Why Only Ship To Conus?

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alexnorth

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 7, 2015
603
3
I've noticed that a lot of sellers on here don't sell to outside the continental US. Now PayPal works worldwide so what's the reason for not shipping overseas?

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
It's not a big deal for pipemakers...I ship worldwide on Ebay auctions with no issues...Tobacco would be a different story due to customs regs...and even on pipes, I have to watch some of my materials- Mammoth ivory, fossil walrus tooth, etc. is legal in some places, not in others...

 

sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,683
2,862
Tracking. That's the issue.
I can't send a tracked and insured package for a reasonable amount outside of Con/US/Canada. Not to Britain, not to Thailand, not to Russia.
Oddly I can send a tracked package to Colombia and it is tracked right to delivery. But even that is a 50 dollar touch.
If I'm shipping a 300 dollar package and need 75.00 for shipping essentially courier signed/insured/tracked some people balk at that, or I am shipping for... 20 dollars say, and if the thing disappears... I'm on the hook to refund the seller.
So that's that. It's easy to lose a pipe somewhere over the ocean, and never see or hear from it again.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,700
16,209
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
I left out a couple, ignorance and/or laziness. Some carvers are satisfied with a purely American customer base, not interested in more money or making the extra effort which may be required to ship outside the US, what with those pesky customs forms, insurance, a trip to UPS or the post office, a lower profit margin, etc. Some do not realize shipping fees are tax deductible costs.

 

4noggins

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 11, 2013
233
4
To be honest, the cost of shipping Internationally is not that bad. I believe the reason that most retailers don't ship overseas is due to the customs regulations and paperwork involved. Another reason is that there are still many countries where tracking is not available, so the tracking number assigned to the parcel stops when it leaves the US airport. A third reason is that in some cases, the transit time can be up to 13 weeks. This is not the norm, but it's certainly not uncommon. Some retailers get annoyed when customers email them every few days asking where their order is.
4noggins.com ships the majority of it's orders overseas and we've had very few problems. That's not to say every package finds its destination, but the odds are pretty good the parcel will arrive in 10-14 days.

 

drydock

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 27, 2016
179
32
Cost sometimes: it's crazy to me that shipping can be twice (or more!) as costly as the price of a small item. Ditto to tracking. It's stressful both ways.
I've shipped overseas and not known until the buyer contacted me that they received their package with contents accounted for. I'm currently waiting on Int'l packages with no idea where they are, which in this day & age also seems nuts. US customs is slow. They've had one package in limbo well over a week. The hand-off between Int'l tracking and US tracking isn't seamless. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I find I worry about loss and damage more when shipping or receiving items from overseas--to say nothing of occasional language barriers.
I feel like in the US we get spun-up about getting things to people FAST. FASTER. But there are various countries who seem to run at different tempos than I'm used to. When things go slow, I try to focus on the fact that this is a leisure activity & getting wound up about shipping times is sort of...counter productive. My urgency to ship doesn't mean everyone else runs the same.
Sorry, went a little OT.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
4noggins has a great reputation for shipping outside the U.S. I have only shipped one set of samples to a Forums member and it went okay, with a little advice from a member who is a lawyer. Having shipped publications for a non-profit organization from the U.S. to Canada, I am somewhat intimidated by the process. These were not a huge quantity, maybe five or six boxes of brochures and booklets, and exhibit cases for a scientific meeting. Our various sources in our own organization and meeting organizers told us, if we wanted this material to get there in time (a month or so) we'd better hire a customs broker. We did, and things arrived on time. The experience had been, if you didn't have a broker, not only wouldn't you get the materials to the meeting, but you'd never see them again. This can be done, but it requires experience and saavy.

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,322
11,091
Maryland
postimg.cc
I always list that way, but if I have an interested buyer who is willing to pay the additional cost and will undertake the risk of erratic or no tracking, I'll do it on a case by case basis.
(I'm moving this out of the Sell/Trade section).

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Within CONUS, you know if the package arrived and can track it. Outside of CONUS, you are paying a lot more and often find yourself in a situation where the buyer claims they did not receive the package, and you're expected to eat the loss. That's why.
Also, there are some countries that it is unwise to ship to.

 
Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
I always feel like I'm being interrogated when I ship outside the U.S.
Coast to coast: throw em a box, swipe a card, hit the road.

 

mcitinner1

Lifer
Apr 5, 2014
4,043
24
Missouri
When you get used to using USPS online, printing shipping labels and even Customs info for overseas packages becomes very easy when you use Click-N-Ship. From start to finish takes 5 minutes tops, and there's no trip to the Post Office. Just put the package in your mailbox for pickup, or you can even schedule a free pickup by a carrier if the package doesn't fit in your mailbox.

 

alexnorth

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 7, 2015
603
3
Thanks for shipping this to the correct section ssjones. I understand that it can be more of a hassle to ship overseas but with a pipe which is essentially a piece of wood there shouldn't be a need for a big customs process. Ofcourse tracking is a bit of a problem as well but as long as the buyer understand the terms and cost... The reason I'm asking is that I myself am located overseas and a lot of you have pipes to sell... :puffy:

I have ordered from multiple online vendors in the US and never had Problem. Amongst others I've ordered from Rich and 4Noggins, nothing but good things to say!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Even mailing tobacco in the U.S., the postal clerk got all excited about whether or not it was legal, until she checked with the postmaster who waved it through.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,700
16,209
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
Wood at borders is very serious to some countries. I had to have a very detailed, large carving I brought back from Russia, closely inspected by a Customs specialist before it was passed. Bugs! The insect kind, not radio. Customs had to determine that no foreign hitch-hikers were on the piece.

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
Wood at borders is very serious to some countries
Had a bit of an issue a couple of years ago when the EU changed regs and my shipment of briar was held up a couple of weeks...
Customs doesn't like bugs or drugs...

 
Jul 28, 2016
7,565
36,060
Finland-Scandinavia-EU
So my friend here,based on my Ebay experience and buying from other sources online both from The States, Germany and England

I can assure all of you no singular parcel went missing in transport, all did reach them final destination maximum in two and half weeks AND Majority of my parcels were sended via USPS First Class International with no tracking or unversicherter päckchen(second class) if they were from Germany.adding Tracing is where costs do tend to go high, depending on the value of goods I don't consider it is always neccessary

McTinnner1 and Dave G couldn't have been more right with their statements,

 

davet

Lifer
May 9, 2015
3,815
330
Estey's Bridge N.B Canada
Wood at borders is very serious to some countries.
While crossing into Maine U.S. Customs seized a couple of pieces of firewood from the storage compartment of the travel trailer while 18 wheelers fully loaded with raw logs passed through at the same time :rofl:

 

Briar Baron

Can't Leave
Sep 30, 2016
440
569
Sydney
I have been very pleased lately with Smoking Pipes. Over the years their shipping prices to here in Australia have been getting cheaper. Last week I received nice Don Carlos estate pipe from them. They must have had such volumes now that the discounted shipping rate is incredible.
Below is the shipping price copied from the invoice;

Italian Estates: Don Carlos Smooth Rhodesian (Two Note)

Shipping ( UPS Super Saver International ): $2.25
Amazing! Only took about 2 weeks also :)
Also thanks to McTinnner1 here who has kindly sent me packages also.

 
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