Ship Overseas Darn it!

[Hidy Ho]

I feel countries like thailand,singapore and malaysia are quiet safe to deal with in the southeast asian region.

I've lived in Thailand for about 3 years but am not sure if I will ship anything there unless it's FOB- shipping point.

I've done a bunch of transaction with Singapore and am comfortable doing business there as well as Taiwan and Japan.

 

[Monto P2]

I've lived in Thailand for about 3 years but am not sure if I will ship anything there unless it's FOB- shipping point.

I've done a bunch of transaction with Singapore and am comfortable doing business there as well as Taiwan and Japan.

I think thailand is as safe as any of these countries,I live in Thailand:thumbup:

 

[Cuaba]

I'll Vouch For Gobrian77

I've gotten shut down twice this week by sellers who won't ship overseas (I'm in Thailand).

I've got more positive iTrader feedback than most people on the "For Sale" forum, every transaction has gone off without a hitch, I'm an American guy living over here and doing business, I'll pay extra for the shipping charges, I've met a respected member in person (Cuaba) who would vouch for me...

It's not like my enquiries start off with an offer to deposit $20,000,000 into your bank account if you'll just send me your cue and $5,000 to set things in motion.

I can completely understand why a seller would be cautious with a newbie with no prior transactions, but wouldn't most give an established buyer a shot?

I hate to see people complaining about the cue market (from a seller's point of view) when they shut down their options themselves.

I visited Brian this summer and stayed at his resort. We played pool almost every day I was there.

Brian,
I'm coming back to BKK on October 4. I can bring some stuff for you if you want. Just have it sent to me here in the US.

PS: I'm already booked at the Marriott in Pattaya for New Year's.

 

[billiardcue]

No problem shipping cues overseas as long as I receive payment in advance and the buyer assumes responsibility once the cue leaves my possession.

Ivory has become a sticky issue with customs going into some countries.

Have shipped many cues overseas in the past twelve years, never had a problem.

 

[Danktrees]

i thought a lot of people dont want to ship overseas because like some people have already mentioned, packages always seem to get searched. if there's ivory in the cue and they realize what it is, the cue gets confiscated. i believe that this issue was brought up around a year in many threads and thats why a lot of people choose not to ship overseas.

i dunno if the cues u were wanting to purchase have ivory but if they do then that could be a reason why.

 

[skor]

Well, for me it's the pricing of the shipping cost. You can't really get a good estimate on the price of shipping to other countries.

One trip/phone call to the post office you can get all the answers...usually a $50 charge will cover most of the world...

Another aspect is insurance. I know that some countries are very shady. Their customs people steal good items. I sent a package to a country in asia last month, and 2/10 item was stolen. I called my relatives and they told me that the package was opened, searched, and pretty much ramsacked.

You can offer additional cost for insurance, make it the buyer responsibility and choice.

I really don't want to send overseas because I don't know their policies. With USA, the ethics is better (i hope and assume) and it's a Felony to open another person's mail...and you're insured with USPS.

Can't speak for every country but you can ask the buyer what's their country's policies.

Over here for example, if a package is claimed to be up to $100 then customs sometimes open it but they repack it nicely before releasing it to the local post office. Over $100 i get a letter to come to the customs office and usually they'll open it in front of me and once taxes are payed they'll release the package directly to me (after being nicely repacked).

I had many billiards items, mostly cues and cases shipped to me as I used to resale billiard products over here. Never had a problem with a shipment from the USA via USPS EMS service.
I also sometimes ask the seller to claim a lower value on the package to reduce taxes costs and I take full responsibility if the item is lost or damaged. Sometimes you loose and sometimes (most times ) you win...

Regarding the USA ethics, I am aware of 3 different situations were two custom cues and one nice custom case that were sent back to the USA for repair and got completely trashed by USA customs, not only that the packages were opened but cues and case were beyond repair....
So it there is one country that I will not ship to it's the USA... I even once preferred to give a customer a new cue then send it for repair....

 

[thediamond]

Anyone who won't ship to me can kiss my ass.

I have been in this business too long to worry about things like that.

Si
words of wisdom......with a hint of beer

 

[Hidy Ho]

Anyone who won't ship to me can kiss my ass.

I have been in this business too long to worry about things like that.

Si
words of wisdom......with a hint of beer

I will ship to you and still kiss your ass

Jazz <--- sucking up to VIP

 

[frankncali]

GoBrian

Just curious but I checked out the Resort in your sig. Is it yours??

Looks like a nice destination

 

[Cuaba]

Yes

GoBrian

Just curious but I checked out the Resort in your sig. Is it yours??

Looks like a nice destination

He has 2 partners. I highly recommend a visit.

 

[thediamond]

I will ship to you and still kiss your ass

Jazz <--- sucking up to VIP

He, he! You da man. I think you have a cue of mine that is destined to come back to me by the way. Lets talk!!!

 

[perspicaz]

My experience to buying from the US and importing to Spain (Europe) is as follows:

I have bought from Jacoby, Dominiak, Nielsen's, Platinum Billiards and Seybert's. Never a problem, nothing missed, nothing opened by customs.

In Spain what happens is that if the shipment is done by USPS you have a very high chance that customs will not charge import duties, if you use UPS or FedEX you have 100% guaranteed the package will be caught by customs (about 21% extra). I have also noticed that packages coming from Ebay (like Nielsen's) are also charged by customs despite being sent with USPS.

Oh, I also bought a high end electric guitar from a collector in NJ a few years ago and it was caught by customs despite being sent by USPS although the value was too high (2000+$) and the package too big to pass through customs unnoticed.

Another issue is payment... I prefer credit cards because wire transfers take a looot of time and I get charged for the transaction, while CC are fast and free. Some cuemakers or stores deny payment through CC because I am not in the US and require money orders or wire transfers... I used to try to find an agreement but I have decided that if they don't trust my money I won't trust their business.

And yes, it is illegal to open mail not directed to you here too, but I guess that is what (besides other things) insurance is for, anyway.

Sorry for the long post :embarrassed2:

 

[Hidy Ho]

He, he! You da man. I think you have a cue of mine that is destined to come back to me by the way. Lets talk!!!

Jeezz ... which one or 10?

 

[billiardcue]

My experience to buying from the US and importing to Spain (Europe) is as follows:
Another issue is payment... I prefer credit cards because wire transfers take a looot of time and I get charged for the transaction, while CC are fast and free. Some cuemakers or stores deny payment through CC because I am not in the US and require money orders or wire transfers... I used to try to find an agreement but I have decided that if they don't trust my money I won't trust their business.

Credit cards are free to the buyer but cost the seller 3% - 4%, that's $30 to $40 per $1000 of transaction and most fraudulent credit cards come from abroad.

A bank wire transfer is $15 to $20 and takes from several minutes to 24 hours to process. I would much rather cover your wire transfer fees than my credit card fees and be 100% assured the money is good.

This is no reflection on you, just credit card transactions in general.

Besides the enormous amount I pay the bank every year in fees, I have been ripped off by credit cards a couple of times, the last being from the US to the amount of $3700. You should understand the reluctance of sellers to trust credit card transactions, overseas or not.

 

[Henny HaHa]

I don't understand why anyone won't ship overseas if the payment for the cue was received + extra for international shipping, insurance etc.

On the other hand, if someone is selling a cue for $3000 I think they should cover the $30 for international shipping...

Where did you get your shipping quote from?? I should have used your source. I just shipped a new SW to thailand a couple of days ago to the winner of my raffle.

UPS wanted $235 usd
USPS Global Express Guaranteed was the cheapest rout at $140 usd.
(insured as a used cue with a $500 value for insurance).
(of coarse that did include a tracking # from my doorstep the his, not just to the waters edge). If you go without the tracking # it could be cheaper, but in my opinion you are just asking for trouble if you choose that rout.

Not that $140 is out of line for international shipping including ins. and the added peace of mind of the point to point tracking # for a cue that sold for $2800+ but if you are not used to shipping overseas it just seems like alot compared to domestic shipping. Its almost like STICKER SHOCK!!

I don't think you could ship an empty box to Thailand for $30:grin-square:

 

[perspicaz]

Credit cards are free to the buyer but cost the seller 3% - 4%, that's $30 to $40 per $1000 of transaction and most fraudulent credit cards come from abroad.

A bank wire transfer is $15 to $20 and takes from several minutes to 24 hours to process. I would much rather cover your wire transfer fees than my credit card fees and be 100% assured the money is good.

This is no reflection on you, just credit card transactions in general.

Besides the enormous amount I pay the bank every year in fees, I have been ripped off by credit cards a couple of times, the last being from the US to the amount of $3700. You should understand the reluctance of sellers to trust credit card transactions, overseas or not.

I understand your points, although I was referring to stores that accept credit card purchases from the US and not from me just because I am European :sorry:

Besides, the last time I did a wire transfer to the US it took almost 2 weeks (without me knowing where the money was); it is not the same within the country than between continents (Europe and US use different banking standards). I believe that depending on the transferred amount the National Bank has to be notified slowing the process. Not as easy as it looks. Credit cards (or Paypal) on the other hand seem to provide more security to the buyer than wire transfers IMHO. At least I feel more secure that way

 

[gobrian77]

I visited Brian this summer and stayed at his resort. We played pool almost every day I was there.

Brian,
I'm coming back to BKK on October 4. I can bring some stuff for you if you want. Just have it sent to me here in the US.

PS: I'm already booked at the Marriott in Pattaya for New Year's.

Excellent- I've got three weeks of vacation I need to take before Christmas- I'm definitely gonna come to Bangkok while you're there- hopefully the WPC trip to the Philippines will work out as well.:thumbup:

Pattaya for NYE will be a lot of fun- I'll be slaving away in Samui.

 

[guycrunch]

i have sent cues to germany, taiwan, england, canada, and italy all with no problems at all. us postal global mail and fill out the paperwork online is key along with a really good packing job. brian, we have dome business in the pasy and if i have anything you want let me know, i'll send it to you wherever you are.

guy

 

[gobrian77]

No problem shipping cues overseas as long as I receive payment in advance and the buyer assumes responsibility once the cue leaves my possession.

Ivory has become a sticky issue with customs going into some countries.

Have shipped many cues overseas in the past twelve years, never had a problem.

This is a very good point- the buyer has to assume responsibility once the cue leaves the shipper (this is provided the shipper has sent the cue as per the buyer's instructions).

I would only bring in ivory if I were hand-carrying it- I would not take the chance on shipping it.

Thailand can hit you pretty hard for custom's duty (again, this is 100% the buyer's responsibility)- while the feelings of others may differ, I generally ask the seller to put a value of $100 for the cue (provided it's not a monster worth over 1K) and to ship it uninsured via Priority Mail- this can save me over $100 (which has to be paid at the post office when I pick it up) depending on the cue. Granted, this is taking a chance, but I haven't had a problem yet with the many cues I've had sent here, and I believe that the lower declared value actually discourages a customs official for inspecting it (my packages are almost never opened).

 

[cuedoctor]

I recently declined selling my mottey to 2 asian buyers not because of there legemecy but because of the retrictions on ivory.If the buyer is not willing to deal with customs problems from his country why would I ship a cue and have it confiscated by asain customs and loose everything,its not worth the sale. The buyers both mentioned customs and ivory but where unwilling to accept loosing there money...but I should loose my cue:wink: