International postage

[2muchgain]

Hello there,

I am offering worldwide postage for my items on Ebay, which are mainly small items like cd's and dvd's but after a few trips to the post office, I am finding the postage costs absolutely outrageous! At the moment I have it set up as a flat rate, and that is very hit and miss depending on who serves you at the post office. If I set up calculated, the cost is enormous and then I run the risk of no sales at all from Overseas. Just wondering how others are doing this and whether it is actually worth sending worldwide because of the costs involved.

cheers

George

[davewil1964]

I would put CDs and DVDs in the media category. Like books, which is what I sell.

I don't offer International postage because most books (CDs, DVDs) are available in most countries.

Do the maths. And be aware of the issues buyer complaints cause when they aren't in Australia.

[digital*ghost]

Officially, merchandise can only go as a parcel, and the weight brackets for that are up to 250g, up to 500g, up to 1kg etc

If you send enough parcels on average to qualify for discount, purchasing postage via My Post is your best option (eg I'd currently pay around $17 to send up to 250g to the US, if you send 10+ international parcels a week you can inquire about an eparcel contract just for international orders, which is even cheaper but you forgo things like insurance (it's available but costs extra whereas regular postage includes up to $100 by default-for low value stuff it's probably worth the saving and no insurance). A colleague of mine pays around $12-$13 for their US parcels with this option). 

https://auspost.com.au/business/shipping/parcels-international/contract

Whatever you pay, whether or not it's worth it is kind of subjective, but in my experience usually when someone starts asking that question the answer tends to be no lol. But at the end of the day it doesn't cost you anything to make the items available to international customers, maybe a few extra headaches I guess in some cases, it will cost you more to sell  to an international buyer, but if you do the math well enough and charge appropriately, the buyer is the one who should be paying the extra costs and the one who decided whatever the cost was worth it to them. Just keep an eye on international regulations; US may potentially be problematic to ship to right now, EU countries are usually more trouble than they are worth as well, with GPSR and packaging directives and the like. 

[2muchgain]

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

[2muchgain]

Excellent advice, thank you so much.

[padraicpaul91]

Selling internationally is becoming increasingly fraught with costly issues.

I have already stopped sales to France and Germany, my largest European markets, due to their charges for disposal or recycling of packaging. Apparently these charges will eventually include all of the EU and UK.

I am now about to suspend sales to the US, my largest market outside Australia. The system for the collection of tariffs is not in place, although the charge is effective from August 29th. 

Where once 40% of my turnover was from international sales, iI doubt it will ever be that way again. I have a large number of US made items. However, eBay seems to take a one size fits all approach and will likely charge them as well. That belief is based on their charging GST on used items I have purchased OS.

[lezned-toycollector]

---

@padraicpaul91 wrote:

Selling internationally is becoming increasingly fraught with costly issues.

I have already stopped sales to France and Germany, my largest European markets, due to their charges for disposal or recycling of packaging. Apparently these charges will eventually include all of the EU and UK.

I am now about to suspend sales to the US, my largest market outside Australia. The system for the collection of tariffs is not in place, although the charge is effective from August 29th. 

Where once 40% of my turnover was from international sales, iI doubt it will ever be that way again. I have a large number of US made items. However, eBay seems to take a one size fits all approach and will likely charge them as well. That belief is based on their charging GST on used items I have purchased OS.

---

The email from eBay implies that the US import charges will be collected by US Customs.

Are you saying that you actually have administrative access to the US Customs system? That's the only way you could possibly know that they don't have anything in place for the upcoming changes.

[padi*0409]

---

@lezned-toycollector wrote:

Are you saying that you actually have administrative access to the US Customs system? That's the only way you could possibly know that they don't have anything in place for the upcoming changes

---

The information is readily available online.

[domino-710]

---

@lezned-toycollector wrote:

---

@padraicpaul91 wrote:

Selling internationally is becoming increasingly fraught with costly issues.

I have already stopped sales to France and Germany, my largest European markets, due to their charges for disposal or recycling of packaging. Apparently these charges will eventually include all of the EU and UK.

I am now about to suspend sales to the US, my largest market outside Australia. The system for the collection of tariffs is not in place, although the charge is effective from August 29th. 

Where once 40% of my turnover was from international sales, iI doubt it will ever be that way again. I have a large number of US made items. However, eBay seems to take a one size fits all approach and will likely charge them as well. That belief is based on their charging GST on used items I have purchased OS.

---

The email from eBay implies that the US import charges will be collected by US Customs.

Are you saying that you actually have administrative access to the US Customs system? That's the only way you could possibly know that they don't have anything in place for the upcoming changes.

---

.....................................

[lezned-toycollector]

So where exactly does that show that the system for collecting tariffs is not in place? I can't see anything relevant in the screenshot you posted.

Without a public announcement or administrative access to the US Customs system, I don't see how anyone could possibly know what they have put in place to commence on 29th August.