Careful what you wish for, you might sell it

[nichevo]

This has nothing to do with Thinkpads except that it might help me buy them in future. I post here because you are all such wonderful people


Briefly - I had an old Sun Fire v250 and have just sold it on eBay.

The buyer is in Canada.

The full up weight of the system with all drives I estimate at maybe 80 lbs. (of course I can ship the drives separately).

The price is $5500 plus s&h plus insurance.

Now I realize, OMG, I have never done anything like this before!
(said the actress to the bishop)

USPS don't want to ship over 70 lbs. I had planned to go UPS Standard.

But a Canuck friend says that a) UPS sux in Canada; b) UPS will charge the buyer for a brokerage fee on the package which will likely drive him nuts.

So - what is most responsible, mutually agreeable way to ship this gear to Montreal?

Also - same Canadian friend says buyer could get my gear and then issue a chargeback from PayPal.

D'oh! I had never thought of this. Should I insist on a cashier's check, or what, do you think?

TIA, N

[ajkula66]

He can't get his money back if you ship to a PayPal confirmed address. However, I'd make sure that I withdrew all the funds before actually shipping the item.

UPS does suck in Canada and they will charge every fee imaginable before delivering the goods to your buyer.

How about FedEx? At least they don't add brokerage fees and stuff that UPS does-not to my knowledge anyway.

If you could split the stuff into a couple of packages, I'd go with USPS.

Good luck.

[ms5133]

Your buyer is under no obligation to use UPS for customs clearance.

It is true if you let them do the clearance they will just about ask for your first-born before they are finished fleecing you.

If your buyer has about 30 minutes to spare he can clear through Canada Customs himself, as long as its not a commercial shipment(ie to a company).

The paperwork needed by Canada customs is basically the E Bay invoice. Customs will do the rest of the documentation.

If the merchandise is Computer related from the U.S. it should be duty free, but the buyer will have to pay GST and PST(about 15%) on the invoice value.

[qviri]

How about FedEx? At least they don't add brokerage fees and stuff that UPS does-not to my knowledge anyway.

In 2005, I saw the price of a DVD-RW drive shipped from Michigan double by the time FedEx was done charging me brokerage fees. If they improved since, I haven't heard about it.

[nichevo]

You guys are great. I mean badass, but in a good way ;>

George, thank you. Let me ask, how would I know if he has a PayPal confirmed address?

And why would this protect me?

So far in the process I have gotten a real email for him, but not a name or address. If this has to wait on the invoice, well, first I have to work out shipping, so it seems chicken and egg, no? But maybe that will sort itself out.

I will price FedEx but...

ms5133, thank you too! Will advise him of your words (do I describe you as a Quebecois or a Montrealeur?) and see how he feels about it.

Man, I would kiss y'all on the lips! (if you were hot chicks) Definitely drinks are on me next time you're in New York. This is the best tech board anywhere!

[DoctorLondom]

I was in a similar situation, but I found a great (low-priced) way to ship an item to Canada.

Get a FedEx account, fill out the package/shipping/customs info online and print out the shipping sticker. Then you can drop it off at a Kinkos or something. The reason for this is because it's the only way to ship via FedEx Ground International, which is really cheap.

It may seem like a pain, but it's worth it for the (low) price you pay. Also, I agree that you should withdraw the funds from Paypal before you ship it out.

[ajkula66]

First of all, the payment notification itself will state whether the address is confirmed or not. This, along with a trackable form of shipment, protects you against issue of "non-receipt". However, it doesn't protect you against claim of items being "not as described" and be forewarned that that's where the buyer can really take advantage of you...I've received back stuff from people that has been purposely damaged to the point of destruction and PayPal wouldn't move a finger. So, theoretically, he could file a chargeback and send you sand in the boxes and...you get the picture.For the amount in question, I'd insist on paper payment and ship upon clearance.

[nichevo]

Hmm.

OK, he has written, UPS is fine with him, he is savvy, I guess he will clear his own Customs. If it is not gauche, I will note that under his ID,

logichum (245)

he has 100% positive feedback rating as both buyer and seller, and "intends on keeping it that way." He prefers to pay by paypal, a cashier's check would be slow and apparently he has bought equipment like this before on eBay.

Don't suppose anyone has dealt with this fellow or his firm? I googled it:

Logibec groupe Inf
Montreal, QC H3C 3S4

and they are #10 on "the top ten medical stocks ranked according to Earnings Per Share and Relative Strength by Investor's Business Daily (6/23/07)"

http://biohealthinvestor.com/2007/06/ib ... ks_23.html

so they might just not be in business to screw me out of an EOL Sun box.


I had thought to ship it with pictures and test logs to demonstrate its condition. (I am preflighting it now, so far I can see the power supplies are good, it sounds like a jet plane ;>) I will surely take the money out before I ship it.

But I will not know that it is a confirmed paypal addy until I submit the invoice, am paid, and the address is the same as ship-to?

Well, s&h is on him, both ways, and that'll be a few hundred bux, so it seems a *little* silly for him to sabotage it. But I suppose anything can happen.

I guess I am just wanting this to go through smoothly. Hope is not a plan, of course. But he does appear to be serious-minded.

[Henrycc]

Try toolhaus.org to check his feedbacks.

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/item-fb?Use ... k&ref=home

It looks like he has some pretty high dollar purchases on his ebay account.

[nichevo]

So it does. MSDN subscription; packetshaper network device, various Sun gear, an XGA video projector...


Meanwhile UPS won't insure this thing at invoice value ($5500). Does anybody know what their max is? Is it because I'm using this ebay/paypal linked service?

[nichevo]

In the post, UPS Standard that is. He is happy, or will be; it's in mint condition (okay, a little face crack where the plastic thins) and should do the job. I sure packed it hearty. Foam-in-Place is neato!

Screw PayPal, man. That's some little bite they take. Is that why everybody hates them?

But it's done. Now I have to decide whether to up-warranty my T41p, or eBay it and buy a new T61 or something.