US seller hugely overcharging P&P to UK - alternative plan?

porto_bello

Hello.

I've seen a largish (100cm x 50cm x 10cm) item on sale in the USA, weighing about 5kg, which has a starting price of $1. I'd love to win it but the international shipping price is just crazy! ... £400!!! :eek:

However, for domestic shipping, the seller is charging a reasonable £30.

Solution: I have several 'senior' relations in the US (who do not use ebay and paypal). My idea would be to add their address to my ebay and paypal accounts as a despatch address (I've done this for a present for a friend on ebay before, but don't know if I can do it on paypal?)

If I could achieve this, I could ask a relation to onwardly ship the item to me for the actual cost, which I'm guessing will be no more than £100.

But would it work? Can I add an (overseas) legitimate residential paypal address on my account?

[Obviously it would be a lot easier to have a friend with an ebay and paypal account in the US who could buy and post it, but I don't think I do].

Any thoughts?

soolin

I don't think you can add a 'foreign ' address to a paypal account. Also, before you do anythign I would double check that you guesstimate as to postal costs is accurate.

porto_bello

Thanks Soolin.

My guesstimate is simply based on the cost of recently sending an item of a similar size and weight in the opposite direction. [I'm guessing that if anything, the US shipping market is more competitive, so I'm thinking that logically it's unlikely to be more].

I also appreciate that depending on the final price, customs might charge me quite a bit too.

I really just wondered if there is a way of doing this. If not, I guess it's a case of asking a US resident friend of a friend with an ebay and paypal account to buy and ship it - or of course, scrap the idea.

theoretica

Yes you can add foreign addresses to paypal, I can anyway and have added US addresses to mine a couple of times for exactly this reason.

kurgon

Me too. You just need to specify the address that it has to be shipped to.

porto_bello

:money:Super news, thank you! :money:

I'll have a quick chat with paypal tomorrow and with their agreement (and not forgetting the addressees!), will and a US address.

martindow

Have you checked the cost of sending from your friend in the USA to you? The sizes given would be too large for sending by RM in the opposite direction.

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/customerservice2?catId=118600948&mediaId=118600951

deanos

Just looked on the USPS site and it is too large to send abroad, i presume they will be sending via courier

Just tried it on UPS and its £1,400 !

Base Transportation:
464.78 USD
Declared/Insured Value Surcharge:
0.00 USD
Fuel Surcharge:
751.85 USD
Security Fee:
129.87 USD
Misc. Origin Fees:
76.68 USD
Total:
1,423.18 USD

Rolandtheroadie

Ask them if they will allow you to arrange uplift via courier.
DHL, £83 via parcel2go, can be uplifted Tuesday in USA on a 5 day service back to UK.

greeneye

theoretica wrote: »

Yes you can add foreign addresses to paypal, I can anyway and have added US addresses to mine a couple of times for exactly this reason.

How exactly?
I've been wanting to do this for years and periodically call paypal always to be told it's not possible.
If you log into paypal then Profile > Add or Edit Address (or gift address) the country is set to UK and cannot be edited.

Invalidation

Ive bought stuff from the US before who didnt wish to post to the UK.
Therefor.....I tell them the problem and tell them I will pay with paypal and then they shoud despatch it to a US address.
I havent had any problems yet.......even with the Harley Havidson I bought and the shipping, customs and Import duties on that were only £450 in total.