sleeve and a top loader case in an envelope. Cost of postage $1 as per the stamp on the front.

............and i know all the comments that are coming but it shows it can be done if you want to do it.

But, I dosn't want to do it
And it has nothing to do with wanting to charge you lots and lots of postage, where is the win in that for me? It comes to do with the fact I don't tthink your baby cards are safe in there. Sure it works most times, but when it doesn't and a card gets damaged...it jsut seems a shame. I'm not convinced cards in envelopes travel well and since I"m the one held accountable for what some gorilla does to my package I want it to be safe.
I am considering sending low end cards in regular envelopes overseas what with this last change, but I don't like it, no sir.

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:
I'm not without sympathy but in fairness how many of all international transactions go this wrong? I've said it before but I've had over 1000 transactions on Ebay over 10 years and have never lost a lot going out or one coming in. I will repeat what I have also said before that 99.9% of all no delivery/not received claims are pure 100% scams and fraud. There has to be a better way to stop these scumbags.

Hm, I have been driving for over 30 years and have covered several hundred thousand miles. In all that time I have never picked up a speeding ticket or fine or any other kind of driving related penalty. Clearly this proves that at least 99.9% of all claims by people who say they have been charged with or penalised for driving related offences are 100% fraudulant. Anyone claiming to have received such a penalty should not be allowed behind the wheel of a car .

My clean driving record is a demonstrable fact, the inference about everyone else and the action that should be taken obviously cannot be made. I'm afraid I believe the same can be said of the situation with items lost in the post. Just because one very fortunate person has never had any post go missing does not prove or demonstrate in any way that 99.9% of lost post claims are 100% fraudulant.

quote:

It came in a soft sleeve and a top loader case in an envelope. Cost of postage $1 as per the stamp on the front.

............and i know all the comments that are coming but it shows it can be done if you want to do it.

I don't have nothing against "white envelopers", but long time ago I stopped that style of ship.

As buyer, I don't have good experience with white envelopes. Not everybody understand what mail face during its travel.

One recommendation. Avoid only use Team Bags inside a white envelope.

quote:

Originally posted by kane1:

quote:

It came in a soft sleeve and a top loader case in an envelope. Cost of postage $1 as per the stamp on the front.

............and i know all the comments that are coming but it shows it can be done if you want to do it.

I don't have nothing against "white envelopers", but long time ago I stopped that style of ship.

As buyer, I don't have good experience with white envelopes. Not everybody understand what mail face during its travel.

One recommendation. Avoid only use Team Bags inside a white envelope.

Toploaders are a lot more flexible than many people think they are and aren't enough to protect cards in the mail. The only place they are actually sturdy is at the bottom.
When shipped in a plain white envelope they are usually going to go through the sorting machines which can bend them, even in a toploader. If I'm dealing with someone outside of Ebay and they are willing to take the risk I'll send them that way but it's not an option for Ebay transactions.
I don't expect it to ever happen, but every time I fill out an Ebay survey I recommend allowing buyers to opt out of buyer protection if they want less expensive shipping.

I suppose there comes a point when you are the seller when you say i cannot afford to send this without delivary confirmation incase it gets lost.
That point will be diffrent depending on each sellers view of risk.

I still find it funny though the way some sellers view is that a $1 promo is something they cannot possibly afford to lose and therfore must charge $30 for postage so that it can be tracked across the planet.

Doing some initial investigating I have found weight and size will reflect on the price increase.

A package with an 18 card subset
$9.45. The old price was about $4.00

And a package less than 12 inches in each direction,
The size of a 90 Card Base set:
$14.90. The old price was about $8.00

None of the above carry online tracking.

About 10 years ago I used to sell sealed boxes of trading cards internationally and shipped priority mail for about $8.00
Today it costs about $24.00

Lots of price increases. Lets see if International sales decrease for US Sellers.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Scifi_Collector,