Darrell Clarke wrote in 991219 MMDigest:

> I have been very frustrated and disappointed that some items I would
> have bid on have had such exclusions, and I'm curious to know the
> reasoning behind it.

I've shipped piano rolls to Europe and other countries on and off for
years.  I am very sympathetic to the collectors in those countries
because they have to pay a fortune in postage, duty and other customs
delays and rip-offs.  However, read on:

Darrell, here's why some USA folks may be reluctant to deal with you:

1.  There's no easy way to figure the postage.  Different rates for
different countries.  You almost have to ship first, then tell your
customer how much to send.  Or guess, then refund the excess or ask for
more $$.

2.  Some customers say, "Declare a low value so I won't have to pay
high duty or customs charges."  The problem with this is that the
dealer can't insure for more than the declared value.  Besides, he's
lying about the value of the shipment.  And, if the parcel goes astray,
the customer gets only the ridiculously low amount it was insured for
and the dealer may have to get involved with the insurance claim with
the Post Office -- not a pretty picture!.

3.  You've mentioned packing.  I always pack more carefully for any
shipment outside the USA.  It's additional work.

4.  Customers don't like to use International Money Orders.  Why?
Because they're expensive.  I've had customers send me cash in US
dollars in lieu of an IMO or bank money order.  (I don't know how
Larry Norman handles checks in non-US$.)  It's very easy for cash to
go astray in the mail, but it's hard for some people to understand the
risk.

5.  I was shipping John Farrell's JAM rolls to some European customers.
Because the postage rates changed from time to time, I had to set up a
little bank account for each customer and keep track of a plus-or-minus
balance.  In pre-email days that meant writing extra letters.  Not
really a big deal, but just one more thing I didn't have to do for
stateside roll customers.

This may partially explain dealers reluctance to ship outside the USA.
I'm sure there are more reasons.  Thread anyone?

Ed Sprankle