EU sales information
Hello, I intend to make sales within the EU and so I have set up listings for international shipping by selecting European Union as the destination country; I’m reaching out to those who already have experience selling in the EU, what advice do you have to give me regarding this type of sale? Thanks in advance.
Regards
6 comments
deejaynick
·3 years agoTechnically, selling in the EU is the same as selling in Italy.
That is, no customs issues: a nice, well-packed parcel, put on the label and off it goes.
In practice, though, the main problem is the distance... you have to factor in that, for a more expensive shipment, there is a correspondingly expensive (possible) re-shipment.
It’s part of the so-called "business risk" and so you’ve no doubt already taken it into account in advance.
arcobaleno2022
OP3 years agoThanks deejaynick for the reply;
Yes, the point you raised about shipping and returns, the so-called "business risk," I had already factored in, just as I had for domestic sales; I read some eBay memos about international sales and I didn't understand one thing, so I'm asking you and other more experienced sellers for clarification; for sales in Germany and France, eBay talks about French VAT and German VAT, can you explain this part to me?
https://www.ebay.it/spaziovenditori/vendite-internazionali/aggiornamenti-iva/iva-vendite-germania
https://www.ebay.it/spaziovenditori/vendite-internazionali/aggiornamenti-iva/iva-vendite-francia
Thanks in advance as always
Regards
vonbalden
·3 years agoArcobaleno, rather than asking legitimate questions about how to broaden your sales horizons, you need to read carefully on the platform about what is expected of a private seller offering items abroad. It might seem like a trivial thing, but the conditions have changed quite a bit over the past while. 'Mamma' Europe has made sales a little different from how they used to be. Life today is already incredibly complicated, you know, and the word smart has long been erased in every field. And that’s without even talking about including the United States and the Americas in your sales zones. Personally, I stopped selling abroad a long time ago. The first reason is that Americans and English people would split hairs to get detailed information about my vintage items, while not recognizing that all the availability is written in the language, and the slang questions you’re expected to answer. That’s vitally important to avoid dangerous disputes and unexpected arguments. As for the rest of Europe, I noticed that with the economic changes underway and the arrival of unexpected emergencies, buyers were shrinking to a bare minimum. Very few visits compared with eight or ten years earlier. Even the British seller I know who sold worldwide like many others as a private seller, gave up on Europe. All hassles. All problems. But you need to look into things on your own to get the right idea. Warm regards.
arcobaleno2022
OP3 years agoHi vonbalden,
thanks for the valuable advice. I also noticed that sales on this platform have dropped a lot since I left it; I always sold as a professional from 2002 to 2007 on eBay with another account that was then closed at the time, then from 2007 until 2022 on Amazon and now that I’m close to retirement I’ve gone back to my “first love” to have a simpler business life, after years of fighting for a buy box, Prime shipments until 4 p.m. and, to top it all off, uncontrolled and blatant returns from the platform; I’ll just give you 2 examples so you can understand the level of frustration AZ brings to sellers: every beginning of December, around the first week, I shipped between 1,500/2,000 artificial Christmas trees, after exactly 29 days in early January, so once the holidays were over, 1,000/1,200 of them came back to my warehouse, it was pointless to keep telling the platform that they had been properly used during the holidays, complete with social media photos posted on profiles for the competition for the most beautiful and brightest tree, AZ forced you to accept the return. Last one and then I’ll stop, otherwise we’ll definitely go OT, this happened to me last year, a customer buys a 5-piece office set, the box weighs around 5Kg; after a week he returns it because he doesn’t like the item, I process the return request and after 3 days the courier delivers the office set package to me, but only the box, empty inside; I point this out to AZ, along with the return label showing a weight of less than 1Kg compared with my delivery label with a weight of 5Kg and after days of phone calls and emails AZ sides with the customer, refund + lost goods. This is one of the many reasons that pushed me to leave AZ and go back to eBay, even though on AZ I was doing 400 shipments a day and here I do 1 or 2, it doesn’t matter, what matters is the quality of business life as I mentioned before. Sorry if I went on at length with topics unrelated to the thread, so getting back to the main point, can anyone tell me/explain what eBay means by these 2 warning links?
https://www.ebay.it/spaziovenditori/vendite-internazionali/aggiornamenti-iva/iva-vendite-germania
https://www.ebay.it/spaziovenditori/vendite-internazionali/aggiornamenti-iva/iva-vendite-francia
Thanks to everyone who will take the time to reply
Best regards
actar80
·3 years agoBeyond the level of frustration that AZ causes, maybe if you had seen the episode of a famous program that dealt precisely with how AZ behaves toward sellers (especially when they reach certain sales levels), you would have abandoned it even earlier. If I find the link to the segment, I'll attach it to you in a message.
Surely if you use their logistics you have a pretty significant surplus, and nowadays over the last few years all buyers have gotten used to shopping on AZ for the greater protections they’re granted and other conveniences, but those who buy don’t realize that you’re not in an idyllic situation. On the contrary, it feeds a giant that also profits directly, in addition to the “steep toll” of commissions, squeezes third-party sellers (even more so if they use its logistics), and is even in direct competition with them by selling itself.
eBay instead offers a neutral environment available to professional and private sellers but does not compete with them. Then one can discuss and be happy or not with the choices of recent years, even if some were dictated by regulatory changes external to the platform, but I think it remains the best solution for professional and non-professional sellers compared to the much-acclaimed AZ.
Have a nice day
arcobaleno2022
OP3 years agoI completely agree 👍