eBay

oceanfreak20 · ‎05-09-2020

Hello,

Say, I sell one item (Blu-ray movie) once every 2 weeks & ship from Canada to USA.

What am I supposed to enter in the Custom form exactly?

Please advise.

Say, value usually I enter as $10 or something.

Should I select 'Other' & give what explanation? If i declare explicitly that I sell this item to someone, will they charge custom charge to buyer? what exactly is the procedure here? Kindly explain in detail please.

femmefan1946 · ‎05-10-2020

You say it is a used/new BluRay and give the price

Then add the HS # 852340.

The other part is Other - Goods. There is a space there.

But if you are sneaking it out as LetterPost you don't add any customs information or label.

You also won't have any tracking, but you will save a lot of money.

A 200gr USA Letter costs $5.57 to ship while a Small Packet USA costs $7.54 with no Tracking and a Tracked Packet USA costs $14.42.

If you ship 25 Letter rate BluRays for you will pay $139.25 in postage

If you insist on Tracking you will pay $360.50 in postage.

How many "lost in transit" disputes can you refund with the $221.25 difference in costs?

How many more sales will you make at the lower price point?

oceanfreak20 · ‎05-10-2020

Hello, thanks for your quick reply.

Ok, Canada post always says it cannot be sent as 'Letter mail' but can be sent only minimum as small packet.

Now, assuming i never send with tracking to USA (Buyers do not pay for it) & always send as small packets and assuming I write in custom value as $10 or so, what option am I supposed to select in custom form?

If 'Other', what should i write exactly in description & will they charge the buyers some custom charge and what %age?

Pls help me understand what are my options here...

needsmorerobots · ‎05-10-2020

@oceanfreak20 wrote:
Hello, thanks for your quick reply.
Ok, Canada post always says it cannot be sent as 'Letter mail' but can be sent only minimum as small packet.
Now, assuming i never send with tracking to USA (Buyers do not pay for it) & always send as small packets and assuming I write in custom value as $10 or so, what option am I supposed to select in custom form?
If 'Other', what should i write exactly in description & will they charge the buyers some custom charge and what %age?
Pls help me understand what are my options here...

I haven't been doing this as long as femmefan1946, but for me in other I put down "Sale". It's the one that made sense to me.

Any country will charge custom fees depending on how expensive the item was in retail value. Sadly, Ebay Canada doesn't yet (that I know of) have the global shipping program that Ebay US does. Apparently this program allows you to prepay custom fees for a customer so the only thing the customer has to worry about is if their package will get lost in the mail.

And I say again, I haven't been at this for long, just under a year and then about a month back when Ebay started. More experienced sellers will weigh in with heavier nuggets of knowledge.

msmaggie060 · ‎05-10-2020

If you are shipping to the USA, don’t worry about the amount, just put whatever the buyer paid. The US allows $800. for goods going into their country before they charge any duty. Not like the $20 for goods coming into Canada.

femmefan1946 · ‎05-10-2020

Ok, Canada post always says it cannot be sent as 'Letter mail' but can be sent only minimum as small packet.

Uh huh.

Is it under 2cm thick?

Is it under 500 grams?

Does it rattle when you shake it?

Just send it LetterPost and drop it in the mailbox, rather than over the counter.

oceanfreak20 · ‎05-10-2020

thanks. Yes one Blu-ray movie should be in range of 150-250 grams.

So, should i tick the option 'Other' and write as 'sold to buyer for $10' and expect no Import duty charges likely?

Means, whatever price we enter in custom form should match with what we get paid in paypal?

femmefan1946 · ‎05-11-2020

I'm saying don't use a customs form at all and drop your ~~package~~ letter into the mail box not pass it over the counter.

oceanfreak20 · ‎05-11-2020

sometimes I send 2 to 3 movies together & i was told very hard to get them passed if i do not put them under 'small packets' or something. Also atleast few in canada post say that dropping in letter mail even with one blu-ray item might be thrown out if they find out so i am scared to take any little risk 😉

That's why looking for best recommendation what to put exactly in custom form if i do.

femmefan1946 · ‎05-11-2020

Two DVDs are going to be over 2cm thick and probably over 500grams.

So the letterpost scheme is not workable.

But where two separate packages as lettermail would cost $11.14 ($5.57 each as letters) they will cost $12.10 as one Small Packet.

None of these have tracking.

If you want tracking those two DVDs will cost $20.10 for Tracked USA.

Based on your customer demographics (and including the type of DVD- romcom? shootemup? SF/F? horror?) are you likely to get a bogus Not Received dispute because you can't prove delivery? Is that worth the extra $12 in shipping cost and the reduced salability of your item?

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-11-2020

@oceanfreak20 wrote:
sometimes I send 2 to 3 movies together & i was told very hard to get them passed if i do not put them under 'small packets' or something

Send as Small Packet USA, too thick to send as oversize lettermail. Although Small Packet USA is not tracked on Canada Post or USPS websites, ebay has access to any scans the USPS does (which in these days of covid-19 is a lot fewer than normal). Some Sellers report success using as a pseudo tracking number. Manually enter the number under the bar code as tracking on ebay. Buy your labels online for a small discount (*), rather than at the counter.

Alternatively, you can check if a cross-border shipper is located near you. Examples would be ChitChatsExpress, DYKpost. For a small fee they take your shipment across the border and allow you to use the USPS cheap domestic shipping (most have tracking).

...

(*) You do have a free Solutions for Small Business card from Canada Post? That will help trim shipping costs a bit.

-..-

oceanfreak20 · ‎05-11-2020

Interesting as i never thought we can add that Code as tracking num in ebay.
Yes for small packets (without official tracking) also, I see such numbers & just updated my buyers with that number. Thanks.
So, my assumption is that we will be able to finally track somehow atleast if they reached buyer or not using this. Right?

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-11-2020

@oceanfreak20 wrote:
Interesting as i never thought we can add that Code as tracking num in ebay.
Yes for small packets (without official tracking) also, I see such numbers & just updated my buyers with that number. Thanks.
So, my assumption is that we will be able to finally track somehow at least if they reached buyer or not using this. Right?

Only if the bar code is scanned by USPS. So you might want to cover up the "No" part of "No delivery scan" on the label.

I would only update on ebay with the number. Do not send directly to the buyer unless they ask, and tell them any scans can only be seen on ebay. Otherwise most buyers will assume it can be tracked on the USPS website.

-..-

oceanfreak20 · ‎05-11-2020

thanks.
Another question is, should i select 'Others' option in custom form & declare that buyer is buying this item for $10 and put explanation there? In this case, how much we have to pay as custom duty?