[rparmar]

When I lived in Canada I did many hundreds of postal transactions within Canada and also to USA, Europe, Australasia, etc. etc. though few would have been for much over $100. Now that I am in Ireland I regularly buy from overseas but have not sold yet.

I think there are very few considerations and the USPS website makes it all very easy.

1. Shipping will be more expensive. If you do lots of similar transactions you will get a feel for how much, but in general should not estimate ahead of time. Instead be sure the buyer pays actual shipping. Cost depends on size and weight in complex ways, but there is an online calculator. Weigh using kitchen scales and look it up.

2. Insurance is at discretion of buyer but if they choose not to get it they have no recourse. Be sure they agree to this explicitly. Insurance is good because if the package goes missing you have, in theory, a way of getting money back. However the reality is this can take an inordinate amount of time and paperwork to claim... maybe not even worth it depending on value. I have never once had a package go missing so I have no personal experience with this. I think insurance is just a way for the post office to make free money for nothing.

3. Accept whatever payments can be guaranteed and wait for such to clear before shipping. Please note that outside N.America and UK there is no such thing as a confirmed Paypal address, so if you demand such you are basically closing yourself off to most international commerce. There is no reason to demand this anyway. My Paypal address is not confirmed but my account is. Seller is in control here, since the money will be in seller's account before the product is shipped.

4. Pack securely and with lots of padding. I once had a fairly expensive computer card arrive with a few pieces of newspaper in a box 10 times too large... so it had been tossed around in the box for the entire time. It is perfectly reasonable to charge a packing and handling fee on top of shipping for this.

5. If the buyer wishes you to undervalue the product to reduce their duty hit then they will only be able to get insurance in that amount. Be sure all buyers understand that duty and local taxation is their responsibility. I know it is obvious but newbies complain about this all the time.

Hope this helps. Should be a FAQ?