International Sales

A lot of people are afraid of international sales.  But is this worry warranted?  Is it better to use ebay's global shipping program?  Is it better to go it on your own?  Who pays import taxes?  I think there is a lot of confusion and people either won't sell international, or use GSP because of that fear.  So is all of this worry warranted?  Read on and make an educated decision for yourself.

When I started I did not sell international.  After a few months, I decided to try it.  Back then it was cumbersome and not very user friendly.  But I did get sales, especially on old technology items.  I pretty much stayed in the realm of priority international because I was too afraid of first class international since there was no tracking information for it.  But, as I found out later, I was leaving a lot of sales on the table because of this fear.

It took me a long time to really figure out the whole international shipping thing.  When GSP showed up, I was an early adopter.  However, I started getting messages from international buyers that GSP was tacking on $20 fees to the shipping charges.  It was having an affect on my sales.  It was at that point that I really dove into understanding FCI, and dumped GSP.  It really wasn't the scary unknown I had thought it was.  It was actually a good thing and has allowed me to increase my international sales exponentially.  So what is the best way to do it?

To start with you are going to want to use a 3rd party to insure your packages.  I've found that shipsaver is an integrated app available on ebay that will allow you to ship FCI and insure your packages.  Most of what I ship I can insure for $1 or less.  There is a list of countries that you are going to want to exclude as there is no insurance coverage for shipping to them.  Just set up your exclusions under the international shipping section and you are good to go.  Search google for shipsaver country exclusions to find their list.

For FCI shipping, you are going to print out a full page shipping label.  Half of it is for your records.  So cut the page where indicated, sign and date at the bottom and affix to your package.  You are good to go.  If you are sending via priority international, you will be printing out two pages with a total of 4 labels.  One of these is for your records, and will be noted as such at the bottom of the label.  The other three are to be signed and dated, then put into a USPS customs form envelope and attached to the package.  That's pretty much it.

I have my shipsaver profile set to automatically insure any international package.  I don't have to think about going in and manually insuring the package.  one less thing to worry about.  As long as your package is under 4 pounds, you can ship via FCI.  Note that you cannot use priority packaging to ship via FCI.  I normally set two options for international, both FCI and priority if the item is under 4 pounds.  If it is over, then I only offer priority.

Don't let international shipping intimidate you and cause you to lose out on potential sales.  You'll find that the majority of international buyers are far better than domestic buyers.  You will have very few issues with them.  If a package is lost, your insurance will pay you for that lost revenue.  Since I have been shipping FCI and using shipsaver, I have not had one package come up missing.  I have shipped all over the world and have had no issues.

Don;t leave money on the table, and don't lose sales over the GSP program.  Trust me, you'll be glad you opted out of it when you start seeing those sales rolling in!