I'm shipping an NGC graded gold panda to Singapore ... I was just curious as to how secure is shipping to Singapore and should I foresee any issues? I've shipped plenty international but not to Singapore yet, also should I declare full value? Mostly buyers request that I do not declare full value. I would want to do what is best for buyer but have not gotten a response yet. Thanks in advance !
I ship to Singapore before to my E-bay buyers, and every time they did received my package. I had one (first time) buyer from Singapore, he paid for the item, i ship to him his package. 2 days later he wrote to me, that he forget to put his apartment # with his address on paypal. So he gave me his complete address, but the package was already in the air. I thought his package would be lost, but to my surprise he did received the package, even there was no apartment number on it. And that time i ship it by regular mail. You can read this post from E-bay about shipping to Singapore. http://forums.ebay.com.sg/thread.jspa?threadID=500001406 I would advise to ship by FedEx international. But it can be expensive. And please try to avoid using the DHL courier.
Thanks for the response sriblo ag47 So yea the buyer did not respond and to not take any chances I'm shipping it USPS Priority International with full insurance. I have never had any issue on international shipments and don't intend to have any with this package.
Singapore levies a 7% GST on any numismatic or bullion products exceeding SG$400 coming into the country. That's usually why most buyers will ask you to under delcare the item value.
I did lose a couple of panda before as the eBay seller ship by normal posting. That y I now wrote to seller that I required register article instead . I rather queue at post office to sign off my bears than to have dishonest postman or neighbor sniping off my pandas. Undeclare is to avoid good and service tax .
I have posted twice to SG for members here. I declare < $100 and use registered international with Aus post. No problems yet, SG quite safe unlike Indonesia hahaha.
Hello comeaux, I ship to Singapore and Indonesia, never had a problem. I always ask for signature on delivery. : )
My Friend ,The only problem with priority international is I dont believe you can get signature on it ,or can you insure it ..........the way i ship but it is damn expensive is usps express ,you can insure, you get a signature and tracking , give you an idea ,I shipped brother yennus a 30 ct panda sheet ,it cost me 56.00 ,but was there in apx 5-7 days,old fashion registered mail is pretty safe ,but slow............. fedx pricey but safe, I guess it depends on the value and comfort level with your buyer,if im under lets say 750 usd, i send registered , over that i like express , just a thought.................................
Thanks for all the advice yall greatly appreciated ! Yea so like I said earlier since I got no reply from the buyer (until later) so I shipped International Priority Express which I have used several times without issue. The item is not really high value ($375) so hopefully no GST issues for buyer and I was able to insure it with delivery confirmation. I honestly prefer Fedex because I have a business account and can ship international express damn near anywhere and it's only from $18 to $25 depending on location and only takes 3 to 4 days for delivery but I usually ship by whatever method is requested. With Fedex I've shipped to Malaysia, Australia and Argentina and always took no longer than 4 days. Never had an issue international but was curious about Singapore, since the item is not high value and insured I'm fairly confident it will be alright. I think anything over $1,000 and I will definitely go with USPS Registered. Again thanks me droogie's !!!
Just wondering if the seller actually fully declare the sum get those pandas lost in action ? Cause i think that in my case , the pandas got stolen because seller declare the full sum and postman snipe off or got lose in custom or neighbour eat up my panda ... I never have problem with another 2 seller who decide to under-declare to 49.90 and no one is interested inside the package ( in this 2 case , i never request to under declare at all since it fall well below 300USD ) Acutally as long as it is trackable and need to sign off at post office , does it matter that it is express ? Why need to do insurance as well as i thought this is a flashing signal to tell people the item is expensive which they can just open up the mail , remove the item and put a piece of rock inside .. Just my point of view ..
Maybe I should fill the package with red back spiders and insure it for $10,000 ! Disclaimer: This is only a joke ... I would not or do not advocate putting redback spiders in any package.
I don't like declaring or have packages declared full value either. When I post it people will ask, wtf costs $3000 and is this tiny? Uhhhh. Likewise when I pick up the mail I don't like the package stating BULLION with value of $3000. Last time I had an express package delayed by 3 days because the value was $900+. Had to call the PO and chase up and they didn't know where it was (I bet stolen) but it showed up after 3 days magically. Other times I get packages that are 'valued at $40' really quickly and hassle free. Had a guy ship me $7000 of pandas through USPS EMS and he wrote $40 lol. Nobody cared
Too bad for the buyer then ..if it is 375USD Will get GST impose .. Normally anything under 280USD will be safe .. cause (280 USD + 20 USDshipping) * 1.26 exchange rate .. well under 400 Sing dollar
Yea ... agreed this is the only time I declared only because I got no response. Like I said its low value and isured so Im not gonna lose any sleep I have been shipping to our friend in Argentina with only $25 declare and no probelms
Another question is since I haven't sold a lot through ebay and never ebay with international package, if I don't insure then how am I protected since ebay requires insurance for over $250 and customs declaration cannot be lower than insurance.
Wow ... that's good information Lim but sucks for buyer, if he bought it through ebay then seems he would have thought to tell me to claim only $25 as I'm not sure if I should be expected to know GST for over 100 different countries. Oh well ... like I said its not a high value item so I'm not worried but hope the buyer gets it safely, seems he should since Singapore is not like I'm shipping it to Ethiopia or Botswana
From my experience, you did the very right thing here, Comeaux. In the past I am lucky to deal with some buyers from the country you posted the coin to, who questioned me on the postage cost because they think I overcharged them by nearly 5 cents. Wow! I suppose every single cent count. Btw, few months ago I posted a coin to Seoul and it took only 4 days to arrive. Was posting on Saturday afternoon, and buyer receive it in the morning of following Wednesday. Postage cost A$2.50.
Thanks Low yea so I want to be able to ship to almost any country because I am always hearing complaints from buyers who say sellers in US won't ship international. Well I have and will continue to ship international until I have issues and then I may rethink doing so. Come to think of it the only issue I ever had was shipping to some toolbag in New York who claimed he did not receive his package even when I had delivery conformation with signature. I said "damn dude I did everything possible except personally fly the damn coin to you and hand deliver it" he eventually "found" the coin. :|
