Jodys Attic

Follow up on International Shipping

2009-04-29T05:16:00.000-07:00

Thank you shopaholic224 for commenting re: the availability of freight forwarding services for international buyers. I know there are several available. It would be terrific if more international buyers chose that option. No downside to the seller, as long as the buyer registers the address they get from the forwarder as their PayPal address & with their credit card co as an acceptable "ship to" address.

The problem is that as a seller, at least on a site like eBay, I cannot put that information advertising a forwarding service in my listings. And newer buyers likely are not aware that the service is available. However, if a potential buyer insists I ship a higher $ item, I do not see any reason why not to suggest the option to them. I understand that shipments at these forwarding services can also be combined/consolidated which could save a frequent buyer some shipping costs.
Thank you for your informative comment!

Antique & Vintage Books for Sale

2009-04-16T03:37:00.000-07:00

I currently have an nice little selection of antique & vintage books on eBay.
Many of them are old medical books, but I also have some vintage science fiction, history, a beautiful old family Bible, & a few that may be of interest for genealogy research. If you make a purchase - message me and mention you found the link on this blog and I will take 5% off your total invoice on any book purchase!
My Books on eBay

Why some eBay sellers will not ship Internationally...

2009-04-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

I see comments like this quite often on eBay discussion boards from disgruntled potential non-US buyers.

"...US sellers reluctance to ship overseas as they have to move out of their comfort zones to pack and deal with customs..."
"... paranoid, think the rest of the world is riddled with thieves or think that all International mail goes into a black hole..."
"...small town sellers should rethink their attitudes to foreigners..."
"...parochial xenophobic sellers may well kill ebay..."

My reaction is usually a mix of sad - that those outside the US actually think Americans might feel that way, to rather miffed - that those making the statements, who know nothing about my business, financial situation, etc. can claim to know the reasoning for the business decisions I make.

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but I don't think 99.9 % of us are Xenophobes. I do know sellers that have totally discontinued shipping internationally. Not one of them is "xenophobic". One actually is very well traveled and has lived abroad in several different countries. It is much more a case of "PayPal-SNAD-claim-phobic".

The sellers I know personally (which are mostly antique & vintage sellers) who used to ship internationally & no longer do, lost $$$ through PPal when an international buyer pulled a scam. There are no more "bad" foreign buyers than there are "bad" US buyers - we know that - it's just plain harder for a seller to win if an international buyer does try to scam us vs in a domestic situation.

PayPal makes is so easy for a any disreputable buyer - foreign or domestic - to claim non-receipt or file an SNAD claim. But when shipping within the US, we can show PPal a delivery confirmation # which will at least cover us in the case of a bogus claim of "non-receipt". And in the case of a bogus chargeback, if absolutely necessary, I can take a go to small claims court in the US, but I don't think that's going to be an option if my buyer is in China.

In the US we can get insurance on 1st. class shipping for domestic shipments which is not available on international. Most international buyers expect us to utilize 1st. Class shipping when the item is small enough & light enough weight & do not want to pay for higher $ Priority shipping where insurance is available to the seller. That's fine for low cost items, but not all sellers - particularly smaller sellers - are in a position to risk the loss of a higher $ item when shipping outside the US with no delivery confirmation & no insurance.

Another problem or issue with international shipping for sellers can be if their items are quite heavy or bulky, the shipping cost internationally may be more than the price of the item. If I ship a set of $50 antique books to Maryland, the cost for Media shipping with insurance & delivery confirmation might only be $7.00. Those same books shipped to Belgium might cost $67.00 in shipping. And if the buyer later files a bogus SNAD claim, PayPal is going to refund the buyer not only the item price, but the original shipping cost & return shipping cost. So as a seller, my risk on the same set of books in an international transaction is almost $200 vs $57.00 if I get scammed by a US buyer.

I generally enjoy shipping internationally - met some very nice buyers & have has some interesting conversations. In my time selling here I've had 3 occasions where I lost $$ on international sales, and only 1 domestic. And I sell much more to buyers in the US. That doesn't mean there are more bad international buyers, just that the PayPal system makes it much easier for those that do indeed buy with the sole intent of ripping off an eBay seller can much more easily win a bogus claim on an international sale when there is no "online trackable delivery confirmation" available or little a seller can do if there is a credit card chargeback.

It's my business & I'll continue to make international shipping decisions on a case by case basis. In the not so distant past, we could accept wire transfers, International MO's etc. In fact I used to have more Canadians paying with Postal money orders, than PayPal. Now we are stuck with the PayPal only payment option.

Bottom line, for those outside the US that (happily for us want to buy our goods)... Please don't take any rejection from a small US eBay seller personally. We're not afraid of "foreigners", we're afraid of PayPal policies that make it way too easy for that small % a dishonest international buyers to steal from us. I'll still gladly ship a $15 item to Sweden. But a $50 item + $35 shipping to a buyer in Singapore with 0 feedback? Sorry, been there done that. And not going down that road again if I can help it.

April 14, 2009 New changes to eBay Policies

2009-04-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

My first impressions are that other than "free Selling Manager" for everyone (which is actually already free if you have an eBay Store), and the more liberal "choice options" in listings (for sellers with similar items in different sizes, colors, etc.)I am not seeing anything that is advantageous to the majority of sellers - particularly those of us in the vintage/collectible/antique genres.

The new "Multi-Variation Fixed Price Listings" are indeed a great benefit to some sellers (primarily with new items - like a T-shirt seller). A T-shirt seller for example can now list 500 new T-shirts giving buyers options of size, color, etc. all in 1 single listing. Quite a time & $$$ savings. But if a seller is selling 100 vintage tobacco or trading cards, all different #'s but from the same series, we still have to put up 100 individual listings.

So once again, it would appear that antique/vintage/collectible sellers have been passed over regarding any beneficial changes. In fact from my quick preview, my guess is that the new policies - specifically the returns & dispute process - may very likely encourage even more of the casual and OOAK(one of a kind) small sellers to leave or at least decrease their inventories & selection on eBay.

I am all for anything that makes trading safer for buyers & sellers, but the new dispute resolution policies, appear to be yet again much more slanted in favor of buyers. While most buyers are wonderful & trade fairly, there are certainly scammers out there. In all my years buying and selling on eBay I have not had one occasion where I felt a seller intentionally mislead me in an item description or intentionally send damaged goods. However, in the last year, I have had multiple cases where buyers have tried to scam me - from claiming non-receipt, to switching an item with a different (and damaged) item in a return.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure & consideration, here are a few links to information about all the new eBay upcoming policy & procedure changes:
http://pages.ebay.com/sell/April2009Update/Overview/
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y09/m04/i14/s03
And the special eBay discussion forum re: changes at
http://forums.ebay.com/forum.jspa?rw=true&forumID=5100000002&anticache=1239735553176
Whether you agree or disagree with my early assessments, your comments are always welcome.

Vintage Toy Logos

2009-04-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

I started working on an informative piece to help folks identify their vintage old toys by the sometimes "cryptic" maker/manufacturer logos. The piece is all text at this point & far from completed. I plan work on it as time permits and to add actual graphics/photos in the future.
If anyone has any vintage toys & you would like to take a photograph (close-up) of the actual manufacturer's logo & allow me permission to use it in the article, please contact me.
Here is a link to what I have completed so far...
http://www.jodysattic.com/pages/makermarks

Easy legitimate way to start selling online

2009-04-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

Whether you've only "tested the waters" by selling a few items on eBay or other auction style venues, or have already expanded and tried some of the other "free" website/storefronts, check out "Buy It Sell It." Their "free" starter package allows only a limited # of items. But it's still a great way to give it a "try before you buy" to test to see if it fits your needs & you like the way it works. If you decide you like it, you can upgrade to a level where you can use your own domain name for a much more professional look.
My personal BISI storefront is
www.jodysattic.com