Hinckley Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Am I being duped? A BL seller is trying to charge me $56 to ship to the US. + $5 paypal fee. Is that ludicrous? The package contains 600 old style train track. I can't imagine that being very heavy or difficult to package. Am I missing something?
Lego12 Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Whoa! That is VERY expensive! I think he's trying to rip you off because how can it cost $56!?! Lego12
Quarryman Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 600 pieces, each 3 grams. (unless I severely misunderstood what you're buying) That should be around 1.8 kg. Guess it depends on what kind of shipping, did a quick check on usps.com, cheapest alternative would be 30.10 USD to have a similar package sent from the US to France. So I suppose there are some cheaper alternatives available.
Erdbeereis Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 That seems a bit fishy to me as well... I'm not positive about this of course, seeing as I'm not a professional package shipper but I can't imagine that it would cost that much.
simonwillems Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Of course packages are made of gold in France! You must be an American to not know that sort of obvious things...! It might have something to do with taxes, occasionally those can be pretty hefty, I got charged lately for sending a package from Switzerland (which is not part of the European Union and Holland is) to my home and paid 30 euros in taxe, after paying 20 euros for the shippingcosts.... I think it works similarly when shipping overseas.
brickzone Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 I find it usually not worth while to buy from ebay sellers in France, even just shipping to Ireland. The usual postage method ("Collissimo"?) seems to cost a small fortune. I would not assume the seller is trying to con you unfortunately.
CP5670 Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 I bought a 5571 truck from a guy in France some time in 2004 and that huge box cost $60 to ship. The dollar has depreciated since then though, so it's possible that smaller packages will cost as much. I'm not sure what kind of track you're referring to but 600 of the modern track pieces would result in a pretty substantial box. You should dispute that Paypal fee though, especially when it's that high. A seller dumping the Paypal fees onto the buyer is against Paypal's own TOS.
Ralph_S Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Having sent a few things to the US from the UK, I know that the Royal Mail charges about a Pound (currently about $1.75 about per 100 grams). that would mean that 1.8kg (excl. packaging) would cost about $32. That said, the French mail have an online calculator to calculate the cost of sending international mail. Shipping 1.8kg costs €12.50. Shipping it such that it needs to be signed for and that the seller gets a confirmation that you've received it costs €21.80 or (by coincidence) about $32. http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/DF_postal.shtml# Perhaps he is insuring it. Ask the seller for more information. Cheers, Ralph
Siegfried Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 Possibly. The $5 Paypal fee is insane; it doesn't cost that much and I personally think PayPal is a good deal. Can you demand a receipt?
castlestrike666 Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 (edited) 600 pieces, each 3 grams. (unless I severely misunderstood what you're buying) That should be around 1.8 kg. Guess it depends on what kind of shipping, did a quick check on usps.com, cheapest alternative would be 30.10 USD to have a similar package sent from the US to France. So I suppose there are some cheaper alternatives available. I don't think that you'll get a cheaper alternative... The US are (for as good as everything) cheaper than Europe! So it's the same with shipment! And I have to say that I've already bought quite a lot in the US, and paid a fortune (that I otherwise could use for Lego!!) to shipment! It's the same everywhere! Shipment is expensive! I think you should just pay that amount.. Personally I don't think that this person will trick you! I've just calculated with our Belgian post office service, and if you'd buy the same parts here, it would also be $44. Maybe it's also an insured package? And about that paypal fee.. Normally you can find this in his "store policies". If it isn't mentioned anywhere, normally he can't charge you this! Important note! Keep in mind that some post offices don't just look at the weight of the box, but also the measurements! And I don't think that 600 tracks will fit in a small parcel box Maybe you should buy some more stuff from his shop to compensate? I've done this too in the past! Just till the box is full AND for the same price! Grtz Cs666 Edited September 25, 2008 by castlestrike666
The Cobra Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 (edited) I checked Poste Italiane; Pacco ordinario is the cheapest (and obviously slowest) way to send a package; unfortunately, shipping costs are not available online but only by inquiring at the local post office. On the other hand, a speed parcel service is available (Pacco celere internazionale), which is supposed to reach the U.S. within 3 days. Sending 0,5 KG costs 41,55 Euros. (You may add 5,68 for insurance). Yeah, that's quite a lot. Edited September 25, 2008 by The Cobra
Zorro Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 Shipping FROM France IS very expensive, just like shipping from Belgium is... Its a bit cheaper within the European Union and its a lot cheaper within and/or between the BeNeLux and France. Concerning you: Shipping is VERY expensive to the USA, especcialy because they offer a small guaranteed insurance in their standard packaging, also the exchange rate euro to dollar should be considered. SO: I must agree with castlestrike666 about the fact it is a normal price... And do make sure you check about the insurance. 5$ paypal fee is a lot. You should first try to work something out with him and if that doesnt work you might consider making an official complaint to ebay... BTW doesnt ebay USA have some kind of calculator for shipping?? I hope you can work it out with the guy, much luck !
castlestrike666 Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 You should first try to work something out with him and if that doesnt work you might consider making an official complaint to ebay...BTW doesnt ebay USA have some kind of calculator for shipping?? It's from Bricklink
Zorro Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 It's from Bricklink Darn.... Er...Well, everybody can make a mistake.... Still, he should try to contact the seller and work something out. I think I thought of ebay because i have seen complaints about S&h being too high down there a lot.
CP5670 Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 And about that paypal fee.. Normally you can find this in his "store policies". If it isn't mentioned anywhere, normally he can't charge you this! Even if he does mention it, it's still against Paypal's rules for him to charge that or have such policies. I wouldn't quibble over it if it was a very small amount, but $5 for that is silly. As you said though, I don't think the shipping price is that surprising. 600 tracks will require a big box.
JINZONINGEN73 Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 Whenever I bought like Transformers decoys or whatnot from France off eBay, it ALWAYS cost me an arm and a leg. I stopped buying anything from France altogether. 600 choo-choo tracks? Damn, that's a big pakage!
castlestrike666 Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 Even if he does mention it, it's still against Paypal's rules for him to charge that or have such policies. I wouldn't quibble over it if it was a very small amount, but $5 for that is silly.As you said though, I don't think the shipping price is that surprising. 600 tracks will require a big box. I think the paypal fee is based on the amount that is paid. So in this case, 600 tracks will be a few 100 bucks I think? I'm far from a trainfan, so I don't know the prices very well.. That's where the $5 is coming from. I must say that there are A LOT of members on Bricklink that ask the paypal fee they have to pay! More than you even think! First thing I do is checking the Store Policies, because most of the time they mention whether they charge paypal fees, whether they use a fixed currency rating (for instance 1$ = 0.85€) and so on! I think this seller is one of the many using this fee charge, and shipment is normal. Before you order from a country far away of yours: ASK THE SHIPMENT COST!!! Then you can't complain afterwards!! I always do that! When it's too much, no order! Just as simple as that!
Shadows Posted September 26, 2008 Posted September 26, 2008 The fee may not be against Paypal terms, they vary by country. I know that Germany, for example, can charge a fee without violating terms. The shipping seems incredibly high, but it's actually a fairly large package and I have heard, as some have mentioned here, that France has bad rates. I'm betting you're stuck. I still think the better place to ask would have been Bricklink. It shouldn't be hard to find someone with a similar experience who can verify how likely this is to be accurate. I know I felt like I paid too much to get the premier edition book from Germany, and that was shipped through some form of media mail, so I'm not completely surprised here. Still sucks though.
brickzone Posted September 26, 2008 Posted September 26, 2008 Shipping for 2kg from Ireland, just for comparison, would cost €30 by standard mail (i.e. the very slow cheapest service). That's nearly $45!
eti Posted October 6, 2008 Posted October 6, 2008 sending stuff to the US _is_ expensive... but how it works exactly in France is unclear to me. Buying from Ebay in France is normally prohibitive, but on Bricklink there's 1001Bricks who advertizes 'We have the cheapest shipping in the world!' - Apparently he shops at all available shipping companies (not just regular French mail) and he finds much cheaper deals that way. (not to adevertize that shop - it's a good shop but quite expensive too apart from shipping - but just to say maybe it's so expensive because seller didn't browse for cheaper alternatives)
Hinckley Posted October 7, 2008 Author Posted October 7, 2008 Before you order from a country far away of yours: ASK THE SHIPMENT COST!!! Then you can't complain afterwards!! I always do that! When it's too much, no order! Just as simple as that! Look, my rating is over 300 on Bricklink and I order all the time from overseas. Thanks for the advice, but I'm not an idiot. My problem here is the person's splash page gives no warning that they will charge $5 paypal fee plus the fact that the base shipping cost is astronomical. There's no shipping chart, anything like that-like a lot of International Sellers have. The other problem I have is the original invoice stated an $18 option, but then added $33 instead. When I asked for clarification, she said she mixed up some invoices and added $38 as the cheapest option instead. I'm having trouble trusting this person because there's no mention of the $5 fee in the splash page and because the shipping rate seems to be fluctuating as well. I will say that I believe this is the first time I've ordered from France, at least for quite some time, and I won't be doing it again any time soon. Yes, this one person has ruined the entire country for me.
CP5670 Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 If you complain enough and the seller is otherwise decent, they may still let you cancel the order. I got into a situation last year when I didn't know about the fake exchange rate issue and placed an order from a Belgian guy who was doing that, but he was good enough to let me drop the order. Lasting Toys' splash page actually says that the shipping being too much is a valid reason to cancel an order by Bricklink policies, although I haven't checked that. The fee may not be against Paypal terms, they vary by country. I know that Germany, for example, can charge a fee without violating terms. The shipping seems incredibly high, but it's actually a fairly large package and I have heard, as some have mentioned here, that France has bad rates. Interesting, I didn't know that. I remember some years ago, many European sellers did not take Paypal and only accepted the Bidpay/Western Union money orders, which place the fees on the buyer. Maybe Paypal dropped that rule in Europe to compete better. I used to buy stuff from Germany and Italy a lot back then, although I rarely do these days.
Hinckley Posted October 16, 2008 Author Posted October 16, 2008 Yikes! The package came in the mail today and it was huge! I didn't realize how much or how heavy 600 pieces of track were. That was goofy of me. Of course the shipping fee was fair. Wow! That's a lot of track, what will I be doing with it?
Captain Green Hair Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 Yikes! The package came in the mail today and it was huge! I didn't realize how much or how heavy 600 pieces of track were. That was goofy of me. Of course the shipping fee was fair. Wow! That's a lot of track, what will I be doing with it? Build a big Choo Choo, put on your Fabuland suit and ride around the house?
Hinckley Posted October 16, 2008 Author Posted October 16, 2008 your Fabuland suit ... Oh, the images in my head!
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