Selling on eBay International Sites
This question was posted on my Stay at Home Mom’s Selling on eBay Facebook Group:
“I wanted to start selling internationally too. I was wondering if you open a store on eBay.com and then list worldwide for shipping or if you go to another site, like the UK ebay and then list there. What is the best way to get the most exposure for your items. ”
Both strategies have advantages and disadvantges. Selling directly on another eBay site can be more advantageous as you have more factors in your favor through the Best Match algorithm as a direct seller. The users of that site will see the products in their currency, which they like. But, there are several more steps involved when selling on an eBay international site.
First, you will need to convert all of your pricing to the foreign currency. (eBay doesn’t do this for you.) The customers will pay you in that foreign currency, and you will need to convert the funds to USD once in your Paypal account. Any refunds will need to be made in the foreign currency. You need to understand the exchange rates (which change several times a day), to understand your profits and costs.
Secondly, the fees are different. Each eBay international site has a different fee structure for listing fees, final value fees, auctions vs fixed price, gallery photo, etc. You will need to study the fee structure to understand how you will be charged for selling your items there.
Third, the regulations and prohibited items are different for each site based on laws in that particular country. Verify that the item is allowed before listing it. (Don’t assume other sellers have done their homework on this one.) If you list and item that is not allowed, your listing will be ended. Too many of these, and your account will be closed.
You will need to understand what items are not allowed to be shipped into other countries. If you ship an item out, and the foreign country’s customs finds an item that is not allowed, it is not delivered to the customer and you won’t get the package back. You will be out the money (if you refund the customer) and you will be out the product. The rules for prohibited items change frequently and the laws in other countries are very different than ours in the USA. Click here for the USPS official list of prohibited items by country.
Also, educate yourself on customs fees. Understand the value that is exempt from customs fees for any country you ship to. As a general rule, the customers don’t know. If the value of an item is over a certain threshold, the customer will be charged a duties fee (sometimes more than the product cost to start with) – and they will probably leave negative feedback and think it is the seller’s fault for not understanding their system. So just educate yourself on the fees that your customers may incur.
Selling directly on the international site allows you to target your customers directly. For example, if you want to sell toys to the UK this year for Christmas, you would be better served to list your items directly on eBay UK. You are putting yourself in front of your audience, working with them in their currency, and basically selling to them on their turf instead of expecting them to find you on eBay USA.
If you sell on the USA site and offer international shipping, that works, too. Plenty of interntional customers come to eBay USA to make their purchases. You don’t have to worry about converting any currency.
[Image Source: Flickr]
