Ebay selling with international buyers

J

Jluthye

Registered Guest
Hello all....

I just wanted to offer som advice to ebay sellers....

I dont know how other countries work but here in the united states I was scared to sell internationally... I am so glad I started... I litterlay stared doubling my value of sales and i would say 60 % of my winning bidders are international. I do calculated shipping and they are obviously willing to pay the cost. I also clearly state that buyers are responsible for any taxes or fees and I do not mark items as gifts (I mark other, used clothing).. Filling out the forms used to be the down side but with pay pal it prints the customs form and all! The only thing I have to do is sign and date!!!

SOOOO point of the story,,, since selling internationally has doubled my sucess I wanted to encourage those of you who are afraid to do so! Its a littel odd at first but by my 3rd package I was a pro,...

A little tip for flate rate envelops... a one gallon ziplock bag (leaving 2 inches clearance from the top) fits perfect in a flat rate mailer... If your items is durable enough to be able to fold and all..... Put your item in the zip lock bag... zip most the way shut then press both knees on the bag to remove all excess air and flatten the garment and finish zipping shut!!! VIOLA.. perfect fit and less that 1 inch thick MUCH EASIER to fit in the envelope...

Sorry so long but I got that bright idea about 3 weeks ago and now made international selling and "bagging" a snap. Just buy a BIG box of bags cause its cheaper and I add a 1.00 handeling fee to internaional sells to pay for gas to PO and the Ziplock!! Plus ziplock protects it if the envelope were to ever get wet!

Good luck all and I am sure most of you pros know this but for us newbies... (and the old school gals) tricks of the trade are best learned SOONER than later!

Have a blessed day!
Jennifer:sunshine:
 
HI Jennifer,

your so right! i love my international customers, and it seems my percentage rate of them may even be a wee bit higher.

Since this last postal increase, i have been sending more first class. Its not automatically insured like priority is, but its less expensive and seems to get there in 7-10 days.

I use the poly / vinyl mailers and buy them in bulk on ebay.

On the flat right priority, it is a great idea to use the zip locks, and even with tyvek as neither are waterproof, and it also keeps the item reasonably wrinkle free.

I too encourage international sales for anyone hesitant. You ususally wind up with a wonderful pen pal as well!

yvonne
 
I love my International buyers...

One thing you may want to look into, though, is Auctiva...

Their insurance is on a par price wise, and you CAN insure 1st Class Int'l packages through them.

You can go through the same company they do if you don't want to open an Auctiva account. I have for a couple things that sold OFF ebay...

I don't use Auctiva for my auctions, I use Seller Source Book, but I still have Auctiva's 'crawler' of my other auctions on my ebay page.
 
When I first started selling on eBay in 1998 I would say 95% of all my sales went to the U.S. Slowly that shifted until when I left eBay this spring I would say it was about 50/50 so if you don't sell internationally you are missing a big potential.
 
Jennifer im so pleased you decided to ship internationally, i look at so many US auctions that i would love to bid on but the seller doesnt ship to the UK,im gald you have found shipping internationally productive.

Even if a customs form is marked gift it still incurrs import tax and VAT if the value is greater than $30, but if you sell anything before 1920s always mark the form as antique clothing, as this is reduced VAT charge.

The poly Vinyl bags are best for sending items to the UK, they dont get handled by parcel force, just royal mail, ive had a parcel from the US arrive in 3 days before to the UK that was in a polybag and a regular parcel in a box take 10 days, i use them for everything too,keeps everything waterproof and tidy.
 
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