Please, talk me into doing International Sales!

[Tela]

I have started the process of setting shipping and payment options up on Ecwid. It pretty confusing, at least to me, and I am going to start easy on myself with Priority flat rate shipping to US and Canada. I like Priority flat rate because it is no hassle and I get a good size sturdy box to ship in. Shipping everywhere else seems quite confusing.

[Renate]

Apparently nobody wants you to ship internationally. ;D

Shipping internationally *is* confusing, for the seller as well as for the buyer, but I think you cannot avoid in the age of the internet. I've ordered lots and lots of items online, namely from the US and China, and I'll gladly share my experience as a buyer.

Let's try a mock shipping. Lets pretend you send your heaviest pendant set my way, to Germany (I'm sure Glenda would volunteer as well! ;D). What would be the weight of such a parcel?

There seems to be a shipment option to send a small parcel (sufficient for several strands of stones or wholesale bags of pewter findings) for about 12,95$ iirc, and I think it comes with a tracking number.

I would strongly recommend to offer trackable shipping, at least for the more expensive pieces. I have lost shipments occasionally (as a buyer), in some cases I suspect they were not properly delivered by the local service. Apparently they didn't bother to leave a notification that it was dropped somewhere in the neighbourhood. It happened several times that I discovered it only when I made inquiries in the neighbourhood (after I had got suspicious).

A shipment can be quick within a week, or may take up to 7-9 weeks, when it gets stuck in the customs. That happens in particular when it is not labelled correctly. You need some kind of "green slip", I think.
I've been told that it is best to attach the invoice somewhere on the outside of the parcel, so that the customs people can check if it is something they are interested in.

Just a bit of information about the German customs:
There are no customs duty if the item is less than 22 Euro (excl. shipping fee). If the value exceeds this amount the customs fee will be 19% on the total price, in this case including the shipping.

Would love to hear about the customs conditions in other countries.


If all this is not very encouraging, on the other I have received hundreds and hundreds of shipments correctly and quickly. My conclusion: with some practice international shipping should be fine, and trackable/registered/insured shipping is very good thing.

[laura]

Well, just DO it What holds you back?

I'm shopping internationally for many things (from incense and seeds to camera lenses), and I've never had anything damaged (not even expensive camera glass - one lenses came from US, another from UK). And nothing out of several hundred packages ever went missing apart from single time when I suspect the seller didn't ship the item in the first place..

In all cases, the buyer is responsible for any and all country specific taxes and duties that may be applied, just make sure you note that in your shipping policies.

And it even doesn't matter if you fill out the customs declaration right or "cheat" a little calling your item "gift" and stating lower value (or just forget to fill out declaration). If e.g. my customs gets suspicious, they'll ask me to bring paypal invoice.

Sticking invoice on the outside or writing "jewelry" on declaration might attract unwanted attention though.. Most of the items I buy from outside EU are shipped as "gift" or "sample".

[Tela]

Thank you, ladies.
I have already had a few people asking about international shipping. I'm leaning towards yes.
I'm so behind the times, though. The last time I sold was pre 9-11. There used to be lists of countries that would be a bad idea to ship to. Do you know where a current one may be?

[laura]

bad idea - why exactly?
Some sellers are hesitant to ship to countries they barely know anything about (e.g. see my location), but there's usually nothing wrong with them (countries, not sellers)..
On ebay many sellers do not ship to Italy for example.. but I'm not sure if Italian post/customs are really THAT bad, or it's just an anti-Italy PR done well.. If you google "ebay don't ship to italy" you'll get much to read, basically telling this: "Italy is on everyone's list because it has been widely publicized that lots of packages, especially those containing jewelry, never get to their destination." And then some Italians writing that they shop lots and get everything.. go figure.
(and no one knows if it WAS or still IS notorious for losing packages)

[Tela]

There were certain countries that were notoriously corrupt and that had terrible reputations to ship to. I can't remember them now. But, I was thinking that there still has to be some that are difficult to ship to.

I have never had a problem with an international sale before. I want to do them. I'm just a little nervous about not knowing the shipping costs ahead of time or the reputation of the postal service before hand.