One question for the sellers on here, please take no offense I don't intend to be polemical.
Why many of you won't ship seeds internationally?

Thanks to everyone

I agree, Sabrina
There certainly are some sellers whose seeds I would LOVE to bid on!

I have won and received lots of seeds from sellers in the USA without any problems, but perhaps others have other experiences...


Mayo

I stopped shipping international last year when the postage rates went so high. I did not think that my international customers would want to pay $13.50 for postage, which is the new rate. A few have contacted me and asked me why I wasn't shipping international and I told them because of the high postage. Most people are not willing to pay that. Several said they would be willing to pay it, so I did do some international shipping last year, just not a lot.

I have no idea of the cost for shipping an envelope or a small box, I see different vendors ask different amounts.
Postage rates are a real problem, I didn't start to sell my candles outside of italy just because of that, everytime I try to figure it out it costs a lot. But candles are heavy, seeds aren't.
Sometimes people are willing to pay to have something they can't find in their country. If there are no difficulties the choice could be let to them.
I buy almost all my candlemaking supplies in USA, it's a cost but I pay it happily because I can't find the same quality here.

Hemlady said:I stopped shipping international last year when the postage rates went so high. I did not think that my international customers would want to pay $13.50 for postage, which is the new rate. A few have contacted me and asked me why I wasn't shipping international and I told them because of the high postage. Most people are not willing to pay that. Several said they would be willing to pay it, so I did do some international shipping last year, just not a lot.

I wouldn't pay $13.50 for shipping just 5 seeds, but if I have won more from the same seller and they could put it in 1 envelope?
Sure, I'd pay gladly
The more seeds, the less the shipping is per seed

(I mean, what better reason to go a little greedy on the LA?? )



Mayo

We only ship in the USA for the same reasons. At one time we did ship seed to Canada, but when starting to ship seed this time we opted out because of the paperwork involved.

This is a little off subject but wanted to mention that we have been very pleased with the boxes we ship seed in. I have had no complaints about crushed seed since switching from the padded envelops.

Fred,

Exactly which boxes did you get? I got some that were supposed to be adjustable to different sizes. They lost my order and it took three weeks to get them, THEN when I tried to fold them, they just collapsed on the sides when folded. So guess what, the seeds would have been mashed. I was so upset, so I just went back to padded envelopes and extra bubble pack for large orders. If someone buys a lot from me, I just use a Priority small box and pay the extra postage. I'm Ladylovingdove on the auction.

Dot/ Dorothy Parker

Fred, I like your boxes as they are very sturdy and haven't seen an issue, ever with your shipments.

To my understanding there's no paper work to ship seeds in Europe. I Know sometimes there's an extra work to do and this complicates life for sellers

To ship seeds international you have to go to the post office in person and fill out a customs form to attach to the package. Plus then you have to worry if the seeds will be seized or something or stolen or lost.

Dot

Seeds coming from AHS for their international program were sent with no customs form, so this is why I was wondering what the problems are for sellers on LA.
Please remember, as I said before, this doesn't mean to be a polemical discussion, it's just to hear from you who are into selling how things work!

I sell to Europe and Canada, seller ID "gramps", I have to fill out a customs declaration form, no big deal really.
Last year shipping to Canada was $9.50, and shipping to Europe was $13.50.
Shipping to anyone in the US was $2.45
Two years before that I could ship anywhere for less than $4, closer to $3.
I offer unlimited wins with shipping as long as it is all shipped to same address on the same day, I figure that high win volume should get a postal bonus besides extra bonus seed.
I also tell the buyers they need to know if their country has laws on importation of seeds, it would be pretty hard to keep up on every country's laws regarding seed importation.

I have never had a problem shipping to Canada, a few problems of non delivered, to both Europe and the United States

So I do not guarantee delivery outside of the US anymore, but I keep all postal receipts because I do guarantee that I shipped and can prove it if need be.

Shipping seeds from Europe to the United States, last year a new shipping law took effect, I'm not going into details here but the hoops put in place to get seeds from Europe would make it not worth the effort for the vast majority of seed buyers.
I would stop offering seeds to Europe if the same laws were passed in the US.

FWIW here are the requirements for importing small lots of seed into the United States.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aph...

We definitely do have to fill out a customs declaration slip to ship to Europe.

Many thanks Ed for letting me know your ID on the auction.
The rates you mention are for an envelope? Or for a box? It's a bit high, I agree with you and Cindy. Many years ago I used to send and receive small gifts with my friends in USA and I remember it was an affordable thing and none of us ever had a problem.

I know rates are gone up here to, I wanted to send a candle to a friend the past month and I discovered I couldn't use the same packet size as I did before and the shipping was 37$.

I didn't know you can't import seeds from Europe, from the link Sue suggests I read that small quantities are permitted.

Cindy, I don't mean I don't believe you have to do it, I find it strange that when I buy fragrances for candles in Denver they have just to stick a copy of the receipt on the box and no declaration is needed. I was thinking fragrances (chemicals) are more "problematic" than seeds.

But I really don't get how italian customs work, it seems so difficult to understand it.

I understand Sabrina. I would think you are right about fragrances being more problematic than seeds.

Sabrina, the $13.50 is for a padded or thick envelope.
I use bubble wrap envelopes, with extra bubble wrap to wrap around the seeds.
I went with the extra layer of bubble wrap to try eliminate any crushed seeds, so far no complaints.

I do the exact thing that Ed does for shipping.

Hemlady said:I do the exact thing that Ed does for shipping.

Cindy,
My seeds arrived last fall from you in perfect condition using this form of packaging