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What kind of hassles have you guys encountered selling eBay items internationally? I've sold items internationally through the swap shop before but never on eBay.

I had set my items to America only but I got a message today from a guy in Mexico with a pretty good rep asking if he could bid on it. Part of me wants to let him bid because I want more money, but it feels kind of crappy to say "no international sellers" and then turn around and give a guy an exception.

Advice? There's still a few days left so I have a little time to get back to him but I need to decide soon. Kind of leaning toward no right now, simply because I said no international and that's what's on the item. If I can change it though on the item status I might reconsider, I just haven't figured out how to do that yet.

I have no issues selling to international buyers on ebay, and I sell at least 100 transactions a month. Use the ebay interface to do your shipping. First class shipping from the USA to Mexico now has edelcon service (tracking). If you use the ebay interface it automatically fills out the customs form, as well as uploads the tracking number to the buyers sales record, as well as sends him an email telling him the item has shipped, and gives them tracking.


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To change the item to international shipping, do a "revise item". Go down to shipping options, and add international shipping. You now have 2 choices. You can charge a flat rate no matter where it ships (how I ship), or you can do a calculated shipping. If you use calculated, you put in the items weight, and USPS will calculate the shipping cost right on your listing.

When I sold items on eBay I used the eBay "Global Shipping Program" so that then eBay (Pitney Bowes really) handles the shipping from their point to the customer. It's worked well for me. Note that the last time I read the terms $500 was the max amount covered. Over that you the seller are responsible. Could have changed by now.

If you use USPS priority mail, you can insure most packages to most locations worldwide. I believe it is also comparable in price to using the GSP ebay offers.

On cheaper items, I never use any of those services. The price is just to high to attract customers. As long as the country you ship to has the edelcon service you are protected, as all you have to do is show the item has been delivered to a confirmed (paypa) address.

Get insurance, get signed for, and take a photo just before you put in the box and at several stages throughout wrapping/packaging.

I used to make them pay for insured shipping. It costs a lot but I was up front and the buyer has the choice whether they wish to bid or not.

 Consul Scipio wrote:
When I sold items on eBay I used the eBay "Global Shipping Program" so that then eBay (Pitney Bowes really) handles the shipping from their point to the customer. It's worked well for me. Note that the last time I read the terms $500 was the max amount covered. Over that you the seller are responsible. Could have changed by now.

This. You ship the package to a US address where ebay collects it and forwards it to the buyer (taking full responsibility for it after that point). From your end it looks exactly like a domestic sale, except it takes a bit longer for your money to become available. The only way I could see it becoming a problem is if the buyer demands a refund because the item wasn't like you described and you have to deal with return shipping, so I'd be sure to include good pictures and a "no refunds" policy.

I can't find the eBay "Global Shipping program" under the worldwide shipping options, did they remove it?

EDIT: Nevermind fixed it. They bury it in a weird section on the account details

What Ketara said. I have nice photo logs of every one of my packings. I was super-nervous at first, and the guy was brand new, I had to baby-step him through the eBay process and my money was stuck in limbo for 2 weeks (or more?)

Just make sure it's something you won't commit sepukku over if he contests the transaction.

Never ship to Italy.

Beyond that, I haven't had any real problems. I did have a package go missing in Brazil once, but it ended up showing up about a month later. Italy, well if it manages to actually make it through their customs (some of the most restrictive customs outside of the Middle East) - there is a good chance it will get "lost" en route to the final destination.

I've never had any major issues with selling internationally (except, sadly, to Italy),

Just make sure you get appropriate insurance for high value items (which I'd say for sales in you own country too)

Make sure you google the address format for the country you are shipping to (makes it less likely to get lost)

And fill in the customs form accurately

(if anybody asks you to put down false item description or value don't and consider seriously if you want to continue with the sale, if customs catch it you'll loose the item and people who think breaking the is ok more likely to falsely claim something didn't arrive)

I too have had problems shipping to ITALY and to RUSSIA.

I'd say that you *might* be rolling the dice shipping into certain Asian countries too.

The biggest problem is the price of shipping, with insurance and tracking, internationally.

The costs are usually quite high - and I've heard (but not seen personally) that eBay's Foreign Freight Forwarding service is fairly pricey...

Yes EBay's international Freight forwarding (via Pitney Bowes) is something pretty much everybody in the EU will avoid (if they understand what it is)

as it works out substantially more expensive than paying customs fees when stuff arrives (and you might even not have customs ask for anything)

Thanks guys I appreciate all the help. Hopefully this works out well and I make a decent amount on my items (not holding my breath)

Yes Ebay's shipping assistant for international shipping is really expensive for the buyer. Pretty much the buyer is paying at least twice to get the same item shipped. Once to the buyer to get it to the shipper and again once the shipper sends it overseas. It is to be avoided at all costs.

You really do have to beware when shipping to other countries via ebay, I feel I should warn people.

I have been ripped off for the tune of around £200 and ebay just repeatedly pass me from pillar to post instead of trying to help me with my issues.

First thing a guy asks me for discount, no biggie, I give him a discount, i quite often do this to buyers of large amounts.

Next thing he asks for a discount on items already purchased, this raises some red flags with me, but I just turn him down and tell him again, I will give you a discount on your next purchase only, just so he gets the full picture.

All goes well, I mail the items recorded at extra expense may I add, although this is normal, I do not mind taking a little postage hit on a good sale.

After receiving the items, the chap says the items are not as advertised, even though it is the exact same stuff in the pictures, either way I agree to refund the chap the rest of his money if he returns the Items to me.
I do not like to see an unhappy customer, even If I am not in the wrong, it does not reflect well on me or my business.

A few days later the guy messages me saying its up to me to pay for the return postage when in fact the opposite is true.
It is down to the buyer to pay for the return postage in this case, as stated by my ebay return policy.

Next thing I hear is ten cases opened up on ebay, claiming my items, (which I have the receipts for) are fakes.
Two of these cases are refunded to him on the spot, without him even having to mail me the items...
The other eight cases I am unable to access for some reason.
So I send several emails to ebay and paypal, and talk to a few people on the ebay instant help chat.
Each chat ends with them saying I need to call up and speak to the correct department, while emails were left unanswered, so I wait for a reply.

Then the parcel arrives back from him, he mailed it cash on delivery, so I end up paying £51 just for receiving the parcel, and to top it off, when I opened up the package, there is only half the stuff that I sold him in there !!

I have spent five and a half hours in total on the phone to ebay and each conversation ends up with them passing me to another department and after an hours wait each time, the same happens again.
They just pass me around in circles claiming that "another department" has to sort out my issues.

It seems the problem stems with the fact that my account is an ebay.co.uk account and I cannot access stuff on the ebay.com resolution centre, which would not be so bad if there was someone willing to help me out.

Sellers need to beware that they can be ripped off even when following the ebay policies and ebay might not help you, please bear this in mind.
I will no longer be sending stuff to Asia anymore sadly.

Australia is a pretty good country to do business with on ebay. I've sold 24 warhammer items to Australian customers, and I've never had a problem yet.

I only use the EBay global shipping program. It means i just have to get it to Kentucky and then they take care of the rest. If it gets to their warehouse, i don't have to worry about anything else. Before they put this in, i had quit shipping outside of the US. Partly from getting burned, partly from the hassle of filling out forms.

 Rayvon wrote:
A few days later the guy messages me saying its up to me to pay for the return postage when in fact the opposite is true.
It is down to the buyer to pay for the return postage in this case, as stated by my ebay return policy.

If items are faulty or not as described then it is generally down to the seller to pay the return postage. Otherwise you could just scam people by sending them any old crap and making them pay to post it back. The returns policy is only for cases where the buyer changes their mind. Since you are in the UK he would probably benefit from all the same consumer rights as a UK buyer which cannot be infringed by any contract.

The best way to deal with that is to offer to refund the sale and the return postage upon receipt of the goods. Once you have the goods back and have inspected them, you will be better positioned to fight your case.

I have sold things internationally without issue. The only problem is if there is an issue it's all the harder to sort things out. And it's much more difficult to just go to the person's address and break their knee caps.