Buyer from Australia won item

[txkitty99]

(1)   I sold a $20 ceramic dog to a buyer in Australia.  Does the Global Service take it from here?  It would not let me send invoice.

(2)  I sold a $500 music box to a buyer with a California address, but when I sent an invoice to them with a copy to me, it came back in Chinese?  So, now I am just hanging on a nail, waiting......

[iankimmerly]

1) Australia-- Yes, you ship to the Kentucky address with Confirmation of Delivery. Everything else is handled by Pitney Bowes.

However.

eBay does not encourage sellers to use the GSP for items under $50 USD. Expect your buyer to be very annoyed at the duty and sales tax plus PB fee that she has to pay in addition to the actual shipping cost.

For items under $50, it is better to ship directly with First Class International service, Air Mail for overseas of course. This includeds Delivery Confirmation and handles parcels up to four pounds in weight.

2) You could cut and paste the response into Google Translate, the results can be amusing but are also fairly accurate if you have some imagination.

However

Many Asian buyers use US based transshipment services. Mostly this is Japanese and South Korean customers, who are very honest. I guess Chinese buyers have caught on to the advantages for both buyer and seller.

You ship ONLY to the US address. Do use Delivery Confirmation.

The trans-shipper then packs up all the customer's purchases and ships them to her home.

You are only responsible up to the point where the California company accepts the package.

So when you think about it, both the GSP and trans-shippers work the same way.

[txkitty99]

Thank you very much. 

I understand that shipping international gets more buyers but I don't know which countries would be less difficult to ship to,   do you have a preference?

[iankimmerly]

I have a international auction house Sparks Auctions, here in Ottawa Canada.

We ship pretty well anywhere, in part because philatelists are very honest people. Also the dealer grapevine is very strong.

Depending on what you sell.which seems to be mostly under $50, I wouldn't worry about selling anywhere. The chances of someone scamming you for a pair of cufflinks is pretty low.

And most new seller overestimate the number of scammers.

The main things to remember are:

Use the Global Shipping Program wisely, which means don't use it for items under $50

Losses when GSP is used are covered by Pitney Bowes, not by you

When you are not using the GSP, self-insure by adding a few pennies to the cost of each item listed and putting those virtual pennies in a virtual Cookie Jar to cover the occasional loss.

Again, that is my advice. Because I have a shop, an active on-line business, ten employees, and a live internet auction, I insure through Hugh Wood International, who are the insurers of record for the American Philatelic Society. They specialize in collectibles. However, their annual contracts are probably much more expensive than necessary for you at this point.

BTW, you can Block whole countries if you want to. Go to your Seller Preferences.

[slideshopper]

I sell primarily international(70%) and have found Australia very easy to deal with. The only place  I occasionally have trouble with is Italy and that isn't as bad as it was. Most overseas buyers are more accommodating on delivery time than

U.S. buyers anyway.