Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Now, is it that easy if I want to do business with dealers in the USA (or indeed elsewhere)? What about dealers on SOR? And what about insurance for expensive items?
And a supplementary: could a UK resident easily contribute to SOR's approvals scheme? Or would postage, etc., make it not worthwhile?
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Ian, I don't see why you couldn't easily participate, even if the bulk of buyers are US. We do have UK and continental members, too, of course.
as to buying from the US, I don't believe we have insurance available outside the US through USPS, although private insurance might be available, assuming I understand your question correctly.
I routinely buy from Canada (closer, geographically, but postally on the other side of the world) and trade with Europe and Indian subcontinent.
it's all about having ... or wanting ... the others' goods.
David
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I am Dutch and sell a lot through the approvals. I do not have the impression postage costs are chasing away the customers.
The only downside is that the money one receives (mostly on Paypal) needs to be exchanged to Euros and that costs a bit, but when you take that into account when establishing the selling price of your items, there are no problems. With the fluctuating exchange rates there are even moments you have unexpected extra profit (a few months ago, when the Euro was extremely weak) and sometimes the end result is a bit less.
Postage from the Netherlands to the USA is about as expensive (or even cheaper) than sending from Canada to the USA or from the USA to the UK.
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"I don't believe we have insurance available outside the US through USPS"
Yes it is on Global Express Guaranteed, Priority Mail Express International, and Priority Mail International. Coverage is up to $5000, which varies by country, and many countries are excluded.
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thanks for the correction, Michael
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Guthram, I am in the UK and have bought from many sellers in the USA both here on SOR and elsewhere and touch wood have never had a problem, unlike a couple of UK transactions that have been problematic.
As for selling on SOR again no problem, it is only the lack of time which prevents me from selling now
regards
martyn
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Hi All,
As a french colony collector I have quite a few dealers and auction houses I work with in France for more expensive items. As a WW collector I have made purchases from all over the globe on stamp sites, ebay, delcampe just about any source you can imagine for less expensive and bulk material. I have always used paypal and have not had 1 ( knock on wood ) problem.
I have had several more expensive items show up as forgeries and have had no problem working out an arrangement with the seller.
Hope you find the same !
Jere
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Hi Ian,
I live in Minnesota USA and have bought many (many, many) items from the UK, France, The Netherlands and even the Crimea and have never had any problems. Postage generally takes about 10 days. Cost of postage is a little more expensive from the UK, but when you want that stamp ... you just want that stamp. Penny Blacks have been my downfall. 
The slowest postage that I've seen has been from the Philippines, closely followed by Canada. The fastest postage, can you believe it, was from the Crimea(before their current problems).
Regards ... Tim.
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I just received an envelope from India and another from the Ukraine...no problems US to Canada seems to have been my longest and slowest delivery....Postage charged by US sellers have also been the most expensive.It is cheaper for me to have US purchases sent to a friend in Vermont and she remails them to me for half what the original seller charges...I saved 20$ several weeks ago to make a Penny Black purchase
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Thanks, everyone, for your replies. The broad answer seems to be that, yes, it is that easy! Good. The bank balance is preparing to diminish as I write...
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I have just collected a registered package that was posted in UK on 11th. May and arrived in Manitoba this morning. More Machins to add to the collection.
Have had no problems with post from Hong Kong, South Africa, Spain, Greece, France, and Australia. Some in Uk will not post abroad so have to get posted to daughter in Salop who then sends them onward.
Vic
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I received a registered package today in California that was mailed in Hungary on April 29th. I was beginning to worry.
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I have been fortunate with my overseas purchases, including UK, Netherlands, Spain, and Australia (including snowy12 right here on SOR 
. (And, of course, CANADA, again no issues here. 
)
I recently bought a bunch of stamps from Belgium on the "big site" and the envelope was franked VERY nicely with Belgian stamps. I received it within a week of purchase.
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I've purchased from many different European countries, Sweden, Hungary, Romania, UK, Italy etc. Used EBay and PayPal every time and postage costs were negligible compared to cost of the stamps. However, as I recall, Canada postage costs are a different story.
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I'm sharing the same experience as most of you. I'm in Norway, and all the items I have purchased have been from abroad. I started 'carefully' with western countries, and expanded east with a slight bit of concern for never receiving an item. By now I have purchased hundreds of items from all continents - even from 'low'rated sellers from far-away places - everything has arrived promptly. So, I have no concern anymore at all.
And even better - I always request the seller to use nice stamps or souvenirs for postage, which most of them do. That makes the postage cost a bit less annoying.
Jon
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I've bought material from women before. No problem.
Kidding aside I have not had any problems either. The postal service in Minnesota seems to work smoothly.
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I have recently been buying quite a lot of material from sellers on Delcampe.com, most of whom are Eastern Europeans, with no problems at all. Shipping costs are far more reasonable than what many eBay sellers charge. When I first started buying on Delcampe, about five years ago, there were occasional difficulties resulting form the lack of a common language, but that doesn't seem to be a problem now. And most dealers accept PayPal payments.
Bob
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I live in Australia and I think our postal charges are very high ,but by the same token we can send up to 50 grams before the weight and cost go up.
I sell in the auctions and in the approvals (which I don't have any at the moment, reverse self advertising lol)
I do hold lots so members can get cheaper postage and have no trouble selling my spare or unwanted items in both auctions and approvals.
Brian
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Hi Folks,
I'm in Australia and have been selling and buying "on Line" for over 15 years - very few problems which, can be solved with good communication between buyer and seller.
The postage issue is ok if you buy 50 to 100 stamps - ( you might have to do a "sample Buy' to see how your seller packs and presents the stamps and to see how his/her quality is).
Postage time CAN be up to six weeks from some places - Above all, talk to your seller and you should have no real issues.
Remember you can get a lot of very good quality stamps for $20.00 these days from almost any country.
Steve.
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For years I have done postal business with a select few stamp dealers from my own country (the UK) and one from the Netherlands (Postbeeld). The latter has a Paypal option which converts British money to euros, which I pay on a debit card.
Now, is it that easy if I want to do business with dealers in the USA (or indeed elsewhere)? What about dealers on SOR? And what about insurance for expensive items?
And a supplementary: could a UK resident easily contribute to SOR's approvals scheme? Or would postage, etc., make it not worthwhile?
Login to Like
this post
re: Buying material from abroad
Ian, I don't see why you couldn't easily participate, even if the bulk of buyers are US. We do have UK and continental members, too, of course.
as to buying from the US, I don't believe we have insurance available outside the US through USPS, although private insurance might be available, assuming I understand your question correctly.
I routinely buy from Canada (closer, geographically, but postally on the other side of the world) and trade with Europe and Indian subcontinent.
it's all about having ... or wanting ... the others' goods.
David
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Approvals
re: Buying material from abroad
I am Dutch and sell a lot through the approvals. I do not have the impression postage costs are chasing away the customers.
The only downside is that the money one receives (mostly on Paypal) needs to be exchanged to Euros and that costs a bit, but when you take that into account when establishing the selling price of your items, there are no problems. With the fluctuating exchange rates there are even moments you have unexpected extra profit (a few months ago, when the Euro was extremely weak) and sometimes the end result is a bit less.
Postage from the Netherlands to the USA is about as expensive (or even cheaper) than sending from Canada to the USA or from the USA to the UK.
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02:41:45pm
re: Buying material from abroad
"I don't believe we have insurance available outside the US through USPS"
Yes it is on Global Express Guaranteed, Priority Mail Express International, and Priority Mail International. Coverage is up to $5000, which varies by country, and many countries are excluded.
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re: Buying material from abroad
thanks for the correction, Michael
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03:46:35pm
re: Buying material from abroad
Guthram, I am in the UK and have bought from many sellers in the USA both here on SOR and elsewhere and touch wood have never had a problem, unlike a couple of UK transactions that have been problematic.
As for selling on SOR again no problem, it is only the lack of time which prevents me from selling now
regards
martyn
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
05:18:03pm
re: Buying material from abroad
Hi All,
As a french colony collector I have quite a few dealers and auction houses I work with in France for more expensive items. As a WW collector I have made purchases from all over the globe on stamp sites, ebay, delcampe just about any source you can imagine for less expensive and bulk material. I have always used paypal and have not had 1 ( knock on wood ) problem.
I have had several more expensive items show up as forgeries and have had no problem working out an arrangement with the seller.
Hope you find the same !
Jere
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Buying material from abroad
Hi Ian,
I live in Minnesota USA and have bought many (many, many) items from the UK, France, The Netherlands and even the Crimea and have never had any problems. Postage generally takes about 10 days. Cost of postage is a little more expensive from the UK, but when you want that stamp ... you just want that stamp. Penny Blacks have been my downfall. The slowest postage that I've seen has been from the Philippines, closely followed by Canada. The fastest postage, can you believe it, was from the Crimea(before their current problems).
Regards ... Tim.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
07:49:37pm
re: Buying material from abroad
I just received an envelope from India and another from the Ukraine...no problems US to Canada seems to have been my longest and slowest delivery....Postage charged by US sellers have also been the most expensive.It is cheaper for me to have US purchases sent to a friend in Vermont and she remails them to me for half what the original seller charges...I saved 20$ several weeks ago to make a Penny Black purchase
Login to Like
this post
re: Buying material from abroad
Thanks, everyone, for your replies. The broad answer seems to be that, yes, it is that easy! Good. The bank balance is preparing to diminish as I write...
Login to Like
this post
re: Buying material from abroad
I have just collected a registered package that was posted in UK on 11th. May and arrived in Manitoba this morning. More Machins to add to the collection.
Have had no problems with post from Hong Kong, South Africa, Spain, Greece, France, and Australia. Some in Uk will not post abroad so have to get posted to daughter in Salop who then sends them onward.
Vic
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Buying material from abroad
I received a registered package today in California that was mailed in Hungary on April 29th. I was beginning to worry.
Login to Like
this post
re: Buying material from abroad
I have been fortunate with my overseas purchases, including UK, Netherlands, Spain, and Australia (including snowy12 right here on SOR . (And, of course, CANADA, again no issues here. )
I recently bought a bunch of stamps from Belgium on the "big site" and the envelope was franked VERY nicely with Belgian stamps. I received it within a week of purchase.
Login to Like
this post
re: Buying material from abroad
I've purchased from many different European countries, Sweden, Hungary, Romania, UK, Italy etc. Used EBay and PayPal every time and postage costs were negligible compared to cost of the stamps. However, as I recall, Canada postage costs are a different story.
Login to Like
this post
re: Buying material from abroad
I'm sharing the same experience as most of you. I'm in Norway, and all the items I have purchased have been from abroad. I started 'carefully' with western countries, and expanded east with a slight bit of concern for never receiving an item. By now I have purchased hundreds of items from all continents - even from 'low'rated sellers from far-away places - everything has arrived promptly. So, I have no concern anymore at all.
And even better - I always request the seller to use nice stamps or souvenirs for postage, which most of them do. That makes the postage cost a bit less annoying.
Jon
Login to Like
this post
re: Buying material from abroad
I've bought material from women before. No problem.
Kidding aside I have not had any problems either. The postal service in Minnesota seems to work smoothly.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Buying material from abroad
I have recently been buying quite a lot of material from sellers on Delcampe.com, most of whom are Eastern Europeans, with no problems at all. Shipping costs are far more reasonable than what many eBay sellers charge. When I first started buying on Delcampe, about five years ago, there were occasional difficulties resulting form the lack of a common language, but that doesn't seem to be a problem now. And most dealers accept PayPal payments.
Bob
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this post
Auctions
re: Buying material from abroad
I live in Australia and I think our postal charges are very high ,but by the same token we can send up to 50 grams before the weight and cost go up.
I sell in the auctions and in the approvals (which I don't have any at the moment, reverse self advertising lol)
I do hold lots so members can get cheaper postage and have no trouble selling my spare or unwanted items in both auctions and approvals.
Brian
Login to Like
this post
re: Buying material from abroad
Hi Folks,
I'm in Australia and have been selling and buying "on Line" for over 15 years - very few problems which, can be solved with good communication between buyer and seller.
The postage issue is ok if you buy 50 to 100 stamps - ( you might have to do a "sample Buy' to see how your seller packs and presents the stamps and to see how his/her quality is).
Postage time CAN be up to six weeks from some places - Above all, talk to your seller and you should have no real issues.
Remember you can get a lot of very good quality stamps for $20.00 these days from almost any country.
Steve.
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