It seems like a lot of sellers don't want to ship to Hawaii.What's that about.We are part of the U.S.A. I have bought and sold instrument both here and on the mainland.Pack 'em good,insure them and postage is just about the same.NO BIG THING.So please,check it out.How would you mainlanders feel if we didn't ship you.I am talking USPS not fed ed or ups.
I bet the sellers mean to say "USA only" rather than ConUSA only. I don't know why there would be an anti-Hawaii bias for shipping.
Maybe mainlanders think you Islanders already have 10 native-built flamed Koa ukes apiece.
Generally the buyer pays shipping. Possibly if "shipping is included" the seller is trying to limit his hit.
I know as a builder, the regulations for me to export out of the USA are so burdensome, I've quit exporting.
It seems like a lot of sellers don't want to ship to Hawaii.What's that about.We are part of the U.S.A. I have bought and sold instrument both here and on the mainland.Pack 'em good,insure them and postage is just about the same.NO BIG THING.So please,check it out.How would you mainlanders feel if we didn't ship you.I am talking USPS not fed ed or ups.
I understand your issues. I'm in the Alaskan Bush which is even more difficult to get to. It is frustrating when someone doesn't want to ship. I think it is b/c of the cost of shipping. But I've even offered to pay for the shipping or split the shipping...It is really frustrating when you see free shipping except to...
Even in those cases I've asked for a small discount. I was trying to order some freeze and air dried veggies. The vegetables were 40 lbs. Free shipping to lower 48. $60 to ship to me. I knew that that 40 lb box should cost about $40 to ship to my village (I've shipped plenty of totes from GA for roughly a $1/lb). I emailed and asked for them to knock the lower 48 shipping fees off and I'd pay the rest. I was told no. Oh well, that company lost a customer that would have spent a little over $2k this year.
This. And you're right that USPS service shouldn't really be different, but some folks have had bad experiences with the post office and prefer to use carriers like UPS or Fedex. UPS can cost 4 or 5 times as much to ship to Hawaii as the mainland. At that point the cost plus shipping for a used instrument might approach the cost of a new instrument.
I don't think anyone here has any bias against residents of the islands. They're just trying to cut their losses.
It's also cheaper to ship from AK than to. When I mail food out from Anchorage I get a subsidized rate. It is pretty significant. One reason why I do my shopping in Anchorage vs. Lower 48 in the beginning of the school year.
I can tell you it's bogus. There are so many things that I can't buy either because the shipper won't ship to Hawaii or it can't be shipped by air (haz mat).
But it's no more difficult to ship an item from the east coast to the west coast than it is to ship from the west coast to Hawaii. I'm more than willing to pay the extra shipping. But rules is rules. But that's OK. As locals we get kama'aina discounts on stuff that tourists from CONUSA don't.
I have sent or ordered 8 ukes from Calif to Oahu...no problems at all
$50.00 to $70.00 USPS Priority Mail...cost depends on how much Ins. on the uke...if you do your own label on line even cheaper...
$20.00 more for express mail 1 or 2 day service...if the uke is worth anything thing to you i see no problems with the shipping charges...
no problems 2 to 3 day service...I don't understand the 48 State thing either...
not sure if UPS or FedEx charges $300.00 to $400.00 though...
btw..i have learned that packages from Calif to Hawaii are here in 1 day...but the Post Offfice will hold it a day at their office to make it easier on them...so that is the reason it will say 2 day express service...
It seems like a lot of sellers don't want to ship to Hawaii.What's that about.We are part of the U.S.A. I have bought and sold instrument both here and on the mainland.Pack 'em good,insure them and postage is just about the same.NO BIG THING.So please,check it out.How would you mainlanders feel if we didn't ship you.I am talking USPS not fed ed or ups.
The reason I state CONUS only is because I include shipping in my sales price, to make life easier for everyone. I know generally what that will cost to the CONUS. If someone wants to PM me and ask for shipping to Hawaii or Alaska, they are welcome to do so, but it's going to be on their dime. When it's 20 degrees and windy here in Boston, I'm not feeling too bad for you Hawaiians because shipping is more expensive.
I chalk it up to expedience.
As an individual, as opposed to a business, I have sold items being able to advertise "Shipping Included" to keep it simple. It's not too hard to guess what the cost will be "Con US", and not have to spend extra time getting estimates and having additional communications. I felt that I myself was more drawn to such person - to - person transactions when I knew the whole cost. The other side of that was when advertising "plus shipping", almost all inquirers wanted to include shipping at the price advertised.
That said, 3 times I had buyers ask for a different deal with shipping to Hawaii and the Great Britain, and have renegotiated based on the real cost.
Oddly enough, I seem to have paid much more when shipping to California than to other "Con US" locations.
Sometimes people fear the unknown. I have shipped ebay items to Europe. As an individual shipping used items the only difference is the cost, don't know about customs issues with retail. Shouldn't be an issue if the buyer is willing to pay.
I think some companies don't want to send an employee to wait in line at the post office.
One strange thing I've found is that depending on the package it's sometimes cheaper or the same price to send express to Hawaii as it is priority mail.
I think some companies don't want to send an employee to wait in line at the post office.
One strange thing I've found is that depending on the package it's sometimes cheaper or the same price to send express to Hawaii as it is priority mail.
I've got a small side business and have an online account with USPS.com. If you have an adequate postal scale at home, you can handle the entire transaction from your couch without waiting in line at the post office at all. You also get decent discounts purchasing shipping online. And, yes, sometimes Express is cheaper, especially when you factor insurance since Express includes some insurance already.
Yes, it can be a bit of a hassle to ship internationally, especially to foreign countries like Hawaii , but I do it all the time. I've sent ukes as far as Australia, Argentina, and even Malaysia without any issue whatsoever. I understand not offering free shipping outside the conUS, but it's really not that hard to ship internationally (unless it's Brazilian rosewood with ivory inlay, of course).
I sell a stack of stuff on the bay, and from Illinois (60 miles west of Chicago) to send a 5lb package to California it costs about 12 bucks, and to Hawaii it costs about 14 bucks. For a 1-2 lb package there is less than a dollar difference. I have never had an issue shipping to Hawaii*, or Alaska for that matter, I recently had a couple packages go there too.
*Now here's where the issue lies. I once shipped something in a "recycled" box that said "Keep refrigerated". That one went on a slow boat, and took almost 3 weeks to get to Hawaii. It sat in port in California forEVER.
I shipped a uke from Florida to Hawaii last fall. $15.00. Seriously? I was floored. It astounds me that it can cross a continent and an ocean for that paltry sum, yet I can't ship to the next town over for that same amount. Now that was to Oahu, so I don't know if the island it goes to makes a difference or not in the rate...but still, for cryin out loud, what a deal.
Familiarity is probably a factor with some people. They just haven't done it before.
But the world is an increasingly smaller place. I bought some walking sticks from a maker in Ireland
a few months ago. He had it in the postal system and at my location half way around the world in a few
days. No problems and quite cheap in cost.
As long as the buyer covers the full cost of shipping/insurance (as agreed between the parties involved) - who cares what it costs if the buyer agrees?
Maybe its different in various places in the world, but (no matter what) - you need to have the dimensions and the weight (and in many cases also the financial value) of whatever you ship before sending it. There may be some additional customs paperwork with overseas items. You can get a shipping price quote from the various carriers off their websites.
