Selling outside of the UK...is it worth it for small sellers?

[LovesVintage43]

Hello, I've only been here a little while but I would think that with the sort of items you are selling like handmade cards & books it would be worth you offering to ship overseas -although I personally would not charge for tracking included as your items would be covered by Royal Mail up to £20 by standard post and the high charges for tracking may put buyers off if the cost to post is higher than the cost of the item. I have sold overseas on "the other site" lol, and have had no problems although the one thing I won't sell overseas is second hand clothing/shoes due to reading on the forums about the high volume of "change of mind" returns which can leave you out of pocket if you end up having to refund. Countries considered high risk over there are Russia and Italy due to the very slow postal services and Indonesia,for some reason. Good luck with your sales :-)

[sidthelamp]

My overseas sales are mostly Australia, America, Germany, Holland, Italy and Sweden/Norway. If overseas buyers are willing to pay the p&p why not. you cant aford not to sell overseas.I dont sell to worn torn countries

idf you read my post again you will see i said "i do sell over seas via ebid "

[FirstGreenIsGold]

I offer international shipping to some countries. Shipping is expensive in many countries, and Canada is no exception. But, if it's something that I want, I know that I have to pay to have the item shipped, plus I expect to cover the fees etc. Listing and shipping takes a fair bit of time when it's done well, and costs need to be covered. Even 'hobby' sellers need to make a profit in the end.

I tend to buy craft items and collectables like postcards for my family history research on-line. I also buy books and DVDs. Hubby buys flashlight parts and items like that which aren't available locally.

When a seller offers international shipping on eBid, it increases visibility. Plus, there are differences in currency rates to consider. Shipping times between Canada and the UK are generally good, so I've bought quite a few things from sellers in the UK.

[QueenTabbyCat]

Thanks Marie....that is good to hear.

[RonOne]

It doesn't cost any extra to add international sales to your auction,
just make sure you get the postage rignt.

Pack the item ready for posting before you weigh it for the cost of the postage.

I would also suggest adding "airsure" or "International Signed For"

The Postage may seem a bit high but that's the way it is these days.
and it's the buyers choice to buy or not to buy.

[RiveysSpace]

Hiyah - We've just moved over from eBay too and yes you should definitely do International - we were selling around a 100 items a week and a hefty portion of those went abroad. Can I ask how sales are here? We've only been listing properly for a week and have plenty of views and only one sale - I know we've only been around for a very short time and there are no fees but this is how we've made our living for the last two years - so we are a little bit worried to say the least. I've read posts that say buyers need to move over now sellers have - but they were posted in 2006! EEK - any info would be much appreciated from the experienced ebidders

[rokins_toys]

I have always sold internationally as I have items that can be hard to get in other countries and sometimes if an item is available in another country it can work out cheaper to buy it from somewhere else and import, especially mainland Europe, I get a few sales here and there as there are no import duties and often even with shipping charges an item bought from me can work out cheaper than the same item bought in their native country from a seller on FeeBay.

So it is always worth offering international shipping on items as even cheap items sell internationally. There are ways of reducing shipping costs for international customers like cutting excess card from the "flaps" you fold down on the inside to reduce weight a little bit. Only use bubble wrap to wrap the item and use bubble wrap for void fill. It all helps in reducing weight if it is an item that has to be sent in a box. Even when we use the size E2 bubble lined envelopes we will always wrap an item in bubble wrap for extra protection during transit.

You might not do so well with auctions here, you would probably be better off with buy now as you could end up making huge losses on auctions here because there just is not the customer base/demand for a large majority of items that are sold here.

It is always worth doing the gallery listings after all it is only a 2% final value fee and even on the items I sell that 2% is on average around 22p-26p, sometimes 30p on other items which is nothing compared to the FVFs on FeeBay. I took the plunge and paid for the Seller+ straight away and I made that money back quickly, and I did get the upgrade at half price as well.

[Juliebabe25]

Hiyah - We've just moved over from eBay too and yes you should definitely do International - we were selling around a 100 items a week and a hefty portion of those went abroad. Can I ask how sales are here? We've only been listing properly for a week and have plenty of views and only one sale - I know we've only been around for a very short time and there are no fees but this is how we've made our living for the last two years - so we are a little bit worried to say the least. I've read posts that say buyers need to move over now sellers have - but they were posted in 2006! EEK - any info would be much appreciated from the experienced ebidders

Wecome to ebid.
We would all like to be selling more on ebid, but most of us accept that you cannot just move over from ebay to ebid and make the same sort of sales.
Ebay has 100 million members and is 21 on the Alex ratings and has 27,000 staff.
Ebid has 1 million members, is 20,000 on the Alexa ratings and has ? many staff.

So if you do the maths...you will find that yoru sales ratio is about right.

But of course we all know that edid is a much better run site with fair rules.

[sewmuchtosee]

Hi andwelcome to Ebid. I have bought from overseas sellers and when I browse and see something I like I usually see what else the seller has so I can get both items with combined postage. So seller gets two or more sales and I get cheaper postage good all round.

I have this in my description for my items now

I post Australia wide and internationally. I can only accept Paypal from International buyers and request that you email for a shipping quote before purchasing.

This means I can give correct shipping costs and not be out of pocket.

I also mention combined postage

[lofty100e]

You never know where a potential buyer might be lurking. I listed a Rugby year book and fully expected it to be sold within the UK; but the bid came from America (an ex-pat).

The one thing you have to be carefull of though is selling - DVDs, it always amazes me how many people do not read the listings. So it is always best to list them with the area numbers and describe where they are for; and when you get a bid mention again about the areas.