Thinkpads Forum

hey guys,
i actually already sold and shipped (eek) a laptop to France, and just wanted to hear some of your thoughts. i'm pretty savvy when it comes to fraud, and i've googled around as well, so it passed my suspicion test. But now, i'm just curious to hear your thoughts.

so i was selling my x300 on ebay, and i got a message asking how much I would charge to ship to France. I responded, and he bought and paid for my auction using Buy It Now (i required immediate payment). i checked my paypal account, and my money had been received. i shipped out the laptop this morning using USPS international priority mail.

is there anything that i should be suspicious about? one thing i am worried about is that i did not purchase insurance for it (it would cost me like 10 bucks to insure only a maximum of 300 dollars).

No. Insurance would have been a good idea though.

As long as the package doesn't say 'LAPTOP' you'd be fairly safe.
I send my stuff as "used computer parts".
I've shipped to such exotic locations as the Ukraine (USPS Priority Mail, insured, with 'sign upon receipt'), no problem.
I wouldn't ship to Mexico or Italy though.

I sold an item to a buyer in the Ukraine once, but he used an intermediary shipping and receiving company in the US. I don't think it would be a problem selling to someone over seas, but whatever you do, AVOID SELLING TO ANYONE IN NIGERIA. I don't know what it is about Nigerian international law or customs or what, but there is an epidemic of fraud originating from that country right now. Just Google "Nigeria scams". I saw a similar reference to Italy, but have no first hand knowledge of that.

Aside from that, just make sure you handle the purchase through PayPal, buy insurance on the item and keep all correspondence and documentation. I once sold a laptop to someone here in the states that never arrived at its destination. The buyer was really angry (I don't blame him), but 30-days later the USPS cut me an insurance claim check, and I was able to send him a refund.

I wouldn't ship to Mexico or Italy though.

Had problems ? Up to now, personally, I've always received all the goods I've bought (mainly from US)... only issue were sometimes the times (between 2 and 3 months one time).
But luckily nothing have been stolen or lost in my case. I've read of complaints in this sense (vanishing goods) sort of linked to some italian regions, instead.