why do some US sellers refuse to ship to Canada?

[frankcastle]

A seller was offering to sell an item for 150 shipped in the US. I offered an extra $10 on top to ship to Canada and the person refused without looking into a price citing it would be too expensive.

On the one hand perhaps he assumes that I am not willing to budge on the price I offered and thus refusing it.

But on the other hand I recently bought two items that cost $16 and $31 to ship to Canada. The item that I bid on was probably going to be within that range for size. So I figured if the person is willing to sell for $150 shipped in the US maybe shipping costs about $10 depending on where it is going so by offering an additional $10 that puts me at $20 somewhere in the middle of two previous items that I saw the shipping rates printed right on the box.

In my mind the person might have been willing to lower the price a bit for a US customer so by offering the full amount I figured it would work out to be about the same for him or her either way.

I'm not familiar with USPS website but in Canada you can get a quote from home is it the same in the USA?

[Imaginos]

Shipping to Canada costs more and also requires more investment. You have to complete a customs form as well. More hassle than I want to deal with for anyone other than my mother-in-law.

[frankcastle]

I understand the cost to an extent but I foot the bill on shipping so why does that even matter to the seller.

As for the customs for I wasn't aware of that. What is it like? For shipping from Canada to US you have to fill a form with your address the recipients address the contents and value. And for contents you could be as vauge as toys or figurines. Is it more involved than that?

I guess I am surprised as for me to ship to a box anywhere I have to line up and pay. For international shipping it is the same process plus the form I described above. It takes about 5 additional minutes or less to fill out.

Obviously I don't mind if someone decides not to sell to me I am just surprised as if I am offering asking price or within 10% and willing to foot the bill on shipping and I am taking the whole lot of their hands. I find it strange that the form (if it is like in Canada) is what breaks the deal.

[Imaginos]

I wasn't as clear when I typed that. I have to stand in line at the post office to ship with the customs form instead of prebuying it and just dropping.

[kturock]

I wasn't as clear when I typed that. I have to stand in line at the post office to ship with the customs form instead of prebuying it and just dropping.

Every online postage site, also has the customs forms; Paypal and USPS.com.
You can use flat rate boxes, but you don't have as many to choose from.

[pixelgeek]

I wasn't as clear when I typed that. I have to stand in line at the post office to ship with the customs form instead of prebuying it and just dropping.

Really? Stand in a line?! And fill out a form.

Holy crap. Its like living in the Soviet Union in the 70s.

[pretre]

Listen to kturock. You can print shipping for Canada now so no more waiting at the post office.

Paypal.com/shipnow is your friend. (Also allows you to print first class which is awesome.)

My only problem with Canada now is time delay. If the buyer is willing to pay shipping, I'll do it though.

[Imaginos]

I wasn't as clear when I typed that. I have to stand in line at the post office to ship with the customs form instead of prebuying it and just dropping.

Really? Stand in a line?! And fill out a form.

Holy crap. Its like living in the Soviet Union in the 70s.

I work more than 40 hours a week at a manufacturing plant. My time off is obviously more valuable to me than yours is to you. Plus factoring in the hours the post office window is open. Yeah, you can do it for me.

[Imaginos]

I wasn't as clear when I typed that. I have to stand in line at the post office to ship with the customs form instead of prebuying it and just dropping.

Every online postage site, also has the customs forms; Paypal and USPS.com.
You can use flat rate boxes, but you don't have as many to choose from.

This is good and helpful information. I did not realize the customs form was available online. I have a postal scale at home, so flat rate isn't necessary. Thanks for the info K!

[starslayer]

Shipping to Canada costs more and also requires more investment. You have to complete a customs form as well. More hassle than I want to deal with for anyone other than my mother-in-law.

Im in the same boat. And an extra $10 isn't going to cut it. The extra cost to ship to Canada is most likely a lot more than $10 extra. Sorry.
It would have to be an awesome deal.

[kturock]

$10 for 1st class is about right. For priority mial, which has tracking ist's $20-40 off.

[MagickalMemories]

I don't like to ship to Canada and almost always refuse to ship anywhere outside North America (with a few, VERY SPECIFIC exceptions). There almost always seems to be a hassle in shipping outside the US.
Whether it's the extra form (almost a non-issue for me... just something I roll my eyes about LOL) or the extra cost or the longer transit time or something else, there is almost ALWAYS a problem when I ship to Canada.
The only non-paying bidders I've ever had on Feebay are from Canada, so I don't ship there via Feebay anymore unless I am desperate to sell the item.
There was a time when, if you shipped to Canada from the US, the only semi-reasonable (cost-wise) tracking you could get was an extra $12 on top of your shipping costs... and not everywhere in Canada was eligible. So, without shipping costing a fortune, there was no relaible way to track packages. Even when you could, it was still pretty expensive.
Now, people are having more luck tracking packages within Canada using the # on the Customs form... but it's still not 100%, which makes me unwilling to risk it.

Truthfully... I blame it on PayPal.
I only accept PayPal payments. Everything else takes too long for me in this "I want it NOW!" world we live in. If I send something to someone in Canada without tracking, and the Customs form doesn't register online for whatever reason, all the recipient has to do is say it never arrived. My proof of shipping doesn't mean squat anymore. I'm out the money. Too many people are willing to use the anonymity of the internet to do that now for my tastes. Paying for the $12 (or whatever it costs now) cuts into my profits so deep that it's not worth the sale. If I ask the seller to pay for it, they can ding my eBay rating for shipping costs being excessive. It's a no-win.


Eric

[pixelgeek]

I work more than 40 hours a week at a manufacturing plant. My time off is obviously more valuable to me than yours is to you.

Every person who doesn't live in the US who ships to the US goes through the same issues and hardly (if ever) see anyone not want to ship to the US.

If you don't want to ship outside of the US then go ahead but please don't make it sound as if you have to march through snow both ways to do it.

[MagickalMemories]

First:
Let's make sure to keep it friendly, folks.

Second:
The difference is that US Customs doesn't regularly hold up incoming packages for a week or more.
When shipping to Canada, more than half of my shipments, I'd estimate, have seen a week (5 days - business week) in Customs. I had one package there for a month and a half, with no explanation... and it was never even opened.

Eric

[Imaginos]

I work more than 40 hours a week at a manufacturing plant. My time off is obviously more valuable to me than yours is to you.

Every person who doesn't live in the US who ships to the US goes through the same issues and hardly (if ever) see anyone not want to ship to the US.

If you don't want to ship outside of the US then go ahead but please don't make it sound as if you have to march through snow both ways to do it.

If you look at DakkaDakka, there are plenty of people who don't want to deal with shipping out of their country. Bartertown is a US-centric site, so you will find many more US people here, and people who are willing to ship to the US. Just as you said, don't make it sound like just because people here want to trade with people in the US that it is because everyone outside the US is so awesome and those inside the US suxxor. Heck, I've seen people here who don't want to ship outside of Canada, and I've seen some who only want to do local trades. Those are few and far between, but they are there.

I actually do occasionally deal with Canadian traders (in discussion with one right now). The OP asked why people don't do it. I gave some valid reasons and did personalize it. I'm not making it sound like you are reading into it. But I am being up front that there is more involved in shipping to Canada than shipping to another US trader. He asked why people don't want to. I gave some valid reasons. I am willing to, but it has to benefit me to deal with the extra involved.