Brenda Ann wrote:
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.--

That's because shipping to an an APO/FPO is no longer a service provided
by the U.S. government. At one time mail to an APO/FPO was delivered to
a U.S. millitary post office that then shipped it using U.S. milltary
transport, There was a good chance that the mail would actually arrive
and it would be undamaged. Now APO/FPO mail is sent via the regular
postal system, but the U.S. government picks up the tab.

Now, the chance of the mail arriving is much less as it stands out.

As for Paul's comments, they really don't hold any water. Small sellers
don't ship outside the continental U.S. because they don't want the risk.

If an item is lost, stolen, damaged, or takes a month or two to get delivered,
they can't afford to replace it, or "eat" the loss. Paul even has more problems
because Canadian customs may hold an item to determine its value, or if it
can be legally imported as long as they wish. They can also assess the
value for sales and other taxes.

Obviously he never has had any experience clearing an item through customs.
If he had he would have praised the low fees, speedy processing and general
reliablity of the courier services.

Considering the general quality of things sold on eBay, the sellers are
actually doing you a favor. While many of the sellers will attempt to
keep you satisfied, if you have to wait a month for something to arrive
and in Paul's case pay GST (general sales tax), import duty and customs
clearing fees, then have to send it back, he would loose a lot.

Besides paying for shipping both ways, he would have to pay customs clearing
fees at the U.S. border and prove that the item he is sending back was
actually being returned to the U.S. as a defective purchase and not scamming
the customs people by claiming it was.

This means that some items both of you either have to keep or pay for
and never get no matter what it costs. Where do you draw the line?
$100, $200, $500? If it costs $100 to ship a radio to you and $100 to
send it back, it does not make much sense.


Geoff.

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