| Discussion Forum: Thread 345648 |
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| | | Author: | ReclaimedComp  | | Posted: | Aug 31, 2023 07:40 | | Subject: | Shipping international.. Is it worth it? | | Viewed: | 99 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
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| Me again,
I got so much help from my last question I thought I would post another. I've
been debating on offering international sales. Is it worth the extra work?
Does it increase sales enough to be worth it? Do orders get lost or returned?
Chris
Reclaimed Components
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| | | | | Author: | jennnifer | | Posted: | Aug 31, 2023 08:38 | | Subject: | Re: Shipping international.. Is it worth it? | | Viewed: | 43 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, ReclaimedComp writes:
| | Me again,
I got so much help from my last question I thought I would post another. I've
been debating on offering international sales. Is it worth the extra work?
Does it increase sales enough to be worth it? Do orders get lost or returned?
Chris
Reclaimed Components
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The cost of international postage is prohibitive. I would estimate I get 1 international
order for every 20-30 domestic. Most of the time, those orders include a rare
part that the buyer is willing to pay extra to receive.
Obviously, the risk for you as a seller is higher if any mistakes on your part
involve refunding shipping or reshipping an order.
The chances of your order getting lost are related to the reliability of each
country's postal system. This is fairly subjective, of course. I've had
no issues with Canada, Europe (Italy and Germany have their foibles), Australia,
Japan, Hong Kong, or Singapore.
Really, the 'extra work' involves learning about how shipping methods
work and how customs and VAT systems work. If you purchase your postage online,
the only difference between sending a domestic or international order is filling
out a simple customs form and including an invoice or VAT receipt when appropriate.
~Jen
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| | | | | | | Author: | ReclaimedComp | | Posted: | Aug 31, 2023 10:43 | | Subject: | Re: Shipping international.. Is it worth it? | | Viewed: | 38 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, jennnifer writes:
| | In Selling, ReclaimedComp writes:
| | Me again,
I got so much help from my last question I thought I would post another. I've
been debating on offering international sales. Is it worth the extra work?
Does it increase sales enough to be worth it? Do orders get lost or returned?
Chris
Reclaimed Components
|
The cost of international postage is prohibitive. I would estimate I get 1 international
order for every 20-30 domestic. Most of the time, those orders include a rare
part that the buyer is willing to pay extra to receive.
Obviously, the risk for you as a seller is higher if any mistakes on your part
involve refunding shipping or reshipping an order.
The chances of your order getting lost are related to the reliability of each
country's postal system. This is fairly subjective, of course. I've had
no issues with Canada, Europe (Italy and Germany have their foibles), Australia,
Japan, Hong Kong, or Singapore.
Really, the 'extra work' involves learning about how shipping methods
work and how customs and VAT systems work. If you purchase your postage online,
the only difference between sending a domestic or international order is filling
out a simple customs form and including an invoice or VAT receipt when appropriate.
~Jen
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Thanks Jen. I'll probably wait until I have more inventory to offer. I
have shipped other items (not LEGO) outside the USA and had never lost any packages.
I didn't know if the amount of orders you receive would make it worth it.
Chris
RC
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| | | | | Author: | wildchicken13 | | Posted: | Aug 31, 2023 10:55 | | Subject: | Re: Shipping international.. Is it worth it? | | Viewed: | 42 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, ReclaimedComp writes:
| | Me again,
I got so much help from my last question I thought I would post another. I've
been debating on offering international sales. Is it worth the extra work?
Does it increase sales enough to be worth it? Do orders get lost or returned?
Chris
Reclaimed Components
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It won't hurt, but it might not help, either. I ship worldwide, but most
of my orders are still from buyers in the USA. There's not much extra work
required to ship internationally except for updating your shipping methods and
filling out the customs declaration on each package. To date, I have never had
a package lost (knock on wood), but I did have one returned to me once from a
buyer in China who I was never able to contact after the fact.
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USA, Georgia
