The reason I ask is I've sent him about half a dozen e-mails about these t-bars he sells : AMC T-BARS (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1-1-4-FAT-BUFFALO-T-BARS-DRAG-BARS-6-8-10-RISE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35564QQitemZ456807 3241) , Asking for a shipping quote to Dublin. Now I know it says in the auction call for an international purchase, but any forum members outside the States will tell you that Shipping prices can vary hugley between different suppliers, and international phone calls aint cheap either (not from here, anyway!).So in my last e-mail I asked for a shipping price, and said if it was satisfactory I would ring immediatley with my credit-card details to organise the purchase. I never got a reply.If he had just checked my feed-back he would have seen I pay at warp-speeds, and always have.Plus my last 20 (in fact, the majority) of my purchases have been from the U.S, AND MOSTLY BIKE RELATED.Then I read the thread that is closed about the 10% re-stocking fee, and I thought to myself, WOW :wonderlan ,I got off lucky! I would really love to know why so many dealers have a problem dealing outside of the U.S, especially when they can obviously see by your feed-back you are not a con-artist? :frownthre

No...he has disappeared after LegalBeagleMom spoke up.

The problem that many US shippers have is they only ship via UPS and they know that there are not that many people who want to pay the UPS shipping fees.

UPS is usually cheaper than USPS for heavier items. I'm not sure about FedEx because I don't use them too often.

UPS is usually cheaper than USPS for heavier items. I'm not sure about FedEx because I don't use them too often.

I can answer for Fedex, since I am employed by Fedex.

Fedex Ground is the same or cheaper than UPS ground and the same or cheaper for Fedex Express (air) 2nd day, versus UPS Air. We get a little more for P1 (Priorty overnight). Our international rates are competitive but usually prohibitive for home deliveries. I would recommend trying us in lieu of Big Brown. We have the Purple Promise :smoke

Deicer18, I have dealt with both, and actually worked for UPS about 12-13 years ago. Without a doubt, UPS have the worst customer service I have come across in a long time.I've bought a lot of musical equipment from Music123, and while I fount them great to deal with I had to drop them because of UPS. I have used USPS a lot too, and have never had a problem.For big and heavy items I dont mind using USPS Surface, the wait is long but anything I need I just cant get here, there are no custom parts shops here to speak of.

International sales are a big hassle.

we run into the issue that (1) international credit cards are impossible to verify, (2) Customs issues (big headache, many customers are trying to avoid paying VAT, it's illegal for us to lie on customs forms which the nice customers request we do and get mad when we don't) It's illegal in our country and the country we are importing into. (3) USPS does not function like UPS or FedEx: they have no customer service :doh and their idea of pick-up is a joke. A claim can take up to 6 months (if ever paid...never had one yet paid) and anything military mail can not be traced (so the USPS tells us). It is as frustrating for the merchant as the customer.

UPS and FedEx are the best way to ship international but they cost a lot more then most people are willing to pay. FedEx is more competitive then 'Brown' (and of course they have cooler colors :banana ).

SamIam, I think you are going way ahead of yourself.All the head-aches you mention above are the CUSTOMERS problem, thats just the attitude that stops people from ever considering shipping international.
I think you will find my visa card is just as easy to verify as yours and anyway, whats wrong with paypal?
2. I've never asked anyone to lie on a form
3.I've dealt with all three companies mentioned above, probably more than most members when it comes to international shipping (after all, I do live outside the U.S), And USPS is who I've had the most hassle-free shipments with.
You seem to have had trouble with "military" mail? I think you will find there is a difference between sending something to Ireland and sending something to Iraq or Afghanistan.It's a big world out there, whats the point in having a world-wide web if you cant use it?

SamIam, I think you are going way ahead of yourself.All the head-aches you mention above are the CUSTOMERS problem, thats just the attitude that stops people from ever considering shipping international.
I think you will find my visa card is just as easy to verify as yours and anyway, whats wrong with paypal?
2. I've never asked anyone to lie on a form
3.I've dealt with all three companies mentioned above, probably more than most members when it comes to international shipping (after all, I do live outside the U.S), And USPS is who I've had the most hassle-free shipments with.
You seem to have had trouble with "military" mail? I think you will find there is a difference between sending something to Ireland and sending something to Iraq or Afghanistan.It's a big world out there, whats the point in having a world-wide web if you cant use it?

No it's the shipper's problem. We are held responsible for payment through customs. It's true if no one pays for the VAT the carrier will not release it but then I have to recover it...all the way across the pond.

International credit cards are not easily verified. I can't go through the whole process but trust me it just is not so. Your Visa (if drawn on a foreign bank is just about impossible to verify). The eastern european "group" knows this well. Africa is obvous but the old soviet block are damn smart folks. I mean damn smart. :(

Paypal costs more money to process for a business of any size thus why it's very limited to eBay and a very few consumer oriented businesses. If we had to rely on PayPal we would be out of business.

I speak from experience on the shipper side (we sell computer storage related products: and not on eBay :frownthre ). There are many customers who it seems that it's a easy process but on the merchant side it's not. We see the losses. If it were that easy we and many other merchants would be doing it. It's bad enough in the states having to go after fraud in other states. I could tell you a lot of stories you would not believe. International sales is about 90% fraud. Sure you may be the 10% but I would be out of a job. Companies that are succesful have agents in each country who can represent the company in any legal proceedings. Are there honest international customers? yes but not enough to offset the loss. You are looking at it as an individual and not how a business looks at it. We have to have to make a profit every time we sell something.

Our issues with military mail were in western europe. I can also say from experience in the military when I shipped back to the states from Beligum that the contractors were stealing our (service members) belongings (I had all my stereo equipment stolen from a military move). They busted a whole gang in the netherlands back in the 80's and it still goes on.

I too have had good personal experience with USPS the several times I have purchased something on eBay. On the professional side after shipping hundreds of items they are terrible.

Again it is very frustrating because as a business we want to sell to you. However if our losses outway any profit it makes no sense.

We want the customer hassled. Why? because we must have signed confirmation that you received your package or you can charge back your CC and I have no recourse. All you have to say is you did not recieve the item.
Who is going to prove otherwise? The credit card company always sides with the card holder. I speak from experience not cause I thought this all up. We have been burned so many times my butt is still on fire.

I agreee with you as a consumer but not as a businessman who has to deal with this day in and day out. Just trying to explain the other side :o

Oh and I should add I have nothing to do with AMCPARTSMANAGER :banadanc

Last time I saw him was on Sportster Girls thread (maybe it was Sportster girl who had the solution with the vacuum...sorry) on recovering parts out of the engine using a vacuum.

I think Bert and LegalBeagleMom scared him away. :laugh

IFedEx is more competitive then 'Brown' (and of course they have cooler colors :banana ).

I'll say. Hated it when the #88 car went to UPS sponsorship. Brown is ugly enuff, without being on a NASCAR stocker.

Oh sorry, disregard my tangent. :)

I'll say. Hated it when the #88 car went to UPS sponsorship. Brown is ugly enuff, without being on a NASCAR stocker.

Oh sorry, disregard my tangent. :)
right on with that! At least they did not go totally brown like the trucks :yikes

At least the picture I saw was a lighter brown and white
:hijack :roflblack

Never had a problem shipping overseas, just a little extra paperwork. I use USPS, as I have found it to be the most cost effective. The only issue I have had to deal with is size requirements of the packaging. A phone call ahead of time to the Post Office could have saved me time.

SamIam, I think you are being a bit paranoid, 90% of international transactions are fraud? If I was a bit more sensetive I would take offence! There are very easy precautions you can take, Like not shipping until the funds have cleared or offering a "no return" policy on international offers.I've been to the States a lot, in fact I've lived there for a while and have a lot of family in various States, I've never had a problem with stores accepting my credit-card anytime I've been back.

Just because the funds clear does not mean anything. A stolen credit card can clear but when the card holder checks his (or her) statement in a month...and we have had people come back six months later and do a charge back then the merchant is out the money. Again I really don't want to go into the whole mechanics of it. We ship 100-150 packages a day. I'm not trying to be offensive just stating the sad facts. You are looking at it as an honorable individual. It's a very cynical world out there.
And yes if you present your card at an american store different credit card rules apply then internet sales. Remember you sign something when you make that point of sale purchase and the nice sales person checks your signature?

Paranoid? no, very experienced ;)


...well maybe a little paranoid because they are all out to get us :D

SamIam, I accept your argument and I know it is a cynical world out there, but surely not 90% of International transactions are fraudulent? I would totally dissagree with that. Let me ask you a question, you seem to be in the know about these things, will the new "chip & pin" system being introduced more widley throughout Europe make any difference to Internet sales, i.e. make them more secure?

(BTW, you dont sell chubby T-bars, do you?) ;) ;)

They may work but the issue is with the credit card companies. They do not care about internet fraud. The merchant is left to impliment the new features that each individual card offers. So if Visa goes with one technology and Mastercard goes with another, guess who's paying for it? If I'm running a merchant web site I have to impliment technology that will work with those features. Sure someone could call in by phone but that takes time and defeats the purpose of eCommerce.

As much as the creditcard companies like to talk the talk about this security feature and that feature when we report a fraudulent card they are very slow to react. How do we know that? Because the same card comes up day after day and it passes through the first filter (CC Verify). Every order must be audited for other red flags. It's a costly a inefficient process.

We are only discussing one element of this. Customs, Duties, and Taxes are another huge headache. Each country has it's own regulations and even items forbidden to be imported (or by US law forbidden to be exported) Any encryption is very tightly regulated. If you think about it just about all software has some form of encryption. I have several large books at work that describe each countries regulations and taxes. Then the US wants forms filled out for the Security Exchange Commision (typically anything sold over $2300).
Sure if you mail something to your friends in the US it seems easy enough but businesses are under different rules and regulations. Then multipy that times the amount of orders being Processed and it is is just a PITA.

(Let's see right now China exports of cotton based clothing into the US is 'banned' because the quota has been reached. So I can't import clothing as a Chinese business and if I'm an american business I can't buy that clothing now for my shop. It does not stop there: the list goes on and on.)

Is 90 percent of the International orders fraud? Yes (I think that's conservative: there are a lot of desperate people). But are we talking processed transactions that slipped through (which is how the CC companies define it) or are we talking how many fraud orders merchants encounter on a given day and outright reject because they know the order is fraud? As a merchant that is the important number.

I would not believe anything a CC company said. They have been known to lie about some very large hits on their own systems. Until there is some accountabilty and protection for online merchants the restriction of global sales will continue.

Again it's not just the CC companies but also the tarriff issue. If I have a international customer prepay the tarrifs that puts the responsability on my company for that countries tarrifs and if I leave it up to the international customer and he does not pay the tarrif depending on the country it could be charged to my shipping account or just not released and then the customer can go back and dispute (charge back)the charge and leave me to recover the item (and we have been there many times :( ). It ends up being a lose-lose for the merchant. If the merchant is making enough money on the item then maybe it's worth it but the internet does not encourage that kind of business.

We sell chubby DVD cases but no chubby T-bars, sorry :D

SamIam, I only wanted a set of $99 t-bars! I'm also quite prepared to pay import duty and tax, I'd have to pay it anyway if the Items were available here, it would be dumped onto the retail price. Having said that anything under €150 doe'snt require this, in Ireland anyway. I was looking for a very simple transaction.
1. I get a shipping rate (about 30 seconds on the USPS site)
2. I pay for the bars plus shipping with paypal the same as an American buyer. I can actually look out my office window and see Paypal's european HQ, and I'm verified about 4 or 5 years now.
3. He goes to the post office, takes another 30 seconds to fill out the form, and posts it!

Thats all I wanted

Deicer18, I have dealt with both, and actually worked for UPS about 12-13 years ago. Without a doubt, UPS have the worst customer service I have come across in a long time.I've bought a lot of musical equipment from Music123, and while I fount them great to deal with I had to drop them because of UPS. I have used USPS a lot too, and have never had a problem.For big and heavy items I dont mind using USPS Surface, the wait is long but anything I need I just cant get here, there are no custom parts shops here to speak of.

my experience is just the opposite. i have no problems when someone ships to me via ups, but fedex always seems to delay my deliveries by a day or two..... not the overnight, just the ground. i am in the military but do not live in post quarters. when checking the tracking information, it says 'delayed by security checkpoint'. but the driver does not have to go through the checkpoint. i think he just doesn't feel like delivering here.

as with everything else, ymmv.

UPS is usually cheaper than USPS for heavier items. I'm not sure about FedEx because I don't use them too often.


Not if you ship USPS priority, they have no oversize penalty, shipped a fullsize truck bumper in 2 days for 50 bucks wrapped in a blanket this way, does this not work for overseas?

Hey 440 rt. My wife has an ebay business and the main reason we avoid the intl. sales is the use of the USPS does not provide tracking after it leaves the states. I for one don't want to have to pay when the item does not arrive. Fed Ex and UPS overseas rates are insane. Just go to their rate calculators and they will put you into shock. Fed EX ground is the cheapest shipping in the states and we have had 2 claims on over 1000 items. Both were paid promptly.

SamIam, I only wanted a set of $99 t-bars! I'm also quite prepared to pay import duty and tax, I'd have to pay it anyway if the Items were available here, it would be dumped onto the retail price. Having said that anything under €150 doe'snt require this, in Ireland anyway. I was looking for a very simple transaction.
1. I get a shipping rate (about 30 seconds on the USPS site)
2. I pay for the bars plus shipping with paypal the same as an American buyer. I can actually look out my office window and see Paypal's european HQ, and I'm verified about 4 or 5 years now.
3. He goes to the post office, takes another 30 seconds to fill out the form, and posts it!

Thats all I wanted
Oh I forgot the whole point of this thread :laugh see you got me going on one subject and...
I know there are a couple of parts companies that do ship international... not sure about the postal end of it though or PayPal (they nick 3% and most business CC processing costs us 2%, except American Express). I will look around the threads here...I could swear it came up with the Australian members. I will let you know or hopefully someone will chime in with the companies.

Yes the Austrialians are way ahead of us:

http://www.xlforum.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1900

Are'nt they always? :shhhh

could you pay for them with paypal and have them shipped to someone here in the states who will then make a trip to the post office to mail them to you?

I'll ship to Ireland for ya. ;) I've got some 1-1/4" Fat Bars on my site. Click the link below, and go to the "Handlebars & Risers" page.

could you pay for them with paypal and have them shipped to someone here in the states who will then make a trip to the post office to mail them to you?
KC Sportygirl, I do have quite a lot of family in the States, and it's always an option, but it is a lot of hassle.

Leo, man, you should have let me know earlier, I got a set off E-bay last week What I won on e-bay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=4569685039&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT)

I just mailed the guy and asked him would he ship here, he did'nt see a problem.I will check out your site though, never finished buying when you have a Harley! :rolleyes:

Before buying from American Classic Motors, take a look at this thread from Club Chopper.

http://www.clubchopper.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27216

dave,

glad to have you here, along with your words of advice when dealing with your company.
I'm hoping you don't let a certain employee anywhere near your computers, dealing with the public.

nevermind my last post. it's apparent you haven't learned a thing.

http://adcache.cycletrader.com/5/7/0/80814770.htm. I was looking at this bike in the cycle trader. Glad I visited this site. Anyway, first post for me and HELLO ALL!. :banana