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Freight forwarders for eBay purchases?

AHW
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Hi all,

I live in Europe and am running into the issue that many US based eBay sellers absolutely don’t want to ship here by any method (yes I know we are suspicious).

So my question is does anyone here in a similar position use a freight forwarding service? Or have any recommendations for an alternative?

I believe you loose a lot of your buyer protection on eBay if you use a freight forwarder so I don’t think I would risk it for expensive items, but there are often cheaper items that I would be willing to take the risk on if possible.

Thanks for any advice!
 
hen
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I dont have an answer to your question, sorry about that, but why wont sellers ship to Europe? Are there a bigger risk of not getting paid?
 
HamDoctor
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hen hen
I dont have an answer to your question, sorry about that, but why wont sellers ship to Europe? Are there a bigger risk of not getting paid?
There's a lot of US sellers who just don't want the hassle of dealing with the eBay international shipping program, or with shipping directly to an overseas customer. It can be a lot of work, I guess, and if the item you're selling isn't that expensive, you won't want to put a lot of effort into shipping it.
 
AHW
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hen hen
I dont have an answer to your question, sorry about that, but why wont sellers ship to Europe? Are there a bigger risk of not getting paid?

I think it is just the effort and they see it as a bigger risk for false claims etc. Plus if I generalise probably some Americans don’t know which countries are more likely to be suspect than others. So we all get lumped in the suspicious foreigner category.
 
AHW
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HamDoctor HamDoctor
I used ship7.com a few times, and their service was good then - but that was several years ago, so I have no idea how they are doing now. Might be worth checking out.

Here's a list of some companies that I have saved for this purpose (also several years ago, not tried any of them besides ship7):
https://www.reship.com/
https://usdelivered.com/
https://www.myus.com/
https://www.maltapost.com/sendon
https://ship7.com/

Thanks! I had read that some of them offer a service to inspect the package before forwarding it on, which might give you a chance to make a claim with eBay before it is too late in the worst case. Just not sure if I trust them enough with delicate/potentially expensive watch parts.
 
josiahg52
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When I've encountered restrictions in the past for stuff I really wanted, I asked the seller what was up. EBay defaults to certain things, sometimes selects options based on other selections and the seller wasn't aware.

I'd feel better using a fellow forum member than a random shipping proxy.
 
AHW
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josiahg52 josiahg52
When I've encountered restrictions in the past for stuff I really wanted, I asked the seller what was up. EBay defaults to certain things, sometimes selects options based on other selections and the seller wasn't aware.

I'd feel better using a fellow forum member than a random shipping proxy.

I have tried that as well, but if they are willing to do anything it is only eBay international shipping and as that is limited to $2500 in value it isn’t good for everything. Guess I have just been unlucky so far!

If there are any members here who would be willing to help I would be very grateful!
 
Garden Veggies
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HamDoctor HamDoctor
There's a lot of US sellers who just don't want the hassle of dealing with the eBay international shipping program, or with shipping directly to an overseas customer. It can be a lot of work, I guess, and if the item you're selling isn't that expensive, you won't want to put a lot of effort into shipping it.
is the eBay international shipping program really a hassle though? they tout it as seamless
 
G___
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@AHW
AHW AHW
Hi all,

I live in Europe and am running into the issue that many US based eBay sellers absolutely don’t want to ship here by any method (yes I know we are suspicious).

So my question is does anyone here in a similar position use a freight forwarding service? Or have any recommendations for an alternative?

I believe you loose a lot of your buyer protection on eBay if you use a freight forwarder so I don’t think I would risk it for expensive items, but there are often cheaper items that I would be willing to take the risk on if possible.

Thanks for any advice!
Yes, there are good forwarding services ^. I've recently used one that only ships to my location and it was painless. Good luck.

Now, on EBIS
For a seller, Ebay international shipping is super easy. Pack it and send to an in-country depot, then forget about it.
For a buyer, it is a pain in the ass. Expensive, slow and shit.
As a seller and buyer, I've had EBIS fυck up multiple times, the most egregious was repacking a vintage Hamilton watch with one piece of tape over the envelop flap and, bam, I receive an empty open envelope.
The "good" thing is Ebay handles all the refunds immedately and doesn't bother seller other than to say "we shipped something and then refunded".
 
Garden Veggies
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G___ G___
@AHW

Yes, there are good forwarding services ^. I've recently used one that only ships to my location and it was painless. Good luck.

Now, on EBIS
For a seller, Ebay international shipping is super easy. Pack it and send to an in-country depot, then forget about it.
For a buyer, it is a pain in the ass. Expensive, slow and shit.
As a seller and buyer, I've had EBIS fυck up multiple times, the most egregious was repacking a vintage Hamilton watch with one piece of tape over the envelop flap and, bam, I receive an empty open envelope.
The "good" thing is Ebay handles all the refunds immedately and doesn't bother seller other than to say "we shipped something and then refunded".
that’s what I was thinking based on reading
 
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