International Shipping, Questions and Answers

Aprilee showed an interest in this topic, and I thought it would be a good idea to start a new thread. I know I have questions on this topic.

I have sent a few of things to England and of course this time to Malaysia. My packages normally run aroun $4 and some change to England. With the exception of last time, where my Lanyards was double the weight, so the shipping was about $8.00. Needless to say, I observed the extra cost. I guess having a scale is a good idea.

This thread on Etsy has good info, http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5933779

The other thing to watch for a list of illegal materials for each country. I know there is such a list on the web, but I can not find it right now.

Anyonoe else has any experiences they would like to share?

I ran into the 'gems' for someone in Czech I believe. There is a list of countries that will not accept jewelry, raw or finished goods. I found it surfing around on the USPS website. This particular customer wanted me to list the items as a gift or art supplies. No way!

I don't think I would be so intimidated if I had a scale! Is it a Postage Scale , or just any scale that includes ounces? BTW: Thank-you SO much for starting this thread! I think It WILL be a very useful thread, because, being relatively new to ecommerce, I chose to just do USA untill I got a better idea of how things work. I want to do international, but again, I'm a bit scared I'll grossly underestimate shipping!
I Saw one shop where shipping to (all other places) was &5.00 flat fee. And a different shop had the policy that if the actual shipping was as little as $1.00 less, they would refund any unused shipping funds to the customer! I think that is a GREAT policy that indicates a fair-minded, considerate shop owner. My last question: what about promo's where you choose to offer free shipping? If I were to ofdfer international shipping, my free shipping promos will probably end!

YOU'RE THE "BESTEST" FOR STARTING THIS THREAD ZEBA!!!!!!

Aprilee

This is a very good topic to have here! When I first opened my Etsy shop, I had shipping listed for Canada,England, and Europe in general. Over this year, I have only had purchases from the US and Canada. I just think that because my items are generally on the less expensive side, most people aren't going to pay those shipping costs. And all the worry about what I can send and what I can't, people not getting their purchases, etc. Just too much hassle involved. I would just hope that if someone wanted something bad enough, they would contact me and arrange something. Maybe I have read too much negative stuff in the Etsy threads!

This is the website that Sholeh had posted in the Mother's Day thread for overseas postage.
http://ircalc.usps.gov/default.aspx?Mode=Intl_Single&CID=10104&M=2.



This was there to about the customs form you need to fill out.
There is simple form in the post office you have to fill in. Make sure you pick the one that has a green portion on the left hand side. There is another more complicated form, that you use if you are going to insure the package. I marked mine as Gift and description of Pearl Earrings and the dollar amount.

Thanks for posting this info. Great links to have especially since I just started shipping internationally.

I don't ship out of the US due to the complexity and was pretty disappointed that I got someone oversees for the promotion.

Good thread though.

I have shipped to China, Canada, Australia, India, UK, Sweden, Germany and Italy. To make things easier, I loaded the Post Office Shipping Assistant http://www.usps.com/shippingassistant/ onto my computer. It helps when you have customers that do not use PayPal and makes your package look professional. You can set it up to do U.S. domestic mailings or it will walk you through mailing to ANY country. It also fills in all the appropriate U.S. Customs forms (CN22/CN72).

To make your international shipping safer, I would suggest requiring that your customer pay for insurance. It adds a little to the shipping costs, but protects you in case your item gets lost (especially helps in 3rd World countries). Also, I prefer Priority International since its easy to track your shipment, but it is more costly and some customers balk at your shipping fees. (A 5 oz. package to Germany: 1st Class International is $4.60 and Priority International Flat Rate is $12.95.

Hope this helps,
Claudia

RojagatoDesigns wrote:

I have shipped to China, Canada, Australia, India, UK, Sweden, Germany and Italy. To make things easier, I loaded the Post Office Shipping Assistant http://www.usps.com/shippingassistant/ onto my computer. It helps when you have customers that do not use PayPal and makes your package look professional. You can set it up to do U.S. domestic mailings or it will walk you through mailing to ANY country. It also fills in all the appropriate U.S. Customs forms (CN22/CN72).

To make your international shipping safer, I would suggest requiring that your customer pay for insurance. It adds a little to the shipping costs, but protects you in case your item gets lost (especially helps in 3rd World countries). Also, I prefer Priority International since its easy to track your shipment, but it is more costly and some customers balk at your shipping fees. (A 5 oz. package to Germany: 1st Class International is $4.60 and Priority International Flat Rate is $12.95.

Hope this helps,
Claudia

I think this is a big reason why I don't ship everywhere. Since the median price in my shop is around $20.00 and under, most people aren't going to spend that much money to ship and get insurance. For me, personally it would have to be something REALLY special for me to fork over that kind of money.

I agree with Teresa - if you are selling less expensive goods, it really isn't worth offering insured or priority to shipping to other countries since the cost is too much in comparison to less expensive products. (Most of mine are under 30 dollars.) Anyway, I do ship internationally, and for 2 dollars per item - but I only ship first class - no insurance etc. So far, I have shipped several times to Canada, once to Australia, and once to the Netherlands. All my items arrived successfully (I asked my clients to let me know when they received the packages, and so far they all have), and I only lost money on the last one - cost 3 dollars to ship when I only charged 2 - so I lost a dollar. For now, I am going to continue in this manner, but as I add more expensive items to my store, I may consider adding the cost of insurance on since it does sound like packages do get lost sometimes when shipping internationally.

I have been wondering if my Int. shipping is to high? What do you think? I have it at $5.25 and 2.00 additional items. Is this to high? I would love your input.Thanks, Lisa

lsad wrote:

I have been wondering if my Int. shipping is to high? What do you think? I have it at $5.25 and 2.00 additional items. Is this to high? I would love your input.Thanks, Lisa

What is your average actual cost to mail stuff overseas? The price you quote here doesn't seem to high if you're shipping to Europe etc. I have only shipped to canada and have found the cost to be about the same as the states, so I don't charge much more to ship there. The $2.00 for each additional item may be a tad high.

lsad wrote:

I have been wondering if my Int. shipping is to high? What do you think? I have it at $5.25 and 2.00 additional items. Is this to high? I would love your input.Thanks, Lisa

Based on my limited experience, US, UK and Canada are about the same, with the exception of insurance and delivery confirmation, which is not available for the UK. So, I list, US, UK and Canada about the same as you have and then everyelse I asking for 10, and 4. I do say in my shop policy that I refund overpayment on shipping.

I just sent out a package to Sweden yesturday and it's cost was $4.80. I charge $5.00 Int. and it seems to cover it for jewelry and small items.

Aprilee/ArtistryJewelry wrote:

lsad wrote:

I just sent out a package to Sweden yesturday and it's cost was $4.80. I charge $5.00 Int. and it seems to cover it for jewelry and small items.

I never considered just charging a flat fee for international! That's a GREAT Idea! And, I could save the cost of buying a postage scale! Thanks SO much! I really want to launch my international shipping ASAP! Has anyone told you "you're great" lately? Thanks Lady! Aprilee

Did you send it first class air mail? Any kind of insurance on the package? If so, that's not bad at all. I've always been a bit scared of doing international shipping (other than Canada) because I kept reading these horror stories in the Etsy forums about sky high cost, lost packages, stuff being stolen before it gets delivered, etc. I suppose I just need to choose my countries carefully.

I have shipped to France, Australia, Holland and Canada so far with no problems. I did mess up on a price for a larger item to France and had to eat the difference - small items are usually 3 dollars or so (with no extra insurance of course) but when you get into something that is just a bit larger, the prices jump exponentially so research carefully!