Open Question: Costs of Joe?
 

Guys, TroopsofDoom brought up a very interesting point in his recent thread about ordering Joe in Canada. That is, with a lot of our brothers and sisters are from outside the US. They pay a bit more for their collections. I wonder what we (US residents) can do to help them with orders and what-not. And I'm not advocating a gift policy here - I know some of us have good fortunes and can pass that on to others, but there have got to be ways to save on shipping/receiving costs.

Any ideas?

thats a great idea Bayer, my friend Rambo and I have the exact same problem , we live so far and its too expensive to get CONVENTION sets well some vehicles too , but we support GIJOE every time we can ....yo joe :cool:

P.D.:THANKS to Frank he is the man ..

I don't know the ends and outs of the usps to well, but if there is a way I can help, I dont mind at all helping out and wasting gas to help out my j'ders. I'm always ready to help. figure out a way and I'm in.
Cory

I received some good help from G and Frank buying some itens on stores and sending me them for a FAIR ship costs. I live in Brazil and can't get low costs on shipping (I think it is the same with Craig, Carlos and Nando), it is far from US that's it. However what really piss me off is asking for a quote on eBay, pay for that value and on the package says a diferent prize, a little cheaper then I paid, and in the end, no refund from seller. Not to mention the custom taxes that a package can fall in.

Craig help me out with some figures as many others here, but an international Joe collector pay more for his collection than a US collector. :D We need to live with that and do what is possible.

Things are about to change here in Brazil. Hasbro will be coming here, i just received some intel about it and the rumors are showing to be true. What means there is a possibility to have, 25th being made and sell here. Bad for me I don't collect them ;) .

Oh yeah, I hear you Luis. That really burns me. It is just dishonesty and greed on the part of the seller. I've had differences of up to twenty dollars on the price I paid and the actual postage charge. And living in Australia, I know all about "postage pain". Quite often the postage costs are more than the item cost itself. It's kind of the people here to offer to help, but other than their honesty I don't know that there is a lot they can do to reduce postage costs for us international Joe fans.

I like to hear something like this from sellers: I'll ask 10 bucks for shipping. If it goes less I'll refund. :)

$20 is super steep. I sell alot International, I can not charge "actual" shipping. Most people feel "actual" shipping is what is on the postage. Well boxes, bubble mailers, bubble wrap, tape, paper, ink and small ziplocks are not free. I charge a flat $3 to International buyers for the items. Plus I have to take my Int'l syuff to the PO, gas is over $4 a gallon. Customs forms need to be filled out and are time consuming as well as standing in line at the PO. The cost of my shipping supplies, my gas & time ARE part of "actual" shipping cost. Plus paypal takes fees out of the postage as well. $20 over the postage is not right. Anyone that has ever received a package from me KNOWS I pack it right & the packing materials need to be paid by the buyer. As a seller, 20% of my sales dollars go to ebay & PayPal. Lets look at a senerio. I sell a complete figure for $10 to Spain. I have a minimum of $5 in the figure itself (good luck on that). I have $5 left, PayPal & ebay takes 20%, now I am down to $3. My buyer wants his item protected, so I wrap his figure in bubble wrap, his accessories are wrapped as well, he is placed in a ziplock bag with his accessories. That bag is put into a bubble mailer. I print a address label with my electricity, paper, toner & use my tape to attach it to the mailer. I then get in my car stop at the gas station to buy 1 gallon of $4 gas, then off to the PO wo wait in line for the next 30 minutes. If I did not charge the $3 for handling fee, I would be out on every transaction. This is how I feed my four kids, i do not get rich off my shipping, in the end I really am not making ANYTHING on it!!!! My whole point here is - the price on the package is not the "actual price"

I don't want start a fight here but: "If you are out on the rain you need to know you will get wet." That said you can't add all that on shipping quotes, they fall in "handling". And is not fair call a price for shipping and include there, without noticing it to the buyer, the handling. Fair would be say the actual ship costs more handling. You need to specify it. The costs of maintaing the eBay percentual must be in the figure price as the other costs or you need to clear it. I never bought anything without the shipping quote first. Many sellers state the shipping costs more handling. Is it fair to get the handling money? Yes, it is, but the buyer must be aware how much will it cost. I never buy twice from a seller that get the handling and doesn't inform me on that price prior to the sell.
Just to state an exemple what happened to me. I won 4 BBI weapons sets for U$ 0,01 each, from a buyer that said on the auction he do combine shipping. The single shipping to Brazil would be US$ 7,99. The end of auction trought paypal invoice came: US$ 0.04 for the 4 sets more US$ 7,99 x 4 = US$ 31,96 for shipping. Where is the combine shipping here? He would charge me FOUR times. He was trying to make money that he didn't made on the sets with shipping. Was I guilty 'cuz he didn't sell the items for a better price? If you want to profit letting items start at US$ 0,01 make sure they are wanted items, if not be wise and give them a fair price. I left him the answear that I would not buy it, he could negative me, but I would tell it to eBay. Until now, no negative feedback from that seller.
From what I know you can sell your figures for US$ 20,00 or more, if there is someone else to buy. However asking US$ 10,00 on a figure and more US$ 10,00 on shipping where it is really US$ 5,00 and don't tell it to the buyer doesn't look fair to me. Again, it is what I think about it.

The shipping price is in every one of my items, I never charge a cent more than what is listed & I always combine shipping. If you are being screwed by others, you need to shop with me.

As Nando and Luis have said, USPS fees are too high and there is the problem.

As Luis have stated, I dont mind paying whatever shipping fees and handling fees are if they are stated BEFORE. It is just annoying to find you've paid 3 times the actual shipping cost. Fortunately for me, I haven't had big problems with toys sellers. :)

But I have an idea: In your next vacations you could visit COLOMBIA, PERU, BRASIL and AUSSIE and left some joes! :D

And more seriously, we the IntL can start buying from vader9900 store, outside eBay, IMO is a win-win deal.

what do you think?

p.s. thank you Frank!