Shipping Ebay item to Mexico

[nealrm]

I placed a few items on Ebay for sale. The winner wants it shipped to Mexico. I'm leary of shipping an item out of the US. For those of you that do this all the time, what scams do I need to watch out for?

[Harold Mansfield]

I don't see where it would be all that different. You have already received payment, and you can still add the needed tracking and insurance options for your protection and the protection of the buyer.

You could always check the website of the shipping company that you are using to see if there are any extra added precautions that you need to use and if you are just curious as to where you are sending it, just do a Map Quest or Google Map of the address to see the area that you are shipping to....I shopped for a new place to live like that without ever leaving the house..Google maps will give you a street level picture of most places so that you can see the surrounding area.

[billbenson]

US credit cards only (unless is some big international company card)
I usually require wire transfer.
I haven't really heard of any scams from Mexico so probably the same precautions as US orders.

Check the email for company info as well. Might to a whois if you want to see how long they have been around. I'd stay away from free email accounts. Pretty much the usual stuff.

[nealrm]

I checked around, the number of charge back scams dealing with ebay and paypal when shipping out of the US is too high for my comfort. There has to be some better way of doing this.

On top of that Paypal wants to hold on to my money for 21 day - just in case.

[Harold Mansfield]

I checked around, the number of charge back scams dealing with ebay and paypal when shipping out of the US is too high for my comfort. There has to be some better way of doing this.

On top of that Paypal wants to hold on to my money for 21 day - just in case.

Ah ha! That does change everything. Shipping a product, but waiting for the money to be released ?
Not sure I would be comfortable with that either....that may be a deal breaker for me.
Seems like people that live in these countries know that their locations cause some restrictions and reservations and would have the proper payment, like a U.S. credit card, or some other form of payment that clears immediately...like a verified Pay Pal account of their own.
I can see why you would be leery now.

[billbenson]

What product or price range are you talking about neal?

[nealrm]

$306 + Shipping.

[dynocat]

Is UPS COD a possibility? You do have to wait for your money from UPS though. I'd ask for a wire transfer.

[billbenson]

I wouldn't do that via paypal. I doubt you can do it cod. If they want to do a wire, that's fine. Or a check, just talk to your bank to see how long you should wait before shipping if its a check. I set up a business checking account specifically for international wires.

I assume you are making $100 or less on this. For a one time deal, I wouldn't waste my time. Mexico is part of NAFTA so shipping may not be difficult, but it can be a pain and take up a lot of time to other international destinations.

If you are getting a lot of orders from Mexico, you might want to figure out a good way to deal with it or have a different price structure? Commonly available products here are frequently not easily available in Latin America, depending on where. My gut feel is its probably legit if it didn't raise flags for other reasons.