How To Make More Money on eBay? 
The "Bulmers" Story...

When I moved back home last year, I found out that I can't get “Bulmers” anywhere in Riga apart from Irish pubs. Sure, it's always nice to visit a pub but I really like sipping a pint once or twice per week @ home. With all that said, what do you think – where I get it?

In Ireland. I take cheap flights to Dublin 2 or 3 times a year to pack my bags with “Bulmers”.

I Know, it sounds crazy!!! But you see – people are willing to do everything only to get what they want! Of course, it's not only “Bulmers” - I visit friends and do some shopping as well. It's always nice to get back to a place where you have spent years of your life.

Why No One Sells “Bulmers” on eBay so that I
Don't have to take Air Taxi to Tesco?

Because alcohol is not allowed on eBay :-)

Ok, Fair enough for them!

But what about different products? For example, my wife gets all supplies for her beauty business from UK based websites and eBay. Why? Because most of the stuff she needs can't be bought locally. Those products available in our country cost twice as much as in the UK. Or another example - she loves Yankee Tarts Wax – but we haven't found any shop that sells it locally. We buy it on eBay.co.uk, in bulk.

And how about business related items? Many eBay sellers know how great Dymo LabelWriter printers are for printing shipping labels. I found a local office stationary supplier who sells extra labels for 15 quid per roll. Those are compatible ones, not Dymo production. Let’s do the math – if I can get them for 5 pounds a piece on eBay, why should I buy them locally?

I hope you start getting my point. If you're living in the UK & Ireland that doesn't mean your customers are only there. Europe is HUGE! Imagine, there are 65 millions in France and 82 millions in Germany alone. Those two countries have a population bigger than UK & Ireland together. Sure, there are local eBay sites, but still there are many people in Europe who prefer shopping on eBay.co.uk because the choice is bigger and prices are generally cheaper.

The Point Is – If you can Ship Internationally
DO IT!

If you don’t offer international shipping options at the moment, I strongly recommend you to do it. But don’t worry – you haven’t missed out on anything, in fact – this is a perfect time to start shipping internationally as the recently announced eBay & PayPal rules give more protection to sellers than ever before! The new rules will come to action in October this year, so you have some time to prepare everything.

Un-confirmed addresses finally aren’t a problem anymore, as it was a complete nonsense. People in Germany, for example, couldn't get their address verified with PayPal even if they wanted to.

Also, previously we had restrictions to Seller Protection as it covered only selected countries. Now, from October this year, sellers in 190 countries will be covered. Basically, you can ship anywhere in the World, except Nigeria :-)

Hopefully, there won't be any unexpected announcements and eBay along with PayPal are making really positive changes for sellers. Just don't forget using eBay approved shipping methods and keep the tracking number for every package you send out.

Tips & Tricks for Selling to
International Customers

	Start with Europe. It wouldn't be wise to cover every Country in the World. It will cause you a lot of problems due to different shipping methods & costs involved. As I said previously – Europe is HUGE! There's still a lot of potential without getting your selling process too complicated. (The only thing – if you sell some specific products that are available only in the UK or Ireland, you could target all those millions of countrymen having moved to the States. They're surely looking for some “home-made” stuff on eBay UK site – by offering shipping to US, you could significantly increase your sales).
	Stick with small items. I wouldn't recommend shipping plasma TVs or furniture to Europe. First of all, shipping charges will be astronomical. Secondly – it will take too much time & hassle to make it worthwhile. Small items - packages below 2kg are best because that's the weight limit for sending a small packet via AirMail. AirMail is cheap and fast enough to send small parcels throughout Europe. Delivery usually takes only 3-5 business days.
	Choose fixed shipping charge instead of multiple options. Don't try to include the exact shipping costs to every single European country in your listings. It will disorganize you and may confuse potential buyers. I have found that the best way of doing this is to offer two fixed shipping costs. One – for customers in the UK, other – for Europe. If you use registered AirMail as a shipping option, it will cost almost the same for all European countries. Just take the average amount and you'll do just great!
	As soon as you ship out the package, add the Tracking Number directly in your PayPal account. There's a small option in PayPal available to add a shipping method and the tracking number to each payment. By default, it's not required, but here's why it's so important to do it – it will pull off a lot of potential scammers. You know, there are people who simply say they haven't received the package and request money back even though they have received the goods. By adding the tracking number straight after the package is sent out, you show them that package is tracked and secured. PayPal will send them a notification along with the tracking number and this way you can avoid a lot of unreasonable claims.