Just a question to sellers on the board. Why do some sellers put "only ship to US addresses"? I saw a pattern the other day that I would have bought, but I'm from Canada.I respect their decision, and I know that it costs more to ship to Canada, but I would have willingly paid the extra cost.
Just wondering.................

I have the same question!

actually it is not a lot more....and we Canadians are always willing to pay the extra.....can`t understand either...curious to know as well

Because it can be a bit tricky to figure out postage and some people have had negative experiences shipping to Canada(me included).

In my case; Because it usually cost $14.95 to ship international and sometimes the seller cannot afford to pay the shipping of $14.95 fee.

I got stung once. I had a price of the shipping, then a lady from Canada answered and wanted item, not telling me she was from Cananda, and made me stick to that price. SO, I did, but ended up losing money, plus I had a hard time figuring out customs. I have sent things to Cananda, but want people to know that the price of shipping I quoted is only for USA so I dont lose money again.

but if we are willing to pay for the international shipping why would it really be an issue? I have an US address that I can use but it has to have a receipt attached to it and sometimes that is more of a hassel then just getting it shipped to Canada.

That happened to me before on here, when I was first selling.

I paid more for the international shipping than what I sold the item.

All the seller would have to do is list the item and say international shipping extra. Cost upon request or some such thing.

I think you can't ship to Canada from the self-serve/automated mailing kiosks. Standing in line adds to the hassle factor. Actually, I once mailed a giveaway to Canada, my treat, but that's because I love Canadians :) I was rescued off the highway after being hit by a semi in the Ice Storm of 1998. A family put me up for 3 days while I waited to fly home. The Rosseau/LeMieux family. "LeMieux" means "the best"- and they were, may God bless them.

Dakotamaid, thats a great idea. I will do that next time. I have had people pm me and say, can you ship to******, and I am willing as long as they KNOW the shipping will be alot more! Have mailed to Austrailia, Canada, Netherlands, but its so much more.

a very nice lady sent me two boxes of color catchers so i could try them out and it cost her just a bit over three dollars. True, sometimes the cost of shipping is not worth it but other times it is well worth it. I do agree though , there must be an understanding between the two parties....i was just curious to know if it is more trouble than mailing it in the States aside figuring out the cost of shipping?

that`s a good idea!!

I have sold fabrics to many all over the world, never had a problem. Wording in your ad is important.

I had a hard time figuring out the customs slips. A lady in Austrailia actually helped me do that. Not sure about figuring prices as I always go to the PO and have them do it, lol!

I have always shipped to Canada on here as well as in my etsy store. I know that my Canadian buyers are more than willing to pay the extra shipping but about 6 months ago I seriously debated not shipping to Canada because of the HUGE headache I received later.

I made some crib bumpers that I had sold for 75.00 in my etsy store. The lady was very happy to find ones that matched the quilt that someone had given her as a baby gift :) Same fabrics and all! So I shipped them to her and she was furious about the horrendous fees that came due on delivery. She was so mad at me! She said that she had paid the shipping and did not think that it was fair that she should have to pay anymore. I paid the shipping fees on my end. Not being from Canada, I had no idea what the fees were for or why she had been charged them. It is not my country and I do not understand how the Canadian government does things. After numerous calls on both ends we fund out how the fees were all broke down. We were able to get the charge on delivery reduced but it was still a good size fee. We found out that it was basically a random search fee charge and brokerage fees or something else yadda yadda yadda. Not really sure. Part of the problem was that I shipped with UPS not through the regular mail. I didn't realize that it would make any difference. I had looked a couple places for a good sized box to fit them in since they are long and skinny and ended up just going there to buy the box and ship it there to avoid any more hassle. Anyways I ended up splitting the fees with her. Basically just to keep peace and to avoid a negative review by her. I lost hours trying to figure it all out. And after paying the additional fees on the bumper pads (which I had already discounted) I ended up losing money on the whole deal. It cost me in the end.

I have since shipped to Canada but I have been really nervous about it every time. Honestly if I have another bad experience like that I probably wont ship there again. I know that it is unfair to you guys as the buyer but a huge headache is unfair to the seller too :(

UPS does charge very high brokerage fees. Shipping through the mail is a much better option

The only thing that is a hassle to me is when in line at the PO and you're shipping to Canada, you have to get out of line to fill out the customs forms. Then get back in line to finalize the mailing. That part is just a big hassle especially if you use a busy post office. If USPS could do a better job of providing info, it would help greatly. Mainly it's just a time factor when you're trying to mail out several things.

I don't mind doing it at all but this could be one of the issues. :)

Several people have commented why it's harder. And truth be told, if I can sell something in the U.S. without the headaches I will do so....

Next time fill out your custom forms at home first and this will speed up your timing; or grab a handful of Custom Forms for your future International mailing.
I grab handfuls of Custom tickets and have them ready and filled before mailing. This practice makes you and Postal Clerk happy.
You can also Pre-pay your future mailing for a Flat rate envelope/Priority mailing, or selected mailing with pre-paid postage from the Post Office


*I like to mail international but Canada is different from the other Countries that I have been mailing to lately.
No offense to the Canadians, but the postal system is different in my opinion.

Here they give me the customs form and let me pay for the shipping and go off fill out the forms and just drop it back off at the front. no need to stand in line again. I also got a bunch of extra customs forms the last time I went so I could fill them out in advanced.

We did just have a postal strike so that may explain some recent things that happened.

I have never refused to ship anywhere lol I try to keep the extra forms here or do it online. Most everyone outside of the US acknowlege that the shipping cost will be high and are willing to pay it. I have found that parcel post is sometimes alot cheaper than priority flat rate and it only takes maybe a day or two longer. I just go in and tell them I want the cheapest rate possible!!! yes sometimes it takes two trips - I like to let the buyer make the final decision on shipping costs. Now that I have a scale I can do it all from home and drop it off at po or even the local grocery store for mailing!!! I do usually take to po though so I make sure I put enough postage on it - dont want that package coming back. lol

We welcome members from outside the US and use their ideas and enjoy their company - Isnt it worth it to go a little out of our way?? It is for me!!!

I have never had a problem shipping to Canada or anywhere. I don't post it in my ads that I will ship here or there, because I will ship anywhere.....hmmm....must have Dr Seuss on the brain!!! LOL

I figure when they say they are from Canada, I tell them the shipping to Canada, they know before they ask that shipping will be more.

I do special things for them occasionally, like sending the item for the cost and not charging shipping. Or only charging shipping that would be Stateside price. It's not their fault that shipping is so much more.

The customs labels are usually just the green ones, they are smaller and easier than the A forms.

I can't really understand why either if the person is willing to pay for shipping. I have shipped scraps worth $10 to UK and shipping was about $14 and the buyer was ok with it. The only issue i guess would be the insurance since i can't get international insurance unless through a third party which is a hassle. Once i ship it won't be my responsibility and i provide tracking always for reference...IMHO

I don't mind shipping things to other countries as long as the buyer is willing to pay the extra shipping cost. I shipped an AccuQuilt Go! to Canada and sent it UPS. The UPS person did all the paper work, just asked me a few questions and I was good to go. And it made it without a scratch on it! Yeah!!

I feel sad for those in other countries who don't have access to all that we do, fabric wise, that is, and have to pay such high prices. I am more than willing to help someone out.

I ship to where ever they are.
They seem to know the rates are different
when they contact me for purchase.

If you use the FLAT rate PRIORITY envelopes (cardboard or padded), you only need the small GREEN form. You don't have to fill out the larger white customs form. As long as it weighs under 4lbs. (check for destination country limitations on the usps site) you can stuff as much as you want in there.

Thanks, MTS, I will look into it!

I ship to Canada and the customs forms aren't that big a deal. I just make sure that they know that they pay the extra cost for shipping to Canada. My only problem was when I accepted a money order from Canada and my bank wouldn't take it. It even said US dollars on it and they refused it. Said it was too much hassle on the other end. They finally took it but charged me a fee for it so I did lose money on that purchase. But PayPal from Canadians avoids that problem.

on larger more costly items, it becomes an issue of customs, more than shipping costs OR the fact that there is NO way to track it and it is non-insurable! It is very easy for an international buyer to claim the item never arrived...here in the US we have NO way to prove that it did! So we have to send a refund and are out the product and shipping costs!

I ship international and have been burned many times this way..but I remain positive that the vast majority are honest buyers and really will do the right thing...

I have mailed to canada many times and also to Gremany. Shipping is a little more but if it makes someone happy on the board I don't care.

I have bought many items from US and if you mark gift I have never had a problem even when sending to US.I was also charged alot from UPS but the guy told me if the lady had marked gift it wouldn't have been so costly.So now all my parcels I send to US are marked as gifts.I never gave the lady a hassle over the UPS price as it wasn't her fault just something we learned.

As a buyer, I have had problems getting what I want from US sellers.for the reasons have been mentioned. So what do you do? Don't use UPS, Use regular envelopes for small things like a few Fat quarters, (cardboard flat rate adds unneeded cost), Canadian Customs are a big problem ( divide large purchases, sure it will cost more in postage but will not cause a red flag to customs who will charge you an arm and leg).
I am fortunate that I have a family member that has a Postal Box just over the border and I have had sent item there from sellers that will not ship to Canada. But there are sellers that will not send to a box which frustrates me. Why will US sellers not sent to a postal box. I pay by Paypal as postal or bank orders are a pain for the Sellers as someone has noted.

My memory is a little fuzzy here but I think that shipping to a PO box voids your protection through PayPal.

Wrong info. A PO Box can be confirmed just like any other address.
One of my confirmed PayPal address is a POBox.

http://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/mar...s_confirmation

Used to be you HAD to ship only to a confirmed address (it would be so noted on the eBay sale or on the PayPal payment).

Now as long as you ship to the address that comes through on the PayPal payment/eBay order, then the transaction is covered.

iow, if I pay with a Ship To of address X and then write the Seller asking to instead ship to address Y, the transaction wouldn't be covered if the package went missing.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/quest...confirmed.html

The fact that it is a PO has nothing to do with it.

Now, some Sellers might state in their terms that they don't ship to POBoxes.
That's because they might use FedEx or UPS as shippers instead and don't want the hassle of chasing down physical addresses.

Here's where you can confirm your PayPal address (as a buyer):
http://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-Make-...00000004810897

As a seller, I don't mind mailing internationally, Canada included. Lately, though, I have included shipping in the cost of an item; then, I did state USA only. I believe I will add a note in my ads that I will sell to anyone; I know international buyers realize they have to pay more. It is more of a hassle to mail to everyone, but I'm always glad to make my customers happy. I've sold on eBay for years; never had any problems (I believe I've sold more fabric to Japan than even USA). And I've been lucky here; no problems either. But I did wonder why I had only USA buyers here (until this week); we have to let them know we will ship to them, right?

i have been shipping all my life to the UK. (family). i just shipped a package to Argentina the other day. i hope she gets it, some countries are so strict about what they will let in..yes even fabric can be banned.(it is a gift for someone here on the board,she didn't buy it) I shipped to another gal here from Israel. no problems.
IF you use a Flat rate envie..you can do it on line and the custom forms are filled out on line also. you have to know the weight of course. then when you go to the post office..they scan it..from the info you printed out at home. no fuss. having the address, in the correct order,line is important.
i have shipped to Canada,Turkey,Australia also. no problems.
on usps.com they have estimate shipping costs over seas. you just have to know the weight, and the way you want to ship it..they give you all the choices of shipping and the costs all on the same page.

Now if someone here tried to hold me to a price quoted..because i didn't put "only ships only to USA" on it..i would tell her to either pay for it all..or it would go to the next person who wanted to buy it. and not worry about bad reviews. this is a friendly board..hopefully!

i don't put "will ship outside USA" on this board, because it doesn't matter to me. i will ship it to where ever.
So please ask the seller here, if she will ship to you..ya never know..she may or may not, and never thought about it.

if you ship ebay..you need to find out how to limit or open up your shipping..it is on you, not the buyer. they have tutorials.and message boards to learn.
easy mistake, but can be fixed for future sales. i would eat the profit for my first mistake..after that, i would find out how to work Ebay better.
i have bought on etsy but never sold on there.

Indeed, the customs forms were a pain. There was no way to track or insure the package I sent...
The one time I did ship to Canada took two separate trips to the post office and a lot of line standing with DD4 in tow. (Not so much fun!)
At the time, I was happy to ship the item to Canada, not having done shipping there before this.
Having done it.. I don't care to do it again.

Shipping only to US addresses allows me to pay and print my postage from my computer and toss the package in the mailbox all from home.

I lived in Toronto, ON for just over a year (1997-1998) and can sympathize with those that live there (Canada) regarding the availability of some things.

I sell on eBay. I tried once to send a package to Canada and it was very confusing with all the paperwork one must fill out. Most of us Americans are NOT familiar with shipping internationally. I had the package that I had shipped to Canada returned to me twice because I had made a mistake with the paper work. There are at least two different forms and you MUST fill out the correct form. This step can be a little overwhelming. The Delivery Confirmation used in the US to track the package is NOT valid in Canada thus there is no way of knowing the progress of the package. Packages do ALSO get stuck in custom. It took over a month for my client in Canada to finally receive her package using US Priority International Flat rate envelope. I really did enjoyed chatting with her swapping quilting stories. Sending money thru PayPal is not difficult as long as you send US dollars. Since you have a different currency, that might be another reason that sellers are hesitant to sell outside the US. You can always contact a seller and start forming a relationship with her offering to help her navigate thru the paperwork. But some members of the QB do NOT have a PayPal account. Just want to know why some of us hesitate. When I am able to sell, I will try to note that I will at least TRY to include you. Best quilting wishes to you all, our northern neighbors !!
Joellyn

UPS tracked my package to Canada all the way to her home. I knew when it made it to customs and finally to her home. And I got insurance free on it.