Should I ship outside UK ?

[shpangle]

Hi,

I am new to this ecommerce stuff and I am fumbling my way through it. I am more used to being stood behind a market stall !

Anyway. I am trying to decide whether I should offer my online shop to international visitors. I have been browsing loads of other websites and they all offer different shipping policies, with different postal rates and a lot don't even provide an automatic means for international purchases.

There doesn't seem to be an acceptable standard 'shipping policy' around. Could somebody please HEEEELP !!

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

I would say start UK only, iron out all the problems, learn how to pack and ship properly and deal with returns, get a contract with a parcel carrier, and then move into overseas.

Every problem you get in the UK will be 10 times worse when customer is overseas, so get the UK sorted first, then expand.

 

[quikshop]

I would say start UK only, iron out all the problems, learn how to pack and ship properly and deal with returns, get a contract with a parcel carrier, and then move into overseas.

Every problem you get in the UK will be 10 times worse when customer is overseas, so get the UK sorted first, then expand.

Sage advice, can't add much to it except to point out that fraud prevention is massively easier to implement with a UK-only customer base.

 

[Poupee11]

Shipping within EU is OK cause you don't get in trouble with Import Duties and so on... You don't need to charge customer's VAT so that you can claim more on your VAT returns if you get charged the VAT from your suppliers.

I don't have experience on shipping outside the EU.

 

[shpangle]

Sage advice, can't add much to it except to point out that fraud prevention is massively easier to implement with a UK-only customer base.

Hi, Could you expand on the fraud prevention point

Many thanks

 

[Nicole.S]

you could compare your shipping policies with sites that ship international from UK. compare the rates and decide which courier you are comfortable with for your business. Also, give the international buyer option on whether to ship using regular mail or courier when making payments at your online store. Have a trial period and decide later whether you want to continue selling to international buyers.

 

[J-Wholesale]

It does depend very much on which courier company you use and how much they charge. We charge over 3 times as much (£31) to continental Europe, and even more for the US and Australia. When pricing your overseas shipping, it's important to remember that every country has 'remote areas', and people from these areas will be amongst the first to buy from you if your non-UK shipping costs are low.

 

[Christiane]

I use RM International Signed For for orders outside the UK, most of these orders are under 2kg. I have flat rate cost in line with order value.
If VAT applies to you: You don't charge VAT to EU countries only if the customer can provide a VAT number. Non EU countries are not charged VAT and may require the customs certificate on the package. Bear in mind, for VAT rules, non EU countries include Guernsey and Jersey, Switzerland and Gibraltar.

 

[dingbat]

Shipping within EU is OK cause you don't get in trouble with Import Duties and so on... You don't need to charge customer's VAT so that you can claim more on your VAT returns if you get charged the VAT from your suppliers.

I don't have experience on shipping outside the EU.

If I'm reading that right, what you've said is wrong. You do charge EU customers VAT just like UK customers unless they are a company that supplies their own VAT number - that is the only time you can supply them without charging VAT.

So if you've not been paying VAT on EU sales you had better revise your accounts quicktime!

Regards import duty, yes outside of the EU they may be payable by the customer upon delivery but that is on the customer to pay and as long as you make them aware of this at the time of sale that's not a problem.

To the OP, Boxby pretty much summed up what I would have advised too. But also take into consideration the type of product you're selling and what factors would determine customers abroad actually buying off you against someone locally.

 

[Beachcomber]

I'd never consider cutting out overseas customers - why bar the vast majority of your customers from purchasing from you? They will only go elsewhere. Sure, there is the possibility of fraud etc - but with increased sales comes increased risk whatever the sector or market.

Biggest thing to remember is to make sure your sites FAQ / Terms and conditions state that any overseas buyer is responsible for any import duty or VAT charges levied by the receipient country.

Other than that your charges really depend on the items sold. If they vary widely in weight / size then you will need a variable priceing structure. If your items are all very similar (eg. DVD's) then a flat rate can apply.

 

[Kay]

If you're going to ship overseas also make sure that you're aware of how the Customs in the recipient country might react to the goods. In my experience the occasional book is OK, but I wouldn't risk more than that in some countries.

Think about your cash flow too - if you use an escrow service it can take a long time before you receive the payment.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I'd never consider cutting out overseas customers - why bar the vast majority of your customers from purchasing from you? They will only go elsewhere. Sure, there is the possibility of fraud etc - but with increased sales comes increased risk whatever the sector or market.

.

65-70 milion people in UK alone, which is enough for man companies

Hard to track parcels oversea's except at very high courier charges and many "where is the parcel" questions to answer

Some countries like USA have very demanding customs regs to fill in

For some companies oversea's is their main market for others marginal sales for little return on effort

 

[euqerqzujz]

I've been debating shipping overseas for a while now so I'd be really interested to know what companies people ship with.

I was planning on using Royal Mail airsure but I want to make sure items have guaranteed tracking right up to the point of delivery, clearly I want to know the goods got to their destination but also to cover myself with PayPal, as chargebacks are a concern.

Was also wondering about returns, in the uk it's easy to supply pre-paid packaging or arrange collection but haven't got a clue what way to go with items needing to be returned from the U.S??

 

[coultog]

We send products all over the world. It's a massive market, which we couldn't possibly miss out on.

We do get a lot of people buying large items, which sadly we cannot ship due to costs and volumetric weight, but they're generally very understanding.

 

[CosmicCollection]

You also have to ensure that your product liability insurance covers you overseas. You may find it hard to get insurance for sales to the US/Canada.

I do get orders from abroad, especially Ireland. So far no problems with shipment (touch wood! ). I use Royal Mail Airsure, and goods are insured by RM.

 

[euqerqzujz]

You also have to ensure that your product liability insurance covers you overseas.

good point!

 

[Idontbuy]

We looked at selling in Australia last year and came up with the idea of looking at the top sellers on ebay and asked if they would be happy to store and sendout parcels for us we list the items and take payments ect and then pay them a fee per parcel and the shipping storage
I found that they where all willing to do this for us and some of them allready did this for people.
We have now managed to get a distributor on board in Auatrila so didnt go down this route in the end.
We do sell in the USA tho we started by sending over two pallets as a trail to a company called Webgistix they do know how to charge but the service is outstanding.
We have two more 40 ft containers on the way over to America now.
We are hoping to get into Germany this year i want to use Amazon as the selling platform there but its a split decison in the office we have been in touch with 6-7 different people for translation of the products and the fees they charge do differ a lot it pays to shop around.
We had citylink down last week and for small items under 5 kgs they do a eurobag at £10.42 for most of europe unfortunatley our items not fit in the bag.
Returns and damages in the US where just under 1% of total sales so we just bin them or stick them on ebay.com if they arent damaged.
Take care
Pete

 

[bigGUK]

If you a market trader have you considered ebay and sell by pay pal.

It really depend on what you selling i have a friend that sell painting to the usa via ebay who is making a mint

 

[DesignsOnline]

It really depends on what the product you intend to sell is, and if there is a reason that people would specifically want to buy it from you if they are abroad. Are you targeting a particular market from a specific country?