On Sep 14, 2017, at 5:31 PM, Jason Perkins via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
I've used the eBay international shipping handoff - I found it works well, and was easier than diddling with the customs forms myself.
-J
On Thu, Sep 14, 2017 at 7:08 AM, william degnan via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
If you're like me, you use Ebay to sell vintage computers to make space or for extra cash (so you can buy other vintage computers...). It's a nice efficient way to sell.
Given the dollar exchange rate has declined 30% this year prices are cheaper to an international buyer. You maximize profit if you sell internationally and given you are hit with 10% fee you want to maximize the sales price. Problem *was* there are too many variables and taxes to track, custom forms, insurance, etc. International shipping has always been a problem because it's so hard to predict the actual cost, and I have been burned a few times with shipping costs. Slowly Ebay has been working to make this better.
Recently Ebay has made available a new shipping option called "Global Shipping Program" that allows a person to ship their internationally-sold items to a hub in the US (Kentucky), and after that I guess the buyer deals with the shipping the rest of the way. A lot of people bust on Ebay, but this is really a nice feature and it really reduces the hassle for the seller. In short, now everything I sell is treated like domestic shipping, no customs no guessing. 25-50% of my sales are international.
I don't want to get into a big thing about whether Ebay is good/bad but in this case - Ebay: Well done.
Bill
^^ what he said. My experience with eBay global shipping he been nothing but positive so far. In the past I did not do international shipping other than with buyers I added to my exempted buyer list (those I would have contact with and were from countries I was willing to ship to....no Bulgaria, no china etc) I've now started to allow international buyers to bid on some of my auctions as a result of the global shipping program. Tony