Most of the info you can find on the net that has to do with eBay selling warn against the evils of selling internationally. I have yet to figure out if this is because of a personal bad experience or vendettas against buyers abroad, but it’s unfortunate stories like these that turn many a prospective eBay Powerseller into a sitting duck in a global economy. So to calm any fears and to dispel the horror stories of selling abroad which you might have heard, I put together the 5 tricks to cashing in abroad:
1. The Economy Doesn’t Suck Everywhere: When the economy took a nosedive in the US back in 2008, my business would have crashed faster than the DOW Jones if I hadn’t have had a solid sales base abroad. When you decide whether or not you’ll sell to only people in your country or go the global route, remember this: when a disaster hits your specific locale, most of your ‘native’ buyers are going to stop taking out their pocketbooks. So why not insure yourself against this before something bad happens, and spread the world globally about your eBay enterprise? It’s as easy as adding .10 (at the time of this post) to your listing, to be seen internationally, and trust you me… It’s worth every penny!
2. Use Paypal Always: If you are selling internationally, it’s a must to have the only payment option as Paypal. For quite a few reasons, but most importantly because you wouldn’t want to mess with currency exchanges or mail fraud checks. Paypal protects both the buyer & the seller and you can find more about all their various protection policies here. But when someone from Liberia asks you if you accept checks, definitely say “No.” Paypal is easier, you get your money faster, then gets all those fancy currencies exchanged for you!
3. Packaging, Packaging, Packaging: The key to keeping relations good with your various international buyers is to get them their item in a timely manner & in one piece. Nothing ruins your credibility faster or ensures you won’t get them as a repeat customer like the buyer receiving their prized Widget in a beat up box and broken in 4 places. Be sure to pack it right & pack it tight when it comes to mailing abroad. Also, look into the various postal rules in different countries, because if you are sending expensive items, they might get seized at customs by overzealous agents. I can’t tell you to mark a package as a ‘gift’ or warn against detailing the contents’ real value, because the likelihood is that it WILL get seized if it’s past a certain worth in going to a certain country. I can’t tell you this because it’s against the law to fib on the customs forms. But I can tell you a lot of people do it. Because if they didn’t, every item over $200 that was shipped to Argentina would surprisingly never end up in the buyer’s hand and instead be given to a customs agent’s wife as a birthday present. So make up your own mind on this one.
4. Offer Reasonable Shipping Abroad: This is easy. When you list your item, find out what it costs to send it to most major countries, add them together, & divide it by the number of countries and use that as your cost. Or, as I always do, just charge a flat $4.95 fee for shipping to other countries, as long as you are sending something small. In the US our postal service makes it incredibly inexpensive to send small things abroad. And even for big things, you can get a good rate. Tip: don’t overcharge for shipping. People aren’t stupid in this age of technology. They can tell that you are pocketing the profit if you are selling a camera & charge $20.00 to ship it to Spain from the USA.
5. Exploit your Competitive Edge!: Tell your buyers in your subtitle: FREE SHIPPING WITHIN (INSERT YOUR COUNTRY) I SELL INTERNATIONALLY! Most sellers either don’t sell internationally, charge outrageous shipping fees or don’t let their market know they do sell globally. Use this to your advantage; paired with a great photo & a killer auction page, you should be head and shoulders above your competitors in no time!
Read also:
