Hello all, I was wondering has any one dealt with shipping to Italy? I have heard horror stories about shipping there and ppl having issues of items not getting there. I have someone interested in some of my items but I really dont want to deal with a headache if I can avoid it. I have never had an issue shipping internationally but just heard things about Italy. Thanks.
It is prohibited to ship toys not made of wood to Italy. I have shipped there many times, using Express Mail International, and have never had any problems.
What? What is up with the wood thing? Is there a way they could know whether it was wood or not? This is what has me worried as we are talking over $200 in toys here and I dont want to get screwed. Maybe I just wont ship there.
I always wondered why sellers have trouble with sending items to Italy. If you look on Ebay a lot of sellers won't ship there, or only with EMS. I live in Belgium, but ship with the Dutch Post(living just across the border) and I never had any problems with shipments to Italy. This is with standard shipping with priority. Still I'm curious why people are so carefull. Is this just because they see other people do, or from own experience. Greetings, Antoine
If it's made of wood or other materials has nothing to do with the item being prohibited or not. Just the customs charge can be different for wooden toys or plastic toys.(Taric code)
The Italian postal service has developed a nasty reputation for sluggishness, missing or damaged items. Since the borders *within* the EU aren't as rigid, it's quite likely you would have less issues than say someone shipping from Canada, or Japan, An overzealous form of protectionism directed at an industry that probably isn't that big a deal in Italy anymore. Shipping shoes to Italy can also be a major PITA. I think DaLast2walk might have you sound advice there, i think EMS should be safe enough,but your call of course.
Italy Country Conditions for Mailing — Italy Prohibitions (130) Albums of any kind (of photographs, postcards, postage stamps, etc.). Arms and weapons. Articles of platinum or gold; jewelry; and other valuable articles unless sent as insured Priority Mail International parcels. Artificial flowers and fruits and accessories for them. Bells and other musical instruments and parts thereof. Cartridge caps; cartridges. Clocks and supplies for clocks. Compound medicaments and medicines. Coral mounted in any way. Ether and chloroform. Exposed photographic and cinematographic films. Footwear of any kind. Haberdashery and sewn articles of any kind, including trimmings and lace; handkerchiefs; scarves; shawls, needlework including stockings and gloves; bonnets, caps, and hats of any kind. Hair and articles made of hair. Human remains. Leather goods. Lighters and their parts, including lighter flints. Live bees, leeches, and silkworms. Live plants and animals. Nutmeg, vanilla; sea salt, rock salt; saffron. Parasites and predators of harmful insects. Perfumery goods of all kinds (except soap). Playing cards of any kind. Postage stamps in sealed or unsealed First-Class Mail International shipments. Radioactive materials. Ribbons for typewriters. Roasted or ground coffee and its substitutes; roasted chicory. Saccharine and all products containing saccharine. Salted, smoked or otherwise prepared meats; fats; and lard. Tobacco. Toys not made wholly of wood. Treated skins and furs. Weapons of any kind and spare parts for them.
I'm not sure, but each country has their own different set of prohibitions. Unfortunately, there's really no way to know what will happen in customs. I just know that if you ship using any other method than Express Mail, you will most likely have problems.
That's because on ebay, paypal requires proof of delivery, and that can't always happen with Priority or 1st Class. Some buyers complain about the high Express shipping cost, so the buyer ships the item Priority to make the sale. Then the buyer opens a paypal dispute, stating the item wasn't received. Because a Priority Mail customs form number does NOT always show proof of delivery, the seller loses the dispute, and the buyer has the money & the toy.......Sound familiar to anybody?
You are correct sir. It's happened to me and that's why I only ship EMS to international locations. For friends I may use a cheaper method but beyond that you always have to cover your back.
Thank you for explaining. Is it really that easy to cheat/swindle? Does Paypal just withdraw the money from the sellers account? Not my intention to sound pedantic about the wooden toy rule. I checked the EU custom regulation and not specific about Italy.
I remember your thread. Another thing for others to remember - keep all your postal receipts for at least 6 months. I will also ship using a cheaper method, as long as it's for a friend.
No problem. Read the above post from Sunlink! Yes. No problem, that's why I provided a link regarding the prohibitions to Italy for all to see.....Some of the prohibitions from other countries are funny to read.
Indeed. But the spaghetti makes up for it I suppose. They've got rivers of the stuff. .... no wait, I'm just daydreaming again. Now I'm hungry.
first class international mail REGISTERED is the way to go...the registered mark forces the receiver to sign for the item...and you can ship this way for up to 4 1lbs in weight...i think anything over and it has to EMS .... I have shipped to italy, canada, australia, France and the UK and have not had anything get Lost or damaged...the postal folks here told me that the postal delivery folks have to sign off for the transfer of the item at each point of hand off and this is the most secure way to ship.... but first class international can take up to 4/5 weeks to get there depending on how far away....
Happened to me just once, but ever since then I will only ship with EMS outside of EU. I sold an item to a guy in Singapore - shipping time even with Priority International (insured) is like one month and the buyer has 40 days to file a dispute... that's way too close. Of course long before the 40 day limit the buyer filed a dispute, because the item "did not arrive". I provided a stamped proof of shipping on paper (which I got at the post office) but Paypal did not accept it and blocked earned funds from my Paypal account "until the matter is resolved" (and because I did not accept responsibility and did not refund the buyer right away, they denied to refund my eBay/Paypal charges for the transaction). The impatient buyer started a chargeback and Paypal took the money away from my BANK account. Why did not they refund him from the blocked amount on Paypal is a total mystery to me, are they crazy?! There was a dispute open! After that the blocked amount became again available on my Paypalacount, but I had to pay for chargeback charges!!!!!! (seller's responsibility, of course). That was the last thing I sold on eBay. The system is very US-oriented and the buyer protection is ridiculous. So in the end: I lost the item (Cyb Menasor). No refund for eBay/Paypal charges I had to pay for selling the item. I lost money for shipping and packaging - 9.00 EUR. And the stupid chargback fee was 7.00 GBP. Ridiculous! Now guess what happened when I went to my post office and demaneded a refund (the item was insured). They were trying to track the package for two months and then they sent me a statement saying "no refund, according to the Singapore postal service the item was delivered on xx.yy.zzz". Of course this statement is on paper and Paypal won't accept it. So yeah EMS only. But then I can't sell anything - even for small items EMS is like four times more expensive than regular insured international mail. Expensive shipping = very little profit.
if you send something 1st class international via REGISTERED mail...it does the same thing as EMS...it is trackable on line...paypal does accept the tracking...(I had someone try the not received claim already) and it costs about 1/3 of EMS...it takes alot longer though and there is no insurance included except $33 in coverage so insurance if you want it costs more...
