International Shipping - Yes, or No?

[themonitorman]

I do not currently ship Internationally - only to the lower 48 states, U.S.

I sell an item.  Print a label via Ebay Shipping Label page.  Slap the label on the package, and hand it off to the Postman at my door.  I love the simplicity of the whole exercise.

Does International shipping work the same way? (sell it; print the label; send it out the door)

Or is there additional work involved - forms, declarations, customs, etc. - that have to be filled out?

I am asking this question for two reasons:

1) Sales so far in 2018, have been absolutely horrible - on average, down 80-85% from same period last year.  Some months, I barely sell enough to cover my Basic Store Subscription on eBay.

2) So far in 2018, I have been getting requests from Buyers (on average 2 or 3 per month) in other countries, asking me to ship items Internationally - - - even though all of my Listings state "Does not ship Internationally".

I MUST increase Sales, or I will shortly be out-of-business. So what is the eBay Community's  take on International Shipping?  How much extra hassle is involved?  Should I be shipping Internationally?

[justagirl12]

If you ship through eBay’s global shipping then yes, it works the same way. You don’t have to fill out any forms. Ebay does this for you when your item reaches the global shipping center which is located in the US.

[missjen831]

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@justagirl12 wrote:

If you ship through eBay’s global shipping then yes, it works the same way. You don’t have to fill out any forms. Ebay does this for you when your item reaches the global shipping center which is located in the US.

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eBay doesn’t do anything for the seller. Pitney Bowes aka the global shipping program does it 🙂

[themonitorman]

@ jen_proudleowife

My question was regarding the simpicity of the process for Sellers.  I could not care less who exactly does what, at exactly what point along the way.

Could we stay on topic please?

Thank You.

Options

jen_proudleowife

[missjen831]

ok. no one here is going to do this research for you or make your business decisions. 

[themonitorman]

@ jen_proudleowife

And yet you continue to waste space with your irrelevant replies.

No one has been asked to do research for me, or to make my business decisions.

The apparent problem, is that some - like yourself - just like to hear themselves talk; whether or not they have anything significant to say.

[richard1rst · Accepted solution]

OK - I’ll help you out.

You print the international labels through eBay just as you do with the domestic labels. The custom form is filled out automatically when you print the label. The only exception is if you have more than one item you must enter the individual weights in the form.  I usually bring the packages to the post office myself (only because my carrier comes before noon and I am never ready for him).

BUT once in a while I have had the carrier pick up and, yes, it included some international. Not a problem.

So the basic answer to your question is : there is no difference in the procedure.

By the way, my international sales make up about 25-30% of my total sales.

(As you have seen and observed Oh so many people here seem to be refugees from that old Monty Python sketch “I came here for an argument”)

[sam9876]

Which 48 states do you ship to?

Why are you excluding two states and the US Territories?

[themonitorman]

@richard1rst

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

There are so many times I've come to this Community looking for advice, and all I've gotten is spam.  Spam, spam, spam, spam. Spam, spam, spam, spam. Spamty spam, wonderful spam.

You've given me much to think about, and now I must try International sales.

[themonitorman]

@sam9876

Why indeed!

I have done that since starting my store, thinking there would be extra hassles, and potentially more problems than regular old domestic shipping - the same things I've incorrectly thought about International sales.

Knowing what I know now, that exclusion will have to be excluded from all my listings.

Thank You for asking that question! Without your question, I would have gone on missing that.

Ah, so much to do ... so little time ...

[mikeystoyz]

eBay makes it easy.  There really is no difference and if the country you send to has tracking you get that too.  Most countries do.  The only issues I really have been Brazil, Mexico, Italy and Russia.  Just say no to them and GSP will take care of that.

[*smedley*]

i quit selling internationally many years ago, long before any "program" for it came along... i had a very high percentage of bad international buyers...

i don't understand people who refuse to sell to AK and HI... it's like people who don't make long distance calls or put hot stuff in the fridge; the reasons for doing so are no longer applicable...

i especially don't understand those who exclude APO/FPO...

[7606dennis]

I'm curious as to why you only ship to the continental US although I can understand your reluctance to ship internationally.

[themonitorman]

@7606dennis   

Oversight? Distrust? Misunderstanding? Stupidity?

Please pick one and feel free to add your own qualifiers.

I have updated all my listings to include Alaska and Hawaii.  American Military facilities have always been included.

Next step, will be to update all Listings to include International Shipping.

Vee grow too soon old, und too late schmart...

[sam9876]

"I have updated all my listings to include Alaska and Hawaii.  American Military facilities have always been included."

Are you saying that you still won't ship to US Territories?