Help! Going postal in America.

tlhoy

Shipping from Arkansas, USA to Athens, Greece.
A guy from Greece asks me how much is the shipping on the coin he bought.
International calculator says Air Mail $3.85 + Whatever delivery conformation is. So I tell him $5.00. (Global Express shows $23.00 for a 3 ounce letter! What's with that?)
He writes back, why so much on shipping? I didn't know, so I went to the Post Office with what I was going to send him. They put the envelope on the scale and told me $2.60 and NO delivery conformation. So I email him what the Post Office said. $2.60
He paid within 5 minutes and said thanks. All of his emails have been very nice and polite, and I already left positive feedback for him.
I go back to the Post Office with the same envelope and they charge me $1.60 (see below).
Is he going to think I'm trying to rip him off? Should I refund him a $1.00 via Paypal, that's how he paid. Am I worrying over nothing?
I'm not sure but I think he might be a member of this forum.
I'm new at selling on eBay (long time buyer) and don't want to anger someone I hope to sell to again.
Help,
Glenn

laurentyvan

I once bid and won on several items from a single seller who enclosed six one dollar bills with the coins I purchased due to the combined reduced shipping charges. It made one heck of an impression on me, one I won't forget soon. It won't hurt you to refund a little if you want and he'll appreciate it.

1jester

The $1.60 figure sounds correct for normal airmail to Europe. I believe you could simply send him another envelope (for another $1.60) with a dollar bill inside, to make up the difference, and he'd be surely pleased.

ajaan

Coins to Greece. Illegal isn't it?


<< <i>Prohibitions for Greece >>



<< <i>Coins; traveler's checks; platinum, gold or silver, manufactured or not; precious stones; jewelry; and other valuable articles, except banknotes, currency notes (paper money), securities payable to bearer may be sent in registered letter-post shipments. >>

cosmicdebris

Yep but we are all little coin smugglers aren't we?

dougdann

I think when you send airmail, there are several different types. Otherwords depending on how soon you want it to get there. The you also have air, land and other options.
the price will reflect this.
Some of the postal workers will ask, others will just choose themselves. Making it confusing in the beginning.
Next time ask them the different options.
Some of them get a little confused on international mailings due to different rules.
The best thing is to go the USPS website and read the mailing rules of each country before going to the post office.

They were a little unsure as to the packaging on some unclean ancients that I sent to italy. which would determine my shipping price. They went with the 4 X 7 padded mailer which is what I always use.



Doug

SYRACUSIAN

It's not illegal to send coins to Greece (but they are subject to VAT if above $100 and with declared value); ajaan's quote is an attempt to discourage some ancient coins' transactions. That's illegal.

Tlhoy ,you can e-mail him and tell him if he really wants this dollar back ; he sounds like a reasonable guy. Or he can have $1 credit for future purchases.

SYRACUSIAN

<< <i>I'm not sure but I think he might be a member of this forum >>



That would surprise me.

tbirde56

If you'd asked this question over on the cutthroat Liteside or of some Ebay sellers you'd probably have gotten this estimate:
Postage: $1.60
Packaging: $1.00
Handling: $1.00
Gas to P.O.: $1.00
Time spent to go to P.O.: $1.00
Miscellaneous: $1.00
TOTAL: $7.50

Don't lose sleep over the buck! If the seller mentions it then work something else out like giving him $2 off his next purchase.

historygeek

<<<Postage: $1.60
Packaging: $1.00
Handling: $1.00
Gas to P.O.: $1.00
Time spent to go to P.O.: $1.00
Miscellaneous: $1.00
TOTAL: $7.50>>>


You're missing 10 cents.

tbirde56

The itemized lines intentionally only added up to $6.60.
The point was that the total is whatever fluff they decide to add on a whim just to pad their profit margin, i.e. 'cost of effort to breathe air while packaging order=$0.50', 'dog peed on carpet because I was packaging the order at the time=$0.40', etc.
Glenn's an honest guy with a conscience and any seller should appreciate his customer service! But he shouldn't lose sleep if he, or the P.O., accidentally over calculates a little on the postage.