Recommendations for shipping international from the USA

[mjs1859]

I am very new to all of the international shipping options. When we ship from the USA to another country a 4 pound package or under, it is cheaper to ship first class international. The problem is the item item cannot be insured unless shipped priority which increases the cost significantly.

Any recommendations on the safest ways to ship internationally, and is there any countries we need to avoid due to repeated issues.

In thanks and appreciation.

[suesjools]

Ooh, I love your cat pic, what a cutie!

I use Priority Mail International myself, it is a bit pricier, but as I can combine several items in one package, it makes sense for me. Also my international customers get their items relatively quickly, which is a plus on both ends. I don't insure packages myself, as I don't have the need to do so, (if I sold pricier items it would likely be a different story).

Not sure what other companies offer international shipping for larger items, except maybe UPS and FedEx, have you checked their websites? Hopefully someone who ships larger items internationally will be along soon to advise.

I ship to all eBid countries/regions and have made a fair number of international sales, no problems yet with any country/region, knock wood.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[mjs1859]

Thanks so much for you suggestions. Appreciate it. Our cat Mr. Ditka is quite a cutie so I used his picture. Thanks again.

[TiasTreasures]

We have only had two International First Class packages go astray in four years. I refunded the total charge and wrote it up to the cost of doing business. I decided my pain threshold is $20. Anything over that has to be shipped by Priority Mail International (which includes insurance up to $65) or by registered International First Class, which currently costs around $12 and covers up to $50.

Over those amounts, it gets messy. We cannot obtain additional insurance on Priority Mail for many countries. I found out that this applies to South Africa when I tried to purchase more at the counter. I took a chance and the package arrived safely.

We do not offer to the continents of Asia, Africa, South America or North America because of issues in some individual countries. We check Canada separately, the problem country is Mexico. We do NOT check Brazil, they have very very restrictive import laws. I have seen threads here that mention Spain and Italy as being chancy, others say they have never had a problem.

[mjs1859]

Thank you so much for this valuable information. I am very new to this. I was a nursing leader for over 30 years. Shipping and packaging were not my talents. Appreciate it. Have a wonderful holiday season. Many wishes for great sales year to all.