Shipments to the United States
Hi, I've been on eBay for years, inactive like this, and I have started selling a few small things again. The issue of shipping by mail to the United States, how is it? The issue of tracking continues to be impossible from Spain. What happens if they file a claim and you can't prove that it arrived... any solution
11 comments
gilwellian62
·2 years agoI've been selling to the USA for about 22 years, and I’ve practically had no major problems. I send everything by certified mail, and if the customer prefers, they can send me a private carrier (I don’t hire it) like UPS. I’ve lost a couple of certificates, but since the product cost is usually small, if my shipment gets lost, Correos reimburses me about €40 and it makes up for it. If the contents have a relatively high value, I use Premium, which is expensive, but the tracking is efficient (in the USA, Correos' Premium service is handled by FedEx, so if there’s any problem, at the Correos office they have to request the FedEx tracking code so that tracking in the USA is visible because with the Correos code, it’s useless. If Premium gets lost and isn’t insured, Correos reimburses you about €100
gambettagames
·2 years agothe tracking works now yes! you can already sell to the usa without a problem
elconsumo
·2 years agoHello, gambettagames. I just saw your reply and wanted to make sure. Do certified letters have US tracking again?
Best regards
elconsumo
·3 years agoHello, libreriaeldesvan,
To send parcels to the USA with Correos, the only way to be able to track the shipment is by using international parcel services (economy, standard, or premium). This way the tracking number does not change when it arrives in the USA and can be viewed on the USPS website without any problem, and it also updates on eBay. The drawback is the price: 32 euros for the cheapest option.
Best regards
cinthia@ebay
Hello @ramonmn6axx
I hope you're doing well, that's an excellent question. Correos and USPS have the ability to update the tracking number and hundreds of sellers use this feature. In other words, you'll be able to track the item in transit on the Correos page and when you no longer see updates, you'll be able to go to the USPS page and with the same tracking number you can see the last part of the item in transit.
I hope this information is helpful.
Best regards
Cinthia
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libreriaeldesvan
·3 years agoHello Cinthia,
Well, I hate to disagree with what you’re saying. We have quite a few shipments to the USA and none of them can be tracked on USPS no matter how hard we try. As we understand it, according to Correos employees, shipments that arrive in the USA from, at least Spain, have their tracking code changed, so they lose track of them as soon as they arrive in the country and this is causing a lot of headaches for many sellers. In fact, we are already considering stopping shipping to the USA.
If you have any USPS URL that works for tracking certified shipments from Spain and you can obtain the tracking information, it would be a lifesaver.
Regards
flash7360
·3 years ago@libreriaeldesvan
Indeed, the short and correct answer is elconsumo, but since this has been happening since 2016, I'll try to clarify it even if it ends up being a bit long.
USPS changed the mail system then. They even had a page where they listed the countries compatible with the new system and those that weren't. I already posted about it then, but nobody could answer me because most people only check when a problem comes up. I got the feeling I was the only one who cared about the issue, so I looked for information at the source.
If you click the link above, in 2022 Correos told the user: "We respond to your request and inform you that it is not possible to update the tracking system as it is linked to the records on the website of the postal operator in the United States".
In other words, that matches what I'm going to explain. Basically, it affects the "small packet", that is, what here is called certified mail up to 2 kilos (I suppose you send books that way since it's the cheapest system). At that time I already asked in Correos offices and they didn't know anything; I think they still don't, since if there is a tracking commitment, even if the number changes, the tracking system has to provide the new one (you can check this in apps like parcelsapp.com).
The problem is that the American system (AND OTHER COUNTRIES' TOO, be careful) considers that certified mail does not form part of a tracked system, and what happens is that the shipment leaves Spain with tracking, but when it enters the USA, since there is no compatibility, the tracking commitment is lost, the number DISAPPEARS, and the shipment becomes ORDINARY.
Maybe paying at Correos for mandatory signature on receipt would prevent the tracking from being lost, but I don't know.
Postal services divide shipments into two parts: shipments up to 2 kilos (4 pounds, envelopes and small parcels), and shipments from that weight upward (pure parcel service). The way to avoid losing tracking to the USA is to use PURE PARCEL SERVICE (book the shipment under services over 2 kilos, even if the shipment weighs less), but of course the price will be much higher, which will make selling impractical.
The other solution is to keep going as before and well, if something happens then... bad luck, which is what I think everyone does.
One option that opens up is to always send to the USA as ordinary mail since sending registered mail cheaply is useless. You may sell more, as happened before the introduction of buyer protection (MBG), which forces you to ship with tracking; the only downside is that ordinary mail has no priority at all, so if there are delays the buyer will complain and you'll be giving away a gift. You'd also have to tell them, since they'll notice there's no tracking on eBay and will think you haven't shipped it.
There are people who already sell like this to everyone on cheap items (personally checked) because selling at the price of shipping with tracking completely kills the sale. eBay's success was that you could buy cheaply from anyone; now that is no longer possible with the introduction of mandatory tracked shipping, and on top of that taxes, fees, etc.
Ah! And eBay doesn't know anything about shipping (you're already seeing that above), everything is outsourced to other companies, and even those companies themselves also outsource, as happens with Packlink, which doesn't ship anything either.
Best regards.
libreriaeldesvan
·3 years agoThanks for the information, the length of the text is worth it, it’s clarifying. Really, we are currently sending very inexpensive products to the USA and we do a global follow-up of what arrives and what "doesn’t arrive" at its destination; for now, we are within the threshold. But things get complicated when you sell a book or another product from 30 euros upwards, you necessarily have to look for a way to send it with some guarantees, because losing a couple of euros is one thing and losing 30 several times is another; the accounts would go off to the fair to dance tangillos. For now we have disabled shipping to the USA for items of a certain price and we will study the possibility of sending them via pure parcel shipping as you say. There’s no other option, in the end the good USA buyer will have to make a greater sacrifice.
We’ll keep going...
elconsumo
·3 years agoMany thanks for the information, flash7360. I just wanted to clarify that, in my reply, when I refer to sending packages I also include envelopes with items like stamps, coins, books, etc. That is to say, that, with Correos and according to my experience, the cheapest way to send to the USA an item that is light and not very bulky and still be able to track the shipment from start to finish is through the 0 to 1 kg bracket of the economy international package service (32 euros). As you said, the registered letter turns into ordinary mail when it arrives in the USA and, even if they have received the item, the buyer can open a case for "item not received" that they will ALWAYS win. And it doesn’t matter that the Correos office knows they have received it. If there is no visible record on the Correos website or on USPS, then for eBay the package/letter has not been delivered.
As for the possibility of sending a registered letter with mandatory signature, it’s something I hadn’t thought about. It would be a matter of trying it, yes, assuming the risk that it doesn’t work... I doubt anyone at Correos could clarify the matter.
As for ordinary mail, it seems like a good alternative to registered mail (you’d lose less money if they claim), but because it can’t be tracked, whether to use it really depends on each person’s tolerance for uncertainty.
Best regards
flash7360
·3 years agoEXACT
As it relates to what you say about the stamp, I’ll comment on what I said about how there are people who take the risk using ordinary shipping. It has a lot to do with it (minimum weight and volume).
Imagine that I sold a resistor to the USA, or a diode, capacitor, etc. These are components used in electronics, generally small, weighing just a few grams. We could apply the example to the stamp, but there would be doubt about the value, since a stamp can be worth nothing, or a lot of money. If it’s worth a lot of money, an expensive shipment makes sense.
If I want tracking, the cheapest thing, apart from Certified Letter, I suppose would still be International Economy Package (I say suppose because I stopped selling in 2017). PIE is a pure parcel system with delay until the container is full and departure after the deadline (that’s why it’s cheaper).
Minimum PIE price to the USA, zone AM2 up to 1 kilo = 29.70 euros.
Minimum certified letter price to the USA, zone 3, up to 20 grams = 6.90 euros.
Minimum ordinary letter price to the USA, zone 3, up to 20 grams = 2.10 euros.
Question: What is the most logical, simple, economical, practical system, for both buyer and seller, to send something weighing a few grams and with a known value to the USA?
It’s clear that in these cases, if you want to sell, you have to do it with ordinary shipping, since no one is going to pay much more for something that is already cheap in a physical store. A positive aspect is that normally they’ll buy more to do combined shipping and spread out the shipping cost.
That’s why there are already people who have realized that if they want to sell, and even sell more, they should ship ordinary and combine sales. At their own risk, of course, and they’re all professionals; eBay is no longer for private individuals, a private seller doesn’t have the volume to make up for the MBG.
PS) I see they’ve removed all the paragraph breaks with spacing from my previous post... What the...🤔
roman-style
·3 years agoHello,
this link will show you that the issue remains the same, and that, since no claim has been filed, the cases of non-received items in the United States are skyrocketing.
Open, Sesame!
https://tinyurl.com/bsck3ux3
The solution?
Sell only in Europe, where it is possible to track the shipment, but even in this case you don't have 100% guarantee that Ali Baba won't manage to get your item for free.
Regards.