Hey, need help on international shipping please!

[FerretsForever]

Hello,
Many of my items are under a pound. I have a flat rate for US, but shipping world wide will have various rates. I put the exact ounces on the calculate for international, but doesn't that still calculate up to a pound for shipping? How can I let international customers know I will ship to them without giving a high rate which may scare them away?

Thanks!

[JanetB]

Hello,
Many of my items are under a pound. I have a flat rate for US, but shipping world wide will have various rates. I put the exact ounces on the calculate for international, but doesn't that still calculate up to a pound for shipping? How can I let international customers know I will ship to them without giving a high rate which may scare them away?

Thanks!

I don't think you can, USA shipping international is expensive. There will be buyers who are willing to pay the shipping if they want the item badly enough.

[TiasTreasures]

If your items are under 4 pounds, and you are willing to take the chance with no tracking and no insurance, International First Class is much lower-priced than Priority Mail International.

We use it for orders under $25 and so far, only one shipment to Europe has gone astray.

We do use Priority Mail for more valuable shipments, and Jan is right. If buyers really want an item, the postage won't deter them.

[FerretsForever]

Thank you for the feedback! This is abit of a bummer, since it looks like most of the buyers around this site are still international. We need to get more US buyers somehow!!! With international shipping costs, it's probably cheaper for them to buy closer to their homes than from me. I have had one buyer so far and it was from the US. Hope that $50 I put out isn't going to waste! I'll keep listing and use your advice. And I have to keep in mind that auction season is going to be slowing down with summer coming, so we'll see how things go this fall before I give up on this site.

Thanks again!

[Juliebabe25]

@FerretsForever

You have only just joined and have had a good sale already!
Some people join ebid and don't get sales for several months, or a year!
(But we usually find that is something to do with their listings)

You are dead right ebid does need more buyers.
It is easy to get new sellers, but much harder to get buyers.
An auction site itself cannot offer buyers any incentive to come over.
So its up to us sellers to do that.

Ebid in the USA is growing fast, but we do ot know how many US members we have or how many USA only listings we have.
But they are both growing.

The key is for all sellers to stay on ebid, put their good stuff on here at good prices and sales will come, as more and more good sellers leave ebay. If you have paid for an ebid lifetime membership it should be easy for you to do this.

[Juliebabe25]

Bye the way
I am in New Zealand
And most of my sales come from the USA and the UK 50/50.

I have not yet found a good way to do the shipping as it is obviously more expensive to ship to the UK as it is further away.

(at least we don't pay fees on the shipping like they do now on ebay)

[FerretsForever]

That was the reason I starting looking for another place to list...over there they are definately trying to get rid of the small sellers with charging fees on shipping. Come on...you already make me use paypal which they own so they already get fees on the shipping plus on the auction...again!! At least I can return unsold items to my sister's shop, and it is the beginning of our busy season here in the mountains. I feel for the little guy who just wants to sell their yard sale treasures.

I guess the best way to do international shipping is by lessons learned. Hope I get some soon!

[darklisruthven]

the cheapest option to post to the USA would be surface mail, but beware because that can take months. I dont offer it and wouldnt use it for online sales.

Actually I have had a few sales to the States and Australia, which are among the higher rate international postage anyway whatever service you use, so its well worth offering.

[happycockers]

With regards to International shipping. The USPS will give you mailing confirmation for First Class mail on International deliveries, which should serve as positive proof that the item was indeed shipped as you have stated to the buyer. It usuually cost an extra dollar or so per package.

[burgyeb]

With regards to International shipping. The USPS will give you mailing confirmation for First Class mail on International deliveries, which should serve as positive proof that the item was indeed shipped as you have stated to the buyer. It usuually cost an extra dollar or so per package.

Yes, you do get confirmation of shipment for first class international, but delivery confirmation service not available. The custom's lable for first class international now has tracking numbers. Not sure how helpful they are though (no add'l cost for the label).