eBay

rocketscollectibles · ‎07-02-2021

Hi. I have a listing offering no international shipping but a buyer sent me a message on ebay asking if i could ship international ( from canada to france ). Since i have no sell yet and new to ebay selling, i wanted to keep it simple and sell in my country only but i've been trying since 4 months to do my 1st sell no one buy...

I did read here : https://www.ebay.ca/help/selling/selling/selling-internationally?id=4132#section1 that we need 10 feedback points and our 1st sell more than 90 days ago to sell internationally, is it correct? So i personally can't sell outside canada actually? I just found this while in my listings i had access to put international shipping since the beginning, i'm kinda confuse

I wonder too if ever i can sell it without the 1st sell 90 days ago and 10 points feedback rule, how it works for the shipping price of someone who would buy it now my listing while i'm not offering international shipping on the listing? Like this buyer if i'm telling him i can ship it, do you need to fix the shipping price manually or something when he buy

Sorry for my english my 1st language is french i hope i'm understandable. Even if i read a lot on how ebay works since like 4-5 months, it's still like a jungle for me

rocketscollectibles · ‎07-05-2021

Thanks, that's what i just read doing researchs about import fees.

So if i recap an international sale:

- using tracked packet international

- adding international in my listing and exclude countries not offering this shipping option

- need to complete customs form for shipping

- inform buyer of their responsabilities on extra import and taxes fees

Is there something i'm missing that is different about international sales?

I think i really need to do that sale, i checked the buyer profil and he's a 2002 registered member with 450 stars 100% positive feedbacks. I seen in his feedbacks he bought a 1st edition french charizard which is the most expensive pokemon card, and other expensive collection items, he seems to be a serious buyer and ready to spend money. Not a lot of buyers would take the risk to buy to a 0 feedback seller, and french edition cards will obviously attract mostly france buyers

reallynicestamps · ‎07-05-2021

- need to complete customs form for shipping

If you are printing out a shipping label, this will fill automatically from your listing.

Which is why it is important to fill Item Specifics for location of manufacturer.

rocketscollectibles · ‎07-05-2021

What if we don't know the origin location of manufacturer?

I did read that pokemon compagny doesn't tell where they print their cards... Some are made in the US, some in japan, some in europe, depending of the editions... It's not written anywhere if french cards have been made in the US or in any europe country, pretty confusing

I did checked other listings who ship internationally french edition pokemon cards, some sellers wrote manufacturer is from the US, some from France, some do not specify too, i think no one actually really know

rocketscollectibles · ‎07-05-2021

nvm i think it would be safe to say US since cards manufacturer was wizards of the coast, which is a US compagny

ricarmic · ‎07-05-2021

Remembering that I sell stamps, if it helps lower your anxiety I NEVER fill out the origin*, and I haven't ever on any version of the customs forms in 20 years.

Part of the reason is that if I ship 1,000 worldwide stamps, their forms wouldn't be long enough for me to put all the countries names in, if I even knew them.

If they ever do force me to put it in, I would probably put in Canada for everthing. I might be tempted to put USA on the ones going to the US, but I doubt I'm ever going to have to deal with it.

PS I have always put the quantity as 1 (again for me the forms wouldn't work because 1,000 stamps costs $20 and would be 1,000 items at 2c each)

PSPS from what my PMs have told me over the years, I put way more in the customs than anyone else, virtually nobody else even puts in the HS codes......I'm shocked that they don't have problems but there you go.

*addendum, oops I lied, it should be "almost never" - collectors in Switzerland do not have to pay taxes on mint stamps from Switzerland that have not been used. So about 2 or 3 times I've put the country of origin as Switzerland on those packages of mint stamps going to Switzerland.

intimewithmusic · ‎07-08-2021

First, let's clarify something to new Sellers ;

The "Point Of Origin" is where you are SHIPPING from. The "Country Of Origin" is where the item was manufactured. I'm talking about the Country Of Origin.

ricarmic, You are correct because you sell stamps made out of paper and all similar you may never have a problem unless anything else (not a stamp) is in your package. Country of Origin doesn't just have to do with how much duty you may be charged. It has to do with restrictions on items that vary from country to country. Many countries de-prioritize or even exclude packages due to Country Of Origin.

I had a major concert in the US in jeapardy because I didn't think to note the country of origin of a blanket that was needed for the drumset. The US boarder wouldn't let the drummer cross just because someone was having a bad day and there was a blank spot on the manifest.

I admit these circumstances are rare however they have occured numerous times over my 40 years of moving goods across the borders. There's no point in gambling with a customs officer having a bad day. I hope the rest of you (who aren't selling stamps) fill that in. The country of origin CAN affect duties charged. Not noting it doesn't make you look good in Customs. They can look at not disclosing it as refusing to disclose it. You may not be trying to cheat but tell that to the guy in Frankfurt when your package has sat for 6 weeks.

There are very few things to fill in on a customs form so fill them all in if the loss of your item and shipping costs are significant. All countries have different package processing rules.

Consider putting a simple and removeable Customs manifest on the outside of your international packages. It just take a few seconds. Make sure it has the sender & buyers info and phone numbers. It's more professional entering Customs particularily in overseas countries. They can't remove the C Post label which could also be damaged but they will have you info if they have a question or want to keep track of your future shipments. It's a way of appearing to be cooperative ahead of time.

I've been told by Canada Post a few times that this is a very good idea.

ITWM

rocketscollectibles · ‎07-08-2021

Thanks for the answers and tips guys

Actually i took the decision to not do that international sale... Overall i feel unconfortable with it. Reality is that i'm not even confortable with domestic shipping yet, i'm a noob and never shipped anything. And i just don't wanna do any mistake, especially for a first sale and on a 120$ rare collectible card. That sale was attractive cause of the amount and the fact i did none for 4 months but i removed that listing and will avoid international for now i think it's the wisest decision

It was very helpful talking in here anyway... I bought a few items and already got rid of the scary 0 feedback. Not sure i'll change my username i actually kinda like it, but it's something else that might could help and thinking about. And i'm gonna remove and rethink all my listings to offer lettermail shipping on non rare and unexpensive items to offer low cost shipping. Might use tracked parcel and offer US shipping for listings over a certain amount. Anyway 100% my ratio listing price / shipping price was my main problem, as a buyer there's no way i would pay 15$ shipping for a 15$ item so i don't see why anyone would like to ( unless it's the only option you can buy ). Got things to build around now, i'm kinda confident

richardcm · ‎07-08-2021

On your ID. Many years ago (10?) there was a seller selling DVDs with iD BAD_Entertainment. He named the iD after his first initial, wife's first inititial and son's first initial. He asked here in the forums if it mattered and the consensus was it would deter sales because it implied bad movies not suitable for family. He renamed it to the first two initials, Brande_Entertainment. Simple change but completely different implications. Sales increased.

That is what I remember from that story way back then. Some other old time members might remember the seller.

rocketscollectibles · ‎07-10-2021

Finally i decided to change my usename, i think its original and kinda funny i hope buyers wont see it in any negative way

I found btw that my username wasnt even legal to use as seller, since DC comics characters are trademarked and so poison ivy

intimewithmusic · ‎07-13-2021

If you declare the "Country Of Origin" as unknown or leave the space blank foreign customs is at liberty to charge your buyer the maximum entry duty. Every country has a different threshold for allowing items to enter duty free. The important words there are Every country is different. If you sell stuff that only enters certain countries and your stuff is under the threshold you may never have a problem in those specific countries.

As a Seller the problen you may experience is that although you have a duty notice in your listing if your item in Egypt is held pending your buyer's duty payment the buyer may decide not to accept it. Now you have an Ebay dispute to defend. I think in Canada (not sure so fact check this) Canada Post does not have an "Abandon shipment if not deliverable" clause. I've heard of many buyers paying the entire return shipping cost for abandoned shipments.

Ask yourself, "Is the risk for not filling in the CoO worthwhile?

In 2018 and 2019 most USA states began to charge state tax on incoming on incoming Ebay items. Online sales have exploded. Austraila and many other countries are tapping the tax pot. Canada will follow suit.

Countries that do not have high sales taxes can instead begin to enforce the collection of import duties. If you leave the Countiry Of Origin box blank it's obvious your buyer will eventually pay the max.

On some of my items I can't fill it in. If I'm familiar with the item, (very familiar) I may take a guess. For instance some vintage t shirts have the tags cut off. Some of my stuff has more than one CoO. for example some Fender Squire guitars parts were made in Mexico but the guitar was assembled in the USA. There's possible "discrepencies" when it comes to CoO.

Just do your best. Pay more attention to detail when your item exceeds the destination country's duty free threshold or you may end up paying the return flight on a $1000 Pokemen card you sent to France that was never picked up by the buyer.

ITWM

intimewithmusic · ‎07-13-2021

honestraccoon huh?

Perfect

You picked a great icon.

Although annoying sometimes, in BC

raccoons are a protected species.

Great choice!

ITWM

intimewithmusic · ‎07-13-2021

I appreciate your posts because other new sellers who don't comment read them. Your posts have saved others from mistakes. Thanks for not being afraid to seek guidance. It's important to remember selling routines change very fast. Trends change faster. Advice is only fine and dandy when it's up to date and releveant to exactly what you are selling.

intimewithmusic · ‎07-18-2021

So now you have 5 positive feedbacks. You took my advice and made purchases to get them. That was a good move. You took my advice and changed out your name from ivypoisonxx. Another good move. Unfortunately you didn't listen to the suggestion to "DIVERSIFY".

You can't keep buying stuff to build trust. You have to sell stuff to do that. At this time of year sellers are listing for back to school, caculators, clothing etc and Halloween (mentioned the fog machine before.) The point is you have TWO sales thus far and no positive feedback from from sales. Pokeman isn't in season.

Figure it out.

IT

intimewithmusic · ‎07-18-2021

Maybe I was too harsh. Let me put it a different way...

When I had a brick & mortar retail store a marketing tool most of us used came to be called "Loss Leader". To get customers in the door you would advertise something in demand at a low price. For example "Acoustic or electric Guitar Strings $2.99 Per Set." A prospect would come in to see the item on sale and ofter end up buying something different like a tuner or a stand. Most of the time they would bring a friend who doesn't play guitar. The friend wouldn't buy strings. He/she would buy a cymbal or a music book as a gift for mom. If the friend doesn't play guitar maybe he/she would buy strings for someone else. That is called "traffic".

You're right. You don't need an Ebay store. That said you have one like it or not. Your store is called "See Other Items." It's the button to the right of all your listings. When someone clicks it they see everything you have in a list. Your entire inventory is sitting there in your free "store". Every time I look at any item I'm interested in as a buyer I click that button. I want to see what else the seller offers and from that you get a sense of what they know. You also see their unrelated items. So how do you get more traffic to generate more sales?

If you list a very reasonablly (low) priced cool vintage toaster, a fog machine, a piece of beautiful art glass, or even better, an item that Pokeman collectors also might also like (besides cards) that item will attract global attention. When they view the item in your invisible store they will be tempted to open up your entire inventory by clicking "See Other Items". Voila, now you have someone in your store looking at your Pokeman cards who came in the door looking for a toaster. the way it is now the ONLY people who may see your cards are specifically looking for Pokeman cards. Without anything else to draw someone into your virtual store you're excluding every single potential customer you pay Ebay to send you other than Pokeman collectors.

Through our FV fees we are paying Ebay a lot of money for accessibility to global prospects. My niche is vintage music items. A few years ago I sold a Jenn Air counter top gas range from the 80's. New in box. I don't want to sell gas ranges. It weighed around 60 lbs. I shipped it from Kelowna all the way to New Brunswick. Everyone wanted that thing. I can't say how many views and people it brought into my store but it was a lot! After that I set up a entire new category called Beyond Music. It brings traffic into my music store.

That's why I feel it's important to diversify.

ITWM