I need your advice

Udo

Hi everybody

I won this auction

Overseas shipping rates were not specified in the sellers description, but actually this is not the first item I bought in the US and so I haven't asked before I placed my bid.

I asked for shipping via Global Priority Mail after the auction ended and the answer was, that shipping to Germany for an item at the value of $500 or under us $20.
Surprised by their high shipping costs I asked if they could tell me, what service they usually use or if they could explain me, why it is thst expensive.
Unfortunatelly I got no response since two days.

I am willing to pay the $20 for shipping, althoug this are the most expensive shipping charges somebody ever asked of me.

But I am still wondering if the package will be insured, or if I just will receive a Global Priority mailer, because they want to get a bit more money for the coin (BIN was $129), I hope not!

Has anybody got experiences with this seller?

Thanks in advance

cosmicdebris

Global Priority is the only way to send an item and include insurance with oversea packages. It is the way I sent a $400 item to France from the US. USPS charged almost $20 for Global priority.

Udo

Thanks, Bill

I didn't know that Global Priority mail can be insured, without insurance it's $5.

Does anybody else know how they ususally ship their coins?

rhound1977

Shipping Insured from the good O'le U.S. overseas does get very pricey, here is my warning to overseas buyers for my E-bay auctions:

<P> <big><b>Overseas shipping with insurance can get quite expensive and starts at $15.00 for Air Parcel Post; the insurance is $2.00 per $50.00 of value. Global priority
(NO Insurance available) is $5.00 for 6x10 inch envelope and 10.00 for a 9 x 12 inch envelope. Please enquire if you are not certain of shipping costs,
Please consider cost of shipping when bidding.</b></big></P>

I have not checked the USPS WEB site recently so this may have changed, and/or vary for different countries, but I got burned on shipping to the Netherlands once.

1jester

As far as I understand, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to insure an item sent from the US to any other country, because the indemnity limit is only $45 anyway. Sending a package registered is the only way to keep track of it, so that's the preferred method if something is really valuable, although that gives no guarantee of it not being stolen. But I've never heard of anyone having lost a coin that was sent registered. Global Priority, whether it is the $4.50 small mailer or the $9 large mailer, or a package, is quick and I've never encountered any problems with receiving them overseas. I've had coins worth many hundreds of dollars sent GPM without any problem ever.

Sorry for the high shipping charges, Udo. I hope this info helps.

Udo

Thanks rhound and jester

I think I'm going to pay that $20 for shipping and look what I'll receive. I've received many items from overseas, mostly via Global Priority Mail, some registered and in no case an item got lost, or was stolen.

But it's a pity that I got no response on my question from them.

ajaan

<< <i>As far as I understand, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to insure an item sent from the US to any other country, because the indemnity limit is only $45 anyway >>


Not entirely true. It is true for registered mail but an item can be shipped, and tracked by Express Mail and be insured for the full amount. I know this because I sent a package via Express Mail to the UK and insured it for $693. The total cost for the 1 lb 9.2 oz package was $34.75 (with insurance).

SYRACUSIAN

The shipping cost of most of the items I receive from the US ,does not exceed $3.00. This is just regular airmail, no insurance ,but Global Priority which is not available to Greece or Italy is not any quicker. These low profile parcels ,with $20 value declared, my risk, take two days from NY, three or four from elsewhere. In my opinion, asking $20 for this item is a steal, sorry about this Udo.

ajaan

If the item isn't sent insured, then $20 is outrageoous. I've sent to Germany, Global Express, and have charged $6 for shipping.

harasha

I have recently purchased items from Brazil. Very expensive shipping Express or Priority. However, the express took about 3 days, and was tracked. Priority appears to have been secure, but it is a 19 day journey.

1jester

"Not entirely true. It is true for registered mail but an item can be shipped, and tracked by Express Mail and be insured for the full amount. I know this because I sent a package via Express Mail to the UK and insured it for $693. The total cost for the 1 lb 9.2 oz package was $34.75 (with insurance)." --Ajaan

Oh, I wasn't aware of that. You're saying that for registered mail the maximum indemnity is $45, but for Express it's any amount? I'd heard that for either service, you can pay for and insure for any amount, but they won't pay a claim above $45.


"In my opinion, asking $20 for this item is a steal, sorry about this Udo." --Syracusian

It sounds like a rip-off. A "steal" would be a good deal.

SYRACUSIAN

Thank you Jester, I learn things everyday here, especially when you are around more often.

Aethelred

Udo,

I just visited USPS.COM and checked the rates and limits for the item you won on eBay:

Global Express (insured for $100) - $29.00

Registered Air (insured for $43.93 the max indemnity) - 18.50

Global Priority (can't be insured) - $5.00

Hope that helps!

Looks like a neat coin by the way!

danglen

Just want to throw in my due Lire worth.....For the average eBayer that sells a couple of items out of their home on a weekly basis, absoption of overhead costs in shipping is not a big deal. In my case, we ship between 100 and 150 packages a week out of our store, and I have had to hire a full-time person just to handle the shipping. Other costs such as packaging materials, Air-Tites, Safe-T-Mailers, envelopes, tapes, Indestructo boxes, etc., all come into play when evaluating shipping costs. I charge a minimum of $2.50 to ship a coin within the US and $3.50 to ship a coin outside of the US, and even with these "outrageous" shipping costs, overall I still lose money on shipping. Now I'm not defending Scotsmans $20.00 shipping charges because I don't know the details. I do know they travel to a lot of shows so they may not be there to answer an email in a two day span, so you might take that into consideration. Just be aware of the fact that shipping charges do not necesarily reflect the cost of postage alone.

cosmicdebris

Oops your right it was Global Express I sent the item not Global priority.

JamminJ

For this one, Udo, I think you're just out of luck because you didn't inquire before bidding. A $15 insurance premium on a $60 item sounds like an underwriter's dream!

Sending stuff overseas with insurance can be tricky. For cheap stuff, say less than $100 or so, I'd probably ask to decline insurance and take the risk myself.

For moderate value stuff, you can buy third party insurance for shipping from the US to most countries for less than $1.50 per $100 of insured value. One item policies require the use of some type of tracking like Global Priority Mail ($5.00 small flat rate envelope), but frequent shipper policies allow the use of Airmail (usually $2-$3 depending on destination).

For expensive stuff, registered is the way to go ($7.50 + Airmail postage). This includes insurance for the first ~$40.55 of value but I'd buy a thirp party policy or anything above that.

Udo

A big thanks to all of you for your helpful comments.

Since there is a big holiday in the US tomorrow, I'll get no response to my inquiry before tuesday.

I'll pay that $20 and see what happens then