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First post, by Nemo1985

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I found some ram sticks from an american seller at a very nice price.

The main problem is that the shipping cost is higher than the value of the package...
Two sticks of ram shouldn't be that much cumbersome so a registered letter should be enough but the seller only ships them as package.
Is it really impossible to ship small things as registered letter or the seller is just unwilling to do it?
I tried to send him a message but he didn't reply.

Reply 1 of 19, by mattw

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maybe the seller doesn't offer Intentional shipping at all and what you're given as option is provided by "eBay Global Shipping Program", which is 3rd party company, i.e. another middle-man that collects its cut and increase the price. So, with "eBay Global Shipping Program", the seller ships the parcel domestically (years ago the sorting center was located in Kentucky, USA, maybe it's still there) to that 3rd party company (I cannot recall its name at the moment) that provides the worldwide shipping . Also, that includes collect all custom duties that they pay automatically to the EU, on top of Carbon taxes (and everything else they can steal from you), no surprise it's expensive and it will become even more expensive, I guess.

Last edited by mattw on 2023-05-06, 18:15. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 2 of 19, by Dominus

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if it's via ebay the seller has no other choice as he opens himself up to possible fraudulent buyers if he uses letters to send electronics.

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Reply 3 of 19, by Nemo1985

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I don't know, the seller shipping option is: "eBay International Shipping" but it doesn't seem to be paid duties since I get the warning that I will have to pay them when I receive the package...
Out of curiosity I checked from my side and a 250gr letter shipping cost is around €15, while the shipping cost I should have pay is US $22,95 (plus custom duties).
:\

Dominus wrote on 2023-05-06, 18:12:

if it's via ebay the seller has no other choice as he opens himself up to possible fraudulent buyers if he uses letters to send electronics.

May I ask why? I mean I sent cpus as letters to US and I didn't have any problem...

Reply 4 of 19, by Dominus

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because as a seller you have to obligation to make sure that the stuff arrives in one piece. If they send it via letter they are responsible it gets destroyed in transit. Ebay will not accept a letter as safe shipment and will instantly reimburse the buyer, no matter whether it got really destroyed or not.

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Reply 5 of 19, by Nemo1985

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Dominus wrote on 2023-05-06, 18:17:

because as a seller you have to obligation to make sure that the stuff arrives in one piece. If they send it via letter they are responsible it gets destroyed in transit. Ebay will not accept a letter as safe shipment and will instantly reimburse the buyer, no matter whether it got really destroyed or not.

I see...

Reply 6 of 19, by mattw

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Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-06, 18:13:

since I get the warning that I will have to pay them when I receive the package...

I think then it's not "eBay Global Shipping Program", because otherwise they will automatically collect the custom duties and it's insane IMHO, because they calculate the custom duties not just on the item price, but on the price of the shipping as well - that's required by the EU, because I guess is where the Carbon taxes are included.

Reply 7 of 19, by Nemo1985

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mattw wrote on 2023-05-06, 18:21:
Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-06, 18:13:

since I get the warning that I will have to pay them when I receive the package...

I think then it's not "eBay Global Shipping Program", because otherwise they will automatically collect the custom duties and it's insane IMHO, because they calculate the custom duties not just on the item price, but on the price of the shipping as well - that's required by the EU, because I guess is where the Carbon taxes are included.

Yep that's probably cause of the EU new regulation, since 2 years ago I never paid any custom duties from my buy outside EU countries.
I guess I will need to find those rams in EU then...

Reply 8 of 19, by Dominus

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In Germany they always collected customs duties on the full price (including shipping), except sometimes they don't for some odd reason...

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Reply 9 of 19, by Ozzuneoj

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Not sure if this is related, but just recently (early 2023 was when they contacted me about it) ebay started yet another new program to replace or enhance the "Global Shipping Program". I can't remember what they have labeled it, maybe Ebay International Shipping or something, but basically they handle EVERY aspect of the transaction after the item has been safely delivered to the global shipping center in the US.

This means that if the item is damaged in transit and the buyer asks for a refund, ebay will provide it to them at no cost to the seller and, I believe, with no risk of getting bad feedback. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this new program is allowing ebay to charge yet more money for international sales while making it less risky for sellers to use it. I'm sure it stinks for international buyers, but hopefully it will mean that more sellers are willing (or forced) to use it, so more items will be available.

Ah, here's the article on it...
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-it … program?id=5348

I'm not sure if this is related to what the OP is talking about, but it may be, as it was a pretty huge change for sellers. I was opted\forced into it earlier this year, but I didn't see any reason to not use it since it mitigates most of the international selling risks.

Last edited by Ozzuneoj on 2023-05-06, 19:04. Edited 3 times in total.

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 10 of 19, by Errius

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I once received a 3.5" hard drive in a padded envelope with no other packaging.

The amazing thing was that it worked. (I wasn't sure if I should have left negative feedback so just said nothing.)

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 11 of 19, by Ryccardo

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Dominus wrote on 2023-05-06, 18:17:

Ebay will not accept a letter as safe shipment and will instantly reimburse the buyer

Interestingly here in Italy it's no problem, as long as it's the premium "registered" service (that used to be the only option for legal matters) as opposed to the basic tracking on priority* mail that's much more simplified and unreliable!

* for quite a while it's actually become the basic postal service, no more "regular mail"...

And even then eBay doesn't really discourage you from using untracked service if that's an acceptable risk to you (the house wins either way) 😜, I've only successfully sold something there once (maybe 4 times elsewhere) but I personally refuse to cheap out on this because I'm a serial 17track refresher 😁

Back to the main topic I'm also betting this is a Global Shipping Program ripoff, the only thing I've ever seen at a competitive price with it was a $5-before-shipping PS2 Network Adapter (where the non-American version costs over 35 € at best, gives you less, and has multiple fakes in the wild)...

...not to mention the 8ten1944 "scam" (basically, as GSP is a private courier service, it has its blacklisted items - liberally enforced - and the blocked stuff gets resold by this seller who's in the same city as the PB forwarding center, with buyer and seller both keeping their money but of course no product) - an annoyance the "successor" service mentioned by Ozzuneoj clearly doesn't seem to address?

Reply 12 of 19, by Nemo1985

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Ryccardo wrote on 2023-05-06, 19:36:
Interestingly here in Italy it's no problem, as long as it's the premium "registered" service (that used to be the only option […]
Show full quote
Dominus wrote on 2023-05-06, 18:17:

Ebay will not accept a letter as safe shipment and will instantly reimburse the buyer

Interestingly here in Italy it's no problem, as long as it's the premium "registered" service (that used to be the only option for legal matters) as opposed to the basic tracking on priority* mail that's much more simplified and unreliable!

* for quite a while it's actually become the basic postal service, no more "regular mail"...

And even then eBay doesn't really discourage you from using untracked service if that's an acceptable risk to you (the house wins either way) 😜, I've only successfully sold something there once (maybe 4 times elsewhere) but I personally refuse to cheap out on this because I'm a serial 17track refresher 😁

Back to the main topic I'm also betting this is a Global Shipping Program ripoff, the only thing I've ever seen at a competitive price with it was a $5-before-shipping PS2 Network Adapter (where the non-American version costs over 35 € at best, gives you less, and has multiple fakes in the wild)...

...not to mention the 8ten1944 "scam" (basically, as GSP is a private courier service, it has its blacklisted items - liberally enforced - and the blocked stuff gets resold by this seller who's in the same city as the PB forwarding center, with buyer and seller both keeping their money but of course no product) - an annoyance the "successor" service mentioned by Ozzuneoj clearly doesn't seem to address?

I wouldn't use a non tracked service, also the italian registered letter tracking code (just for international shipping) doesn't work on ebay (if you try to track it from ebay it always show the step 1 only), I don't know if they solved the issue recently or not.
I have hard time believing that in US there isn't a full tracked registered letter service...
I've also asked to a reputable member on cpu-world forum and he also said they can only ship the stuff as package.

Reply 13 of 19, by cyclone3d

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Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-07, 00:52:
I wouldn't use a non tracked service, also the italian registered letter tracking code (just for international shipping) doesn't […]
Show full quote
Ryccardo wrote on 2023-05-06, 19:36:
Interestingly here in Italy it's no problem, as long as it's the premium "registered" service (that used to be the only option […]
Show full quote
Dominus wrote on 2023-05-06, 18:17:

Ebay will not accept a letter as safe shipment and will instantly reimburse the buyer

Interestingly here in Italy it's no problem, as long as it's the premium "registered" service (that used to be the only option for legal matters) as opposed to the basic tracking on priority* mail that's much more simplified and unreliable!

* for quite a while it's actually become the basic postal service, no more "regular mail"...

And even then eBay doesn't really discourage you from using untracked service if that's an acceptable risk to you (the house wins either way) 😜, I've only successfully sold something there once (maybe 4 times elsewhere) but I personally refuse to cheap out on this because I'm a serial 17track refresher 😁

Back to the main topic I'm also betting this is a Global Shipping Program ripoff, the only thing I've ever seen at a competitive price with it was a $5-before-shipping PS2 Network Adapter (where the non-American version costs over 35 € at best, gives you less, and has multiple fakes in the wild)...

...not to mention the 8ten1944 "scam" (basically, as GSP is a private courier service, it has its blacklisted items - liberally enforced - and the blocked stuff gets resold by this seller who's in the same city as the PB forwarding center, with buyer and seller both keeping their money but of course no product) - an annoyance the "successor" service mentioned by Ozzuneoj clearly doesn't seem to address?

I wouldn't use a non tracked service, also the italian registered letter tracking code (just for international shipping) doesn't work on ebay (if you try to track it from ebay it always show the step 1 only), I don't know if they solved the issue recently or not.
I have hard time believing that in US there isn't a full tracked registered letter service...
I've also asked to a reputable member on cpu-world forum and he also said they can only ship the stuff as package.

There is registered mail in the USA.... That requires signatures all along the way and is something like $10+. Have only used it like once or twice.

USPS priority also comes with tracking.

And if you ship through eBay, even first class has free tracking.

Shipping overseas is quite expensive though. And now that eBay has pretty much forced everybody that wants to ship into their international shipping program, it would not surprise me one bit that that is one cause of the price increase, especially since they state that they will refund the buyer and let the seller keep the money if the buyer wants to do a return.

Sounds like a great thing for scammers.

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Reply 14 of 19, by Nemo1985

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cyclone3d wrote on 2023-05-07, 02:48:
There is registered mail in the USA.... That requires signatures all along the way and is something like $10+. Have only used it […]
Show full quote
Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-07, 00:52:
I wouldn't use a non tracked service, also the italian registered letter tracking code (just for international shipping) doesn't […]
Show full quote
Ryccardo wrote on 2023-05-06, 19:36:
Interestingly here in Italy it's no problem, as long as it's the premium "registered" service (that used to be the only option […]
Show full quote

Interestingly here in Italy it's no problem, as long as it's the premium "registered" service (that used to be the only option for legal matters) as opposed to the basic tracking on priority* mail that's much more simplified and unreliable!

* for quite a while it's actually become the basic postal service, no more "regular mail"...

And even then eBay doesn't really discourage you from using untracked service if that's an acceptable risk to you (the house wins either way) 😜, I've only successfully sold something there once (maybe 4 times elsewhere) but I personally refuse to cheap out on this because I'm a serial 17track refresher 😁

Back to the main topic I'm also betting this is a Global Shipping Program ripoff, the only thing I've ever seen at a competitive price with it was a $5-before-shipping PS2 Network Adapter (where the non-American version costs over 35 € at best, gives you less, and has multiple fakes in the wild)...

...not to mention the 8ten1944 "scam" (basically, as GSP is a private courier service, it has its blacklisted items - liberally enforced - and the blocked stuff gets resold by this seller who's in the same city as the PB forwarding center, with buyer and seller both keeping their money but of course no product) - an annoyance the "successor" service mentioned by Ozzuneoj clearly doesn't seem to address?

I wouldn't use a non tracked service, also the italian registered letter tracking code (just for international shipping) doesn't work on ebay (if you try to track it from ebay it always show the step 1 only), I don't know if they solved the issue recently or not.
I have hard time believing that in US there isn't a full tracked registered letter service...
I've also asked to a reputable member on cpu-world forum and he also said they can only ship the stuff as package.

There is registered mail in the USA.... That requires signatures all along the way and is something like $10+. Have only used it like once or twice.

USPS priority also comes with tracking.

And if you ship through eBay, even first class has free tracking.

Shipping overseas is quite expensive though. And now that eBay has pretty much forced everybody that wants to ship into their international shipping program, it would not surprise me one bit that that is one cause of the price increase, especially since they state that they will refund the buyer and let the seller keep the money if the buyer wants to do a return.

Sounds like a great thing for scammers.

Well for 2 sticks of ram it would be the perfect solution...

Reply 15 of 19, by cyclone3d

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Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-07, 02:59:
cyclone3d wrote on 2023-05-07, 02:48:
There is registered mail in the USA.... That requires signatures all along the way and is something like $10+. Have only used it […]
Show full quote
Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-07, 00:52:

I wouldn't use a non tracked service, also the italian registered letter tracking code (just for international shipping) doesn't work on ebay (if you try to track it from ebay it always show the step 1 only), I don't know if they solved the issue recently or not.
I have hard time believing that in US there isn't a full tracked registered letter service...
I've also asked to a reputable member on cpu-world forum and he also said they can only ship the stuff as package.

There is registered mail in the USA.... That requires signatures all along the way and is something like $10+. Have only used it like once or twice.

USPS priority also comes with tracking.

And if you ship through eBay, even first class has free tracking.

Shipping overseas is quite expensive though. And now that eBay has pretty much forced everybody that wants to ship into their international shipping program, it would not surprise me one bit that that is one cause of the price increase, especially since they state that they will refund the buyer and let the seller keep the money if the buyer wants to do a return.

Sounds like a great thing for scammers.

Well for 2 sticks of ram it would be the perfect solution...

Hah... International registered mail. That would run $50+ Registered mail is meant to be able to track every single step of the way... a signature is required at every handoff and at delivery.

First class international should be fine.

For continental USA packages, the limit is anything less than 12oz for first class.

For international first class, the limit is anything less than 16oz.

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Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 16 of 19, by Nemo1985

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cyclone3d wrote on 2023-05-07, 03:32:
Hah... International registered mail. That would run $50+ Registered mail is meant to be able to track every single step of the […]
Show full quote
Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-07, 02:59:
cyclone3d wrote on 2023-05-07, 02:48:
There is registered mail in the USA.... That requires signatures all along the way and is something like $10+. Have only used it […]
Show full quote

There is registered mail in the USA.... That requires signatures all along the way and is something like $10+. Have only used it like once or twice.

USPS priority also comes with tracking.

And if you ship through eBay, even first class has free tracking.

Shipping overseas is quite expensive though. And now that eBay has pretty much forced everybody that wants to ship into their international shipping program, it would not surprise me one bit that that is one cause of the price increase, especially since they state that they will refund the buyer and let the seller keep the money if the buyer wants to do a return.

Sounds like a great thing for scammers.

Well for 2 sticks of ram it would be the perfect solution...

Hah... International registered mail. That would run $50+ Registered mail is meant to be able to track every single step of the way... a signature is required at every handoff and at delivery.

First class international should be fine.

For continental USA packages, the limit is anything less than 12oz for first class.

For international first class, the limit is anything less than 16oz.

Oh wow... I think something like a sign on delivery should be ok 🤣
16oz should be enough...

Last edited by Nemo1985 on 2023-05-07, 04:00. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 17 of 19, by Ozzuneoj

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cyclone3d wrote on 2023-05-07, 03:32:
Hah... International registered mail. That would run $50+ Registered mail is meant to be able to track every single step of the […]
Show full quote
Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-07, 02:59:
cyclone3d wrote on 2023-05-07, 02:48:
There is registered mail in the USA.... That requires signatures all along the way and is something like $10+. Have only used it […]
Show full quote

There is registered mail in the USA.... That requires signatures all along the way and is something like $10+. Have only used it like once or twice.

USPS priority also comes with tracking.

And if you ship through eBay, even first class has free tracking.

Shipping overseas is quite expensive though. And now that eBay has pretty much forced everybody that wants to ship into their international shipping program, it would not surprise me one bit that that is one cause of the price increase, especially since they state that they will refund the buyer and let the seller keep the money if the buyer wants to do a return.

Sounds like a great thing for scammers.

Well for 2 sticks of ram it would be the perfect solution...

Hah... International registered mail. That would run $50+ Registered mail is meant to be able to track every single step of the way... a signature is required at every handoff and at delivery.

First class international should be fine.

For continental USA packages, the limit is anything less than 12oz for first class.

For international first class, the limit is anything less than 16oz.

Domestic First class has allowed up to 16oz (15.99oz actually) for a while now. That was a welcome change when it happened and it happened right about the time I started getting into retro computing. 😁

https://www.stamps.com/usps/first-class-mail/

BTW... this is interesting. I was curious as to the exact date that the limit changed from 12oz to 16oz (because it has always been 12oz for many years prior). I couldn't find this through normal searching, but when I asked the question very plainly to ChatGPT it answered:
"The United States Postal Service (USPS) first class package weight limit was increased from 12 ounces to 16 ounces on January 17, 2016. Prior to that date, the maximum weight for a package sent via USPS First Class Mail was 12 ounces. The change allowed for heavier items to be shipped via First Class Mail, which is typically a more affordable shipping option than Priority Mail or other shipping services."

I have been able to verify this date as accurate. So, yeah... this AI thing is pretty handy, if a little creepy. 😁

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 18 of 19, by Nemo1985

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Ozzuneoj wrote on 2023-05-07, 03:56:
Domestic First class has allowed up to 16oz (15.99oz actually) for a while now. That was a welcome change when it happened and i […]
Show full quote
cyclone3d wrote on 2023-05-07, 03:32:
Hah... International registered mail. That would run $50+ Registered mail is meant to be able to track every single step of the […]
Show full quote
Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-07, 02:59:

Well for 2 sticks of ram it would be the perfect solution...

Hah... International registered mail. That would run $50+ Registered mail is meant to be able to track every single step of the way... a signature is required at every handoff and at delivery.

First class international should be fine.

For continental USA packages, the limit is anything less than 12oz for first class.

For international first class, the limit is anything less than 16oz.

Domestic First class has allowed up to 16oz (15.99oz actually) for a while now. That was a welcome change when it happened and it happened right about the time I started getting into retro computing. 😁

https://www.stamps.com/usps/first-class-mail/

BTW... this is interesting. I was curious as to the exact date that the limit changed from 12oz to 16oz (because it has always been 12oz for many years prior). I couldn't find this through normal searching, but when I asked the question very plainly to ChatGPT it answered:
"The United States Postal Service (USPS) first class package weight limit was increased from 12 ounces to 16 ounces on January 17, 2016. Prior to that date, the maximum weight for a package sent via USPS First Class Mail was 12 ounces. The change allowed for heavier items to be shipped via First Class Mail, which is typically a more affordable shipping option than Priority Mail or other shipping services."

I have been able to verify this date as accurate. So, yeah... this AI thing is pretty handy, if a little creepy. 😁

I'm still puzzled about why the american guy told me he can't ship stuff as registered letter (it's not the seller so he wouldn't risk any charge or negative feedback if I don't get the item or I get it smashed), do you know by any chance if there is any rule that won't allow ship stuff as letter?

Reply 19 of 19, by Ozzuneoj

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Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-05-07, 04:03:
Ozzuneoj wrote on 2023-05-07, 03:56:
Domestic First class has allowed up to 16oz (15.99oz actually) for a while now. That was a welcome change when it happened and i […]
Show full quote
cyclone3d wrote on 2023-05-07, 03:32:
Hah... International registered mail. That would run $50+ Registered mail is meant to be able to track every single step of the […]
Show full quote

Hah... International registered mail. That would run $50+ Registered mail is meant to be able to track every single step of the way... a signature is required at every handoff and at delivery.

First class international should be fine.

For continental USA packages, the limit is anything less than 12oz for first class.

For international first class, the limit is anything less than 16oz.

Domestic First class has allowed up to 16oz (15.99oz actually) for a while now. That was a welcome change when it happened and it happened right about the time I started getting into retro computing. 😁

https://www.stamps.com/usps/first-class-mail/

BTW... this is interesting. I was curious as to the exact date that the limit changed from 12oz to 16oz (because it has always been 12oz for many years prior). I couldn't find this through normal searching, but when I asked the question very plainly to ChatGPT it answered:
"The United States Postal Service (USPS) first class package weight limit was increased from 12 ounces to 16 ounces on January 17, 2016. Prior to that date, the maximum weight for a package sent via USPS First Class Mail was 12 ounces. The change allowed for heavier items to be shipped via First Class Mail, which is typically a more affordable shipping option than Priority Mail or other shipping services."

I have been able to verify this date as accurate. So, yeah... this AI thing is pretty handy, if a little creepy. 😁

I'm still puzzled about why the american guy told me he can't ship stuff as registered letter (it's not the seller so he wouldn't risk any charge or negative feedback if I don't get the item or I get it smashed), do you know by any chance if there is any rule that won't allow ship stuff as letter?

Sorry, I have never shipped a registered letter. I don't really even know what they are without looking them up 😮. Honestly, shipping within the US is extremely reliable to the point that I basically never question whether something will arrive unless the seller is being weird or unresponsive.

I think I have only bothered shipping items I have sold with signature confirmation on delivery a few times, and that was for very valuable items going to large businesses (so it doesn't disappear at the front desk) or if I check Google Street View and it looks like the destination address is especially vulnerable to porch pirates.

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.