Does anyone have experience with using FedEx for international sales?

Dennis88

Looking for experiences, tips or any other info one might have. I'm selling more and more coins in the $500-$1000 range and the limitations of USPS are getting to me.

Thanks!

Dennis

7Jaguars

Yikes - pretty expensive and customs seem to tear them up on occasion. Still, they do seem to get there. Wish I could quote you rates at least to UK but just put them on my corp. account.

Dennis88

<< <i>Yikes - pretty expensive and customs seem to tear them up on occasion. Still, they do seem to get there. Wish I could quote you rates at least to UK but just put them on my corp. account. >>



Well I was looking at rates to the Netherlands and compared to USPS Express (or whatever they call it these days) it's actually only $8 more for an envelope. I always thought it would be more too, but apparently not.

But yes, customs are my main issue. They do promise 2-day delivery to Europe from California which is pretty good but I'm sure the small print (which I haven't read yet) will tell me that custom processing does not count towards their "guaranteed" delivery times.

Dennis

Dennis88

Edited thread title so it sounds at least remotely like English

bronco2078

As I recall when I started on Ebay I sent a package to Canada with them for what I thought was a good price. They tried to charge the buyer an extra customs fee , he refused to pay it and they gave him the box anyway. They billed me 3 months later and I was very aggravated. I got a bill with really no explanation of what it was for . Ever since then I use the post office.

This was around 2007 or 2008 .

DoubleEagle59

It's rather expensive.

Fedex does not insurance coins.

You'll have to get a third party for insurance, such as ParcelPro.

Add up the ParcelPro insurance and overnight Fedex delivery (ParcelPro only insures 'overnight' delivery) and it gets very expensive.

This is one of the many reasons why I (here in Canada) have stopped sending coins to PCGS for grading (feel free to guess the other reasons).

7Jaguars

Yea, I always get dinged for an extra 35 dollars on parcels from UK...

Pokermandude

I just sent my first FedEx parcel the other day, from Canada to Australia. Filled out the forms at my local Canadapost outlet and sent it off. I get a call the next day saying I need to fill out an additional customs form before they can send it. With exactly the same data as the one I already filled out...

YQQ

Here is my experience with UPS, not USPS
Purchased some items in the US, free shipping with UPS, door to door, even in Canada.
parcel arrived with a $ 45 fee attached for: handling & processing. I questioned the UPS (a small subcontractor here) and he did not know what it was.
I asked him to wait while I called UPS to get an explanation.
Guess what??????
the invoice was for Broker services.
I asked the person on the phone who authorized them to act on my behalf. Well She said, you do, or you will not get your parcel. Everybody has to pay that.
I made it very clear that I was not kidding and said this to her: please show me the power of attorney authorizing UPS to act on my behalf with Canada Customs.
she said : look at the paper work, You sign that you accept it in hindsight.
I told her short and sweet that the parcel stays here and I will not pay, or I will be initiating a legal inquiry against UPS for illegal representation and forging of documents, because they had to state in the customs document that they were authorized to act for the receiver.
she then told the driver to leave the parcel.
a few weeks later I received a letter cancelling that charge and apologizing, saying it was a mistake.
Now, WAS it really a mistake???
yes, it was free delivery door to door... BUT...../
I must say that was about 6-7 years ago....

Now, with FedEx, I believe they have their own customs processing section for most countries. They do the paper work if needed ( while items ar on route) and clear it with the respective customs using their license to do so, provided the sender does authorize them and pays for the fees. I might not be correct here, but to the best of my knowledge that is the case.
In Canada, someone acting on someone else's behalf must have a legal Power of Attorney to do so. That does include licensed and bonded Customs brokers! otherwise it could become a very touchy subject.
I am sure most of you have recently noticed Feebay pushing their 100% owned Global Shipping program out of the USA at horrendous pricing. There are shipping charges of 15.95 and Import charges of anywhere from 4.95 and way up. They apparently include Import fees and processing as a separate charge which changes with the bid amount. Such a fee is illegal for them to collect to Canada, as they do not have written power of attorney from each receiver and they do not have a Bonded Canadian Customs Brokers license and the other necessary Federal licenses to collect fees and taxes.
Furthermore, CRSA and CBSA do not care to collect pennies unless it is worth their while, meaning the revenue is larger than the cost to collect it. AND, there is NO duty on Canadian Coinage, Nor is there any duty on antique items older than 100 years, including coins. So, that leaves us with Taxes only, either GST or HST.
AND in addition, FEEbay ads these fees on top of all other fees to collect the FVF… and then comes Feepal on top.
So, a coin selling for $ 2 could cost you over $ 20 by the time u get it……
Some sellers were surprised and did not believe it.. until I asked them to un-tick Global shipping in shipping preferences…others said it is ok with them as Ebay does what Ebay must do to ship out of the country.
Tells you a lot.. right?

YQQ

Dennis 88
check out Auctiva insurance.... IF you want insurance

jt88

I used USPS only.

jt88

For ebay item and paypal item I used SUPS first class registered or express only to get the tracking.