Question on shipping

Correct in no special shipping, but in pricing solely due increase to ship to those 2 locations.  I think most would be willing to ship there if buyers were more than willing to pay the actual freight without complaining.   I think the concern is that there are more than enough that don't want to pay for something and more steadfast in not wanting to pay the total costs to ship the product to them once they see what carriers are charging.  I just think Sellers don't want to deal with having to pay some of the shipping to get it to a potential buyer.  

I personally don't mind selling really anywhere as long as the buyer flips the freight.  

I've mailed four GGD and 3rd Rail cars to an Australian buyer for less than $100(American). He got the cars at a good price and with the shipping of $25 per car he was happy.  Other than the export declaration, there was no hassle.  Didn't matter to me, same price for the item plus postage from Illinois.  Another buyer sent an additional $100 to be used when I took the brass locomotive to our local FedEx office and had them pack it.  I returned the portion of the C-note which wasn't used by FedEx.  Third man arranged with FedEx for the packaging and line haul charge to be billed to his FedEx account.  No big deal to me whether I drive six blocks to our post office of one mile to the FedEx office.    John in Lansing, ILL

I include the cost of shipping within CONUS on my items, but if an Alaskan or Hawaiian wants to buy and pay the extra postage, I will sell to them.

Thanks guys...for straight answers and opinions... i will also ship anywhere as long as the buyer is ok with cost....

Joe,  There are some countries on my "No, No List".  At the top is Ecuador, very little chance of a model train reaching its consignee.  My brother lives there and after two weeks in country, he sent a message to all concerned - DO NOT MAIL ANYTHING.  ENVELOPES VIA FEDEX ONLY. The customs documents state what is in the package.  John in Illinois LCCA 23791

I ship CONUS for free..!!

I second what David Case had to say above....  Shipping has gone through the roof  the last few years and too many "buyers" don't want to pony up actual costs even when they are getting a super price on the object they initially said they wanted.......

I've found a lot of sellers don't like shipping overseas.

The way I get around it is I ask them politely will they, tell them I'm used to shipping costs and I don't cause trouble, go and look at my Ebay profile most of the sellers will then ship to me (as long as I win the auction) when everything else fails I ask a friend in the US to bid for me and ship it to me this only happens if I'm really desperate for the item.

Most of the time I'm happy and get what I want myself, my money is as good as anyone elses.

Roo. (West Australia)

When I lived in Alaska I asked people to ship things in a flat rate box. USPS flat rate applies to Alaska and Hawaii.

But the whole excluding Alaska and Hawaii thing is very annoying. I had someone tell me that he had numerous items break trying to ship them to Alaska. It has nothing to do with Alaska. All it is is an extra plane or barge ride. We don't ship by dogsled anymore up there.

I ship to Alaska,Hawaii, APO/FPO. Our service people willing to serve our country to protect us, I will ship to them. APO/FPO is another I see no shipping to. They don't want to do a decoration of contents. Breakage that's what insurance is for. You pack it good and you should not have any problems. 

According to FEDEX’s 2017 Ground to Alaska rates (page74); 50 pounds costs $155.86 which is exorbitant when compared to the United States Post Office rate of $109.70 for the same 50 pounds sent from the East Coast to Zone 8 via Priority Mail (1-3 days via Air).  This assumes that the item being shipped won't fit in a Flat Rate Box which is even less.  Of course, there are also caveats should the package exceed the combined length & girth measurement of 1 cubic foot.  Then the rates are adjusted to reflect the volume increase.  

Just to add a little fuel to fire about how Alaskans feel about this issue, once UPS/FEDEX gets your package to Anchorage, we sometimes find it a week or so later in our local mailbox anyway.  UPS/FEDEX has taken it over to the nearest Post Office and mailed it letting Uncle Sam haul it the rest of the way out to the smaller communities they don't serve.