Buying in the States was Re: HP analyzer probes

From: Fred N. van Kempen <waltje_at_pdp11.nl>
Date: Wed Jun 30 10:08:53 2004

On Wed, 30 Jun 2004, Paul Koning wrote:

> Hans> I find it amazing that in the land of rampant capitalism they
> Hans> are unable to see the advantages of selling internationally....
>
> Hans> The eBay "will ship to <insert your country of choice> only" is
> Hans> something I do not understand. Why reduce your potential
> Hans> market? An international buyer knows they will have to pay for
> Hans> shipping and that might put them off but why shut them out
> Hans> completely? The extra hassle of an international shipment
> Hans> cannot be that great, at least it isn't in my experience here
> Hans> in Europe.
>
> Unfortunately you're mistaken (for the case of exports from the USA).
> Shipping things may be easy if you don't bother studying the export
> laws, but if you DO make the effort to learn and understand them and
> comply, you'll find it is not easy at all.
>
> I spent several days in a course on this topic back in 2000, and
> naturally things are more complicated now.
Thats why smart people live in countries that are less restrictive
on what can be exported "in the People's Best Interest". :)

(no, Hans, France is not one of em either ;-)

Seriously though. Yes, the export stuff is an issue in the U.S.,
although so far, most sellers basically did not want to bother
with the extra forms, the ".. possibility of me having to pay
taxes or duties for your country..." and so on. And, face it,
most U.S. citizens don't even KNOW where, say, Holland is.

(no flames on this last observation, please, flame me off-list
if you feel like it..)

And ya know what? Once I tell em I actually live in the U.S., but
am "sent out" to Europe... they're all of a sudden OK with sending
it to Holland again. Even though they need exact instructions on
how to fill out those damn forms ;-)

Just my observation, being a multi-country hopper..

--f
Received on Wed Jun 30 2004 - 10:08:53 BST