I listed a small item and let eBay offer international shipping. I received a message from a potential buyer in Germany asking why shipping to Germany is not offered. I checked and I see this list of countries and Germany is not included. Does eBay International Shipping exclude germany?
Ships to: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
martin2001
·2 years agoOne reason may be that you probably have not registered to obtain a so called LUCID number:
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/growth/going-global/german-packaging-act
I got it about a year ago. It is a little bit bureaucratic to obtain it. It can be done online. One is supposed to license the packaging. I did not license it with anybody but I don' t remember what I clicked or not clicked which let me pass thru this steps to obtain that LUCID number. One is also supposed to get into a contract with German trash removal companies and to pay them a fee so they can properly dispose of your packaging which the German recipient throws into trash (sound ridiculous, but this is what's idea).
Since July 22, I mailed 17 packages to Germany. I pasted the LUCID number on the package and also included it in the customs form (in the ' company' box).
At that time, I read about it a lot, one thing I remember is that one should avoid using any packaging that has any logo on it so it can pass the inspection faster. I don't know how it works, but I "comply" using plain wrapping. So far, I have not had any problems.
jcmn28
OP2 years agoThank you for the information. Now that you have the LUCID number, will eBay allow International Shipping to Germany? Did you tell eBay about the number? I prefer not to ship myself, but to let eBay handle it via their program.
By the way, did it cost any money to get the LUCID number?
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoNo, EIS will not ship to Germany no matter what licensing you get. EIS would have to get that 'license', which I'm not sure they can or want to.
jcmn28
OP2 years agoWell, won't it enable more sales on eBay and therefore more profit for eBay if they were able to do this? It would be a perk of the EIS program. Perhaps it would cost them too much to ensure compliance?
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoOne country out of 288 really doesn't make that much difference and again, I'm not sure an 'entity' like EIS is even ABLE to purchase said 'license'. (it's just like a Aluminum Can CRV collected in California and a handful of other states, you Pay for the 'trash' that you are creating when you 'ship' something.
pjcdn2005
·2 years ago@stainlessenginecovers
Over 250 of your listing ship to Germany via EIS.
pjcdn2005
·2 years ago@jcmn28
It’s my understanding that sellers who use EIS don’t need a LUCID number, eBay will look after that. The EIS ships some items to specific countries so when they don’t ship an item to a specific country there is no shipping cost listed.
All but one of your listings have a cost for shipping to Germany so they obviously do ship some items there. I’m not sure why someone suggested that that they don’t.
jcmn28
OP2 years agoThe plot thickens. Any idea what is allowed vs not?
A potential buyer in Germany asked about this listing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325686749727
Any idea why this (small) item isn't allowed to ship to Germany?
Interestingly, the switch is made in Germany.
pjcdn2005
·2 years agoI have no idea but try putting that it was made in Germany as the country of manufacture in Item Specifics. I doubt that it will make a difference but it can't hurt.
It looks like the item specifics are for the whole lamp? Since this is just the switch you might want to eliminate some of those. It's possible that they won't send the item because they think it's a lamp? Just guessing here...
martin2001
·2 years agoI vaguely remember that I was asked for that number, I am now not sure if it was ebay or Etsy. I am sure one of the two sites. BTW, I don't use ebay for international shipping.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoI do not see any mention of safety approvals in your listing.
jcmn28
OP2 years agoI guess that might be another potential reason other than the packaging law. Is Germany strict on that?
Do you know where I would add that info? I do see it marked on the switches.
Apparently you can’t ship that item to the United Kingdom either.
There are certain categories that EIS won’t or can’t ship to.