as someone outside the usa can i (1) thank you for selling outside and (2) ask what we can do to help avoid fraud / re-assure sellers when we are legitimate buyers?
i recently bought something and first emailed the shop asking if it was ok, pointing them to my online existence (blog etc). i don't really know if it helped (but they shipped - according to fedex the box arrived in santiago at 3am this morning - may be here today :o).
i don't use a shipping service, but was wondering about doing so (because they have clearer fees - dhl at least, in my experience, adds random extra "customs charges"). i guess i should not bother trying that.
i use a "virtual credit card" (a one-off for internet use, generated by my bank's web page, with an upper limit that matches the price, short expiration date, and valid only for single use). i feel pretty safe using that, but i guess that just protects me, not the seller (although if you can tell someone is using one then i guess it is not a stolen card). recently i have started adding my postcode to shipping details (they exist in chile, but most people don't use them and it doesn't appear on my credit card bill). i do always ship to my billing address.
i don't know what else i can do. i really appreciate companies that do ship - the internal market here in chile is limited, so this is pretty much the only way to indulge when i want something unusual.
[one positive note - a chinese company called audiogd that makes electronics (hifi dac) gave really excellent service, letting me disassemble their hardware and return only a single logic board that was faulty, rather than the entire (heavy, expensive to ship) product. i wish there were some way to reward companies like that. http://www.audio-gd.com/En%20audio-gd.htm ]
i recently bought something and first emailed the shop asking if it was ok, pointing them to my online existence (blog etc). i don't really know if it helped (but they shipped - according to fedex the box arrived in santiago at 3am this morning - may be here today :o).
i don't use a shipping service, but was wondering about doing so (because they have clearer fees - dhl at least, in my experience, adds random extra "customs charges"). i guess i should not bother trying that.
i use a "virtual credit card" (a one-off for internet use, generated by my bank's web page, with an upper limit that matches the price, short expiration date, and valid only for single use). i feel pretty safe using that, but i guess that just protects me, not the seller (although if you can tell someone is using one then i guess it is not a stolen card). recently i have started adding my postcode to shipping details (they exist in chile, but most people don't use them and it doesn't appear on my credit card bill). i do always ship to my billing address.
i don't know what else i can do. i really appreciate companies that do ship - the internal market here in chile is limited, so this is pretty much the only way to indulge when i want something unusual.
[one positive note - a chinese company called audiogd that makes electronics (hifi dac) gave really excellent service, letting me disassemble their hardware and return only a single logic board that was faulty, rather than the entire (heavy, expensive to ship) product. i wish there were some way to reward companies like that. http://www.audio-gd.com/En%20audio-gd.htm ]