03 January 2007
eBay problems - I Need Advice
 

If you work in Brunei Postal Service Department, please, I really need your confirmation on how much is it to send a 300g small packet to Canada. I was told that it costs $36!!! And if is sent by parcel, the same weight, shipped by surface mail, I know it cost $15.90, but it takes 3 months just to arrive there?

My gosh, even the books I order from Amazon.com isn't that expensive to be shipped here.

Great, so my $8.00 book will be worth $44 when it gets there...

How am I suppose to tell my buyer? Opt for the cheaper shipping price and wait for the book to arrive? Or tell him to settle on the more exorbitant shipping costs, and the item might arrive there in...less than a month or so?

Damn, I'm screwed. I'm sorry to even began selling internationally. I'd much rather be a buyer from now on.

Malaysia and Singapore Posts offer cheaper costs. Malaysia is just RM 21.40, while Singapore offers a cheap price of just $10+.

Great, I can imagine how the invoice would look like.

Book - US$4.26
Shipping costs - US$24.00 <-- HAHAHA!

He must think I'm a scammer. I'm not surprised if he decides to back out.

I guess I have to tell him to be patient. 3 months isn't very long now... IS IT?

Advice from friends, eBay-ers and Brunei postmen please! =(

ADD: Great! I've just found out the buyer can't send the money to my PayPal account? Why? I only realise (he told me, and I also checked out PayPal help) that Brunei accounts can only send money. So that means I can't receive any money AT ALL! Great!

WHY?

And I can't really ask my brother's girlfriend as well; she won't be home tomorrow until a long time. Fat chance seeing her online at this hour.

I just don't know what to do. Somehow, I feel sorry that I began selling now.

---

freshrimp put thoughts into writing at 11:23.
Comments? Whisper 'em! (8 whispered.)

Comments by them:-

You should tell your buyer that your country is screwed/f***** up (choose whichever one you like better) and that it's postal services are one of the worst in the world (I can back you up on that one if the need arises). That's all. You shouldn't feel bad on your part. Just look at it this way. You're just the seller who has goods for disposal. He's just the innocent guy looking for disposed goods. The middleman/postal service department is the mastermind trying to discourage the people from sending goods overseas 'cos they're too lazy to bring it to its destination. =D

 Anonymous whispered at 04 January, 2007 14:04.  

No, my country is not screwed up (hopefully not). But honestly, the postal services is appalling! Or at least, that was the impression that I got when I contacted the post office operator asking for the postal rates. The customer service is terrible. I mean, as a receptionist/operator, you are supposed to sound cheery and ready to help, but the two people whom I talk to weren't at all! I mean, they keep droning on with their monotonous voices.

I was really taken by surprise when I was treated better by courier service operators in Brunei, i.e. tried contacting Citylink and UPS, and they were so much better.

Yea, I seriously don't know why the shipping costs here are terribly expensive, especially when shipping away to countries far away. I would like to know the reason behind too; is it because of transportation difficulties? Expensive fuel prices (I don't think so)? Or something else? If they ship fast, I can probably understand, but then...

Well, I don't know. I have never used the postal services at all, so I really cannot comment on it.

 freshrimp whispered at 04 January, 2007 23:20.  

Anyone, that's not my main concern now, since the buyer was okay with that (I offered him UPS instead of the P.O.). The main problem is the payment, since Brunei PayPal accounts cannot receive money.

 freshrimp whispered at 04 January, 2007 23:21.  

because of the distance. thus, the fuel.

 Unknown? whispered at 04 January, 2007 23:43.  

Yeah, I know its due to the distance, but then Amazon can ship items to me for half of that amount. So I guess it's pretty weird...

 freshrimp whispered at 04 January, 2007 23:52.  

america =/= brunei. they have the ways... THE GANGSTA WAYS

 Unknown? whispered at 05 January, 2007 00:12.  

Conclusion: Black market ftw.

Don't you have something else other than PayPal?

 Anonymous whispered at 05 January, 2007 19:14.  

I KNOW! THE INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!1111oneoneonelevenelevenelevenshift+1shiftplusoneshiftandoneshiftoneshiftone

 Unknown? whispered at 05 January, 2007 19:47.  

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