[sdiy] OT : Ebay

[danial stocks]

> > Sure it is.  I'm not a US citizen (though I am a resident here) and I 
>refuse
> > to sell to people outside of the US.  It really has nothing to do with
> > "where I'm from", doing business with people outside of the US is a pain 
>in
> > the behind.

I disagree.. I have bought many things from US sellers and they all say it 
is quite easy.. dont know if it is quite the same as here {Australia}, but 
exporting things from here is utter trivia!

>The problem with shipping has mostly to do with what you ship.
>Fragile & odd-shaped items
just need some styrofoam bubbles etc.. I have brought in many fragile items 
with no damage ever




>
>As for payments, everywhere banks charge huge fees for money orders &
>checks in a foreign currency and on a foreign bank.
pay in western union and no fees, no hassle, instant cashability..[for 
people in the US]

> > The fact of the matter is that the US has a population of 250,000,000
> > people, so it's likely that the 0.001% of those who'd be interested in 
>the
> > somewhat esoteric musical things I've sold on ebay will be inside the 
>US.

the world has a population of the order of 5-6 billion and rising. 
admittedly, most of these people dont have computers. but a lot do [much of 
asia, australia, new zealand, europe etc] why do only US residents have an 
interest in strange esoteric things? I for one
A: do not live in the US
B: spend on average 40-50% of my disposable income buying strange esoteric 
things, mostly from outside the country.
Similarly, I sell quite a lot of exotic technoloical items.. and only about 
40% of my buyers [if that] come from the US..  many come from japan ..

I dont think Ebay and other simialr things can be considered a garage sale.. 
what I like about it is that sooner or later, nearly any imaginable item 
will turn up for sale..
Dan
>
>
>

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