Experience shipping to Russia?

[NoDivision]

Nothing has happened, I'm mostly just looking for some peace of mind.

I sold an item on ebay for over $300 and it's going to Russia. I am sending it via priority mail as I do for all my international ebay items. However, Russia does not play nice with the USPS at all, apparently. At checkout I was told that my destination does not offer delivery confirmation, I could not pay to add signature confirmation, I could not purchase insurance through ShipSave. The message said I could buy insurance from the post office but I was not able to do so through ebay. I tried to buy postage straight through the USPS website as I do for non-ebay items, but of course the USPS website refuses to acknowledge the cyrillic alphabet so it kept telling me my address was invalid!

So I had little choice but to go ahead and buy the postage through ebay. I'm hoping when I go to the post office this evening to drop it off I can purchase additional insurance through them.

The whole thing just has me really nervous because I don't like not having any recourse if my buyer claims the item didn't arrive. I really hope I'm freaking out over nothing. I ship internationally all the time with no issues but Russia is a first for me. Has anyone here had good experiences shipping to Russia?

[Sebby6]

I don't think I've ever shipped to Russia, but I don't think I would send it without insurance. Have you already quoted them for the shipping? Might be worth looking into sending it by carrier instead

[NoDivision]

It was through ebay so the shipping was already calculated as part of the listing and they've already paid it. And it was not cheap, they paid about $50 for shipping. I did look at other carriers but the cost difference was astronomical and I'm not prepared to pay the difference. If it was a small amount I would, but it's not.

I'm hoping the post office just lets me buy insurance separately - I can't imagine why they wouldn't.

[HoustonCollector72]

I have sent many packages to Russia and other countries who do not offer the delivery confirmation
and guess what !, they  have been all very honest and only one did not make it to the buyer and it came back to me ,that buyer had already asked me to send them a new one and had paid for Priority Shipping on the 2nd one.
So to me all have been very honest and all of them I have been selling with first class international,
so it is a risk I take but so far all good, been selling only since 2012 so it has been 3 years with no issues in regards to Russia, I have had more problems with packages going to places where the Delivery confirmation is provided and the tracking fails to be done or just plain delayed items but the buyers make claims right away ( France and UK) but luckily I have always keep on checking on the tracking and when it shows delivered  even 3 months later I get ebay to refund me ,so far they have refunded me for these delayed packages or delayed tracking updates.
But I'm the same boat as you ,I sold an iphone to  a place called  Reunion Island , I believe is part of France, or serviced there and even though it is insured ,and under priority service, still bothers me that they do not show more tracking info, the last thing is that departed from NYC.
the buyer is nervous too is taking it's time La Poste is the postal service but no info on their site either .

[banditpony]

I had a so-so experience shipping to russia. It just made me nervous because it took so long.

Sent a doll body ( value $300) via priority express. Got stuck in customs for 2 weeks, took 2 more weeks to deliver to a major city. tracking wasn't informative, and was dead for awhile <__<; Just wasn't happy since I paid the extra for express, and it didn't matter. My buyer was happy and didn't mind the wait.

I don't think I'd do it again, to be honest. I am not that patient.

[ponylady]

I personally will never ship to Russia again...in my life. I sold a $200 MH doll and completely got screwed. They claimed it never arrived and I did have proof of shipment, unfortunately since it is basically a third world country, the tracking was never updated on their end. I lost out on my monies and doll. 

I don't mean to scare you, I swear  Just cover your bases as Sebby stated and pay the extra for insurance. I hope all goes well for you.

[NoDivision]

*bites nails* That does make me a bit nervous. I'm so puzzled as to why it wouldn't let me buy insurance on ebay.

[HoustonCollector72]

*bites nails* That does make me a bit nervous. I'm so puzzled as to why it wouldn't let me buy insurance on ebay.

If it is not offered Delivery confirmation they won't sell it to you even for this package to Reunion , they would not let print a Priority label from ebay , only first class international was being offered as option, I have had to go to USPS.com and buy/get labels for Priority Service  from there, and then they do let me buy insurance,but with Russia I have so far only sold items not as expensive to be insured.

[NoDivision]

But I bought priority shipping, and it said insurance was available... it just wouldn't let me actually buy it. So weird.

[HoustonCollector72]

But I bought priority shipping, and it said insurance was available... it just wouldn't let me actually buy it. So weird.

  I do remember one time I had to buy it from the post office itself, it ended up costing more than buying online
but with that package,not even USPS  was selling me the Priority Mail service the buyer had paid .

[banditpony]

*bites nails* That does make me a bit nervous. I'm so puzzled as to why it wouldn't let me buy insurance on ebay.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/shipcover.html
I couldn't find a solid reason why, but I'm going to guess because a lot of packages go missing and it's not a good country to send to.

[ponylady]

*bites nails* That does make me a bit nervous. I'm so puzzled as to why it wouldn't let me buy insurance on ebay.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/shipcover.html
I couldn't find a solid reason why, but I'm going to guess because a lot of packages go missing and it's not a good country to send to.

Thanks for the info bandit, that's great to know for future reference.

NoD try not to stress to much. I know it's going to be hard not to though 

[Ringlets]

  I totally understand why you are worried. personally I've sent items to Russia before with no issues *but* I did send everything with insurance and delivery confirmation (and tracking too when possible). It takes around 4 weeks even from the UK to get there ,clear customs etc  so it might take at least as long from the US.  I think it also depends where in Russia the item is going . I really hope all goes well for you with this transaction.

[NoDivision]

Yikes... yeah looking at the other countries on that list makes Russia look very scary. Fingers crossed for a smooth journey :\

[HoustonCollector72]

just take it to the Post office and buy the insurance , that should give you peace of mind and you are covered.
it should be ok,like I said I have sent many items without issues,but not expensive items,so hopefully it gets there and all works out.