In browsing through various eBay listings I see that a large number of American sellers will not sell to buyers outside the US (some seem to find Canada OK). How come?
I assume that there are additional hassles/risks involved with payment and shipping across borders, but I’m not sure what they are. I’d be grateful if anybody could clue me in.
Two reasons:
Dealing with foreign currency can be a pain. You have to convince the buyer to draw a check in Dollars if they can or deal with exchange rates.
Shipping overseas costs lots of money and is a general pain in the arse.
I can understand these, but if the seller states the currency conditions up front he can shift most of the burden to the buyer, can’t he? They may be more than a buyer in, say, Germany wants to put up with, but this is at least letting him decide that.
Same with the shipping. It costs a lot, but if the buyer pays actual shipping, I don’t see why the seller would be unwilling to do it just on that account. What’s involved for the seller besides paying $50 in postage and plunking the package down at the post office? Strange customs things?
Basically, it sounds like international sales will certainly up costs (currency exchange and postage), but that’s all on the buyer. Those don’t sound (to me) like something that would really deter the seller.
Maybe psychologically, the distance involved is a turn-off. Some sellers won’t even ship to Alaska and Hawaii (which, last time I checked, are still a part of the US), so you can forget about them shipping to other countries.
Another possibility is that some sellers lack confidence in other countries’ mail delivery systems. I’ve heard stories from friends about it taking weeks for relatives to receive their letters. One of my classmates said it took a month for her cousin in the Philippines to get his birthday present.
Or maybe they just don’t wanna.
Of course, it is up to each seller where he’s willing to ship to, and I’m not about to demand an explanation from anyone who refuses to ship somewhere. But damn, it hurts when they’re selling something you really, really want. 
The currency involved isn’t really an issue, since all eBay transactions are in US dollars (unless the seller specifies otherwise). If an international bidder bids on the item of a US-based seller, he is saying he accepts that condition. Same with the higher shipping fees.
They’re not. International transactions are generally more of a hassle for the buyer than the seller.
It can be a hassle, but my sister will ship overseas, as long as the buyer wants to pay shipping. With things like “Bid Pay” and “Pay Pal”, it’s not that hard.
I bought a CD from Germany once. He would take postal orders, but the P.O. couldn’t make Postal orders for Germany (news to me.) So I sent cash. It got there, I got my CD, happy happy happy.
AudreyK made a good point. I think some sellers have had a hassle when packages haven’t made it to their overseas destinations fast enough and the seller gets a bad rap for being a slow shipper. Some sellers just don’t want to put up with any negative feedback even if it isn’t their fault, and just don’t do overseas shipments.
On another note, I am awaiting shipment on a package I bought on August 3rd, from Canada. The seller (in Toronto) said she got a call from postal officials in British Colombia saying my package showed up there about a month ago, and I still haven’t recieved it! Three months and counting…
another point:
Customs’ laws. sending a letter overseas to other countries, not a problem. sending packages??? you have to often to customs declarations, they’re subject to many more regulations etc.
I’m glad you brought this up brad_d. It can be very frustrating seeing tons of products that you can’t buy since they won’t ship it to you. Adding to that, all the extra costs due to shipping, currency conversions and money orders (I still don’t think paypal works for Canada) I’ve about given up looking for a good deal on ebay.
I sell a lot of Alaskan Eskimo art on eBay, and anything made from walrus ivory is prohibited from export by U.S. law, though there are no restrictions on shipping it to U.S. destinations. Also, many countries have restrictions on the import of ivory products, and the likelyhood of get stuck in customs is very high.
On the other hand, I ship my non-ivory products all over the world. Buyers are made aware of the addtional cost of shipping, and the potential for delays that are outside of my control, and most are very understanding.
Billpoint and BidPay are good methods of making international payments (I have used both and have had no problems), and PayPal is supposed to start international credit card payments this week.
Yeah, I ship USPS to England a lot. It sucks. They just put in new regulations a few weeks back on what you can mail.
It pretty dumb. e.g. you have a package you want sent that has a little toy. So you put on the form ‘toys’. Cost to mail? $44.00 If you put on the the same package form ‘documents’ cost to mail? $22.00 thats for three day mail usps. Plus, they don’t count saturdays.
Also, there is next to zippo International Mail Insurance. So, if they don’t get the package you can’t do much.
Being an infrequent seller on ebay, I don’t do international shipping as a rule.
With a US customer, I get a check or a paypal notification. I pop postage on a box and put it in my local post office drop box. Simple!
With a customer outside the US, I would need to take the box down to the local post office, where I would wait in line on my lunch hour for an available clerk. They would tell me how much it would cost to send the package. Then I would need to contact my bank for costs if foreign currency is involved (although supposedly paypal is available in some countries). Then I would have to contact the buyer and tell them how much it is going to cost to get the package to them. Then once I get payment, it is back to the post office where I wait in line on my lunch hour to send the box. Also I’ll have to fill out customs paperwork when I send the package.
If an international buyer (with an excellent feedback rating) was supremely interested in something I was selling, he or she could always email me and ask if I can release my terms and ship out of the country.
Personally, I will only ship to Canada/US the odd time I sell on Ebay or yahoo. It is the next best thing to being the same country, paperwork is minimal. Extra shipping cost is also minimal (maybe 20-30% premium). Shipping to ANOTHER country is more forms or a least a much larger one to fill out and sign, and they can take forever. The condition of some parcels you recieve that came from the other side of the planet can be pretty scary too, even if they are packed well.
Eric
Considering that this is Ebay we’re talking about, perhaps the webmasters don’t want to get charged with international drug trafficking 
Try the USPS International Rate Calculator; you can quote shipping rates to your buyers from the convenience of your computer. There is also a USPS Domestic Rate Calculator.
Thanks for the info, everybody.
I’ve never sent anything but letters internationally in my life. I take it that there are customs forms to fill out for stuff like packages? Do they hit you with duties or anything like that? Is it just paperwork, or can you find yourself forking over some unexpected dough to send what you just sold. (I can already hear the first sentence of a reply: “It depends on what you’re sending.” :))
iship.com has a page on which you can estimate shipping costs, and it works both domestically and internationally. You can also choose one or more of four carriers. When you’re selling, this gives you a link that you can paste in your ad, so bidders can get specific-to-them estimates of shipping costs.
Yes, shipping internationally costs much more than domestically, but if the buyer’s paying then it’s not the seller’s problem. AudreyK and Boscibo may have hit what sounds like the most compelling reason to me - buyers giving you negative feedback 'cause the slow boat is too slow for their taste would be off-putting.
I sold a pretty good number of CDs on eBay a while back, and I did it in two separate ‘blocks’ of listings.
The first one I sold, I didn’t mention anything about international shipping, and I had to send a few to Canada, and one to Germany (I think was Germany, anyway). It’s not really the money factor, It’s just a pain in the ass to fill out the extra customs paperwork. you have to separately fill out the to and from addresses again, then fill out the contents of the package and sign saying you agree to all the restrictions. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but if you have to do it repeatedly, it sucks.
I never sell internationally anymore.
I’ve never participated in an online auction and I’m not a lawyer, so you can take this as the wild speculation that it is.
That said, maybe a side reason is the difficulty of dealing with multiple jurisdictions if something goes wrong and someone thinks the terms were violated. I know if I had a Czech check bounce, I’d probably never figure out how to sue someone who didn’t live in the U.S.
most sellers do not ship until they have viable payment in their hands (as in the Czech check cleared)
I’ve never sold anything outside the US, but I have made purchases from Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Denmark, England, Canada, Scotland, Germany, and Sweden and never had a single problem. Sometimes I’ve had to send international money orders and other times cash (well concealed, of course). I only sent cash to sellers with a high rating and less than 5 negatives. If any of the negatives concerned “lost” money, I was outta there.
I sold stuff to a guy in South AFrica once. He sent me a bunch of US $20’s. I asked him how he got them since the supply of US dollars there is tightly regulated. He said his brother smuggled him some.
I’ve sent a whole bunch of prescription drugs [legal, I bought at the pharmacy] to europe & they never open the package. I can just imagine what else you could ship & using paypal.com to get paid first. Hmmmm.