Should I restrict which countries I ship to? -New question-

[NoPonySpecial]

I'm very close to starting a sales thread, but I have one lingering question on my mind. While I have feedback as a buyer, I have none as a seller or trader. The question I have is, should I start out only shipping items within my country (the U.S.)? Or is shipping ponies overseas really not that bad? I hear horror stories about it sometimes, as we all do, so maybe I should be more experienced as a seller before I offer to ship overseas? What do you guys think? Would you buy from an overseas seller who had no selling feedback yet?


New question!

I'm playing with the USPS shipping calculator, making sure I know how to use it. I've noticed when I put in theoretical info for a package to be mailed within the US, it's easy to select if you want insurance or not. But I can't figure out how to add insurance on an international package. There's an option of a "certificate of mailing" (which is important, but not insurance) and Registered Mail. Both of those seem more like information that is helpful in filing a claim, but not actual insurance.

Considering the majority of the ponies and things I sell are going to be under 10 dollars, is insuring packages something I need to even worry about? I'd like to know exactly what to do in case the buyer requests it.

[Iris Patch]

Shipping overseas is a bit of a pain because you have to wait in line and had the postal employees painstakingly type every word off the customs form you filled out BUT lost packages are pretty rare. Yeah you have to pay out the nose to get tracking of any kind, but most of the time it's just fine if you don't get int'l tracking, especially on a laid back community such as this.

If this were eBay I might say that you should insist they pay extra for tracking in case of scammers or overly alarmist people freaking out because their package hasn't arrived after a couple weeks of waiting. But I think selling here it would be fine, as long as it's understood that tracking is extra and will cost a pretty penny (I want to say it's $12.95 extra, but with all the rate changes this year and last I don't even know what's what anymore).

I think limiting yourself to only shipping within the US is bad for sales, but if your time is at a precious premium, then you can certainly avoid the hassle by not accepting int'l buyers. Up to you.

[cloud_weaver]

Shipping overseas is a bit of a pain because you have to wait in line and had the postal employees painstakingly type every word off the customs form you filled out BUT lost packages are pretty rare. Yeah you have to pay out the nose to get tracking of any kind, but most of the time it's just fine if you don't get int'l tracking, especially on a laid back community such as this.

However, if you ship from home, this is not the case.  ^_^  I can send international packages from my house if I weigh them and fill out everything on the websites, either paypal.com/shipnow or USPS.com. 

It *is* a pain, it is very expensive and figuring out accurate shipping quotes takes a bit of getting used to (the USPS website can be a bit tricky to navigate) but it's doable.  The main thing is to make sure that the buyer is aware that any custom fees charged by their country is their responsibility.  I once sold an item and the buyer had to pay an insane amount of fees to get it due to the value on the package.  The higher the value, the more they charge for customs fees.  It varies from every country and is charged by the *receiving* country (like importing goods).  This is if you mark "merchandise" on the customs form.  *However* if you mark "gift" on the customs form, and the item was a purchase, it is considered fraud.  Also, if you mark gift but purchase insurance on the item, then you will not be able to make a claim because really the item was purchased and it's skirting the customs fees.

[Stormness_1]

If it's ebay, I'd say if you have seller restrictions like paypal holds, then US only is the best option, because you'd have to pay for international postage out of pocket, and that's not always possible, with some insane costs to certain countries! Otherwise, here, your funds should be fine and available immediately, so international isn't really a problem, just transfer the funds to your bank and off you go to the PO.

But in the end, it's what you are comfortable with that's decides what you do, at least to begin with!

[Rhubarbpie]

I have no problem with shipping internationally.  Once I have an international inquiry, I get the country, weigh the pony (or what ever) and packaging, check online to get an estimate quote and give the buyer the price quote. Once I have the payment, I pack the pony up to suit an international shipment and put on the address and a customs invoice label (a small 2" square form very easy to fill out) and away we go.

International shipping is relatively easy if you are honest about your shipping values. If you are shipping a $10 pony, then put $10 on the customs form. If you are selling a $100 pony, then put $100. Putting a lesser value won't make shipping any easier, and if the worst happens and the package is lost, you can only claim the value on the customs form. So if you have tried to "cheat" the system and put a $10 value for a $100 pony, you will only get $10 back.

Shipping from US to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most European countries should have very few complications (be wary on Italian shipments).

As for if I would buy from a zero feedback international seller.  Yes I probably would. The fact you have posted here asking our advice stands very well in your stead.  Everybody deserves a first chance and we were ALL zero feedback once   I would maybe offer fully tracked shipping as an option for your first few international transactions until you are confident.

Have fun, good luck in your sales 

[tikibirds]

Be careful with shipping to Italy, Its more hassle then its worth. 1/2 the items I shipped there never arrived.

[Ringlets]

I personally will ship anywhere in the world  with rarely any issues, but if you want to start out with US only shipping until you're a more confident /experienced seller than thats up to you or if you want international buyers to pay for tracking/ insurance for a bit of extra security then thats an option as well    
I would recommend you get yourself a cheap digital kitchen scale to weigh your items - that way there is less chance of you making a mistake and losing money on shipping.

As for buying from someone with no selling feedback, thats no problem to me or a lot of others since a buyer is very well protected if things go wrong/the item goes missing etc 

[flying_narwhal]

It's always very exciting to start selling but also confusing! I might suggest getting a few domestic transactions under your belt before trying your hand at international sales (they tend to be more complicated). This way you can start to become familiar with the shipping process. I sold for a few years domestically before I even wanted to take the risk of selling internationally. Even now, I only ever send international shipments to people I know from collecting communities I am in or on etsy (never on eBay... too risky for me).

There has been a lot of good advice on this thread so far. I would just add a few things based on my personal experiences.

If you do decide to start selling internationally I would recommend a few things:
+ Familiarize yourself with the mailing conditions and restrictions for each country. Some may require additional customs forms/info/etc. Also, some countries have restrictions which may mean you cannot send your item (even ponies!) there. As some other people mentioned, Italy in particular can be tricky. For example one of their prohibitions is "toys not made wholly of wood." USPS has a very helpful site that allows you to look up individual countries' restrictions/regulations: http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immctry.htm

+ I would also suggest starting out shipping to countries where you know the language and feel confident communicating in easily (ex: English-> UK, Canada, Australia) to avoid possible confusion over terms of sale, shipping delays, and so on. Also, try to research and see what countries tend to be safer to send to (as Rhubarbpie mentioned Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most European countries are fairly safe to ship to).

+ If you decide to move sales to eBay, sell internationally at your own risk and be prepared to take losses. Except for a couple of expensive services,  USPS does not really offer true "tracking" and "delivery confirmation" outside of the US (customs number can be useless sometimes). This is a scammers dream because an item may be delivered but if "tracking" never updates you can't prove it was delivered (required by eBay) then they can get the item for free. I've only ever had a couple of international packages get scanned in and marked as "delivered" by the destination country's postal system. Also, the cheaper services like First Class International can be painfully slow at times and some buyers start to worry, open a case (since there is a deadline for opening item not received cases), and can be closed in the buyers favor before the item makes it to them safely. I've never experienced this personally but have read stories and it seems like a pain to deal with.

+ Be sure if you are selling on the Arena and buyers choose First Class International you let them know that it can take a while to receive, not unusual for it to take a month or more (I've had it take over a month to go from East Coast to the UK before!).

I hope this helps! Good luck and have fun

[emery]

If you are going to start selling I would go ahead and offer world-wide shipping. It may seem a little daunting at first but actually doing it is really the only way to gain experience. And you can always ask questions here as you go to get help or learn a little more.

International shipping is not hard and most of the getting ready can be done from home. In fact as cloud_weaver has said you can even ship international packages right from your house if you are sending by Priority. Most of your International packages will probably be First Class though as Priority is mainly used for items 4 lbs and heavier.

https://www.usps.com/ship/international-how-to.htm
On this page there is a lot of helpful information and also if you scroll down to the bottom you will see a link to "Complete customs forms online" which will let you input all of the information into the form for a First Class overseas package and then print it and that way when you take it to the post office all they have to do is scan the barcode when you pay for the postage and it takes much less time in line.

A couple things about First Class International shipping:
- can be used for packages up to 4 lbs
- there is no insurance or tracking and you can't file a claim for lost packages (since there is no insurance)
- the cost generally goes up every 4 oz so be sure that when you estimate shipping you put the box and any shipping/padding material on the scale as well as the items so you know exactly what weight. I usually put half a piece of paper on too just to account for the shipping label.

As far as weight and price you have no choice but to use Priority for packages weighing 4 lbs or more but Priority international comes with insurance automatically up to the amount you put as the value on the customs form. You can add more insurance as needed but that would only be required if you were shipping something really pricey.

Be sure you have a scale and then get familiar with shipping through Paypal and you may want to create an account at USPS.com so that you can order free Priority boxes and log in to make labels instead of typing in your address every time.

[hathorcat]

I used to have no issue shipping anywhere internationally but a bit of a change in general trader interaction as well as ebay policies means I will now no longer ship [when using ebay] without an option for tracking. Unfortunately, unlike in some countries, international tracking is pretty pricey from the UK. We have an Airsure option which is the best option, best price but still expensive enough to scare some buyers and it also is not a service offered everywhere. So now, unless the country accepts Airsure, I wont ship to them. I hate being that strict

Shipping with tracking is such an important thing nowadays, so make sure when you are selling on ebay you price your shipping to include it - to protect yourself and your sales.

[tinyblondie]

Ive never had any problems shipping overseas, just do what you feel comfortable doing. Maybe try it with a trusted buyer and if you dont like the process then dont do it in future?