I’m thinking of ending my relationship with International Shipping. . .
INTL shipping is too much like dating that Slicky Boy everyone warns you about. . .
He often arrives late. . .If he shows up at all. . .You never really know where he is hanging out. . .Sometimes he just disappears for a few weeks. . . You can’t trust a word he says and you can’t keep track of him unless you invest in some expensive GPS system or a PI. . .Sometimes you end up paying for the date and it’s never cheap because Slicky Boys have extravagant tastes despite their low pay grade. . .Slicky Boys are also very high maintenance. . .And sure, I’ve had a blast with them, but the nights waiting up, wondering if they were coming home, or laying dead in a road or some other woman’s bed outweighed the fun.
I have sold some of my priciest tomes INTL, however my average INTL sale is only $30, this does not give me much margin for error. Here are a few problems off the top of my head that I have with INTL sales.
1- There is no inexpensive option to track the book, you have to trust the customer when they say the book did not arrive. I believe that people are basically honest, however last year I had 6 missing books to Great Britain in a 2 month time period surrounding the back to school crowd. I use Endicia so sloppy writing was not the issue, nor was improper forms. In the US I just lose out on my cost of the book and $3 or so for shipping, for INTL add $10 – $30 to that and it sucks. I don’t lay awake at night wondering if the book will get there or if I will have to refund, but I do get a certain level of stress with these orders.
2-Most books I ship have to go 1st Class INTL, the flat rate envelope does not properly give the protection these books need. While, most of my 1st INTL packages average abut 7 – 14 days, the P.O. does not even give a delivery estimate. They like to say, “varies.” Many a customer understands this, but a few don’t, and they are hard to deal with.
3-If a book is returned for insufficient address or whatever other Post Office whim, I usually eat the cost to resend it, esp if the address was correct. At $10- $30 a pop, as I said before, it sucks, and adds up.
4- I don’t offer heavy books for INTL sale on most sites. On Ebay people can mail me for a quote. On abe though, they can purchase and then I will request extra shipping. Lately when I request extra shipping charges through Abe, people, refuse. . .This wasn’t always the case. I do pay the extra up to 2lbs or so, but if a book is 4 lbs, I have to request the extra shipping. Even if it was a $150 book, why should I pay $25 – $30 out of my pocket to ship the book, when it will usually sell in US within a couple months? Set the shipping rate higher? Then I wouldn’t sell a darn thing, most books cost me less than $14 to ship.
5- High Maintenance -I have to answer a lot more e-mails for INTL shipping, and most of the time I can’t really tell them anything about where their packages is. The US PO sometimes scans the Customs info, sometimes they don’t. Also, for heavy books and books that need a shipping quote, I have to package the book and weigh it, send the emails, and then get rejected 9 out of 10 times. Other high maintenance that I don’t have to deal with atm is the whole needing to hand them to a cashier at the Post Office.
Umm yeah, so, I’m on the fence.
I like the idea of sharing literature around the world. I used to have book stores in Australia and Ireland order 5 – 10 books from me at a time, and then I would send them surface–this was a win win situation for both of us–I could still use the M bag for them, but M Bag is the biggest hassle in the world for me, my post office doesn’t even carry them, I have to go to a downtown location to get it. . . .Well I have alot more thoughts on this, but I have to get back to work.
Bitch With Books 