To Ship or Not To Ship? Fees Involved?

[Cynhumphrey]

Good Morning! I have a few questions to throw out to you regarding International Shipping. I do not currently publicize this option but would, of course, consider it if asked about the possibility. My concern is that I may be loosing out on some possible views or sales because I don't make this a part of my listings.

I would love to hear how others handle this and how you publicize and determine fees. I know you can go to the USPS website to obtain shipping fees but do you list multiple countries or just go with a fee that would cover most of them? Do you just offer Priority Mail since those labels can be printed off your computer or do you actually stand in line at the Post Office to obtain the postage required for each package?

Do you think it is really worth it? I know there is extra paperwork involved. I'd love to hear your pros and cons. Thank you in advance for taking the time to help a confused newbie. :-)

[QuirkyUniverse]

You sell light weight items so it would be worth it in my opinion. It's not as hard as you would think. You do have to fill out a custom's form but it is really simple. I go to the Post Office to ship because Paypal shipping only offers expedited forms of shipping for international.

You can check how much it would cost to ship one of your items to Australia and use a set price or you can do by each area, whichever you prefer. Shipping to Canada doesn't usually cost much more than shipping in the U.S.

[TerraRhapsody]

International shipping for me is almost just as simple as domestic shipping. You can usually check prices online- not sure about USPS, but a lot of postal carriers lump continents in the same fee bracket, so a package being sent to the UK might be the same as France or Germany from the US- there is no need to list every individual country with a different fee. All you need otherwise is a customs form for most items, which is simple to fill in.
I would recommend offering international shipping. About 70-80% of my sales are international. The first few times I sent items out, I went to the post office to send them with the correct fee paid at the desk. Then, when I knew what to do, I started buying postage labels on paypal, as most of my items are around the same weight, so I knew the prices I should be paying.
It's easy after the first few sales!

[Former_Member]

If you do not offer international shipping on the listing you could be missing out on views even if you invite people to inquire about the price.... This is because Etsy search will only show results for a person if that item will ship to the country they are in.

As i am in the UK i can't give advice on shipping from the US :-S

best of luck :-)

[Former_Member]

I got out my kitchen scales, weighed some items with a jiffy envelope, wrote down the item and weight and then went on the post office website and looked up prices. Not sure if that would work in US. But if you're going to do international shipping, just make sure there is a disclaimer in your policies that you will not cover or reimburse any customs charges and it's the customer's responsibility to look these up!

[Former_Member]

I would have missed out on many sales if I didn't sell internationally. It's not a big deal at all. I use USPS, fill out the customs form online, print it, attach my address label and the customs form and take it to the post office.

I just went through all my shipping prices today and updated them. I use the USPS website to determine what the shipping cost will be for various weight packages...like Lucy, I use my digital kitchen scale so it's very accurate. And I have that disclaimer she suggests in my policies.

One thing to note, the US customs form requires a telephone number for the recipient. I convo and email (because many of my buyers aren't avid Etsians and I want the message to get to them as quickly as possible) and it's never been a problem to get a phone number for them.

It's really easy and totally worth it!!

[CatherineMarissa]

I sell jewelry, too. I do offer international shipping. I definitely think not offering it will affect your sales.

I set one fee for all countries outside the US. Occasionally, I lose a little on shipping, but I'm okay with that. It's never more than $1 or so.

I don't print my labels. I use the international shipping forms from the USPS and handwrite the addresses. I then use my postal scale and USPS.com to calculate the shipping cost. I pay with stamps.

I think it is worth it - - partly because I'm a little kid at heart and loving seeing all of the places in the world that I send packages too and partly because I feel rude essentially saying to someone "So glad you love my work, but you can't have it". :)

I would offer international shipping this fall and see how it goes. You can always change back to US only if it doesn't seem worth the effort to you.

[WolfandFirefly]

I also sell jewelry and if your items are 1 oz or less including their packaging, it is $3.00 to pretty much anywhere outside the US for First Class, including Canada. If it is under 2 oz, Canada is $3.15, other countries are closer to $4.00. The customs form is very easy, as Lori and Kitty said and yes, I think you are likely missing out on sales by not shipping internationally. Lucy is definitely right about the disclaimer on duties.
Good luck! :)

[LaurasLastDitch]

I'd offer international shipping (first class), and put a handling fee on it that helps cover the extra time of going to the PO. It will still be cheaper for buyers than Priority Mail.

[Cynhumphrey]

Thanks for all the great advice and tips! International shipping will be added to my shop by the end of the month! I used to be an ebay seller (sold entirely different items) and already own a set of scales which I already use for my domestic mailings anyway. I was basically sitting on the fence not knowing which way to fall with the options though. Thank you so much for your support "and for pushing me in the right direction"! <3 this group!!!!

[Cynhumphrey]

I do have one more question regarding the customs disclaimer.... where should I put that? in the listing itself or under the policies somewhere?

[Former_Member]

International shipping is something I'm pondering too. I sell paintings, the cheapest is $55.00. I'm new so I only have 3 sales. I didn't really stock my shop until around early June. I'm afraid that the packages will disappear, maybe a scam or something. And then I'll have to refund the money or face getting a bad feedback, which would hurt me so early on. Is there a way to protect yourself against the scammers or the packages just getting lost overseas? thanks, Jane (I'm reading posts a lot to learn)

[Former_Member]

Pop it in policies under the delivery section.

Well, after all of that, it sounds like it costs half as much to send items US>UK than it does to send items UK>US. Go figure! Blasted inflation :(

[Former_Member]

Almost 40% of my sales have been to Australia. I ship Priority International flat rate but I give the buyer a little discount on shipping, and people seem more than willing to pay that. So there's not really extra paperwork for me, I print the label off paypal, affix it to the package and schedule our mail guy to pick it up the next day. Easy.

[Former_Member]

You sell small items so it would be fine to ship internationally. For larger items though the prices get ridiculous. I used the ups calculator to see how much it would cost to ship one of my kusudamas to Paris France just to get a feel of what international costs would be and my cheapest option was over $300.

[Former_Member]

Yup, you can ship things like jewelry just about anywhere in the world for about $3.

[Former_Member]

Thanks for posting you've inspired me to ship everywhere!

[Former_Member]

If you can fit your items into the USPS flat rate boxes that seems to be the best deal. If you do it online you pay and fill in the customs form then and they just drop it off at the post office. It's pretty easy and you can look up the prices online and figure those out ahead of time.

[Cynhumphrey]

Thank you again for ALL the feedback! International shipping here I come! International buyers, beware :-)

[GoTo]

"buyers, beware" ---LOL, fun word play!



For help setting up your international shipping:

Getting a Handle on International Shipping
http://www.gotogreatpanes.com/blog/2008/02/21/getting-a-handle-on-international-shipping


and for international first class mail labels--since they aren't available through Paypal or USPS.com--prints the customs form right on the label:

International First-Class Mail: Print Labels From Your Computer
http://www.gotogreatpanes.com/blog/2008/02/20/international-first-class-mailprint-labels-from-your-c...



More shipping help here:

~~Shipping Basics~~
http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/10577585

[LaurasLastDitch]

Nancy says "If you can fit your items into the USPS flat rate boxes that seems to be the best deal. If you do it online you pay and fill in the customs form then and they just drop it off at the post office. It's pretty easy and you can look up the prices online and figure those out ahead of time."
__________________________________________________

In my experience, usually the flat rate boxes are not a good deal, though sometimes they are, and it depends on weight.

Canada: For the small flat rate box to be cheaper, the package has to weigh over three pounds. For the medium flat rate box, it has to weigh more than six pounds. For the large flat rate box to be cheaper, it has to weigh over eight pounds.

Other most other countries: For the small flat rate box to be cheaper, the package has to weigh two pounds or more. For the medium flat rate box, it has to weigh more than four pounds. For the large flat rate box to be cheaper, it has to weigh over eight pounds.

I made a chart for my bulletin board that shows me how much international packages cost vs. the flat rate boxes so I don't end up paying more than I need to. (Let it also be duly noted that the domestic flat rate boxes are rarely a good deal.) In case anyone is interested, here is my frugal shipping tutorial: http://www.facebook.com/notes/lauras-last-ditch-vintage-kitchenwares-small-appliances/frugal-shippin...

[GoTo]

I agree--First Class is usually the best rate and when you need to go Priority, only the small flat rate box & envelopes are a good deal unless your items are over 2 lbs.

[tkiDesigns]

I have a question- I was told by my p.o that jewelry being shipped to Canada & Australia- have to go a certain way & cheapo first class was not allowed- is that true?

[GoTo]

TKI--you'll get a different answer to that for every PO worker you talk to as far as I can tell, including if you call the 800-number. These are the rules I found on the USPS website, and I base my decisions on that:

Can I ship jewelry through International First Class Mail?
http://www.gotogreatpanes.com/blog/2010/10/02/can-i-ship-jewelry-through-international-first-class-m...

[tkiDesigns]

GoTo- thank you so much!! I deactivated international shipping after being told that & I was so upset about it. Yay! so going to reactivate later this evening- thank you again