1simplexnut

Hi everyone ,
I have been trying to arrange shipping for a bicycle from France (purchased through ebay.fr site )

Auction stated 120 euro which I thought sounded about right ?
Have been backwards and forwards with the seller who is now telling me that collisimo is telling them 762.00 euro to send ?

I have had a scratch about with various online vendors with the best so far about 300 euro .
Also note that there is a range of prices on ebay.fr for shipping complete bicycles worldwide . low of 90euro to a high of 289 euro

Any ideas on how other sellers are managing to send world wide for 100-200 range .

I have bought frames of recent times that have been shipped for well under 100 euro also.

Any thoughts ?
Any tricks ?

Thanks in advance for any help /advice

randyjawa 

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

I have shipped to Australia a few times and what a pain in the butt, both for me and the buyer. True story to follow...

Years ago, I shipped a Peugeot UO 8 to a fellow in Australia. The bike was nothing special and not that pricey at the time. The problem was the cost to ship (hundreds and hundreds of dollars through FeDex). The next problem was getting the bike into the country.

I had prepared the bicycle for sale on Ebay. Put another way, the bike was cleaned, waxed and polished, all in prep for picture taking. Put another way - it was pretty darn clean, easily as clean as the bottom of my shoes. Anyway...

Australia customs seized the bike, claiming it required a professional cleaning before being allowed into the country. The professional cleaning set the buyer back $200 Australian. The bike was then quarantined for thirty days. I was shocked and did what I could do to appease the buyer. The buyer, by the way, was more than understanding and would not accept any recompense for the sitation.

Anyway, true story. Be careful and make sure that you understand what you are getting into. The above is, in no way, intended as a slam against Australian customs people. It is just a report on what could happen and much of what did happen to me, and my buyer, was most unexpected.

wrk101

I think the solution in this situation is quite EASY, Since you have had success getting bikes shipped to New Zealand at what I would consider an incredibly low cost, share that knowledge with the seller!

I shipped just a frameset (not a complete bike) to New Zealand, cost about $400 on DHL as I recall. Other options were even higher. Obviously we missed a deal out there.

In my case, I asked the buyer to research the best option, I supplied box dimensions and weight. I'd do some research on your end.

You know the secret to cheap shipping "I have bought frames of recent times that have been shipped for well under 100 euro also." I bet you have more knowledge and data on shipping to New Zealand than the rest of us on this forum. I have had a total of ONE sale to New Zealand. Share those carriers with the seller (and us too). Box should have been clearly labeled. Sellers do not always know the cheapest route. You have real world experience, verify, and then make a recommendation to seller.

In my case, the frame was $175, the postage was $400, so $575 total.


Sellers typically know their common options to common destinations. They are not experts on how to get items shipped at the lowest cost to less common destinations. When I get unusual requests outside my knowledge base, I always ask the buyer to research from their end. I would rather miss out on the sale, than end up with a can of worms. Most ebay sellers are hobbyists, doing as a part time gig, generating some hobby money. They are not experts in global shipping.


Sometimes, as you have found out, the low shipping quote is a mistake, and the seller WILL back out on the deal. Be proactive, share knowledge, and it will be a WIN/WIN. My stance on ebay as a seller is to not make a "profit" on shipping, so if a buyer shares a cheaper option, I will use it. Most of the time, their "cheaper option" is not credible, they will overlook weight and size. But in your case, you have the real data.

I have had one sale to New Zealand, out of over 3,000 sales. I do not have the time to become an expert on every possible destination. Sometimes this means I miss out on a sale. That is OK, as it is just a hobby for me.

Kilroy1988 

I've personally never pulled the trigger on a frame or bicycle from eBay.fr precisely because the quoted shipping prices seem too good to be true... I figured it'd end up being a mess just of this sort!

I hope you get things worked out, but at this point it sounds like the easiest thing would be to agree to cancel the transaction and move on. Unless if the frame is actually worth many hundreds of dollars.

-Gregory

jdawginsc 

Holy mackeral...it'd be cheaper to buy the bike a plane ticket!

Edit: That was a joke...I have researched many a ticket to visit beautiful New Zealand...

TenGrainBread 

I've bought a few frames from eBay.fr that had low cost of shipping, like 50-100 euros, lower than I could arrange in the reverse. I'm convinced there are shipping services available from La Poste for French businesses that have cheaper rates for these large items, but I'm not 100% sure.

Lascauxcaveman 

@1simplexnut Did you ever get that Alan fork I mailed you about a month ago? I am curious as to how long plain old First Class mail would take.

1simplexnut

hiya ,
Still patiently waiting :-)
Will let you know