On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 08:39:34 GMT, Paul Hinman
wrote:

I frequently see postings in the ham radio related newsgroups for items
currently being offered on E-Bay.

All to often I that items will be shipped only to the lower 48 states,
leaving hams in Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada out of the picture. What is
the problem. In Canada we are well served by FEDEX and the United
States Postal Service. Amateur radio equipment crosses the border with
out any problem. I realize that Hawaii and Alaska may be a bit far from
the "lower 48" but the same delivery services are available even though
surface transportation may be a little bit slow. In the US you also
have UPS, the folks in Brown which we Canadians prefer not to use
because the often make the border crossing more difficult than it needs
to be and we don't like getting stuck with brokerage fees.

So why the discrimination, if the buyer knows that delivery may take a
little longer and is prepared to accept the fact then it becomes a non
problem. If the seller is intimidated by the prospect of complicated
paperwork, he needn't be. Please leave it up to the buyer to decide
whether he wants to bib or not.

I can not speak for shipments to Europe, Africa, India, China, or the
South Pacific but for fellow Americans, or friendly northern neighbours,
I think that people should be prepared to deal with us.

Thanx for letting get this off my chest and I realize that I have cross
posted this to four different newsgroups but I wanted to get to a broad
audience.

Paul
\

As for canada, there is a problem with tracking. At least a couple of
years ago, the cost of tracking a package, when possible, was
horrendously high. In the case of the US mail or Fedex, it was
impossible. I shipped to canada and the buyer said he didn't get it.
He sent a very impolite letter the day I noticed all other items
shipped that day arrived. I know he received it and later admitted
that it was shipped to the wrong address, which I know better.

Not being able to track makes for a risk that I was unwilling to
handle at the time, so I cut out shipping to canada.

As for hawaii and alaska, tracking and shipping costs were terrible to
those places as well. Some items can't be shipped by air and would be
shipped by ship requiring a time delay in which, again, thieves take
advantage of and get their refund.

The combination of eBay and Paypal creates a haven for thieves in
those areas and others. They favor the buyer and it will ultimately
cost the seller more in the long run.

APO and FPO can't be tracked either. Tracking is a requirement for
the eBay/paypal so-called protection.

I was once a gi. Gi's move. Sometimes it takes a long while for the
gi to receive mail that has to follow him/her.

I realize that the problems are caused by the 'few', but they create a
risk or null out certain protective clauses in contracts. SOme
businesses can afford to go through the extra effort, wait the extra
time or live with the occasional loss. A business that loses one sale
in a hundred can afford the loss better than an individual who stands
to lose one in the only one or two sales they make.

Ebay/paypal is too protective for the buyers and not the sellers. The
law is too difficult to motivate for most of the little sales that
originate from ebay. Thieves know this and take advantage of this at
every opportunity they can.

Buck
n4pgw

--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW