Russia is a kleptocracy.
Overlooking the fundemental dishonesty of the system which infects many consumers there, you are also looking at a country with no Rule of Law.
On a practical note.
Your candles and soaps will cost you as much or more to ship as the buyer will pay for the product alone.
While the buyer also pays for the shipping, If you have a Dispute for non-delivery -- and have you looked at the cost of tracked shipping to Russia? we're in the $50 plus range-- you lose that shipping cost entirely, because you paid it to Canada Post.
Stick to North America. Even Australia gets pricey, and as you may have learned they are not happy about being charged sales taxes on imports. The original members of the European Union are safer, not the countries that were part of the Soviet Bloc though.
I am old and cranky.
BTW- there are freight forwarders and you could suggest that to your Russian customers. These companies have Canadian or US plants and will receive shipments from North American sellers, deal with duty and VAT, and reship the items to their/your customer.
And .
EBay considers your responsibility for delivery to be complete when the reshipper accepts the shipment. Most of the Money Back Guarantee ends there too.
