Wishing to avoid crooked overseas postal people

[gbm97]

 I have been a victim of item theft by crooked postal people in the past.

The last being Italy. Perhaps the model train car scanned as a pasta maker. lol

Now I have bids on a laptop coming from Bolivia and Poland.

I have a bad feeling already.

I have forgotten to not ship worldwide.

The cost of shipping makes my used laptop a bad deal but they bid anyway, without even contacting me for a shipping price. Are used laptops highly sought after over there?

If they win whats the very best shipping method where my sold item gets delivered properly?

Thanks

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

I would recommend you only ship larger items like a laptop to Canada & the U.S. with a tracking number.  A lot of people have trouble with other countries such as Italy, Spain, Russia & others.

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

You may also consider cancelling all the bids & ending your listing & put the reason as a error or mistake in listing. Then relist the item with only shipping to Canada & the U.S.

[momcqueen]

Ship with tracking. Will your item exceed 2 kg? Tracked Packet will do for countries served by it so long as your total selling price does not exceed $825 CAD in which case you instead need to ship via Xpresspost International or Priority depending on where Signature Confirmation can be found for that destination.

[recped]

You'll know when you are about to be scammed when the ending bid + shipping is much higher than the laptop is actually worth on the open market.

[recped]

Another thing....if you want to avoid problems on items like this.......

You have this listed as "used"

In the description you says "as is"

The two are incompatible, you will lose any SNAD claim.

USED = An item that has been used previously. The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear, but is fully operational and functions as intended. This item may be a floor model or store return that has been used. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections

Non-functioning keys is not merely an "imperfection".

[momcqueen]

To clarify: “... countries served by it so long as your total selling price does not exceed $825 CAD in which case you instead need to ship via Xpresspost International or Priority....”

The amount should be $850 CAD.

It was brought to my attention on another thread that I’ve been citing the wrong amount by $25 too little. If your item is worth $850 CAD in price plus postage, you need a Signature on Delivery to be eligible for Seller Protection via PayPal.

[ricarmic]

As a note my postmaster let me know last time I was in that postal services to Bolivia are suspended at the moment.....

[femmefan1946]

You can cancel both of those bids without needing to explain, and Block the bidders.

Do that now.

[femmefan1946]

 I have been a victim of item theft by crooked postal people in the past.

Possibly.

But it is just as likely that the crook was your buyer, or the shipment was stolen from the buyer's porch.

In first-world countries, the postal worker would be risking a well-paid, pensioned, lifetime job with health and other benefits, to grab and smuggle out of the postal facility some random carp from overseas.

Which frankly comes down to a mental health issue rather than an honestly issue.

It might be worthwhile in Zimbabwe or Myamar, where public service paycheques are not regular.

[hlmacdon]

Buyers, shipping delays, customs officials/requirements, and acts of various deities take more packages than any postal workers. If you are going to ship to just about anywhere in the world you would do well to read up on which countries are known to be more problematic for the above reasons and limit your locations  accordingly, especially when selling items like electronics which have a high potential for fraud.

[femmefan1946]

I believe Canada Post has a list of countries they will not sell Signature Confirmation or even Delivery Confirmation for.

And I also seem to remember that shipinsure.com had a list of countries they would not insure shipments for.

[hlmacdon]

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@femmefan1946wrote:

I believe Canada Post has a list of countries they will not sell Signature Confirmation or even Delivery Confirmation for.

And I also seem to remember that shipinsure.com had a list of countries they would not insure shipments for.

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Shipsurance/insurepost does precisely just that, being part of a very large insurer. Actuaries go through this and build risk profiles for given countries based on a number of variables, none of which is emotional feeling about a country. If an insurer doesn't want to assume the risk then that should be your cue to evaluate your own choices depending on the nature of what is sold, margins, etc. 

[gbm97]

Oh gee so sorry for the late late response, and thanks for all your comments and advice which I have read all.

The overseas people got outbid and never come back thankfully.

Next time I shall remember to allow only North American bids thanks.

[momcqueen]

No worries there, and thanks for coming back to the thread to let us know how it transpired in the end. Glad it worked out.