International Selling/Shipping

I recently recieved a message from someone in Holland, wanting to buy the mirror set I posted about on here a few days ago. Ive strickly sold to US residents, was wondering if anyone has any experience with international selling. Or to break it down another way:

1. Did you see an increase in sells when you went international?
2. Is there a 'guideline' rate I can charge when shipping international? Obviously like everything else, it will depend on box size and weight.

Like you I would only sell to domestic customers. I learned very quickly that was a mistake. As of now my international sales are greater than my domestic ones. I would be out thousands of dollars if I never sold international.

When you include international shipping in your listing, be sure to add in a default handling fee. I like to use $3.99. The buyer does not see this amount, it is added to the shipping cost before the buyer sees the total S&H amount. Meaning, if the shipping is $10.00 the buyer would see $13.99 as the shipping charge. When creating your listing, have the length, width, and height of the package, as well as the total weight. The total weight includes the box, product, packing materials...everything. Select Worldwide in the international shipping section, and enter all of this information there. If the weight is over 4 lbs. or if the 3 sides total more than 84" you cannot use USPS first class international, you will have to select USPS priority mail international as the shipping method (parcel post is very slow). PMI gives you much better tracking information. So if tracking is important to you, then definitely use PMI.

Once you've setup the international shipping, anyone outside of your domestic area will automatically see what it will cost them for shipping (including your default handling charge). When they make the purchase, the shipping will automatically be added to the sales total. Be sure to use the eBay shipping label service, it's less money than going into the post office and the tracking number is automatically sent to the buyer. Having a digital scale is very important if you want proper postage on your packages.. I picked up a real nice one for about $20 and it has proven to be invaluable.

About 25% of my sells on EBAY are international.I do not sell anything over 4lbs because its a pain at the post office.

I re-listed my mirrors as a 10 day international sale, seems like antiques would be a certain kind of item that would benefit from the exposure. Considering I got 0 bids when I listed it in US only, up is the only way to go. 

I re-listed my mirrors as a 10 day international sale, seems like antiques would be a certain kind of item that would benefit from the exposure. Considering I got 0 bids when I listed it in US only, up is the only way to go. 

Well, the other direction from up is...no not down...but not selling it internationally also.

You indicated earlier a person in Holland wanted it. Be interesting to see if he follows through on new listing.


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I had two bad experiences with Canada and that was it for me.

On the other hand a lot of things won't sell first or even 2nd time out, but a third or fourth listing might go (or not). Martin Luther King clock?

I had two bad experiences with Canada and that was it for me.

On the other hand a lot of things won't sell first or even 2nd time out, but a third or fourth listing might go (or not). Martin Luther King clock?

Ended up selling the clock for 5 bucks at a yard sale. I guess people dont look to the King to tell time quite like they used to. However, I do agree with the re-posting, recently had this happen with a Bee-Gees Lunchbox. I listed it 5 or 6 times, with the last one resulting in a sell.

I think the amount of watchers an item has is a good indication of interest, but its hard to say since I currently have bids with no watchers, and items with 5-6 watchers and no bids! 

I think the amount of watchers an item has is a good indication of interest, but its hard to say since I currently have bids with no watchers, and items with 5-6 watchers and no bids! 

The number of views and number of watchers is a good indicator for me USUALLY.

Sometimes I will have an item with 100 or more views and maybe 12 or so watchers. Then it doesn't sell.

I attribute this to maybe having 6 or so of my auction buddies watching my items just to see how they do AND to people who are either selling the same item who want to get an idea for a selling amount AND to hobbyists who are just plain curious about what their old tool is worth.

I recently listed an item twice with results as indicated just above. No sale 2nd time around, but a day after a fellow emailed me and asked if I was listing it again !  I emailed back that if he wanted it at the starting price I would list it for 1 day as a buy it now and he could "snap it up".  Haven't heard back yet.

I am done shipping international.  I lost over $400 on a sale to France. Guy claimed he did not get it paypal took my money , the post office would not pay a claim they said it was delivered. Paypal ignored me and would not refund even when I had a letter from the post office stating the item had been delivered. I have a friend who now has a Rolex in dispute on a sale to the UK. Guy would not pay the duty. said he returned it. They do not have the watch and paypal has frozen thier account to the tune of about $5800!.  I have not had these kinds of problem shipping domestic though paypal will still screw you often.
falsifing a customs form is a felony by the way and that includes stating an item has less value then you were paid for it or misreprenting what is in the box. Many international buyers will ask you to falsify the customs form then get mad when you do not. Most often they want to you to say the item is a gift and has no value. Of course if you say it has no or minimal value on the custom form then try to insure it for what it is worth you have convicted yourself of falsifieng the form.

I am done shipping international.  I lost over $400 on a sale to France. Guy claimed he did not get it paypal took my money,

Which shipping method was used?