International Shipping - Costs, Precautions, and Tips
Hi everyone!
I'm a private eBay seller and I've been at it for just over 3 years now, and so far I've only ever sold in Italy.
When I started, I thought it would be best to begin selling domestically to get familiar with the platform and with shipping.
Now that I've reached this point and have numerous sales under my belt, I'm thinking of “debutting” in the international eBay world too.
Before getting started, I'd like to clear up a few doubts to avoid future problems.
So; is it possible to enable international shipping (or make your item visible worldwide) without entering a shipping cost that would then be agreed upon at the time of (pre-)purchase?
Each package can have different dimensions and weight; moreover, it can have a different cost from country to country regardless of size.
Since I'm selling items of various types and sizes, I can't set a fixed amount (both because of the size and because of differences in shipping prices from country to country)
Do you have any advice on how to “simplify” this process for international shipping?
Does shipping abroad require specific documentation to be filled out? If so, which ones?
Are customs duties or taxes of any kind due? Reading online I've seen that they're the buyer's responsibility, but I'm not sure.
Some companies that act as intermediaries between the user and the shipper say to include those costs in the shipping price, is that true?
Are there countries to which you would advise me not to ship?
What has been your experience with international shipping? Any advice?
Thanks a lot, everyone
sika700
·3 years agoGood morning,
having clarified your reasons, whether shareable or not, the advice I feel I can give you is to set the shipping cost in advance and use only Buy It Now listings with immediate payment, to avoid the usual problems of buyers who don’t pay or the dreaded troublemakers...
You can do this by analyzing or running simulations on shipping broker sites or fixed-price options using Poste Italiane, since you are a private user you have no alternatives.
Then you can create the ad hoc tables here:
Shipping settings (ebay.it)
and apply them to your selling rules here:
My eBay: Sales Rules Manager
carefully selecting where you want to ship or not... for now, limit yourself to the European Community (not continental, that also includes Switzerland and the United Kingdom) so you can get some practice.
Best regards.
davwin_51
OP3 years agoThanks for the suggestions Sika,
I'm considering starting to expand shipments in the EU, then I'll decide later whether to extend them to the rest of the world (something I'm discouraged from doing given all the costs and paperwork that I don't know)
For European shipments, are any particular documents or taxes required?
sika700
·3 years agoNo.
Kind regards.
davwin_51
OP3 years agoThanks Sika
As for the ad text, is it translated automatically or do you need to add an English description to each ad?
sika700
·3 years agoYou're welcome, only the title, the listing body, and the description are translated automatically (if set by the buyer); you have to take care of that yourself.
Kind regards.
davwin_51
OP3 years agoGood evening everyone,
First of all, thank you for your attention.
I’d like to make a few clarifications:
By numerous sales I do not mean hundreds or thousands of sales, but rather about fifty sales spread over the 3 years of my account’s activity.
The reason I specified "numerose vendite pregresse" was to avoid running into answers already seen on this forum like "get some experience and then we’ll talk about it"
I am a private seller and I sell used items or items like new.
Instead, the reason I use a fresh account is to avoid exposing my profile to any scammers on the forum, since I have already been a victim of them in the past, and I want to be free to gather information on the forum regarding the resolution of certain disputes to the detriment of sellers without being targeted by scammers who are aware of the ongoing protection they have as buyers.
Having clarified my position, I hope there can once again be room for dialogue.
I have tried to gather as much information as possible both on the forum and on the web before posting my questions here; however, I found the information to be scarce or misleading.
Can you help me?
actar80
·3 years agoGood morning, for international shipments I can't give you advice, because I've never gotten into it. The only advice I can give you is that, in light of the latest regulations, it doesn't pay to go beyond EU countries, since for non-EU countries taxes and duties have increased. You can find some info in this 2021 discussion:
https://community.ebay.it/t5/Salotto-di-eBay/Da-Luglio-pagheremo-l-IVA-2-volte-per-molti-acquisti-extra-UE/m-p/925576#M144587
If you don't have large annual sales numbers my advice is to limit yourself to the national territory to avoid problems with the various foreign shipping services that take possession of parcels beyond the Italian border, you understand that for 1 private individual it becomes complicated to manage situations beyond the border in case of shipping problems. If, on the other hand, you have some item that, for example, is more appealing to users in 1 country, you could enable sales only for that country in your account settings, at least that way you can start gradually if you want to sell in the European Union,
davwin_51
OP3 years agoHi and thanks for your attention and reply.
I wanted to try selling my items abroad too, to speed up sales or unlock the ones I haven’t managed to make in Italy.
I looked at the thread you linked me to, but I think I understand that the problems mostly arise for buyers who purchase from outside the EU
Anyway, thanks for pointing it out, I may eventually consider expanding shipping gradually to more countries
actar80
·3 years agoYou're welcome, I'm sorry I can't tell you anything else, but as I said I have no experience in international sales.
Keep in mind that the problems are not just for buyers but also for sellers; imagine if the package gets held up across the border, you'd have to deal with the shipping services of the destination country and if the buyer then doesn't receive the item, they're refunded and you risk losing money and the item.
In short, I'm not saying you shouldn't sell abroad, but that you need to be careful and think it through, especially as a private individual without experience. What I can suggest is to start with small steps, first one country as I already mentioned and then others, always within the EU. Maybe read up online about the shipping services of the countries you're interested in, whether they're efficient, etc.
actar80
·3 years agoSince you have to translate the description and the listing text yourself, use Google Translator to help you; of course, the reliability of the translation decreases the farther you go from English to more difficult languages.
vonbalden
·3 years agoAs a private seller with connections and exchanges with other sellers, including abroad, I’d suggest taking a moment to think about what the least bad time is to offer items. Right now, for example, after the holidays when people are already strapped, the period is totally unsuitable. Keep in mind the prospective customer base, which has gradually changed over the last few years. As with big cities, as sellers we are subject to the large migratory flows of different ethnic groups. These figures now fill every business and trade in the West. Their attitude toward online selling is identical to their attitude on the road. I observe, I look at the price, if it’s low I buy. There is no loyalty, no searching out of passion, taste, or quality. Just the price. That’s why professional sellers who operate in the mass-consumer goods sector are forced to sell low-value items in cutthroat competition. Because it’s only the price that matters. Private sellers, on the other hand, can offer vintage items to an increasingly limited clientele that over time has dissolved. In part because of economic priorities, in part because many antique-dealer buyers are only looking for rare things to resell to specific customers. But rare things are very hard to possess. To make matters worse, on the site you can’t sell decommissioned weapons. And unfortunately, World War II weapons are in huge demand among collectors all over the world. Especially the German ones. One tip that is usually ignored for timing reasons: never sell one of your items if it’s already present in good numbers in the category. Worse if at different prices. Waste of time.
heavenwelkin
·3 years agoIt sounds like you're talking about a growing company......
Ebay is generally pretty "broad-minded" though.............. think it over carefully .....
Before making any further "qualitative leaps" I should warn you that ebay could limit your account to sales without notice to invite you to switch to a professional account (when that happens the upgrade is MANDATORY and it is no longer possible to go back to a private account).
It all depends on various parameters such as sales frequency, how many new items you sell, what sales volumes you have....
Think carefully about this because then you'll have to get everything in order with the Italian and European tax authorities, offer a warranty on the products sold, pay the fees for the store, have commissions on sales no longer at 5%, etc.
As for the rest of your questions, you can start with small sales initially only within the eurozone to get some practice with couriers and shipping rates, then eventually you can decide to do extra-European shipments where it is advisable to have knowledge of the bureaucracy behind extra-European sales.
There are many questions and the answers are long and not straightforward, so you'd be better off using Google to do all the necessary research.
Kind regards.
sika700
·3 years agoI’ll add my voice to the chorus too: if you want to have NO doubts, but above all if you do NOT want to have problems, regularize your situation... then you can think about international shipments.
Best regards.
technopartsbay
·3 years agoYou're a "private seller" with "numerous sales" but you write from a spotless account to avoid having them "pick you apart".
Given the premise, open a VAT number with your real account, write from that one, and then we can talk about it.
marioelegio
·3 years agoWith that in mind, I think the first thing to do is open a VAT number.
hi
mario