LSM sopwith camel comic conversion on eBay 1/48

[tcraftpilot]

Lone star models 1/48 sopwith camel comic/ 2 seat trainer resin conversion kit on eBay.

Thanks for looking

http://m.ebay.com/itm/321647094985?nav=SEARCH

[Dave W]

Not criticising the seller or the kit item here which is very desirable, but the American postage costs are out of control!

The item is listed on Ebay at $US 15.99 which is very reasonable but postage to Australia is listed at $US 61.95. Uh huh. I could buy a whole Wingnuts kit for that total cost. That's $61.95 for just a few parts and some instructions.

Is there any way sellers can find a cheaper postage system outside the CONUS borders? I'm sure many overseas buyers are discouraged by the punishing postal costs.

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

[Des]

I echo exactly what David has said, many times I would have purchased items from the states but postage has always been the killer, many small items selling for a great price are demanding a ridiculous $50 - $60 postage, there must be an alternative way to send the items at a cheaper price.

Des.

[Rob_Owens]

Gents,
      It's not USPS postage rates, it's ebay.
     For some time now, ebay has been collecting a cut of the shipping charge, as well as the sale price of the item.
      Therefore, ebay shipping automatically defaults to US Postal Service PRIORITY International shipping rates, as opposed to the more reasonable First Class Parcel (about 1/2 of Priority for any destination).
     I sell on ebay, and am invariably forced to place a USPS First Class Parcel discalimer in the  item listing. I note that the seller hasn't done a  lot of selling on ebay (92 feedback), so he/she may not be aware of the situation.
    If you're generally interested in the item, ask the seller for the weight/dimensions of the  package, and you can calculate the postage yourself via  the  US postal Service website
    And yes, LSM (Mike West  "The Resin Prince" of Houston TX) does some yummy stuff. . . he just got the scale wrong (1/32 es mejor!!)

Regards, Rob

[WarrenD]

I have all but quit selling on evil-bay entirely for a number of reasons, but postage costs in general have gone out of sight in the last few years with the USPS attempting to cover its increasing losses, etc.
If I were a business, I could afford to invest in some boxes, however, I'm not, so I use the USPS Priority Mail boxes because they are free. While that forces me to use priority mail, in a sense I don't mind because I've had better luck as both a seller and a buyer using priority mail.
I also do not sell internationally anymore. After seeing a number of friends get burned by unscrupulous buyers who buy an item, then claim they didn't get it and demand a refund, etc. it just became not worth it. Add to that the hassle of customs forms, etc., and I just decided to opt out. Sadly, for now on it's domestic only for this kid.

Warren