Should I stick with ebay.com while selling & shipping to/from Europe?

[lappytoppy]

I am a casual seller from the USA, but for the next couple of years I will be traveling around the EU and Asia. I want to continue selling while I travel.

So I've updated my "shipping from" address, but things get a little confusing when I set up shipping options on my listings. It still shows me options for the USA, like USPS shipping. Selecting "Economy International Shipping" seems to work, but then the shipping estimate is way off because it seems to calculate the shipping time based on me shipping to the EU from the USA (for example). Ebay support suggests that I use EU based ebay sites, such as ebay.de or ebay.fr but these sites are in foreign languages so I struggle with them a bit. Also, as a buyer, I still use ebay.com while shopping inside of the EU and I assume many other people do this as well.

So should I be using EU based ebay sites? Or should I stick with ebay.com even while operating in Europe? Bonus points if you can suggest how to best arrange my shipping options on my listings here.

[soh.maryl]

If you will be traveling around extensively, what's your plan for shipping?

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@lappytoppy wrote: .... Selecting "Economy International Shipping" seems to work, but then the shipping estimate is way off because it seems to calculate the shipping time based on me shipping to the EU from the USA (for example). Ebay support suggests that I use EU based ebay sites, such as ebay.de or ebay.fr but these sites are in foreign languages so I struggle with them a bit. ... should I stick with ebay.com even while operating in Europe? Bonus points if you can suggest how to best arrange my shipping options on my listings here.

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Are you going to have your merchandise with you? Then you'll have to change the item location in each listing, each time you relocate.  

IMHO, it makes sense to avoid working with a site that uses a language you're not comfortable with. So I'd use eBay.com and set up "Economy international shipping" and enter a flat price based on the actual cost of the local postal service that you'll be using. As with US-based sellers who charge a flat price based on the USPS Zone 8 shipping, you'd set up a flat price based on the highest cost to the locations you're willing to ship to. Or add that cost to your asking price and offer Free shipping.  For shipping to the US from your current location, enter a flat price for that as "Domestic" shipping from overseas.

Don't worry so much about the shipping time estimates, unless they're really extended.

[s.scharmu0]

Shipping:

FREE Economy Shipping from outside US | See detailsfor shipping

International shipment of items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges.

Located in: Chalkida, Evia, Greece

Delivery:

Estimated between Wed, Mar 22 and Tue, Apr 18 to 61364

Please note the delivery estimate is greater than 19 business days.

Please allow additional time if international delivery is subject to customs processing.

[lappytoppy]

I may change the address I am shipping from every 6-12 months. My plan is to only ship "domestic" so within the EU for now, which complicates things as ebay.com treats me as if I am in the USA shipping internationally. I don't want to ship outside of the EU.

[nobody*s_perfect]

If you list on eBay.com, you'll have to provide a "domestic" shipping cost for US buyers. If you set it high enough, you won't have any. As you already observed, the estimated shipping time is really prolonged.

[lappytoppy]

Thanks for the insight! Yes I think that's what I've done with my initial test listing, I chose "Standard international shipping" because Economy lists shipping estimates around 1 month. Even standard shows quite extended shipping estimates. I always offer free shipping, so I just keep shipping in mind when I price my items.

One problem that stands out, is that I only want to ship within the EU while I am in the EU, that simplifies things a lot with shipping cost, time, taxes, and customs. But with ebay.com treating me as though I am in the USA shipping internationally, I don't think I have an option to restrict my buyers to EU-only? If someone buys my items from the USA, Australia, China, etc. I am basically not willing to sell to them because it would be significantly more expensive. So I'm just not sure how to handle that. 🤔

I have some merchandise with me now, but I work in IT and tinker with electronics as a hobby, so I tend to acquire replacement parts or independently refurbish computers frequently, and just ebay things I don't need along the way.

[reallynicestamps]

For shipping options you should do as we non-US sellers do when we list on dotCOM.

Use Flat Rate Shipping.

Ship from an International Location.

On the terrible new shipping form, there are threelittledots in the upper right of  the shipping fee section that lead to  a drop down menu.

And remember when you fill in Location, lower on the form, it is the location of the product,not your location, that should be used.

And Ireland has a  EU based site, in euros, and in English.

[lappytoppy]

Ah thanks, this is super helpful!

So just out of curiosity, if a seller is based in the EU, why might they use the "com" website or the Ireland website? Are there more EU based buyers on the "com" site even though it's not an EU focused site? or what are the differences

[lappytoppy]

Great idea, I just realized I can customize the US shipping and international shipping options/prices separately in the listing. 😁

[lappytoppy]

Ah.. For anybody else who might benefit from this, I see now that I can set "domestic" US shipping to be shipping from outside the US, and charge appropriate (or exorbitant) shipping fees, as nobody*s_perfect suggested.

Then add an international shipping option, offer free shipping, and select to only ship to EU countries as screenshotted below: