Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
03:40:39pm
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"Let the buyer decide if shipping is too expensive."
How many buyers will be willing to pay $17.85 shipping for a couple dozen stamps? That is the current rate for First-Class Package International Service. According to the USPS merchandise may not be mailed under the First-Class Mail International rate.
If a seller were to quote this rate for export shipments, I expect there would be many loud complaints about exorbitant shipping charges.
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06:23:29pm
"If a seller were to quote this rate for export shipments, I expect there would be many loud complaints about exorbitant shipping charges."
Why not let us buyers decide what we are, or are not, willing to pay? I would be willing to pay that amount for good material. I don't like other people telling me what I would like or what I would not like. If the seller were to advertise the fact that he/she was charging the true international rate then I would make my own decision, depending on the material, whether I would, or would not, buy from that seller. I'd rather do that than feel like I am being discriminated against! Advertise your shipping up front and I will decide whether or not I am going to buy!
EDIT: when we are considering whether or not to buy an item the area we end up in has a sub-area called this: Payment and Shipping Terms. If the seller is going to charge the first class shipping price the seller could make that fact known here. If it's a 10 cent item we could pass if we wished. If the item was more highly priced or one of several higher priced items we were buying from this seller we might very well decide to go ahead with the sale. At least this way we have the choice ourselves and do not feel like the decision was in someone else's hands. This is just a suggestion and seems to make sense to me.
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I couldn't agree more. Everything I buy on SOR comes by standard mail for a couple of dollars, the fear of getting "caught" by the USPS doesn't seem to bother most sellers. I really get annoyed when I see Australian stamps that the seller won't ship to Australia
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@Harvey
Is this just for material offered on SoR?
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I frequently buy from several great Canadian sellers here on SOR. I'm waiting on an envelope now. I've never had a problem. A number 10 envelope with an international first class stamp or the equivalent works just fine. I can't see why a U.S. seller wouldn't sell to a Canadian buyer.
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08:57:24am
For example - there was a wonderful book just posted with US revenue stamps. I would have easily spent over $100 because of the great stuff there! And no I'm not going to email the seller and ask for a special favour, obviously he/she has no interest in selling to me. I would have gladly paid the international fee for this material!!
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@Harvey
What was the book on U.S. Revenues?
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11:33:45am
@1899 There's some great stuff here!!!!
https://stamporama.com/approvals/approva ...
Almost half of it has sold already, unfortunately not to me!!!
EDIT: @1899 Please don't take this the wrong way, it really isn't meant as a criticism, but you really should check the new books whenever you go into SoR. Quite often there is very good material there. I have a look several times a day and very rarely regret it. Even though I couldn't buy from the book being mentioned there was some great material there to check out!
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@Harvey
I do not see the book you are referring (maybe I'm extra dense today), would you please describe it? As a courtesy?
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12:11:30pm
That link takes you to the first page of the book being discussed.
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Personally, I would have no problem mailing stamps to Canada using International First Class (no customs declaration). Based on what I have learned here, there is little chance of such a mailing encountering any problems. I don't think the USPS gets involved in checking whether UPU regulations on customs forms are being followed. If there is any issue with such a shipment, I would think it would be with Canadian customs. Some sellers probably do not understand the low level of risks involved in non compliant shipments and therefore have decided not to ship to Canada. Yes, they should offer Canadian buyers the opportunity to decide for themselves if they are willing to incur a high shipping cost, but may be assuming that very few would be willing to bear the high cost and that some would feel that a much higher shipping cost is unfair.
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@Harvey
Are you talking about approval book and not a published book?
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02:25:01pm
Yes, that's what this post is all about!!!
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02:46:13pm
I just want to make something clear. I have a huge amount of respect for all sellers here, even those who want to charge full international rates since that is their right if they wish to do so. I, obviously, would not pay this amount for $1 worth of stamps unless there was something there I wanted very badly. And that could happen! For example there are some very inexpensive items I want that just never show up. I would just very much appreciate the right to choose whether or not to do so. That doesn't seem to me to be a huge ask, in my opinion.
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@Harvey
I can understand the debacle.
That is why I charge the rock-bottom minimum for international shipping, and read some USPS shipping documents, where I kind of, found a loophole:
As we are a UPU member country and so is Canada and the land down under, and basically everyone but Andorra, we can legally ship each other stamps, without additional tarrifs or fees. That is how I can ship to anywhere for extremely low-prices, and I do. (Well, except DPRK, Russia, & War-Torn Areas I cannot legally ship to anyway!)
I cannot say the same for coins, albums, and philatelic gear though.
I will happily ship to wherever you are, and am making a very nice revenue stamps book soon.
(No part-perfs, and these are from a separate collection lot I bough from a very reputable seller, and I have spent A LOT of time educating myself on revenues.)
That book will be out before the first week of April is out.
On a side note, the Tarrifs, will not effect first class letters globally, under 3.5ozs
You can check out my approval books here: https://stamporama.com/approvals/approvals_main.php?action=102&usr=PhilatelistMag20
I just recently posted a very nice Mexican book with the largest amount of Mexican X-Mas seals, and things are selling fast.
-Ari 
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05:05:50pm
"am making a very nice revenue stamps book soon"
Thanks Ari, I'll look forward to it!!!
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Trend? This has become the norm and has been so for some time now which isn't limited to just philatelic items.
Philately isn't my only hobby and I buy things internationally all of the time from collectables, parts to special tools for my smithing hobby. It is a pain in the forth point of contact to have filter through those sellers that don't ship to yours/my location. It is an even bigger pain in the forth point of contact when the item is located within our own country as an example: sellers that don't ship to California or other domestic locations sometimes for legitimate reasons but most of the time for conspiracy theorist or political reasons. If that becomes an issue I just move on to the next seller its that simple.
I'm with Harvey and others on this topic. I'll decide what I am willing to spend and not have someone I don't know tell me what I can. Moreover if it is that big of an issue for someone to sell to me because of where I live in the world. They can keep their stuff I don't want it.
Jeremy
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@Sarge
Well said Sir!
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Thank you. I call things the way I see them.
Jeremy
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"we can legally ship each other stamps, without additional tarrifs or fees."
I would love to here the source of this statement. The USPS website seems to contradict this assertion.
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Unless I am mistaken, if you want to send dutiable goods internationally through the USPS, the least expensive way is the First-Class Package International (FCPI) Service with a customs declaration. As has been mentioned here, FCPI prices start at $17.85 and that is for packages that weigh under 8oz and mailed to Price Group 1 which is Canada.
First-Class Mail International (FCMI) can only be used to send correspondence or other non-negotiable documents in a letter that weighs up to 3.5 oz or large envelope that weighs under 15.94 oz and cannot contain any merchandise. Including merchandise in mail sent as FCMI is illegal and can be considered a form of mail fraud, a federal crime. If it is not caught by the USPS, but by the receiving country, the material may be confiscated and destroyed, no questions asked.
I agree with previous statements that if you want to send stamps internationally, you have to inform the buyer the cost of shipping by FCPI and let him/her decide on whether they want to proceed.
I have made the decision not to ship outside the United States because I do not want to deal with customs forms.
Fred
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01:53:32pm
"I have made the decision not to ship outside the United States because I do not want to deal with customs forms."
That sounds like a good reason that I didn't even think about! I hate forms myself and understand exactly where you're coming from! Have a great week everyone out there and sorry if I stirred things up a bit!
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That is fine!
I learned something.
I am still going to ship internationally though.
Almost very international eBay order on the site comes via first class letter.
-Ari
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I do limit the countries I will ship to outside of the US both here and on Hipstamp. I have had problems with many lost shipments to some countries so I do not ship to them anymore. I will not sell anything LARGE that can not be sent in a small envelope. I guess I am skirting the rules because I just place a First Class International Forever Stamp on these envelopes. I never had an issue with any shipment to Canada. (Hope I did not just jinx myself !) Steve
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
21 Mar 2025
03:40:39pm
I'm not going to list the sellers doing this but "not selling outside the US" is starting to become a trend here in both auctions and approvals. When I get a bit of time I'm going to delete these sellers. I know sellers here can do as they wish but this is starting to be a bit annoying! It's a real pain to see something you'd like to have only to find that you can't have it! It seems to show up mostly with approvals! Consider me peeved!
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re: Is this trend going to continue?
"Let the buyer decide if shipping is too expensive."
How many buyers will be willing to pay $17.85 shipping for a couple dozen stamps? That is the current rate for First-Class Package International Service. According to the USPS merchandise may not be mailed under the First-Class Mail International rate.
If a seller were to quote this rate for export shipments, I expect there would be many loud complaints about exorbitant shipping charges.
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
21 Mar 2025
06:23:29pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
"If a seller were to quote this rate for export shipments, I expect there would be many loud complaints about exorbitant shipping charges."
Why not let us buyers decide what we are, or are not, willing to pay? I would be willing to pay that amount for good material. I don't like other people telling me what I would like or what I would not like. If the seller were to advertise the fact that he/she was charging the true international rate then I would make my own decision, depending on the material, whether I would, or would not, buy from that seller. I'd rather do that than feel like I am being discriminated against! Advertise your shipping up front and I will decide whether or not I am going to buy!
EDIT: when we are considering whether or not to buy an item the area we end up in has a sub-area called this: Payment and Shipping Terms. If the seller is going to charge the first class shipping price the seller could make that fact known here. If it's a 10 cent item we could pass if we wished. If the item was more highly priced or one of several higher priced items we were buying from this seller we might very well decide to go ahead with the sale. At least this way we have the choice ourselves and do not feel like the decision was in someone else's hands. This is just a suggestion and seems to make sense to me.
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re: Is this trend going to continue?
I couldn't agree more. Everything I buy on SOR comes by standard mail for a couple of dollars, the fear of getting "caught" by the USPS doesn't seem to bother most sellers. I really get annoyed when I see Australian stamps that the seller won't ship to Australia
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08:51:37pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
@Harvey
Is this just for material offered on SoR?
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08:04:47am
re: Is this trend going to continue?
I frequently buy from several great Canadian sellers here on SOR. I'm waiting on an envelope now. I've never had a problem. A number 10 envelope with an international first class stamp or the equivalent works just fine. I can't see why a U.S. seller wouldn't sell to a Canadian buyer.
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
22 Mar 2025
08:57:24am
re: Is this trend going to continue?
For example - there was a wonderful book just posted with US revenue stamps. I would have easily spent over $100 because of the great stuff there! And no I'm not going to email the seller and ask for a special favour, obviously he/she has no interest in selling to me. I would have gladly paid the international fee for this material!!
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10:13:18am
re: Is this trend going to continue?
@Harvey
What was the book on U.S. Revenues?
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
22 Mar 2025
11:33:45am
re: Is this trend going to continue?
@1899 There's some great stuff here!!!!
https://stamporama.com/approvals/approva ...
Almost half of it has sold already, unfortunately not to me!!!
EDIT: @1899 Please don't take this the wrong way, it really isn't meant as a criticism, but you really should check the new books whenever you go into SoR. Quite often there is very good material there. I have a look several times a day and very rarely regret it. Even though I couldn't buy from the book being mentioned there was some great material there to check out!
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12:01:21pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
@Harvey
I do not see the book you are referring (maybe I'm extra dense today), would you please describe it? As a courtesy?
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
22 Mar 2025
12:11:30pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
That link takes you to the first page of the book being discussed.
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re: Is this trend going to continue?
Personally, I would have no problem mailing stamps to Canada using International First Class (no customs declaration). Based on what I have learned here, there is little chance of such a mailing encountering any problems. I don't think the USPS gets involved in checking whether UPU regulations on customs forms are being followed. If there is any issue with such a shipment, I would think it would be with Canadian customs. Some sellers probably do not understand the low level of risks involved in non compliant shipments and therefore have decided not to ship to Canada. Yes, they should offer Canadian buyers the opportunity to decide for themselves if they are willing to incur a high shipping cost, but may be assuming that very few would be willing to bear the high cost and that some would feel that a much higher shipping cost is unfair.
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01:49:12pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
@Harvey
Are you talking about approval book and not a published book?
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
22 Mar 2025
02:25:01pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
Yes, that's what this post is all about!!!
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
22 Mar 2025
02:46:13pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
I just want to make something clear. I have a huge amount of respect for all sellers here, even those who want to charge full international rates since that is their right if they wish to do so. I, obviously, would not pay this amount for $1 worth of stamps unless there was something there I wanted very badly. And that could happen! For example there are some very inexpensive items I want that just never show up. I would just very much appreciate the right to choose whether or not to do so. That doesn't seem to me to be a huge ask, in my opinion.
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Approvals
re: Is this trend going to continue?
@Harvey
I can understand the debacle.
That is why I charge the rock-bottom minimum for international shipping, and read some USPS shipping documents, where I kind of, found a loophole:
As we are a UPU member country and so is Canada and the land down under, and basically everyone but Andorra, we can legally ship each other stamps, without additional tarrifs or fees. That is how I can ship to anywhere for extremely low-prices, and I do. (Well, except DPRK, Russia, & War-Torn Areas I cannot legally ship to anyway!)
I cannot say the same for coins, albums, and philatelic gear though.
I will happily ship to wherever you are, and am making a very nice revenue stamps book soon.
(No part-perfs, and these are from a separate collection lot I bough from a very reputable seller, and I have spent A LOT of time educating myself on revenues.)
That book will be out before the first week of April is out.
On a side note, the Tarrifs, will not effect first class letters globally, under 3.5ozs
You can check out my approval books here: https://stamporama.com/approvals/approvals_main.php?action=102&usr=PhilatelistMag20
I just recently posted a very nice Mexican book with the largest amount of Mexican X-Mas seals, and things are selling fast.
-Ari
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
22 Mar 2025
05:05:50pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
"am making a very nice revenue stamps book soon"
Thanks Ari, I'll look forward to it!!!
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05:43:28pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
Trend? This has become the norm and has been so for some time now which isn't limited to just philatelic items.
Philately isn't my only hobby and I buy things internationally all of the time from collectables, parts to special tools for my smithing hobby. It is a pain in the forth point of contact to have filter through those sellers that don't ship to yours/my location. It is an even bigger pain in the forth point of contact when the item is located within our own country as an example: sellers that don't ship to California or other domestic locations sometimes for legitimate reasons but most of the time for conspiracy theorist or political reasons. If that becomes an issue I just move on to the next seller its that simple.
I'm with Harvey and others on this topic. I'll decide what I am willing to spend and not have someone I don't know tell me what I can. Moreover if it is that big of an issue for someone to sell to me because of where I live in the world. They can keep their stuff I don't want it.
Jeremy
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07:46:27pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
@Sarge
Well said Sir!
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08:44:34pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
Thank you. I call things the way I see them.
Jeremy
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re: Is this trend going to continue?
"we can legally ship each other stamps, without additional tarrifs or fees."
I would love to here the source of this statement. The USPS website seems to contradict this assertion.
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re: Is this trend going to continue?
Unless I am mistaken, if you want to send dutiable goods internationally through the USPS, the least expensive way is the First-Class Package International (FCPI) Service with a customs declaration. As has been mentioned here, FCPI prices start at $17.85 and that is for packages that weigh under 8oz and mailed to Price Group 1 which is Canada.
First-Class Mail International (FCMI) can only be used to send correspondence or other non-negotiable documents in a letter that weighs up to 3.5 oz or large envelope that weighs under 15.94 oz and cannot contain any merchandise. Including merchandise in mail sent as FCMI is illegal and can be considered a form of mail fraud, a federal crime. If it is not caught by the USPS, but by the receiving country, the material may be confiscated and destroyed, no questions asked.
I agree with previous statements that if you want to send stamps internationally, you have to inform the buyer the cost of shipping by FCPI and let him/her decide on whether they want to proceed.
I have made the decision not to ship outside the United States because I do not want to deal with customs forms.
Fred
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
23 Mar 2025
01:53:32pm
re: Is this trend going to continue?
"I have made the decision not to ship outside the United States because I do not want to deal with customs forms."
That sounds like a good reason that I didn't even think about! I hate forms myself and understand exactly where you're coming from! Have a great week everyone out there and sorry if I stirred things up a bit!
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Approvals
re: Is this trend going to continue?
That is fine!
I learned something.
I am still going to ship internationally though.
Almost very international eBay order on the site comes via first class letter.
-Ari
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Approvals
re: Is this trend going to continue?
I do limit the countries I will ship to outside of the US both here and on Hipstamp. I have had problems with many lost shipments to some countries so I do not ship to them anymore. I will not sell anything LARGE that can not be sent in a small envelope. I guess I am skirting the rules because I just place a First Class International Forever Stamp on these envelopes. I never had an issue with any shipment to Canada. (Hope I did not just jinx myself !) Steve
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