Don't go around eBay

Make sure you go through eBay for the transaction. You will get emails from people in other countries asking you to sell the item to them directly. If you decide to go ahead with the deal ultimately you will wind up with out a product and money. They have various fraudulent methods of trying to get you to take their fake payment. Some of the scams involve counterfeit money orders, fake escrow agents, and stolen credit cards.

Are you missing the boat?

If you don't ship internationally are you missing out on a great opportunity? The answer is yes. The last numbers that I heard is that eBay is making more money overseas than domestic. The numbers are pretty staggering if you look at the Growth internationally. If you aren’t shipping to China, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Korea, UK, Europe, India and Australia you are missing out. You are probably thinking that it’s a hassle that isn’t worth your time and trouble. If you own a scale you can print your postage online at USPS and schedule to have USPS pick the package up at your house. They have taken the hassle out of shipping worldwide. If you want to grow your sales, you better think twice about just shipping domestic.

Customs

If you are the buyer be prepared to pay additional costs such as duties, taxes and customs clearance fees. Your package may also be delayed while being processed through customs based on the price and the item itself.

International Shipping Costs

International shipping costs are based on a combination of the following:
Weight and dimensions of package .
Method of shipment such as Ground, Next Day Air, etc.
The location the seller is shipping from (city, state, country).
The location the seller is shipping to (also called the destination country).
Therefore, costs may vary greatly depending on what, where and how the seller is shipping, and can be considerably higher for international destinations.

Prohibited items for international trade on eBay

Prohibited and Restricted Items List:

Adult Material (see Mature Audiences)
Alcohol (see also Wine)
Animals and Wildlife Products - examples include live animals, mounted specimens, and ivory
Art
Artifacts - examples include Native American crafts, cave formations, and grave-related items
Catalytic Converters and Test Pipes
Cell Phone (Wireless) Service Contracts
Charity or Fundraising Listings
Clothing, Used
Coins
Contracts
Cosmetics, Used
Counterfeit Currency and Stamps
Credit Cards
Drugs & Drug Paraphernalia
Drugs, Describing Drugs or Drug-like Substances
Electronics Equipment - examples include cable TV de-scramblers, radar scanners, and traffic signal control devices
Electronic Surveillance Equipment – examples include wiretapping devices, and telephone bugging devices
Embargoed Goods and Prohibited Countries - examples include items from Cuba
Event Tickets
Firearms, Weapons and Knives - examples include pepper spray, replicas and stun guns
Food
Gift Cards
Government and Transit Documents
Government and Transit Uniforms
Government IDs and Licenses
Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Items - examples include batteries, fireworks, and Freon
Human Parts and Remains
Importation of Goods into the United States - examples include CDs that were intended only for distribution in a certain country
International Trading
Items Encouraging Illegal Activity – examples include an eBook describing how to create methamphetamine
Lockpicking Devices
Lottery Tickets
Mailing Lists and Personal Information
Manufacturers' Coupons
Mature Audiences
Medical Devices - examples include contact lenses, pacemakers, and surgical instruments
Multi-level Marketing, Pyramid and Matrix Programs
Offensive Material - examples include ethnically or racially offensive material and Nazi memorabilia
Pesticides
Plants (see Weeds and Seeds)
Police-Related Items
Political Memorabilia
Postage Meters
Prescription Drugs
Prohibited Services
Real Estate
Recalled Items
Slot Machines
Stamps
Stocks and Other Securities
Stolen Property and Property with Removed Serial Numbers
Surveillance Equipment
Teacher's Edition Textbooks
Tobacco
Transit and Shipping Related Items - examples include blueprints of transit facilities, airplane operations manuals, and flight attendants’ uniforms
Travel
Weeds and Seeds
Wine (see also Alcohol)

The Starting Point

This blog was created to help both buyers and sellers to learn the potential of buying and selling internationally on eBay. Have you ever been searching for a part or a item and only found that you can only find the item in another country? This has happend to me plenty of times. It's hard decission to decide if you should buy from a seller that you have never conducted business with. Hopefully we will all lern something from this blog.