Question for sellers - What countries have you shipped to?
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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 3:02 pm 
 

Since I did my most recent store restock, I've noticed that a lot (25%+) of my business has been international (I'm in Canada). In the last few weeks, I've had orders from Iceland, Germany, England, Australia, South Korea, and Brazil. I had a guy from Malta enquire about shipping, but haven't heard back from him.

I know a lot of US sellers only sell to the US, so I'm guessing I'm just benefiting from having the low-end prices of folks that ship internationally, but it's such a large spike of international sales that it's got me pretty amazed.

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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:11 pm 
 

well i live in the UK, but have shipped to the majority of europe, russia, japan, scandinavia, australia, new zealand, brazil, mexico, US, canada and prb a few other places. pretty much anywhere really. only place i have EVER had a problem was italy.

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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:17 pm 
 

I live in the US, and ship internationally. There are a few countries that I hesitate sending anything to due to prior bad experiences, but I still ship worldwide.


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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 7:28 pm 
 

killjoy32 wrote:well i live in the UK, but have shipped to the majority of europe, russia, japan, scandinavia, australia, new zealand, brazil, mexico, US, canada and prb a few other places. pretty much anywhere really. only place i have EVER had a problem was italy.

Al


Of the 1500+ items I have sold to all ends of the world, I only lost one and that one was to Italy as well!

I find that 75% of my stuff went to the US and the rest went worldwide to all sorts of places.  I do not sell nearly as much anymore, just not the same interest level there seemed to be a few years ago.  I remeber when most of the 2nd ed stuff got very good cash compared to todays market (dalelands $40-50, Vecna $60+, modules at least double than today etc etc etc)

Way more fun buying stuff now!!


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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 7:49 pm 
 

I just lost another one to the U.K., and as usual it was a very rare item.
Canada, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Japan and CHina off the top of my head.


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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 8:09 pm 
 

Deadlord36 wrote:I just lost another one to the U.K., and as usual it was a very rare item.

Is that aside from the Necromican, 1st print Boot Hill and TWH #7-59, 61, 63-65?

Thank you, Frank. (And for going way beyond the "call of duty" on that other matter).


Am very much looking forward to reading/researching through all those. :)

  


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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 9:25 pm 
 

Interesting to see that there are D&D gamers all over the world :)

I haven't (*knock on wood*) ever had a package lost, although I'm always a bit nervous shipping to places like Brazil and Asia.

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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 9:32 pm 
 

I'll ship anywhere and I would estimate around 35-40% of the RPG items I sell go out Worldwide.  It's quite interesting to observe some of the trends.

I have remarked previously about Italy . . . if I leave out Canada, I ship as much to Italy as to all other countries combined.  D&D items are red hot - Wrath of the Immortals, Immortal, Master & Companion Sets, DA series modules as well as all other D&D modules, Gazetteers, etc.  Also a fair amount of BattleTech goes their way.

Russia & Singapore - when I ship to these countries it is almost always BattleTech.

Scandinavia and Great Britain buy a wide range of items including quite a bit of Shadowrun & BattleTech and most of my Warhammer books.

Spain seems to go for D&D (like Italy, but to a much lesser degree).

Germany buys AD&D and all kinds of Planescape.

France seems to go for a wide range of RPG items.

A great deal of White Wolf sees international customers as well.



No lost or damaged packages yet . . . it may not have any basis in fact, but my gut feeling is that EXCESSIVE use of PACKING TAPE is the best customs deterent in avoiding attention on large packages.  I make sure all customs forms are 100% accurate, use no words other than "books" in the description and put so much packing tape on the box that I think any customs agent would look at it - say "screw it, it's too much trouble to open and it's just books" and send it on its way without any delays.  WTF do they care anyway?  

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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:06 pm 
 

I've shipped all over.  I ONLY ship airmail or Global Priority mail, no M-Bags or Slow boat surfact packages (which irritates a few people but saves me tons of hassles!)  I ship a good 30% or sometimes more internationally, since most of my business is White Wolf stuff I see alot going to Germany, Norway, Switzerland and other European countries (not really too much to UK and France though) as well as Australia and Japan.  My only missing package has been to Canada, as well as I've seen a few Canadian packages take longer than usual lately.

  


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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:43 pm 
 

Yeah, packages heading up here to Canada often take longer than they should. Canada Post is an all-around crappy organization.

Shame you don't ship with m-bags though Reindeergamez. Those are about the only way international folks can make large orders without paying obscene amounts for shipping.

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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 1:33 am 
 

Yes, David, the other stuff is still accounted for. Appreciate the kudos, but it still sucks ass to see a loss like that.


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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 1:41 am 
 

beyondthebreach wrote:I have remarked previously about Italy . . . if I leave out Canada, I ship as much to Italy as to all other countries combined. D&D items are red hot - Wrath of the Immortals, Immortal, Master & Companion Sets, DA series modules as well as all other D&D modules, Gazetteers, etc. Also a fair amount of BattleTech goes their way.


I looked at some of the auctions in Italy recently, and there are some sellers trying to charge obscene prices for items. I guess either the demand is really high or they're trying to cover their postage after getting stuff from the States.

  

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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 3:43 am 
 

GraysonAC wrote:Yeah, packages heading up here to Canada often take longer than they should. Canada Post is an all-around crappy organization.

Shame you don't ship with m-bags though Reindeergamez. Those are about the only way international folks can make large orders without paying obscene amounts for shipping.


Canadian post is one of the worst in the world.  It's mindboggling.  Anything declared over $50 is torn open, and sealed back with maybe one piece of tape.  They hold stuff at customs for no reason.  They send items back if the name and address aren't in all caps.  I've had more Canadian stuff sent back for one reason or another than all other countries combined (and 99% of the time it's for a stupid reason, like the time they said there was no custom form and the custom form was taped on the outside of the box in a cellaphone envelope with the words "Custom Form" in huge block letters)...  Once I started declaring everything I send to Canada as "used books" and the value as under $20, the torn open boxes and inexpertly sealed envelopes went away.  

Mike B.

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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 5:11 am 
 

Badmike wrote:Canadian post is one of the worst in the world. It's mindboggling. Anything declared over $50 is torn open, and sealed back with maybe one piece of tape. They hold stuff at customs for no reason. They send items back if the name and address aren't in all caps. I've had more Canadian stuff sent back for one reason or another than all other countries combined (and 99% of the time it's for a stupid reason, like the time they said there was no custom form and the custom form was taped on the outside of the box in a cellaphone envelope with the words "Custom Form" in huge block letters)... Once I started declaring everything I send to Canada as "used books" and the value as under $20, the torn open boxes and inexpertly sealed envelopes went away.

Mike B.


pretty bad form that isnt it?

i had 20,000 books shipped from US to UK without a hitch at all, bar for a lil water damage on one box, which wasnt the end of the world in the whole scale of it - was a rather fun experience too! :D

Al


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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:44 am 
 

Badmike wrote:
GraysonAC wrote:Yeah, packages heading up here to Canada often take longer than they should. Canada Post is an all-around crappy organization.

Shame you don't ship with m-bags though Reindeergamez. Those are about the only way international folks can make large orders without paying obscene amounts for shipping.


Canadian post is one of the worst in the world. It's mindboggling. Anything declared over $50 is torn open, and sealed back with maybe one piece of tape. They hold stuff at customs for no reason. They send items back if the name and address aren't in all caps. I've had more Canadian stuff sent back for one reason or another than all other countries combined (and 99% of the time it's for a stupid reason, like the time they said there was no custom form and the custom form was taped on the outside of the box in a cellaphone envelope with the words "Custom Form" in huge block letters)... Once I started declaring everything I send to Canada as "used books" and the value as under $20, the torn open boxes and inexpertly sealed envelopes went away.

Mike B.

Canada Customs is completely arbitrary on which packages they decide to process.  About half the time, they don't bother, simply due to backlog.  

If they choose to open a package, they'll charge $5 for the privilege of having your stuff rifled through by a Customs Professional (no autograph, either!  :lol: ), even if there isn't duty/excise/tax on the item.  Essentially, they suck.

I don't have any specific problems with Canada Post, however.

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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:31 am 
 

deimos3428 wrote:Canada Customs is completely arbitrary on which packages they decide to process. About half the time, they don't bother, simply due to backlog.

If they choose to open a package, they'll charge $5 for the privilege of having your stuff rifled through by a Customs Professional (no autograph, either! :lol: ), even if there isn't duty/excise/tax on the item. Essentially, they suck.

I don't have any specific problems with Canada Post, however.


Sorry, I should have made the distinction.  That's pretty mind boggling though, the way you are charged for the privilege of having your mail opened. I remember several years ago a Canadian customer insisted on insurance for something like $200 worth of stuff, I typically warn against it due to charges, but I did this time.  He not only got nailed for a whopping tax fee but predictably enough Customs inexpertly ripped the box to pieces trying to find out why "used books" were worth $200, couldn't put the priority  box back together since they had torn it to pieces, and simply stuffed his items in a large UNPADDED brown envelope with a letter of explanation why it wasn't in a box with bubble wrap.  Luckily the modules weren't damaged when they arrived to him, but the fun part was that he was charged for all the merriment.

Mike B.

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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 12:28 pm 
 

Badmike wrote:Sorry, I should have made the distinction. That's pretty mind boggling though, the way you are charged for the privilege of having your mail opened. I remember several years ago a Canadian customer insisted on insurance for something like $200 worth of stuff, I typically warn against it due to charges, but I did this time. He not only got nailed for a whopping tax fee but predictably enough Customs inexpertly ripped the box to pieces trying to find out why "used books" were worth $200, couldn't put the priority box back together since they had torn it to pieces, and simply stuffed his items in a large UNPADDED brown envelope with a letter of explanation why it wasn't in a box with bubble wrap. Luckily the modules weren't damaged when they arrived to him, but the fun part was that he was charged for all the merriment.

Mike B.


Heh, they don't always even bother to open it, and they still charge you. I kid you not, it happens to me all the time. $5 fee plus they make you pay the GST on whatever the declared value is.

One of the very, very few things I really dislike about my own country is our postal and customs system.

Canada Post is ridiculous for their fees though. For me to send something <250g (1/2 lb) to Toronto (west coast to New York, essentially), it'll cost me about $10, or $11 to the east coast. To send that same package to Florida.. $5.60. Yes, it costs me twice the amount to ship within my own country than it would cost to ship to the southernmost US. For $5.60, I could get my package to someplace within about punting distance here. It's around $7 to get the package out of the city I live in.

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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 1:01 pm 
 

GraysonAC wrote:
Badmike wrote:Sorry, I should have made the distinction. That's pretty mind boggling though, the way you are charged for the privilege of having your mail opened. I remember several years ago a Canadian customer insisted on insurance for something like $200 worth of stuff, I typically warn against it due to charges, but I did this time. He not only got nailed for a whopping tax fee but predictably enough Customs inexpertly ripped the box to pieces trying to find out why "used books" were worth $200, couldn't put the priority box back together since they had torn it to pieces, and simply stuffed his items in a large UNPADDED brown envelope with a letter of explanation why it wasn't in a box with bubble wrap. Luckily the modules weren't damaged when they arrived to him, but the fun part was that he was charged for all the merriment.

Mike B.


Heh, they don't always even bother to open it, and they still charge you. I kid you not, it happens to me all the time. $5 fee plus they make you pay the GST on whatever the declared value is.

One of the very, very few things I really dislike about my own country is our postal and customs system.

Canada Post is ridiculous for their fees though. For me to send something <250g (1/2 lb) to Toronto (west coast to New York, essentially), it'll cost me about $10, or $11 to the east coast. To send that same package to Florida.. $5.60. Yes, it costs me twice the amount to ship within my own country than it would cost to ship to the southernmost US. For $5.60, I could get my package to someplace within about punting distance here. It's around $7 to get the package out of the city I live in.

I assume the $5.60 is their "Small Packets USA" service.  Strangely they don't seem to have a "Small Packets Canada" service, which is unfortunate.

However, if its dimensions are small enough (380x270x20 mm), it can go "Oversize lettermail" for $1.70 (up to 250g), or $2.45 (up to 500g), anywhere in Canada.  (In my personal experience, DMG stuffed in bubble mailers do not meet the necessary size requirements, they are too wide).
canadapost.ca/personal/offerings/letter ... ions-e.asp

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