Hello,
How does a person go about shipping internationally without having to figure out every single countries shipping rules? I think Patch said something about international priority so that every purchase would be the same amount. But, does every country allow that without extra charges? Any input would be appreciated. I would be shipping the same type of product. I have asked at our post office but I live in a small town and they don't seem to know for sure. In fact, learning things from here, I have had to tell them certain things. Thanks in advance.

A few posts starting here in the Rejected a Buyer thread discussing using USPS Shipping Assistant may be helpful to you. I don't think they answer your specific question, but it sounds like it could help with international shipping, anyway.

www.ShipTool.com recommended by AngelSolutions in Find the Lowest Shipping Rates With Shiptool might lead to some answers (by experimentation)?

There might be some advice available here - http://www.work.com/shipping/

And I have no doubt there's some other folks here who know lots of stuff...

I will venture a guess that most countries will charge customs fees, but I don't think you have to collect that, though you do have to fill out customs forms. I think the USPS has ways to help with that, too.

skydragon wrote (View Post): › Hello, How does a person go about shipping internationally without having to figure out every single countries shipping rules? I think Patch said something about international priority so that every purchase would be the same amount. But, does every country allow that without extra charges?

I'm not sure what extra charges you are referring to above.
Do you mean Custom's Duty Tax, or such? Those vary enormously based on the type of item, declared cost of item, etc. Basically though, that's not your problem: all you do is fill out a small custom's form, and the country you ship to collects ( and keeps) the money: you have nothing to do with it.

I've shipped to , oh, I don't know, roughly 30 countries , and the single best advice I could give would be to either use a shipping calculator based on weight to allow buyers to calculate actual shipping ( a lot of venues have such built in )( you can also have it add your handling charge transparently ). If such a tool is unavailable, I've found USPS International Priority to be the least problematic. UPS, with their exorbitant "fuel charges" were the least cost effective, for me. Insurance is almost always a VERY good idea. IT can take up to 180 days for the USPS to trace, verify and refund a lost package, but nothing beats being able to tell your buyer, don't worry about it, it's insured. Even though it takes forever, most of the few times I've had a problem, the buyer was willing to wait, based on the fact the item was insured, and they knew they were covered. ( insurance is pretty cheap, and can easily be factored into the cost of the item of shipping. I think it also makes a nice impression when I, as the seller, provide insurance as a service free of charge ). Also cuts down on chargebacks, as the insurance makes it so they have to sign: proof of delivery is automatic.

One more thing: I'd avoid shipping to Nigeria under any circumstances.

Quote: › Any input would be appreciated. I would be shipping the same type of product. I have asked at our post office but I live in a small town and they don't seem to know for sure. In fact, learning things from here, I have had to tell them certain things. Thanks in advance.

I too have encountered that problem. The USPS has an excellent, informative website: I've found it useful to print out a page with the appropriate info, and bring it with me to educate the local clerks when need be.

Thank you for your replies. I was/am a little hesitant to use the USPS site as I have gotten burned using their site just on domestic shipping. So I figured I would come to the experts. Every little bit of advise helps me and both of you already helped me with some of my questions and concerns. Thanks again.

skydragon wrote (View Post): › Thank you for your replies. I was/am a little hesitant to use the USPS site as I have gotten burned using their site just on domestic shipping. So I figured I would come to the experts. Every little bit of advise helps me and both of you already helped me with some of my questions and concerns. Thanks again.

Let me clarify something.. do NOT rely on the USPS shipping calculator!
( the one available from USPS.com ) It seems remarkably inaccurate ( perhaps not updated as to the new rate increases? )Most sites have an internal one that is bound to be more accurate: the one one ebay was almost always within a few cents, for example. I've had the USPS one underestimate shipping, which wound up costing me out of pocket. Once to the tune of $13.00 !

On the other hand, I've never had any real problems with USPS making delivery, and the maintain excellent records, in terms of proof of delivery, signed for by, time, date, etc. On the few times I've had a problem, they were able to track the lost items and make good. ( Once it even caught a scammer red handed, as it were . Always a good thing )

alphatridentsales wrote (View Post): › Let me clarify something.. do NOT rely on the USPS shipping calculator! ( the one available from USPS.com ) It seems remarkably inaccurate

Is that different than using USPS to calculate and print the label? It has to be. Why in the world would the two functions use different data? I hear you saying you entered the weight accurately and when you entered the same weight and printed the postage it was different? Is that correct? That's Nuts!! (and I don't mean YOU, I mean THEM). Have you tried the Shipping Assistant recommended above?

If you are having a lot of problems with PayPal doing chargebacks due to scammers claiming you did not ship. ... I have found the following to be of use. When I have a PayPal transaction on anything with a value of more than, arbitrarily let's say $10.00, I ship the item with delivery confirmation, and an envelope with a flyer advertising my store/site/whatever to his neighbor, also with delivery confirmation.

Two benefits:
1: the guy next door now knows my store/site/whatever exists
2: The buyer may not sign, or may refuse to sign, whatever.. but the guy next door will sign, or such has always been the case in my experience.

now, when scammer claims he did not get the item, you can trot out your proof of delivery. If he refused to sign, the delivery was left on the porch or whatnot, you can STILL show a signed for proof of delivery, and , because PayPal only verifies the delivery to the depth of zip code ( i.e. they only verify the zip code of delivery, not the address/whom signed
, you are covered: the scammer's neighbor will have provided such by signing.

Cross-reference related topic - Finally, Paypl gets it right - regarding international shipping (more info than just PayPal)

*edited to clarify*

Thanks again PRG and alpha. I am hoping to not use paypay just google but I suppose I will be too stupid to figure that out too. Google checkout I mean.