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JwRosenthal
·It reminds me of the fact that only 40-50% of Americans have passports.
The thought I guess has always been "Why travel elsewhere when you have everything you need in your own borders".
"US Sales only" - ?
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STANDY
·Aren’t all the watches shipped from Switzerland to begin with..... 😗
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Dan S
·My key takeout is that the most compelling factor is the "why the heck should I bother with the added complexity if I can reach 330M people who speak the same language and use the same currrency and the same address system and the same bank system" thinking.
Sorry, but did you miss the insurance part?
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Larry S
··Color Commentator for the Hyperbole.I just shipped a $40k piece of gear to be serviced via FedEx yesterday from DC to NYC- cost was $410. I could have driven it there and back for less in gas and tolls and be guaranteed signature whereas I am lucky if FedEx even rings the bell before they dump it on the sidewalk.
I did just buy a $400 watch from Italy and they had a $50 shipping cost. I balked at first but really wanted the watch. Turns out the seller shipped DHL- picked up on Monday, delivered Thursday- can’t ask for better than that!
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tikkathree
·I think its the paperwork and the punishing tariffs into the EU, which can lead to all sorts of negotiation and transactional issues. Personally I think it limits your market.
Oh but there's a "special relationship": successive governments have imposed trade tariffs which have resulted in tit-for-tat counter-tariffs. Tax issues with imports. Oh and I haven't said in which direction cross-Atlantic tariffs & obstructionism have tended to occur over say the past four years. I think we know.
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Dan S
·I did - as well as the transit time, # of touchpoints, tax/duties, maybe a couple of others, this fits under "complexity" 😁
Sorry, that's not the same thing IMO. I don't mind filling out forms or waiting longer for shipment, but the inability to insure a shipment for full value is more than complexity. It is actual financial risk. From where I sit, it looks like you are insisting on hearing the story you want to hear regardless of what anyone else says, i.e. that Americans are self-centered and provincial. But I guess it was clear from the OP that you were more interested in complaining than actually hearing answers to your question.
I will sell $500 watches or bracelets to people in Europe and fill out customs forms, no problem. However, if someone wants to buy a $10k watch, I don't know of any way to insure it. I have no business FedEx account or access to Transferwise [Edit: this should have said ParcelPro]. Secursus is an unproven start-up IMO. The third party insurance for DHL that is available to me, even if the buyer is willing to pay the exorbitant cost, is limited at $5k.
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JwRosenthal
·I think this is a thread in which some of our dealers could shed some light. I know it’s been covered before- but these guys ship $50k watches around the globe.
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Syrte
·On eBay, I mostly use Ebays GSP - it’s expensive but also tends to put off the dodgier buyer..
Puts me off for sure 😁
Actually I prefer EU sales for the same reasons mentioned above - lack of proper insurance, fear of too many stops, and mostly fear that the added layers of customs create more opportunities for theft.
However I recently shipped a watch to Japan - felt much safer than the US between the virus and budget attacks on USPS.
So I don't have a blanket exclusion - even though the EU market is indeed 450 million people.
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Larry S
··Color Commentator for the Hyperbole.Sorry, that's not the same thing IMO. I don't mind filling out forms or waiting longer for shipment, but the inability to insure a shipment for full value is more than complexity. It is actual financial risk. From where I sit, it looks like you are insisting on hearing the story you want to hear regardless of what anyone else says, i.e. that Americans are self-centered and provincial. But I guess it was clear from the OP that you were more interested in complaining than actually hearing answers to your question.
I will sell $500 watches or bracelets to people in Europe and fill out customs forms, no problem. However, if someone wants to buy a $10k watch, I don't know of any way to insure it. I have no business FedEx account or access to Transferwise. Secursus is an unproven start-up IMO. The third party insurance for DHL that is available to me, even if the buyer is willing to pay the exorbitant cost, is limited at $5k.
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SkunkPrince
·It reminds me of the fact that only 40-50% of Americans have passports.
The thought I guess has always been "Why travel elsewhere when you have everything you need in your own borders".
Well, our country is huge compared to anywhere in Europe, so that's not necessarily a wrong attitude. When one state can be as large as a European country....
And, of course, despite "foreign language" requirements, most of us are English only. I had two semesters of French in college, and I can barely remember it because I've never had to use it.
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SkunkPrince
·11% have never left their home state and 40% have never left the country. Speaks volumes about the fear of foreign.
Another country exists, yay for them. I'm fine where I am. I'm one of those (seemingly few) who doesn't want to "travel".
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JwRosenthal
·Hey, now, don't go there. It has nothing to do with fear. It has everything to do with "I don't care."
Another country exists, yay for them. I'm fine where I am. I'm one of those (seemingly few) who doesn't want to "travel".
Honestly- I think the long standing US members who say “CoNUS only” are primarily trying to keep the day traders and watchrecon snipers at bay. I would assume that if a long time member with whom you have a good relationship were to approach you, it wouldn’t even be a concern...other than the lack of insurance and foreign carriers who assume no liability.
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SkunkPrince
·But you have traveled and are very aware of the big world around us. Your choice to minimize any potential hassle as we have seen above with your $4k watch is completely justified IMO- it’s your watch and you know it will limit your audience but you want to minimize risk (insurance, foreign carriers who assume no liability etc)- it’s a personal choice and should not be subject to shame or commentary.
And I did open my sale to non-US, and I'll deal with it when it comes. I did recently have an interesting experience, my next-door neighbor is famous in the shred-guitar world, and he was helping me sell a guitar. Turns out someone in Slovakia wanted a signed guitar and he didn't care that it cost $1000 for the guitar and a couple hundred to ship. Got it signed, sent it off UPS, and vaya con dios. As is as delivered, you don[t like it, TFB were the terms. He was happy, so I was happy. What a waste of a special guitar to hang on the wall. (I have more for sale, PM me.)
I have travelled when I have needed to, for events. I have zero interest in seeing things, I travel to see people.
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eugeneandresson
·Thanks all for sharing your insights... very enlighting. There doesn't seem to be any other factual barrier to shipping abroad from the US than there is to shipping abroad from any other country in the world, in the end.
Insurance, paperworks, #of touchpoints, complexity of enrolling a carrier instead of the (generally inept regardless of the country 😁 ) national postal service, travel time, tax/import/duties discussions with possible buyer, address format, FX (I can only recommend Transferwise, free advertisement 😁) ...
... all these will happen from pretty much any country when shipping abroad.
My key takeout is that the most compelling factor is the "why the heck should I bother with the added complexity if I can reach 330M people who speak the same language and use the same currrency and the same address system and the same bank system" thinking.
do not want to do the extra paperwork
😀
Sorry, that's not the same thing IMO. I don't mind filling out forms or waiting longer for shipment, but the inability to insure a shipment for full value is more than complexity. It is actual financial risk. From where I sit, it looks like you are insisting on hearing the story you want to hear regardless of what anyone else says, i.e. that Americans are self-centered and provincial. But I guess it was clear from the OP that you were more interested in complaining than actually hearing answers to your question.
I will sell $500 watches or bracelets to people in Europe and fill out customs forms, no problem. However, if someone wants to buy a $10k watch, I don't know of any way to insure it. I have no business FedEx account or access to Transferwise. Secursus is an unproven start-up IMO. The third party insurance for DHL that is available to me, even if the buyer is willing to pay the exorbitant cost, is limited at $5k.
Here we go. 3rd post from the top is exactly this ... a watch claim.
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.secursus.com
(Edit: as of posting) I see
- 2 bad reviews about claims (but if you read the response, it appears lazy people who are not sending in the documention).
- 9 good reviews about successful claims.
Trick is to do exactly as they suggest in the T&C (which is not as complicated as it appears).
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rcs914
·11% have never left their home state and 40% have never left the country. Speaks volumes about the fear of foreign.
I've never really had the opportunity to do much international travel. I've been to Canada and Mexico multiple times, and visited all 48 continental US states, but have never flown overseas. I wouldn't say so much that it is "fear of foreign" rather than opportunity, cost, and distance.
As for selling, if it were here I'd have no issue with doing an international sale, as long as it made sense financially. I've only ever shipped internationally a few times, and it was fairly expensive, so doesn't make a lot of sense for lower cost items. I had a pair of limited edition Grado headphones that I sold to a guy in England, and it cost about $50 to ship the 2lb package, and that was around 8 years ago. Shipping my Speedmaster to Canada for service via the USPS with insurance was $76 there and somewhere around $60 back. A paperback book I sold on ebay 15 years ago cost over $20 in shipping (in retrospect I wish I'd kept it as it was an ARC of Good Omens with the dustjacket).
On ebay these days I don't think I would ship internationally, since ebay does nothing to facilitate returns from overseas if you get hit with a return (even if you don't accept returns). But here I would.
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Gav1967
·Well, our country is huge compared to anywhere in Europe, so that's not necessarily a wrong attitude. When one state can be as large as a European country....
And, of course, despite "foreign language" requirements, most of us are English only. I had two semesters of French in college, and I can barely remember it because I've never had to use it.
And I never said it was wrong did I?
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JohnSteed
·each situation unique I guess. PM your possible seller for reason. I essentially ship wherever FedEx will deliver
cheers
cheers
Hi OF
I have seen this a few times in the BST, and I'm still struggling with understanding what's truly behind it.
What is so particular about shipping from the United States of America to the (ghastly, I reckon 😁) rest of the world that makes it so troublesome? I lived in the USA for a few years a couple of decades ago and I was shipping stuff across the world without much trouble (already had international hobbies back then 😁 )...
I see this line a lot more often on non-watch BST boards, but once in a while it pops up here. Some sales seem to be missed because of this... even if the international buyer offers to pick up the extra S&H (which seems a fair thing to do).
Can someone please educate me?
Thank you,
Paul
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