| > USians Ah yes, you're one of those who think that not calling the only country in the world with the word "America" in its name, "America", somehow strikes a mighty blow against American imperialism. You'll pardon me if I am skeptical of your claim of primarily wanting to help American businesses, as opposed to wanting to pay less (which, as I said, there is nothing wrong with wanting, in and of itself). >Doesn't explain why most others don't bother. Is it still too cumbersome? Or is it just cultural where the rest-of-world is thought of as a scary and dangerous place? Yes, indeed, one of those. >Dunno why a business would throw away an extra 11% in sales First, it's not "11% of sales"; the actual share is less because of natural friction, just as you didn't have nine times as many sales to Americans as Canadians. Second, unless the item is very small, international shipping by USPS requires a larger-than-usual mailing label, in triplicate, and a special plastic pouch to put the extra forms in on the box's surface. Then there are the risks of complaints by customers who have to pay duty, and the much greater difficulty of accepting returns from international customers. I was willing to ship internationally despite these factors, but I cannot criticize others who decided that the additional revenue isn't worth the trouble. >My own experience was that selling to the world made me more money than just N. America, largely selling video games, DVDs and other small electronics. That's a given. But, again, as a Canadian you would have left much, much, much more on the table by only selling to the domestic market than your American counterparts. I assure you that if American sellers could quintuple sales by selling to Canadians, they would do so even if the mailing process were three times as complicated. But they wouldn't, so they don't. >My own experience was that selling to the world made me more money than just N. America, largely selling video games, DVDs and other small electronics. Spare us the false veneer of kindly advice. You can't stand how the country next door to yours constantly has for sale items you want to buy at attractive prices but can't, at least not directly, despite sharing the same language and culture. Instead of trying to change things in your country to make it easier for such things to be sold there, you demand that the neighboring country seek to earn less money when transporting the items to you. Congratulations. |