Shipping to Europe

I recently sold some older drives on ebay.  I made a mistake in my listing in saying specifically that I do NOT ship to Europe, rather just the continental US and to Canada.  I generally change 10-15 USD for shipping via USPS priority mail to USA and $25 to Canada.  This price includes the box, packing material, insurance and tracking.  I think it is a fair price, and I do not make more than a few extra cents by estimating the cost.  In fact, often the shipping to Canada, I lose money.  This few cents is what I earn for my time spent waiting in line at the post office just to ask for a customs form — which in NYC can take upwards of 1 hour!!  No, they are not freely available here due to the fact that people steal them….

Here is where my mistake lets me know a bit about how Europeans think.  In the listing, I had $25 for international.  It should have read International to Canada (which it DID in the item description), but since ebay made some changes recently in their selling system, I made a mistake.  I admitted to the mistake, and asked if it would be possible to charge the extra $10 for shipping to Europe to the 4 people who won the auctions from Europe.

Each one of them accused me of fraud.  They said it doesnt cost that much to ship to Europe.  Well, guess what Europeans.  IT DOES COST THAT MUCH TO SHIP A HARD DRIVE TO EUROPE VIA USPS INTERNATIONAL PRIOROTY MAIL.  I am NOT using first class mail, which is closer to $25.  It costs about $38 USD to ship a 2.5 pound package to Western Europe.  I am shocked by this as much as you are, but I assure you it is not fraud on my part.  You can even goto USPS.com and check it.  It tells you how much it costs.

So, in the future, please think before you speak.  Use the internet, use google, and most of all check USPS.com for the price of a 2.5 pound package shipped via USPS International Priority Mail to your country before you cry, complain, and accuse.  It really makes you look bad in my eyes.

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