Question to our UK friends

[CaptainPanda]

So I’m trying to figure something out and I can’t wrap my head around it. Which means I of course came here to get the help of experts!

Several times I have encountered UK sellers on eBay who won’t ship to the UK. Now I understand some items are prohibited, but let’s just use a tweed jacket as an example. I can’t wrap my head around the reluctance to ship to the US, especially if the buyer is willing to pay the cost.

So I’m hoping someone can explain maybe something I’m missing or don’t understand? Thanks as always!

[piperalpha]

I’ve wondered the same. I’ve also wondered about US sellers not wanting to ship to Canada on non restricted items.

[Jock Scot]

I have absolutely no idea! It’s just not my field of knowledge.

[Ivor]

Presumably this is private sellers. They may not wish to be involved with customs declarations etc. and pr3fer a simple life by just selling in the UK.

[cessna152towser]

Several times I have encountered UK sellers on eBay who won’t ship to the UK.

I am assuming this is a mistype and you intended to refer to UK sellers who refuse to ship to US.
Selling outwith your own customs zone requires a measure of bureaucracy which many private sellers are unable or unwilling to become tangled with.
I do some occasional private buying and private selling on eBay and to facilitate my sales I have joined the eBay Global Shipping Programme. Suits me personally as I post from here in Scotland to a distribution depot in England with basic details including country of manufacture and eBay takes responsibility for everything from there onwards. However some prospective buyers have declined to buy because of the cost, since eBay GSP is more expensive for a buyer compared to direct private postage, because (1) the item incurs two sets of postage costs, seller to warehouse and then warehouse to buyer and (2) the eBay charge for import duties includes a mark up to cover their own costs of preparing customs paperwork etc.

[Troglodyte]

I can only speak from my own personal experience, but I have many years' experience of shipping various items around the world and regularly send to the USA.

The USA occasionally makes unilateral changes to international agreements, where shipping and postage is involved, which may have adverse affects for senders. The kind of item being sent is usually unaffected, but the idea of additional paperwork can be daunting. The demand for product codes and export reference numbers, etc, come to mind.

eBay's international shipping system has its advantages in some ways, but it increases the cost to sellers and can treble the delivery time - and items regularly get lost. Consequently, the sender looses the item, the cost of shipping and is forced to refund the buyer in full.

I find Royal Mail is the best (and most co-operative if anything goes wrong - they recently retrieved and returned a valuable item that had been sent to the Ukraine three days before the war broke out, which then sat at a depot not moving for weeks) and the online purchase is simple for an individual seller. They will even collect from your door and provide the completed shipping label. Once in the USA, any tracking is automatically taken on by USPS and the information is excellent.

The only reasons I can think of why UK sellers refuse to send to the USA, is that they have ticked the wrong boxes when filling in their automated eBay listing, are afraid the shiping costs (this is the biggest deterrent for Americans, I find) are too high, or simply cannot be bothered with filling in a simple customs declaration form.

For an accurate guide to shipping from the UK to USA, check out the Royal Mail website and the various options, and I would urge you to contact the seller direct and say you are prepared to pay for the shipping. But don't quibble about it, nor ask for the description and value to be altered, which is a very common request.

I have in the past arranged for friends in the USA to have their 'won't send to USA' items sent to my address in the UK, and they have arranged the shipping online and had the parcel collected from my door.

Shipping to the USA is no more difficult than to any other country, if you accept the shipping cost - which is considerably more than to Canada - so talk to the seller and be reaonable.

And remember we don't have the same 'the customer is always right' conventions. Being too demanding and unwilling the pay the price will kill any potential deal.

[OC Richard]

I had an interesting thing just happen with a UK seller on Ebay.

He has a seal sporran which he seems to be fine with shipping to the USA. I'm guessing that he doesn't know about the USA ban on the importation of seal fur.

He might not be concerned but I am, and I asked if he could post the sporran to a UK address which I will provide him.

He said no, he can only post to the address listed on my Ebay account; if I want him to post to any other address I will need to change my Ebay account's address.

I find this odd because I know people here in the USA that have UK sellers post to UK addresses whenever sealskin or ivory are involved. Perhaps they maintain separate Ebay US and Ebay UK accounts?

[OC Richard]

Shipping to the USA is no more difficult than to any other country, if you accept the shipping cost - which is considerably more than to Canada...

It's puzzling that from here (California) shipping to Canada has generally been much more expensive than to the UK.

[JPS]

I had an interesting thing just happen with a UK seller on Ebay.

He has a seal sporran which he seems to be fine with shipping to the USA. I'm guessing that he doesn't know about the USA ban on the importation of seal fur.

He might not be concerned but I am, and I asked if he could post the sporran to a UK address which I will provide him.

He said no, he can only post to the address listed on my Ebay account; if I want him to post to any other address I will need to change my Ebay account's address.

I find this odd because I know people here in the USA that have UK sellers post to UK addresses whenever sealskin or ivory are involved. Perhaps they maintain separate Ebay US and Ebay UK accounts?

You don't need a separate account. Your eBay account will accommodate as many addresses as you like, and having an item shipped here or there is as easy as changing your primary account in Settings before checking out.

[imrichmond]

It's puzzling that from here (California) shipping to Canada has generally been much more expensive than to the UK.

One reason for this is that Canada Post imposes a hefty (up to app. 40%) fuel surcharge on all package deliveries within Canada. I regularly sell items to buyers in the US and I am often floored by how much cheaper it is to send an item from my home on Canada's west coast to a buyer on the US east coast than it is to ship a similar item down the road to a destination in my home province of British Columbia.