Shipping to the lower 48 or conus only - WHY?

C

CoryC

marksmithcues.com
Silver Member
I'm not sure if this is the right forum but this is where all the shipping takes place. I see this a lot and it is my pet peeve.

Why do some sellers restrict shipping to the lower 48 or the continenal US only?

If UPS, DHL, Fedex, etc... is used I'll grant you that it is expensive ($30+) but what about the people that use UNITED STATES Postal Service. The last time I looked Hawaii & Alaska are part of the USA.

USPS zone 8 (over 1500 miles) shipping cost is the same whether from Los Angeles to Honolulu or New York to San Diego or Miami to Anchorage yet I see again and again for sale threads that say something like "delivered by USPS Express Mail to any point in the Continental U.S" or "shipped to CONUS only" or "shipped to lower 48 only".

A cue and packaging that weighs 4 lbs and is shipped over 1500 miles between ANY 2 points in the USA costs $13.45 for USPS Priority Mail. USPS Express Mail is $27.60 for the same.
 
Last edited:
CoryC said:
I'm not sure if this is the right forum but this is where all the shipping takes place. I see this a lot and it is my pet peeve.

Why do some sellers restrict shipping to the lower 48 or the continenal US only?

If UPS, DHL, Fedex, etc... is used I'll grant you that it is expensive ($30+) but what about the people that use UNITED STATES Postal Service. The last time I looked Hawaii & Alaska are part of the USA.

USPS zone 8 (over 1500 miles) shipping cost is the same whether from Los Angeles to Honolulu or New York to San Diego or Miami to Anchorage yet I see again and again for sale threads that say something like "delivered by USPS Express Mail to any point in the Continental U.S" or "shipped to CONUS only" or "shipped to lower 48 only".

A cue and packaging that weighs 4 lbs and is shipped over 1500 miles between ANY 2 points in the USA costs $13.45 for USPS Priority Mail.
Click to expand...

You know, Cory, I'm not 100% sure on this but I think a lot of people put that tag on there with the intention of meaning "No international shipping" and don't even consider Alaska and Hawaii as not being part of the "continental" USA.

Personally, since I live overseas, I don't understand why some people won't ship overseas. I mean really, once you have the money in your hand why do you care where it goes?
MULLY
customs forms aren't that difficult
 
I would ask the seller of an item that I was interested in to make an exception. You will be surprised how many will do the deal especially if you make it easy for them.

Gene
 
Shipping

mullyman said:
Personally, since I live overseas, I don't understand why some people won't ship overseas. I mean really, once you have the money in your hand why do you care where it goes?
MULLY
customs forms aren't that difficult
Click to expand...


It is due to the fact that the package can only be insured while on U.S. soil .
If the buyer assumes all responsibility then it should not be a problem.(Then there is the issue with Ivory ,it cannot be shipped out of the states). And most overseas buyers want only a 99.00 custom gift form filled out so they do not have to pay the import fees .
Some sellers will not sell this way.
It never hurts to ask the seller to ship overseas.
Many will even if it is stated shipping to lower 48 states only.

By the way overnight shipping from Hawaii to the East coast takes approx 4-5 days via Fedex :(
 
Tank138 said:
It is due to the fact that the package can only be insured while on U.S. soil .
If the buyer assumes all responsibility then it should not be a problem.(Then there is the issue with Ivory ,it cannot be shipped out of the states). And most overseas buyers want only a 99.00 custom gift form filled out so they do not have to pay the import fees .
Some sellers will not sell this way.
It never hurts to ask the seller to ship overseas.
Many will even if it is stated shipping to lower 48 states only.

By the way overnight shipping from Hawaii to the East coast takes approx 4-5 days via Fedex :(
Click to expand...


Only insured on US soil? That's not right. I've been living over here for close to 20 years and have had just about anything you can think of sent over here, insurance is the same no matter where it goes.

Also, ivory can be shipped out of the States. Raw ivory can't but the ivory in a cue is fine. Again, I've had at least 30 cues shipped over here over the years. On top of that, how would the cue dealers over here get their supply without breaking the law? The ivory law pertains to raw ivory...tusks etc... If the cue maker has the correct paperwork on their ivory they can ship that cue anywhere they want.

Import fees. As far as Japan goes I have no idea how they figure import fees. Like I said, I've had many cues sent over here over the years and each time the import fees surprise me. I've had a $5,000 Joss West, loaded with ivory, sent over here and it didn't get taxed. Turn around and had a SouthWest, no ivory whatsoever, valued at about 1500.00 and I got a 40.00 import duty thrown on it. My wife and I are always wondering what's going to happen with the import duties. There doesn't appear to be any set system in place.]

As for asking the seller, yeah, it usually works. In the end they want the money. If you're up front with them and say "Hey, I'm really interested in this but I live in............., would you mind shipping over here?" They're usually cool about it. Luckily I have a US address to ship to in the event that they just don't want to ship overseas. But so far I haven't had any problems.
MULLY
 
Another reason is fraud. Fraud is so common in some countries you cannot even buy decent insurance from UPS etc. Stolen credit card numbers or wire bank transfers with huge service fees. I get at least 2 emails a day EVERY day from people in the Phillipines that want to buy things full retail and put it on a credit card. They steal a credit card number...buy a ton of stuff before the person knows its been stolen and then on to the next number. When you read about someone "losing" 100,000 credit card numbers and SSN; THIS is what is happening. As a business I dont need the headache of this for a $200 sale. Maybe if it were $20,000 I would think about it at least.

The economy is too bad to lose even more with fraud.
 
cueandcushion said:
Another reason is fraud. Fraud is so common in some countries you cannot even buy decent insurance from UPS etc. Stolen credit card numbers or wire bank transfers with huge service fees. I get at least 2 emails a day EVERY day from people in the Phillipines that want to buy things full retail and put it on a credit card. They steal a credit card number...buy a ton of stuff before the person knows its been stolen and then on to the next number. When you read about someone "losing" 100,000 credit card numbers and SSN; THIS is what is happening. As a business I dont need the headache of this for a $200 sale. Maybe if it were $20,000 I would think about it at least.

The economy is too bad to lose even more with fraud.
Click to expand...

So what is your stance when someone like myself, obviously American, contacts you and wants to make a purchase? How lenient would you be if I was to order something and say "I do have a US address to ship to but it would be a lot eaiser on me if I didn't have to pay shipping twice." Are you a broad swiping "NO OVERSEAS ORDERS" or do you go case by case?
MULLY
 
If I were selling I would ship to US addresses only. I'd just not want the hassle of shipping overseas.
 
what hassle?

JimS said:
If I were selling I would ship to US addresses only. I'd just not want the hassle of shipping overseas.
Click to expand...

let's hear about the "hassle".

i think, international transactions aren't that complicated.

especially buyers from europe are willing to pay good money cause of the strong euro, isn't it?
so you may have less hassle with bargaining.
you should think about this point of view.
 
JimS said:
If I were selling I would ship to US addresses only. I'd just not want the hassle of shipping overseas.
Click to expand...


Well, for what it's worth, I just bought a cue off of a member here and at first he wasn't sure about what it took to ship something overseas. Turned out it wasn't any more difficult than shipping domestic, other than having to fill out a customs form. I can only see laziness being a problem with that.
MULLY
not calling you lazy, I'm just saying....
 
shipping overseas or in the US, I don't look at where its going as much as who I am shipping it to. If you have never purchased a cue here and you just joined and you have no other members here to back up your credability then yea, I won't ship overseas without a money order that has cleared, but that goes for here in the US as well. If you have a good rep with good dealings then I will work with anyone. Nate.
 
I just shipped a cue to Germany and I was only able to insure it for $500. It is worth more and if there is a problem and I have to go through the process, and EVEN if I got it resolved, I will still lose.

And as some have said before when this has been discussed, it is just sometimes a big hassle. The receiver wants it shipped insured for less so they don't have to pay import fees (which I can understand), a lot of paperwork, different rules for every country, and lastly the worry factor until it gets there and everything is ok.
 
NateSchoepf said:
shipping overseas or in the US, I don't look at where its going as much as who I am shipping it to. If you have never purchased a cue here and you just joined and you have no other members here to back up your credability then yea, I won't ship overseas without a money order that has cleared, but that goes for here in the US as well. If you have a good rep with good dealings then I will work with anyone. Nate.
Click to expand...

Dead-on, Nate. I have shipped items to almost every part of the world. There is some risk involved, and the insurance matter is very much different when it goes overseas, etc.

Mully, you might want to talk with Mr. Lucky about problems associated with importing items into Japan with ivory in them. They have tightened down on them a lot. No, there is no issue if you have all the proper CITES documentation, but almost no one does.

Joe
 
mullyman said:
Only insured on US soil? That's not right. I've been living over here for close to 20 years and have had just about anything you can think of sent over here, insurance is the same no matter where it goes.

Also, ivory can be shipped out of the States. Raw ivory can't but the ivory in a cue is fine. Again, I've had at least 30 cues shipped over here over the years. On top of that, how would the cue dealers over here get their supply without breaking the law? The ivory law pertains to raw ivory...tusks etc... If the cue maker has the correct paperwork on their ivory they can ship that cue anywhere they want.

Import fees. As far as Japan goes I have no idea how they figure import fees. Like I said, I've had many cues sent over here over the years and each time the import fees surprise me. I've had a $5,000 Joss West, loaded with ivory, sent over here and it didn't get taxed. Turn around and had a SouthWest, no ivory whatsoever, valued at about 1500.00 and I got a 40.00 import duty thrown on it. My wife and I are always wondering what's going to happen with the import duties. There doesn't appear to be any set system in place.]

As for asking the seller, yeah, it usually works. In the end they want the money. If you're up front with them and say "Hey, I'm really interested in this but I live in............., would you mind shipping over here?" They're usually cool about it. Luckily I have a US address to ship to in the event that they just don't want to ship overseas. But so far I haven't had any problems.
MULLY
Click to expand...

Sorry bud, but your wrong about cuemakers shipping anywhere they wany. Here in Canada, finished or raw ivory is illegal (preban or not) and would be confiscated at customs if discovered.

There is still an international ban on Ivory from 1989. I believe it is at a cuesellers own risk to ship out a cue with Ivory from the US.

Japan is an odd position as they keep requesting and getting granted stockpiles from Africa after being approved by CITES.
 
mullyman said:
Only insured on US soil? That's not right. I've been living over here for close to 20 years and have had just about anything you can think of sent over here, insurance is the same no matter where it goes.


MULLY
Click to expand...

Not what my postmaster says.
I have shipped to Germany ,Japan,Canada,& the Netherlands .I was only able to insure the package while on U.S. soil.The package to Japan even went to a AFPO location & still was not covered.Luckily I have never had a problem.
If it got lost or damaged while shipping I would be out of luck.


Ask a couple of the Japanese collectors/dealers about their Ivory problems as well.
 
yally said:
Sorry bud, but your wrong about cuemakers shipping anywhere they wany. Here in Canada, finished or raw ivory is illegal (preban or not) and would be confiscated at customs if discovered.

There is still an international ban on Ivory from 1989. I believe it is at a cuesellers own risk to ship out a cue with Ivory from the US.

Japan is an odd position as they keep requesting and getting granted stockpiles from Africa after being approved by CITES.
Click to expand...


I've sent a letter to the American Cue Makers Association asking what the specific law is with shipping cues with ivory in them to Japan.
MULLY
 
Last edited:
Here is the deal, from my perspective, on International cue sales and shipping . I sell a cue, it is FOB Jackson,TN. I will follow the customers shipping instructions to the letter, with them having full knowledge it is their baby when it leaves here.
 
hangemhigh said:
Here is the deal, from my perspective, on International cue sales and shipping . I sell a cue, it is FOB Jackson,TN. I will follow the customers shipping instructions to the letter, with them having full knowledge it is their baby when it leaves here.
Click to expand...

I see no problem with that.
MULLY
 
I have shipped to at least 20 to 30 other countries. The only thing ever to get lost went to N.Y. There are no problems. Takes less than 30 seconds to do a customs form. -----Jim
 
Jim Baxter said:
I have shipped to at least 20 to 30 other countries. The only thing ever to get lost went to N.Y. There are no problems. Takes less than 30 seconds to do a customs form. -----Jim
Click to expand...


Someone was just asking me yesterday about shipping over here and this is what I told them. I don't know the exact letter of the law but I've never had any problems, in 20 years and dozens of cues. I've heard stories about Japanese customs confiscating cues or raiding dealers places and to be totally honest, every single one of those stories came from someone in the US. The only thing I've heard over here in 20 years happened a few months back. A Japanese dealer/cuemaker got busted at customs with a suit case full of raw ivory. Everyone I've ever talked to over here has never told any tales of cues being stopped at customs.
MULLY
now watch my new Mottey get stopped tomorrow
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top