Today's guest blog is brought to you by Sue Bailey, an eBay UK expert. Sue writes the Tamebay blog, an eBay news blog and forum from the United Kingdom. Sue has been an active eBay seller since 2000, and has 3 eBay stores and 2 websites. Let's hear what Sue has to say about being an eBay buyer working with US eBay Sellers.
US eBay Sellers - The United Kingdom Perspective
by guest author Sue Bailey
It is a good job I checked the shipping before I bid. Was it possible, I asked the seller, that $80 to ship a medium sized paperback book from US to Europe was a mistake? Could it be a typo? No, came back the reply, the $80 shipping fee was clearly stated on the auction, and if I wasn't prepared to pay it, I shouldn't bid.
I didn't bid. It is not the first time I have come across this pricing structure from US sellers. I've been charged $18 to ship a lip balm, $25 to ship a CD. Shipping to Europe, the thinking goes, is a pain. It is outside what sellers normally do, maybe it requires a special trip to the post office, and therefore they will price European shipping so that it will put off all but the most determined collector. So if that determined collector does win, the seller has an extra chunk of profit on the shipping to make up for the hassle of posting the parcel.
Look, we'll understand if you don't want to sell to us. There is no eBay rule saying you have to ship worldwide, so if you prefer to ship only within the US, just say so. Put a little note on your listings and we won't even ASQ you, promise.
But if you are going to sell to the UK and the rest of Europe, now's the time to do it. The weakness of the dollar against the pound and the Euro means that goods priced for the US market are incredibly cheap in our money. With eBay now offering worldwide visibility, now is the perfect moment for US sellers to connect with UK buyers. US prices look wonderfully cheap to us, so get yourselves over here and sell us a bargain.
(For detailed information on how to ship an item internationally, check out my eBook, "eBay International Selling Made Easy," for the bargain price of $2.49.)
I don't overcharge to make money on shipping my overseas orders, but I do only ship Global Priority now which makes some buyers angry when they want me to use the cheaper 1st class international. The trouble is that 1st class has no online tracking, so there is no PayPal coverage and you have no idea what happens once the package leaves your hands!
Posted by: Mitzi | April 10, 2008 12:57 AM | Permalink to Comment