SHIPPING CONCERNS & ISSUES

QUESTION:  "Who will pack the bicycle?"

Packing up a complete bicycle or even just a frame set is quite a task, even for me and I have packed up hundreds, in my time.  If I am about to purchase a bicycle from a novice seller, I wonder about how well the bicycle will be packaged.  I expect his or her lack of experienced based packing skills to surface, as was the case with my limited edition Miele.  Ask how the bicycle will be packed and, if not happy with what you hear, offer to cover the packing fee, that a local bike shop in the seller's area would charge.  Proper packing is the first step to protecting a bicycle on, what will likely prove to be, the bicycle's most challenging event, of its entire life.

Of course, good packing is only part of the service that a seller should offer.  Shipping insurance is a must and as a buyer you should ensure that insurance is part of the deal, even if it costs extra.  However, even if you did purchase insurance, who will help you make a claim if something does go wrong during the bicycle's journey from its their to your here.  I wonder if the seller will help me in the event the shipment goes wrong and I ask that question before I buy.  I wonder if the seller will insure the package and I ask that also.  Will the package be traceable?  Will there be any additional shipping costs that I am not aware of?  And there are two more questions that need to be answered before bidding begins, in my opinion.

QUESTION:  "Is the bicycle clean?"

If your on-line purchase is going to be crossing an international boundary, you will need to make yourself aware of any import duties, taxes or broker's fees that will apply.  You will want to understand what the Customs Officials think about dirty bicycles.  Yes, dirty and dirt is a great big issue when sending a bicycle to Australia.  One of my customers was forced to cough up the cost of a professional cleaning, followed by a thirty day quarantine, before he could claim his Peugeot that cost him a very considerable sum to have shipped all the way from Canada.  In my opinion, the bicycle was pretty clean as it was but, obviously not clean enough.  This issue has never presented itself anywhere else that I have sent a bicycle to.  However, the potential for the requirement to surface is, at the very least, there and it might be a good idea to ensure that the bicycle is clean before it is shipped to you.

QUESTION:  "How do you prefer to be paid?"

How do you plan to pay for that beautiful bicycle that you just purchased?  Will you send cash?  I hope not, unless you can deliver it, in person, and get a receipt.  Will you send a personal check?  Not to me, you won't!  How about some form of electronic payment?

If you are going to shop on-line from time to time and I assure you that you will do so in years to come, then you might as well get used to paying on-line also.  It is pretty much as simple as that, in my opinion.  Electronic payments are fast, efficient, as safe as anything else in today's world and certainly convenient.  Though I have been in the habit of accepting International Postal Money Orders, I am going to change this policy.  The bank I use to store my cash (actually, hold for a little while is more accurate) has warned me several times about accepting such forms of payment.  Apparently there is a scam involving false Money Orders.

QUESTION:  "Can I return the item, for what reasons and at what cost?"

What about customer service?  As a seller of lots of bicycles and related paraphernalia, I see the need to back-up what I sell.  That was not the case with the person from whom I purchased my Miele LTD.  He had a few feedback reports and apparently did not care enough about protecting his feedback status to back up his offer to compensate for damages.  Will the person you are about to send, perhaps hundreds of dollars to, back up his product?  And, if so - how?  Though I don't advertise a return policy, I do accept returns, if I created the problem.  I also accept returns, if the problem was created by a shipping company, hoping that the shipping company will go good for the claim, but I deal with it, not my customer.  I do not accept returns if the buyer simply changed his mind for no good reason and I am the judge of all reasons.

QUESTION:  "How long will it take before the package reaches its destination?"

And, you have some responsibilities once the shipment is on its way.  The first is to wait.  No big deal but it is not uncommon for excitement to kick in, triggering impatience and resulting in disappointment because "the darn thing still hasn't arrived".  Make no mistake about it, a package can take a long time to reach a foreign destination.  It once took three months and two days for a small package to travel from Canada to Australia.  And that same situation manifested itself for other surface shipments that had to cross oceans.  Ensure that you as either a buyer or seller are aware of estimated delivery times.  And how do you make sure?  Ask!

And what happens when the package does reach its destination?  Who will receive it?  Is it acceptable for the package to be dropped off in a safe place?  If so, you had better make sure that this information is included on any shipping manifest.  If not, at least ensure that your telephone number is included so that the shipping company can call you when they need to do so.  I repeat - Make sure the seller includes your telephone number on a shipping manifest or what ever he or she calls it.

NEXT- EBAY PURCHASE CONCLUSION