USPS Air to South Africa takes 4 days from California. Customs is handled by
them and it is extremely easy to use. Great service.

Americocentric sellers maybe?

--
Pete . .
ZS5ACT

Top poster & proud of it!
------ Reply Separator ------

"Brenda Ann" wrote in message
...


"Paul Hinman" wrote in message
news:aLfEg.400583$Mn5.137675@pd7tw3no...
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


Don't feel too bad, Paul. You'll often notice in the same listings that
(even if they ship solely by USPS) they will not ship to US military
APO/FPO addresses, either. We get left out in the cold even more often
than any of the above named locations. So much for supporting the troops
as it were.-- Say no to institutionalized interference.Just say NO to
HD/IBOC!

"Pete" wrote in
:

USPS Air to South Africa takes 4 days from California. Customs is
handled by them and it is extremely easy to use. Great service.

Americocentric sellers maybe?

I think so. And what happens to them is that they have to sell to a buyer
who might not be willing to pay quite as much as I am. Their loss. And

I've had more trouble with "ugly American" sellers than with any other
kind. One ripped me off outright for over $300 for some software. The
other is a non-shipper of some ham radio bits that I bought. I had less
trouble buying from Greece!

One thing I do tend to do is look for the same item in my own country
(Canada) for the simple reason that it's a straight pay-and-get-it-in-the-
mail kind of deal, whereas border costs can add to a price.

--
Dave Oldridge+
ICQ 1800667