Want to start selling internationally gradually - where / what shipping method safest?

[jnicholss]

Selling for roughly 5 years now, but only within Canada and to the USA.  I use Canada Post to ship (though I've used UPS a few times for oversized items that CP would not ship or do so affordably).  I have sold a few things beyond (Germany for instance) because a buyer REALLY wanted something I had listed, but I usually discourage them when I tell them the cost of shipping.

I've been reading some of the posts on international selling, shipping costs, whether to ship tracked only, countries to exclude, prohibited items, etc. and I'm still not sure what to do - if anything at all.

I am looking for suggestions on which countries to start with if I want to start small (5 countries???) and see what happens (Australia? UK?).  I checked the cost of sending a small/light item to Australia WITH tracked packets and it was somewhere around $40, without (but via air), somewhere around $10.  Since what I sell (collectibles) are mostly low value items, no-one is going to buy them if I force tracked packets so starting with countries that are relatively safe to send without tracking would make sense.  My other question also is - is it worth it?  Will I spend my time quoting shipping costs but not selling because shipping is too high or can I realistically expect the effort to pay off?

Not easy questions to answer I know and I realize that opinions may vary based on the good/bad experience you may have had, but I am grateful for any input you can provide.

[rose-dee]

I've sold internationally for over 10 years, and all I can tell you is that it's getting harder and harder.  

Part of the difficulty of course is due to the skyrocketing Canada Post rates (we had a nearly 25% increase a couple of years ago), part because of the VAT in several countries that you would normally be shipping to, and part due to eBay's on-time delivery policy. 

Is it worth it, particularly for lower-priced items?  Unfortunately I'd have to say probably not.  That is unless you have a reasonable expectation that a good portion of your sales will be to overseas buyers and you're willing to take your chances on late delivery defects using non-tracked services.  I would not have said this 4 years ago.  

Although I do still ship (to certain relatively "safe" international destinations), I show the full cost of Light Packet or Small Packet in my listings, or the cost of Tracked Packet if the item is of higher value.  In other words, I no longer "subsidize" my international buyers' shipping costs as I used to do.  I figure that if someone overseas really wants a particular item, they'll be willing to pay the shipping cost.  Otherwise, it just isn't worth the trouble for me, especially considering that international returns can be such a problem. 

Australia is another matter.  Shipping time frames are sometimes unpredictable for Light/Small Packet, and I really don't know whether eBay's own delivery estimates accurately reflect the reality of time frames for shipping from Canada to Australia.  I've taken my chances so far with my patterns (many of which can ship with Light Packet), but I now sell very rarely to Australia anymore. 

I'd say that if you're managing to survive on eBay by selling to Canada and the U.S., selling internationally will likely not significantly add to your income, particularly if you're selling lower value collectibles without a specific overseas market (things like stamps or coins will likely be different).  At least that's been my experience over the last 2 or 3 years.

[Anonymous]

It is not easy to sell without tracking number to International countries.  Starting 2 years ago I decided to switch from cheaper mail service without tracking number to mail service with tracking number and I no longer have problems with them.  Although it may discourage them from buying from me when they see the hefty tracking mail service but I did sold a lot of them to them with tracking number.  They seem to accept the tracking number mail service even they are very expensive.  I wish Canada Post would offer cheaper mail service with tracking number worldwide like USPS does.

[ypdc_dennis · Accepted solution]

A lot of your current listings would be good for international -- especially those that are light weight and non-breakable. No guarantee that they will sell, but one never knows.

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I have sold worldwide for over a decade, here's a few:

UK: English language, reliable postal system

Japan: very reliable postal system, and using English is not a handicap compared to some other countries.

Australia: I sell there, but ebay's estimated delivery times for Australia are generally too optimistic. Between major urban centres the time estimate is fairly accurate. But both Canada and Australia are big, lightly populated countries and the estimates do not reflect that.

Europe: Netherlands (many of the Dutch still have favourable feelings toward Canada because of World War 2), Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland

France, Germany: you have to aware of their eBay rules (.fr and .de) if you need to handle after sale problems.

-..-

Shipping is one major issue for international sales.

Rule 1: Never, ever use surface shipping for overseas. While reliable and cheap, it just takes too long for the current eBay delivery time frames.

...

If sticking with Canada Post (all of these can be bought via paypal):

Light Packet has a fixed price world wide, but has a 2cm thickness limit. Cost sweet spot currently is 251-300g.

Small Packet (air) has different rates for regions of the world (you can use eBay.ca's calculated shipping to give the right value). Can be more than 2cm thick. Does have a bar code that you can get scanned (ask for a originate scan receipt) when you drop it off at the postal outlet/post office. It's not tracking, but better than nothing.

Tracked Packet has fuel surcharges, but also has paypal discounts. $100 insurance included. Size restriction: L+W+H must be 90 cm or smaller.

I almost never use tracked packet, it's just too expensive for the things I sell. So far, everything has arrived safely.

2016 Canada Post prices:

000-200g ..  8.78 ... Light Packet
000-250g ..  9.78+ . Small packet (air)
000-250g .. 45.48* . Tracked packet

201-300g .. 13.46 .. Light Packet
251-500g .. 19.55+ . Small packet (air)
301-500g .. 24.57 .. Light Packet
251-500g .. 48.35* . Tracked packet

500g-1kg .. 38.34+ . Small packet (air)
500g-1kg .. 58.88* . Tracked packet

1.0-1.5kg .. 47.98+ . Small packet (air)
1.0-1.5kg .. 65.32* . Tracked packet

1.5-2.0kg .. 57.62+ . Small packet (air)
1.5-2.0kg .. 72.53* . Tracked packet

(+) - UK rates shown, other world regions may be higher

(*) - UK over-the-counter base rate shown

-..-

[rose-dee]

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@ypdc_dennis wrote:

Tracked Packet has fuel surcharges, but also has paypal discounts. $100 insurance included. Size restriction: L+W+H must be 90 cm or smaller. 

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Yes, I've been burned by the 90cm total on TP more than once.  Just recently a buyer purchased two lightweight items (vintage hats) that, despite my best careful squeezing efforts, ended up needing a box slightly larger than I'd expected.  It was just enough to go over the limit.  

Of course I'd already given my buyer the TP rate, based on weight in the originally-planned box, so I had to absorb the difference between TP and Expedited.  

Short of trying every possible combination of items I sell to see what size of box would be required for what (or listing Expedited for all of them), I don't know that there is an easy way to get around the problem of anticipating exact shipping on an unexpected multi-item purchase of larger items.  I just consider that the extra item sold helps to pay for the shipping upgrade.  

[jnicholss]

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond, this is very helpful!

[jnicholss]

Thank you, thank you.  I now have a little more to think about :).

[jnicholss]

Thank you!  I very much appreciate all of the replies.  I think I'm going to try some international in the New Year with a few countries and  with items that aren't breakable :).   If the results keep me awake at night, I'll stop ;).