It seems that Canada is on the no shipping list.

[musicyouneed]

I was doing some research and came across a listing from Australia and when I went to look at what the shipping was to Canada I couldn't find it.  Canada made the exclusion list along with Italy and Russian Federation.  That is kinda funny although I don't ship to Australia because of their shipping issues either.  

[silverpinups]

Perhaps the Seller is having the same problems with Canada as your having with Australia.... 

[edubb101]

It is possible that this particular seller had 1 bad experience shipping to Canada and for them that was enough to exclude shipping to Canada.  Or maybe they had multiple issues and decided enough is enough.  We dont really know.  Maybe Canada was excluded in error? My best guess is that the issue is contained to this particular seller and not a wider spread issue as your thread title indicates.  I ship to and receive from Australia all the time and have had zero issues.  Just like my personal example its a small sample size which means much ado about nothing imo.

[hlmacdon]

Auspost air mail is probably ending up waiting for months to clear customs here and be delivered.

[musicyouneed]

For Australia: I had over 5 late shipping CD's that took over 2 months to arrive, over Nov and Dec last year.  It was not lightly that I had blocked Australia, but couldn't afford the energy it took to deal with the late arrivals.  They are still having problems although some sellers have no issue with Australia deliveries.  

I think that most sellers wouldn't block a country unless there were more than a few problems.   I always thought that we had a relatively good mail service, a little slow but not like the Russian Federation or Italy's. 

[momcqueen]

I've had zero problems shipping to Italy and receiving from Italy so I am always puzzled to see Italy lumped in with 'problem' postal areas.

[snoopwiz]

I think that most sellers wouldn't block a country unless there were more than a few problems.

Reading through the boards will show how "sellers" will block a country because of one issue they had with one buyer.

Reading through the boards will show how "sellers" probably adapt the "crowd mentality" and block a country because another "seller" had an issue with a buyer in that country.

Reading through the boards will show how "sellers" will block a buyer because they had the (gasp) audacity to ask a question which may or may not have been answerable in the description.

Reading through the boards will show how "sellers" still block Italy although, the issue that country may have had with their postal system has been a non issue for years now. Perhaps too much time and effort involved in re-instating a country?

Reading through the boards will show how "sellers" will block a potential buyer because they had da noive to request a small concession (perhaps a change in shipping method, or a suggestion on how to pack a specific fragile item.)

Reading through the boards will show how some U.S. "sellers" block all "foreign" buyers because, well, because they are "foreign" and perhaps their first language is not Ah Mair A Kan.

[momcqueen]

Hear hear. You've summed that up nicely. 

[momcqueen]

When I first began to sell on ebay in 2012 and wondered what countries were 'safe' for shipping, the first thing I found when I did a google search for 'ebay and italy' was some ancient thread from some mouth-breather (I judge those who use poor grammar) who had a single bad experience with an Italian and then claimed Italy bans all products made from or containing wood. This was the top search result. And it was already three years old then.

So, carried forward, I think it's safe to assume that: (a) people believe anything they read or hear and (b) you'd be lucky to find someone who choses to think before they react, never mind searching for two sides to cushion the story, and (c) there are three sides to every story.

[rose-dee]

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@snoopwiz wrote:

Reading through the boards will show...

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While much of what you list may be valid, there is another side to this coin that should be considered if we're looking at this subject honestly.  

That other side is that there is some very useful and helpful information on the boards with respect to shipping.  Were it not for situations that sellers report regarding particular countries or postal systems (or buyer behaviour), others would have virtually nothing to go on until they too ran into the same problems.  At the very least, a few reports about a particular location in the world can be a heads-up for others to watch.  

I do pay attention to sellers reporting on issues concerning certain countries, then I decide whether the benefit outweighs the risk of selling to those places.  Sometimes, especially for a lower volume seller, it really may not, regardless of whether the issues are actually minimal or intermittent. 

I'm not of course referring to knee-jerk paranoia, but to the kinds of sellers we all know whose opinions are measured and reasonable, and who have a big enough sales volume to be able to see recurring issues in perspective.  That information reported on the boards may actually save a lot of unnecessary headaches.  

As for blocking buyers for "inappropriate" behaviour, well I think that is a very personal decision based on the seller's tolerance and willingness (or even ability) to bend with the wind.  For some, blocking those kinds of buyers may lower their everyday stress levels.  

I've personally only blocked two buyers in over 10 years of selling, and those were for pretty outrageous reasons.  But I am fortunate to have a calm nature; some people's nervous systems can't take any sort of anxiety or conflict, and for them, blocking "problem" areas or groups of buyers likely makes selling on eBay more tolerable. 

To paraphrase what 'mjwl' said, almost everything can be viewed from more than one angle.  I'm just looking at it from the opposite stance from "everything on the boards is subjective and driven by fear or suspicion".  It's true that much is, but there is also a lot of good insight to be had.

I really do think most of us are able to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to advice and opinion on these things, even if only by using common sense, asking questions and doing a bit more research. 

[dutchman48]

Personal experience. Bought a BBQ cover from Walmart which ends up going through Mississauga. Was expedited parcel and sat there for 2 weeks. I had to phone CP to shake it loose.

Arrived over 2 weeks after expected delivery. Not performance. Registered mail is not trackable in Canada if mailed from outside of Canada.

There have been discussions on the US boards as well about buyers and service in Canada and many have blocked Canada as well. Biggest reason is how Canada deals with international mail and customs.

A, lot of sellers could not be bothered dealing with those issues on top of all the Ebay bugs, glitches and very slow sales, especially from such a small market

Problems just seem to snowball once they start

[zee-chan]

Personal experience: I had maybe three total sales to Poland over the years. I had one buyer file INR. I blocked Poland altogether because that makes a 33.3% INR rate, and since I have had so little sales to Poland anyway I can afford to not sell there.

As for numbers of INR I have had, USA definitely is on top with UK being the second for me, but I wouldn't block either of them since I sell a lot to both USA and UK.

I barely get any Australian buyers (probably about 10-20 over the years) but since I haven't experienced any INRs with Australia yet (only "where's my book?" messages) so I still sell there.

Admittedly I block Italy because years ago I read about how its customs can cause delays and I don't want negatives for slow deliveries... but I do have about 5 Italian sales over the years to those people who actually messaged me if I could let them buy, and yes I'd let them buy if they promise in the message to wait 6-8 weeks because Italian customs is slow, and if they agree I'll sell to them. Yes I'm aware that having the buyer make such promise provides me with zero protection if they do file INR, but if the buyer was respectful in the message I don't mind trying. So far no issue with these buyers but I'm just gonna leave my exclusion list as is...