eBay question - shipping/selling U.S. to Australia

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

12/19/2007 10:11:45 PM · #1

Hi. I sell on eBay frequently, but up to now have always just sold/shipped to U.S. - nothing International.

I have a valid inquiry from an eBay'r wanting to know if I'd sell/ship to Australia. I'm not worried about it being legit; there's good feedback/history for this potential buyer.

What's involved in selling/shipping to Australia? The item is a lens. I've taken a quick look around and the biggest difference seems to be the customs forms. Are those troublesome to complete?

I use USPS Priority Mail which works well in scheduling for carrier pickup...will that work for USPS Global Priority Mail? Looks like it would.

Any issues/things to be aware of in receiving payment via PayPal and the currency conversion? Any issues with PayPal shipper's insurance? I wouldn't think so as long as it's going to a confirmed address.

Thanks in advance for any assistance on this.

Barry

Dirt_Diver

Nikon D3s

12/19/2007 10:20:26 PM · #2

I once sold $500 in watches to a guy in Indonesia and ended up paying the price for it. I actually still have his name and address to look at every day so I don't make that same mistake again.

I see no problems with the Aussies especially if they have a fairly good feedback. And the Global pickup, the answer is yes. As long as you fill out form 2976 for customs, I'm not sure if they require it to them or not but as far as I know ANYTHING going out of the US requires to go thru customs now.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

12/19/2007 10:31:15 PM · #3

Thanks for the info (bummer about the watches!).

Photologist

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

12/19/2007 11:24:48 PM · #4

I normally ship domestic, but have sold twice internationally. Once to Canada and the other to Sweden.

When asked about shipping, Via the USPS web site, I estimated the cost for shipping, insurance, and any other fees (tracking, etc). Then I tacked on another 15% to handle any "unknowns". This is the price I gave out. The post office (at least mine) was very helpful in answering any questions the day I showed up to ship it.

You should also provide several estimates based on delivery time (two-day, parcel post, etc.)

12/19/2007 11:59:20 PM · #5

Thanks Les - useful info. Part of the problem is I live so far from the post office that it's much, much easier to do it all online. It would be easier to take it in personally in this situation (shipping overseas) for additional assistance. Hmmm...

paddles

Pentax K10D

Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4 AF

12/20/2007 06:03:02 AM · #6

From the opposite end (an Aussie who has purchased from eBayers in the US, including lenses), some perspectives:

- PayPal tends to work pretty well. You'd be billing in USD, of course - it'd depend on the buyer whether they would be converting funds from AUD to USD, or they might already have some USD funds in their PayPal account from previous transactions. When we do already have USD, it's generally more effective for us to spend those USD through other PayPal transactions than to withdraw into a local bank account.

- I'm not sure what it's like at the moment, but last time I purchased from the US (a couple of years ago), delivery times were S-L-O-W. I heard that all parcels leaving the US were being kept for weeks in USA customs facilities before being allowed to leave the country; I was finding airmail parcels took 8-12 weeks to arrive, and we weren't getting the same issues importing from other countries. But maybe things have improved since then.

- You don't have to fill out any unusual paperwork to export to Australia - only the (international) standard customs declaration that would be used for any export, probably a "CN 22" form. There are no restrictions on Australian importing camera gear and the like from overseas. Customs may charge the buyer our 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST) if the value is large enough to warrant them going to the expense of collecting it. Some people recommend marking the package as "gift" or understating the value to ensure that the purchaser doesn't have to pay the tax, but I would suggest you DON'T do that - firstly, it's fraud; secondly, insuring a parcel for much more than the stated value is like saying "investigate me" to police in both countries; thirdly, Australian Customs will only collect the GST if the value is above A$1000 - below that, the cost of collecting the tax exceeds the tax collected.

- Australian eBayers are not, as a group, any more dishonest than the American eBayers you are used to dealing with. We have the same issues with "Nigerian" scammers that you do. In fact I've had far less problems with Australian eBayers than I have with American ones!

The USPS website should have tools for calculating postage etc. Australia Post's website has rate cards and tools for calculating charges to send parcels overseas, so I'd be surprised if USPS didn't.