sending a vintage road bike from UK to Japan

[Dead Rats]

I'm selling a bike I restored on eBay, listed Cash On Collection only for obvious reasons (it's mint and delicate!) but I've had a potential buyer in Japan asking me whether I would send it to him in Japan :? :shock:

Quite nervous about this as I've had international shipping issues before.

Anyone sent a complete bike to Japan? Any tips greatly appreciated

thanks, Alex

 

[juice]

I have no personal experience with sending something to Japan but to the U.S.
I don't believe there is a difference in the to do list.
- Bulletproof packaging. It will get thrown around that is for sure.
- Of course a tracking number.
- Insurance has to be a little bit higher than the actual value. So everybody will still be smiling when the ship gets hijacked or stuff like that.
- And of course hyper correct labelling of the package for customs duties.

If the japanese guy knows about taxes and is willing to pay the insurance there will not be much that can go wrong.

A friend of mine had the nice idea to put an old mobile phone in the package, too. That way he was able to localize the package through the whole process. It's easy to do and cheap, too.

 

[monty dog]

Not to Japan, but I sent a bike to Taiwan a few years ago. The cost is worked out by volume not weight - so you need to pack up the bike as small and robust as possible - I used a cut-down bike shipping carton from my LBS with plenty of pipe-lagging, bubble wrap and strapped everything together with cable ties. When you know the package dimensions, plenty of online quotes for packaging - I used DHL and it arrived safely in 3 days.

 

[Dead Rats]

Thanks chaps... I've told the potential buyer I am considering my options, so your comments are appreciated

 

[cesafacamah]

same

as juice said
i sent one on ebay from ro to uk
no problems
insurance, tight box

 

[Sprunghub]

If you do decide not to sell it him.....'consider' putting him on your 'barred' bidders list. If he decides to bid against your wishes & 'wing it', Ebay will hold him to be the winning bidder, irrespective of his not complying with your listing requirements becasue of the way the contracts work. You will then be liable for the various fees.

I have the 'T' shirt........

 

[Spokesmann]

Personally ID avoid it. Too many chances for things to go wrong and for things to get damaged.

 

[Dead Rats]

If you do decide not to sell it him.....'consider' putting him on your 'barred' bidders list. If he decides to bid against your wishes & 'wing it', Ebay will hold him to be the winning bidder, irrespective of his not complying with your listing requirements becasue of the way the contracts work. You will then be liable for the various fees.

I have the 'T' shirt........

I have the bike in question on a Buy It Now / Make Offer listing, does this still apply?

Regardless, I actually might have to go ahead with the sale to the chap in Japan, no one else has even made an offer yet despite the bike having 51 watchers :shock:

 

[Sprunghub]

I would suggest that if he 'hits' the Buy it Now, then yes, it would. Obviously if he makes you an offer at a value under that of the B.I.N., the acceptance of the offer, knowing where he is bidding from would make that a matter for you.

At the end of the day, if he's happy to pay the carriage costs, I'd sell it -or anything else - to anyone, anywhere in the World, my issue was simply one of a lack of courtesy prior to the bid, & the lack of support from Ebay. The actual 'transaction' ( to Spain) went through ok & the fact that I had to build a bl**dy great Crate gave me something to moan about for months :roll: He organised the 'pick-up' by an International Shipper/carrier, I just had to be "in" at the allotted time & supervise the crane / hoist & so on.