best postage options for south africa for ebay please?

firesidemaid

hi all.

am quite an experienced seller, but now have a couple of valuable-ish items which i am not sure how best to send.

total value of 2 items is £46, but i can send them separately at less than £25 value each (collectables).

also, it is to a po box - does that make a difference?

i don't know whether to send airsure or ISF or just via normal airmail - am i missing or forgetting something here?

thanks in advance
FSM

cyberbob

No royal mail international service will guarantee a signature once the item has left the UK. Also airsure doesn't cover south africa.

As long as the value is below £41 i'd send normal airmail as you can split into 2 parcels. You will then be covered for loss with your proof of posting.

Saying that though one thing about the sale does worry me the fact that it's to a PO box. That always gets me worrying and personally I wont send to them.

firesidemaid

thanks for the reply CB and for your knowledge of the international services - i had thought that i would carry on with the separate parcels, but i just wanted to check.

i also wondered about the po box, i didn't expect the items to go for so much but they didn't cost me anything, so at the worst i would have not lost much.

i have had things go to sa happily before and to all sorts of far-away places, so i'll just cross my fingers for a week or so;)

theonlywayisup

The worst that may happen is the buyer filing a inr dispute, they will win but then you will have the cop to claim from Royal Mail, keep the cop for 180 days.

Crowqueen

Some outlying areas have PO boxes - I wouldn't read a huge amount into it.

frodo76

Hi all
I am a South African living in the UK; I still have family living in South Africa and regularly have parcels going both ways. I thought I would just make a few comments about postage to South Africa. Unfortunately the South African postage system still has a lot of problems with theft and this usually by staff working for the Postal service and not dishonesty from the people receiving the item.
I tend not to post anything over £50 as it becomes too expensive to insure, at a minimum I will send the item with some kind of signed for or tracking option (the cheapest I can get) as this at least helps with issues when the item does go missing, I have also found that the signed for option does decrease the chance of theft while going through the postal system but not always it is very hit and miss.
Finally on the issue of PO Boxes most properties in South Africa don’t have post boxes, a large amount of people tend to hire PO Boxes for ease of use and in some ways security and safety. As most properties have heavy security it is difficult for postal workers to get on the property and make a delivery so it is easy just to go and pick up your mail once or twice a week.
I do sell on eBay but I normally do not sell to the African continent as a whole as it is just too much of a pain. If I have to I always explain that postage will be high due to the very high insurance costs that are compulsory if you want to bid.
Anyway hopes this helps you a little, good luck I hope it all goes ok.