Shipping perspective

[jellybirddesigns]

I need some guidance -

For more than 10 years I have only been sending to a small amount of countries which I feel have proved to have generally reliable postal systems.

I wasn't even sending to Canada until just recently when a buyer begged me to make an exception which I did, and they are thrilled with their items and will order more. The items were sent tracked so I felt ok with doing it.

So, I'm considering opening up worldwide shipping, but I'm stressing about sending to certain countries which are notorious for items getting "lost".

Having said all that, if someone orders 2 of my cushion covers, the combined postage will cover tracked shipping, but if they only order 1 item it's not worth the cost to track and this is where I fear I will make losses.

So, I guess I just need feedback whether opening up worldwide shipping is worth it these days.

I'm trying to grow my shop so I know that having a bigger customer base will be hugely beneficial, but I'm undecided.

[kopenhagen5]

My suggestion is to have minimum purchase of 2 for International orders.

I don't post to Italy, Spain, Turkey, Sth America, Africa, India.

Mostly for lost items or partially stolen out of packages.

[jellybirddesigns]

Kopes, that's a great idea - how would I set up a minimum purchase option like that?

[kopenhagen5]

Unfortunately the eBay system doesn't have a function to differentiate purchases as such in the same listing.

You could have at the beginning of the description NOTE - International buyers minimum purchase is 2 items.

Or you could retain your listings as minimum 1 but change the postage costs in a policy to reflect tracked postage for International purchases.

Thirdly perhaps have a set of trial listings with the more popular designs sold in pairs for International buyers and list them on the USA site.

I have found some items sell better on the USA site.

[digital*ghost]

I'm not sure how useful my advice would be, as I don't offer international shipping on eBay - only on my website and the other E site. 

I will ship to most countries, with a few or the usual suspects excepted - I include Canada and Italy, but will only post tracked. I'm starting to think I should require it for Russia, and there's a few other smaller EU countries I'm starting to feel like should only be tracked as well, eg Romania.  

Thing is, you don't have an obligation to use postage methods that are only going to cause you stress, if you would feel better only sending things tracked, then that's what I would recommend you do (and charge for). If you don't open up the listings to more countries, those buyers won't buy anyway, and if you do, but only with tracked shipping, your sales will still likely increase from what they are now. If nothing else, you could start with this, and if things go well, or you feel offering cheaper postage will be of greater benefit, you can lower the postage rates. 

Plus, it's not like buyers don't get anything out of tracking - on the E site, I offer untracked and tracked because my items start at around $4 (untracked starts at a bit over $3, tracked starts at a bit over $8, so it's quite a jump when buying a $4 item), and I get plenty of international buyers choosing the tracked option (and by plenty, I mean numbers wise, as opposed to percentage wise - in real terms it's somewhere between 5-10% of all international buyers). They select it because they want to be able to follow the progress, know when it will be delivered, and / or take advanatge of postal services that might require tracking numbers to utilise (mail redirection etc). 

On my website, though, I charge a flat rate for international, and 99% of orders go tracked (reason being, buyers on the E site are purchasing from a familiar company that provides them with protection, so I feel like their confidence in purchases from there are higher, so on the website I try to help foster that / maintain confidence in the international orders by using tracking). 

[digital*ghost]

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@kopenhagen5 wrote:

Unfortunately the eBay system doesn't have a function to differentiate purchases as such in the same listing.

You could have at the beginning of the description NOTE - International buyers minimum purchase is 2 items.

Or you could retain your listings as minimum 1 but change the postage costs in a policy to reflect tracked postage for International purchases.

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You can't require minimum purchases on eBay (it's against policy), you can only encourage it by offering deals (eg buy 2 get 5% off or something). 

[eol-products]

I think the only option is to add a handling charge for international postage.

[brerrabbit585]

I was going to say what digital just said - offer a discount if they buy two. I'd have the postage a lot higher if they only bought one so that they're less likely to only buy one. I think there are much better ways to grow a business though. Most experts will tell you that for a small business to grow these days they have to use social media. I won't say any more because last time I mentioned it you dismissed it out of hand.

[jellybirddesigns]

@brerrabbit - I agree with you about having the initial postage much higher, but the main problem is that sending one cushion cover tracked internationally is exceptionally expensive.

I send single covers in a large envelope as a letter, but you cannot send a letter tracked so it either has to fit in one of their envelopes (which is a fraction too small) or it has to go as a parcel status (even though it is physically housed in a large envelope) which can be as high as $36.00 for a single item that might only cost $20.00! It's utterly crazy.

I do agree with you about social media, although TBH, it's not my strong suit. It takes a lot of energy to start and grow a social media presence, which is not something I'm sure I have at this particular stage in my life. I started an instagram account last year and I think I have 9 followers in 8 months, LOL.

[*tippy*toes*]

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@jellybirddesigns wrote:

@brerrabbit - I agree with you about having the initial postage much higher, but the main problem is that sending one cushion cover tracked internationally is exceptionally expensive.

I send single covers in a large envelope as a letter, but you cannot send a letter tracked so it either has to fit in one of their envelopes (which is a fraction too small) or it has to go as a parcel status (even though it is physically housed in a large envelope) which can be as high as $36.00 for a single item that might only cost $20.00! It's utterly crazy.

I do agree with you about social media, although TBH, it's not my strong suit. It takes a lot of energy to start and grow a social media presence, which is not something I'm sure I have at this particular stage in my life. I started an instagram account last year and I think I have 9 followers in 8 months, LOL.

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I have a fruit tree that is fruiting at the moment, in abundance. I listed the fruit for sale on 10 different local buy swap and sell sites on Facebook, and also Facebook Marketplace, or whatever it's called. I bump my posts on the BSS sites each day. I have been swamped with messages and sales, and all have come from the Marketplace ad. I am quite shocked really because it was my first go and I wasn't really that confident. I thought I'd have had more hits from the BSS sites. 

Once my fruit is finished, in the next 2-3 weeks, I'm thinking about listing some of my items on there that I'd normally list on here. Ebay won't be missing out, because I have a stack of items to sell and I'll still be listing here, but it can't hurt to put some on there too and see what happens. 

As for Instagram, I have no idea. I have about 100 followers on there. I have my page set to public so anyone can follow without having to wait for approval. I haven't listed any items for sale on there. Most of the strangers who have followed me are people that share a common interest and have somehow found me that way. Could have simply been from a hash tag thingy, or whatever it's called (is that what it's called?).

I don't know how people get millions of followers. I think the idea is to add as many hash thingies to your photos as possible. If I wanted to post a photo of a cat, I might use the following hash thingies #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catoftheweek #catofthemonth #catofthe year #catsrule #ilovecats and so on.

For your cushion covers, you could have #cushioncovers #australiancushioncovers #cushioncoversofaustralia #cushioncoversofinstagram #cushioncoversstripepattern #cushioncoveroftheweek (month and year). Add any detail about colour or design. Someone will see something show up in their feed. You just have to make sure it's all one word, with no spaces.