Biggest problem I see is the brokerage fee to get it over the border. I bought a Giant OCR 1 frameset (was built up but never used) on Ebay for my son's first road bike for a very reasonable $210. Broker fee was never mentioned by the Canadian seller, only the $40 shipping. Imagine my surprise when I got a bill from the broker for an additional $63. I called the broker and talked them down to $45 but what a rip off. I have purchased brand new snowboards from Canadian Internet shops and paid $25 with out a brokerage fee so I was caught totally off guard. I would steer clear of international sales if I were you because you might get an ignorant buyer like me. My emails to the seller about the broker fee went unanswered by the way.

I believe that the brokerage fee is tacked on by UPS or FedEx. If you just send it via snail mail, there isn't one as far as I know. At least I have never been tagged for a brokerage fee unless I use UPS, then I get hosed.

Also, is it really that much of a hassle to go to a website, punch in some numbers and get an estimate that way? I have always done it for my US buyers with no problem. But that's me.

I had the same experience this summer with a complete Yakima rack system. Got it for less than half of new but then the UPS brokerage of ~$73, ouch. I don't agree with going after the seller though, if he was honest with the shipping cost that is the extent of his responsibility. We both learned our lesson the hard way and I will insist on USPS for shipping in the future.

I sell semi regularly on ebay. I always quote shipping costs only to the US and only if it can be shipped as a small packet, for the others I quote shipping after they win the auction and I have their address. The other thing, I only ship with Canada Post (equivalent to USPS) there're no big customs forms to be filled out and there's no brokerage.

To ma it doesn't make the slightest difference where in this world I ship stuuf. Last month I sold a fork to somebody down under, was just as easy as if he/she were in the US.

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Wilfried Heinle

Artificial Intelligence can never beat natural stupidity.

We sell via ebay all over the world. The bugger for many is the customs stuff. Each country does things a little bit different. And then sometimes a country is not consistent. I think it depends on the customs agent that sees the package. Sometimes they get dinged and sometimes they don't. We price our shipping very reasonably and hope that people come back to us for more stuff. We have yet to have lost a package (knock on wood)--even international packages. We almost always use USPS. It is very convenient for us and the prices are reasonable.

Jon B

http://Tristuff4less.com

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Jon Bergmann
http://jonbergmann.com

I'll be able to confirm Jon's words soon enough..got a jersey from him on the way. On the one hand I totally understand the reasoning of the original poster going through that many hoops for different bidders can be a pain. I'd more likely say..sure I'll ship to you but shipping will be higher...if that's okay with you bid...if you win I'll let you know how much more it will be for shipping...if that's not okay..please find another seller. If the person wants the item bad enough it won't matter how much more shipping will be. And realistically speaking..given the rate of dollar exchange between CAN and the US I hoestly don't really care how much shipping is (please refer to the use of USPS here...couriers are crap..they charge a lot more to you the seller when shipping and me the buyer when it gets here...the pluses they provide are nowhere near the drawbacks...USPS moves just as fast in most cases as UPS). It's sad that the original poster will no longer sell to anyone outside the US as he is likely missing out on a lot of potential buyers that could increase the final bid price...but it is their option. Either way best of luck in future auctions to all who do business that way.

Kent