I learned something new last week for international shipping.

[brer cat]

Yes, international shipping is a PITA, but we hate to exclude potential bidders, and some of our best eBay sales ever came from overseas.

I had sold a small item to be shipped to Austria. Priority shipping for a package was going to run close to $20.00, and 1st Class international is soooo slow. I debated whether it would be safe to wrap it well with bubble wrap and use a flat rate envelope, then an idea hit...can I put a small box inside the envelope? I checked with USPS, and yes indeed, you can put anything inside that envelope as long as it will close. Now, it's not very large, but I found a sturdy jewelry box that would fit inside and have room for some bubble wrap too. Cost: $11.00, barely more than 1st class and a LOT faster. I had a very happy buyer also.

Books can also be shipped flat rate IF they will fit.

[zabet]

1. Thanks..

I have shipped a lot of paperback books flat rate bubble wrapped in the
envelope. I did not know you could put a box in a flat rate envelope if
it would fit.

[brer cat]

2. The new envelopes

that can be used for both domestic and international shipping are also a little bit bigger than the old international ones. I have shipped some hard back books that way. I ususally use some extra tape for reinforcement.

[InvisibleTouch]

3. I haven't really used the flat-rate boxes/envelopes.

Usually they're too small to be useful for me. But it sounds worth checking into. Thanks for the tip!

Whenever possible I do offer international shipping - that is, whenever the item is actually in my inventory, rather than shipping from the supplier. (And most of those don't offer international shipping, much to my annoyance - because I know that stuff would sell worldwide!) It takes no more time to pack a box going to Australia than one going across town, and the trip to the post office is the same. Sure, you have to fill out a customs form. Takes maybe 90 seconds. So I don't consider it a pain at all.

As a buyer, I run into a lot of aggravation from overseas sellers who won't ship outside their own country. Ebay Germany is absolutely horrific about this. I can tell from the pictures and descs that these are all items in the seller's possession, too, so again it's no more trouble to them to pack a box going overseas than one going across town. And there's no language barrier because I can write to them in German. But a lot of them won't even consider it. And there's a paranoia against taking PayPal as well. I guess I shouldn't be annoyed if they want to cheat themselves out of a sale, but sometimes it's a collectible item that I want very badly. Grrrr!!!! (Sorry ... not really on-topic, but been needing to get that rant out for years....)

[brer cat]

4. Rants are part of being in the group! lol

I haven't tried to buy overseas, so didn't realize many wouldn't ship here.

I consider international shipping a pita mainly because of boxes. I sell books, so I keep an assortment of book boxes and bags which I purchase new. Most other things ship within USA by Priority so I keep a small stash of free USPS boxes. I don't have the space, and simply can't afford to keep a supply of new boxes in assorted sizes for overseas shipments. So every sale becomes a hassle for me to get out and find the right size box.

We get a lot of complaints about international shipping costs and long shipping times...two things I can do NOTHING about, although we get some buyers who seem to think it is within our control.

Last complaint, and my least favorite, are the ones who expect us to lie on customs forms and/or bid on items that we are not legally allowed to ship internationally. Doesn't happen very often, but it always pisses me off.

[truedelphi]

5. I'm confused - how is it that flat rate went faster than priority

Were you just rather lucky one time?

What is the explanation?

[brer cat]

6. There is a Flat Rate Priority Mail Envelope

...not weight dependent, but fairly small. In this case, it cost almost 1/2 as much as sending a regular package by Priority Mail, and the transit time is the same. There is also a Flat Rate Priority Mail box, but in this case it was much larger than I needed, and would have cost too much.

Because of their relatively small sizes, the flat-rate mailers can't be used for many things, but when it works, it can save a good bit.