Modern Vespa

Can any of our members from the Land of the Free explain to me why some big US companies' websites won't ship abroad? Even if you approach them directly, they still turn your business away.

I'd have thought you guys would be the first to see the business opportunity that the worldwide web offers. Is it a taxation thing?

I think it may have to do with the shenanigans that HM Customs and Excise gets up to on this end. I ordered an item for £100 from a US site - and was charged an additional £100 in taxes and duty when it arrived in the UK, so I sent the item back. I can see why companies would want to avoid that happening on a regular basis.

Unfortunately it work that way on both sides of the pond.

Mostly it boils down to:

Customs and taxes, import duties and paperwork can cause refusals when delivery is attemted like genie did. If that happens the merchant merchant is out shipping and possibly the items as well.

Terms of their merchant accounts, they can get an approval from their credit card processor that will protect the merchant if the credit card turns out to have been stolen or the purchase not authorized but not all credit card processors will cover out of country fraud or unathorized purchases.

The credit card processors that will cover international online orders tend to charge considerably higher fees.

FWIW, it happens the other way too as I know since I prefer EU certified helmets and I can't always buy the one I want from the US.

Thanks for the answers guys. Learn something new every day.

In some cases dealers have agreements with manufacturers not to compete with dealers in other countries. For example a 'certain web site friendly to musicians' would not ship a 'certain headless bass guitar' to Australia .

Yep customs. I shipped an item to a buyer in Canada and when it wasn't recieved after 30 days I refunded the buyer. Then a month later the package showed up at my door. It was nearly destroyed. No explanation. That was the 3rd time I had problems shipping outside the US so now I only offer US shipping. Sad because I routinely get inquiries from Canadians moslty asking if I will make an exception but it is just not worth the hassle.

Are you able to tell why so many UK sellers won't ship to other countries within the EU? There are no customs, duties etc. and bank transfers work very smoothly. I ask this as an owner of a classic british car

I've no idea why Hezekiel, genuinely. This kind of thing is way beyond my scope of understanding, it just seems daft.

What car do you have? An Austin Allegro?

Could it be that you can't just throw it into the Royal Mail? It's also somewhat more difficult to get proof of delivery across national borders.

I think also that some companies deal with particular shippers.

I wanted to order something from the UK, worth about £5.
The company quoted £20 shipping as they always use Airmail.

A company in the States quoted $32 for shipping a pair of gloves to Belgium - I phoned them and asked why and was told the online form couldn't cope with a variety of charges and the man reduced it to $14.
I've been charged Import Duty on some things and not on others.

I had a wrangle over paying for goods with my Credit Card from a company in the US. Their system wouldn't accept it because of their security measures in spite of the fact that HSBC 'approved' the payment. (In the end they waived the payment so I got the things free!)

Perhaps we should set up a 'Mutual Help' system in much the same way that Jim might act as an agent for the MP3 foot-pegs.

I wonder, with our international membership, we might set up something informal between members.

fay.

P.S. I'm a little phobic about post and usually get other people to do it for me, so I would rather not be the U.K. representative, but would use the service.

I thought I said that!

Probably better to have a number of volunteers than one per country.

If others want to volunteer, then I will join in (though I'm not going to be the fastest postman in the west being fundamentally indolent).

durn furriners! I find enlightened UK sellers willing to ship for a charge equal to a weeks wage! Seriously, the postal rates are just plain nuts both ways!!

Great minds think alike, when I posted the suggestion, yours was not showing on the forum.

It is clearly an idea whose time has come.

Fay

US shipping rates to overseas destinations are not cheap. Further, the shipper has to fill out export documents. Based on who they ship via, customs and duty can be so high that it can result, as mentioned above, in shipments being rejected.

We typically have things delivered to our daughter, who then mails them to us as "gifts". Or, if we have anyone coming here, we see if they would be willing to "mule" for us. And lastly, we keep a shopping list of things to buy in the US when we go to see our family.

That said, shipping a large or heavy item could be rather expensive in shipping charges alone, even if you beat the duty and taxes.

US Postal Service flat rate small box (8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8" and 4 pounds max) costs $13.45

The largest USPS flat rate box (12" x 12" x 5-1/2" and 20 lbs max) is $55.95)

25 pounds to most of Europe is just over $100

I've had some wonderful success buying items from Hong Kong and the U.K.,
But in a few cases I've had my money refunded from suppliers in the U.S.A.

I don't know why the Free Trade system isn't working sometimes,
In most cases it's the shipping companies that are to blame.

Never mind the outrageous brokerage fee's.

There are some cases where a company will have a sister company in the
USA and I'll be able to buy through their own departmental shipping system.

Such companies are Tigerdirect and Apple

Luckily these companies can ship within their company structure and not charge for shipping.

I think that they should have more companies like that,
Companies that can ship within their own company across borders.