Erik, A few comments before Eric S. shuts off this obviously OT discussion --.
Some of your points about excess communications apply no matter whether the other ham is domestic or in a foreign country - I think we can blame it more on the anxiety of the recipient rather than anything else. Perhaps international shipping creates additional anxiety on both ends for the inexperienced. Recently, I had a package shipped to me - USPS and it had delivery confirmation paid for and applied to it. The sender did not bother check the tracking to see whether it was delivered - he instead sent me an email (which I had to take the time and effort to respond to) asking if I had received the parcel. So, if that was his intent, why did he pay the $0.70 for delivery confirmation service. And secondly, since he paid for DC service, why did he bother me with questions when he could have inquired of the service he had paid for? It all remains a mystery to me - why do some buy premium gasoline when their cars are designed to run on regular? - it is one more of those mysteries that make no real sense - take advantage of the services that you are paying for, otherwise, why pay for them? If one does not use them, then the cost is not justified. Now consider - if he was determined to ask me if it was received, why did he pay for delivery confirmation. And, since he did pay for delivery confirmation, why did he not type the number in at USPS.com to find out whether I had received it or not. USPS has improved its tracking in the last year or so - before that, you could tell when it was shipped and when it was delivered, but nothing in between. They have improved, with real tracking information, so those paying for delivery confirmation, the delivery confirmation number (or in the case of international shipments, the customs number) will give you the location of the parcel at any given time. If you send a parcel through USPS with Delivery Confirmation, you can now go to the USPS.com website and sign up for email notices of the progress - if you are the shipper, you can request those notifications be sent to the recipient (and you as well if you have interest) - that is not automatic, but it is easy to do. 73, Don W3FPR On 6/2/2011 10:58 PM, Erik Basilier wrote: > > 2. With a foreign buyer, the number of emails exchanged before and > after the sale tends to be 3 times the number with domestic buyers. First > there is looking at different services to find one that is the best price > including good insurance and estimated delivery time. (During this process, > going back and forth, web site login expires, and you have to re-enter > everything about the destination including the buyer's blood type. ) Then > there is discussion about the adequacy of packing, and what to write on the > outside of the package to avoid damage from rough handling or inspectors' > knives. The customs forms tend to differ depending on the exact service > chosen, even with the same shipping company. Then there is discussion about > what the tracking number might be. Unless you prepared for the shipping day > like a student cramming for a final, you sure didn't remember to ask the > clerk. (This applies mostly to postal service, as the private services tend > to help by telling you these things. This, and the terribly slow lines in > the post office are reasons why some would never consider the post office > unless it happens to save the foreign buyer a lot of money.) Then there are > usually followup emails after completed delivery. > > > > Overall I think I spend at least half a day of my time on a completed > transaction with a foreign buyer. What is the value of my time? There is > some satisfaction from being helpful to a foreign ham, but it really isn't > worth it unless the foreign buyer is willing to bid substantially more than > domestic buyers. Fortunately this is often the case. However, one won't > generally get the benefit of that higher price if one sets a friendly, fixed > price. Next time I advertise something on this list, I may not set a fixed > price but announce an auction (off list, maybe on ebay). > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
