International shipments of liquids

[mpit7628]

Hello everyone.  I recently contacted a seller in the U.S as to whether they would consider shipping up into Canada.  I found their listing on eBay.com with no international shipping and so I sent along a message to inquire about this.  The product is a bit silly.  It has past memories of when I was little.  My father who passed away when I was young used this product.  It is called Heet.  It was used back in the 60's for arthritis.  The Heet comes in a glass bottle, about 4 inches tall and also comes with the original box.  The seller states that is is a quarter full.  

                 I received a message back that because it has liquid in it they can't ship here.  I have received perfumes, colognes  and all kinds of paints for various hobbies including an entire guitar painting kit and so I was curious as to whether the seller is correct in this matter.  Thank you in advance.  Have a great day folks!

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

With acetone and  alcohol as ingredients, the problem would be that it is flammable not that it is liquid.

But technically so are perfumes, which are alcohol based.

It's the seller's choice where and how he will ship. Your best bet is to put Heet (my dad used it for his rheumatism too, well named!) on your notify list so if it comes up with another seller you can try again.

[mpit7628 · Accepted solution]

There appears to be no actual rules in place pertaining to the shipment of certain liquids. There appears to many holes in the system. Newer versions of Heet are being sold on eBay with shipping worldwide. Another seller had the same bottle of Heet listed with Global Shipping and it was sold. I do believe it all depends on the seller. If they had been willing to ship up here I probably would have received it no problem. My husbands guitar kit had all kinds of solvents and paint thinners etc,. and it was shipped to Canada.

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

My shock about shipping flammables was pre-internet. The wood stove stor e I was running ordered a really excellent chimney fire extinguisher, which worked by being lit and flooding the chimney with smoke which denied oxygen to the fire. And it was stopped at Customs because they considered it a firework, and we didn't have the right packaging or permits. The product was happily shipped all across the USA by USPS, but....

[marnotom!]

Also consider that (according to the Walgreens website) the present formulation of Heet contains acetone and alcohol and would be considered extremely flammable/dangerous goods.

I suspect the problem is not that the item is a liquid per se but what that liquid contains. When it comes to your past experiences, perfumes are generally not considered shipable by air internationally, so you probably just got lucky with the one(s) you received in the past.

[marnotom!]

What shipping method is the seller considering using? Never assume a seller (particularly an American one) plans on shipping directly with the postal service if they haven't specified a shipping method.

[marnotom!]

I often drive through school zones and playground zones at speeds above the posted limit of 30 km/h. Nobody's ticketed me or stopped me from doing so. Does this mean it's okay for me to do this?

The US Postal Service specifically mentions perfumes containing alcohol as prohibited from international shipping (and restricted to ground shipping for domestic mail):

https://www.usps.com/ship/shipping-restrictions.htm

If nobody in the know notices a First Class International package of l'Air du Temps en route from Tucson to Gander, it's going to get through. It doesn't mean that it was okay to ship in the first place, however.

Liquids are prohibited from shipping through the Global Shipping Program.

https://www.ebay.ca/pages/help/buy/shipping-globally.html#prohibited

eBay generally doesn't enforce restrictions and prohibitions set by carriers, including the GSP. That's the carriers' job, anyway. There's a good chance that a bottle of Heet will make it as far as the GSP forwarding hub (i.e. the Global Shipping Center) before it's flagged and its journey ends.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

The concerns happen with hazardous products when either something is damaged in transit or the item is properly inspected when caught by an x-ray machine or a physical customs inspection. For a percentage of sellers selling these types of items, they are either flying by the seat of their pants or intentionally avoiding the rules that are clearly posted either in eBay/the assorted Postal Systems/Couriers. Also to be taken into consideration, rules/enforcement may vary slightly between couriers and if the shipment is moving by either ground or air. As a seller you don't always know how anything will move through the system from A to B. Ignorance is not a valid excuse for shipping something improperly.

-Lotz

Examples:

Canadapost:

Any item is considered unacceptable if:

• it is or contains any dangerous substance or article prohibited by law or defined as a dangerous good it does not meet the size and weight specifications for this service
• it may soil, taint or damage mail or mail equipment, expose a person to danger or emit offensive odours
• it contains food perishables or live animals that do not meet applicable shipping requirements
• it is improperly prepared or insecurely packed or wrapped.

Shipper Responsibility - Purolator

As the shipper, you are responsible to identify, classify, package, mark, label and complete documentation for dangerous goods according to the relevant government laws and regulations. Additional regulatory requirements include that the shipper:

• be adequately trained in packaging and shipping dangerous goods, or 
• hold a training certificate or perform those activities under the direct supervision of a trained person who holds a certificate
• supply the appropriate dangerous goods vehicle placards when necessary