Selling to buyers from abroad

[ButteredToastAndStrawberryJam]

I notice on a few listing sellers saying WILL NOT POST ABROAD, now I've sold a few things to overseas buyers and as of yet had no problems. Why are they so worried about this, especially if you get things tracked, well, in fact Ebay do their Global Shipping Program to a lot of places anyway. Am I missing something.

[OneTiredMummmyyy]

I expect a lot of the people who say they won't ship abroad in the listing don't know the Global Shipping Programme even exists. That said, if posting to countries outside of the Programme (e.g Estonia) it is a bit of a faff. Also trackable postage abroad costs a fortune in some cases. If you don't get it tracked (low value item) and they say they haven't received it, you are potentially out of pocket by a fair bit.

There is also a potential language barrier when communicating in the event of a dispute.

[ButteredToastAndStrawberryJam]

Yes, they're fair points you've mentioned. I think I'd always get everything tracked if sending abroad.
So just say someone from say Estonia won the bidding on my item, I'd message them with the postage cost after I'd checked at the Post Office, then it would be up to them if they wanted to go ahead and pay that or not?
The items I've sold before have gone through the Global Shipping Program and a long time ago I sent something to Portugal using my method above, well, I think that's what I did anyway, no problem from that sale, was a good while ago so can't remember 100%.

[OneTiredMummmyyy]

Yes if you are selling outside of the Global Shipping Programme you should get a quote for posting from Royal Mail and inform your prospective buyer what it is. Then ask them to wait for you to invoice them before they pay (assuming they win the item) so you can add on the postage.

[GoldPlatedBacon]

The only time I had a problem selling abroad is with the gsp(!) the item went missing but at least it was eBay fault. It was a bit difficult liaising with the buyer though as her English was poor and my Spanish is basically non existent, hopefully Google translate was correct! But otherwise I'm happy, not had any other issues. It's UK buyers who I tend to have problems with, they always seem to be the ones who find non existent faults, postal delays etc

[ButteredToastAndStrawberryJam]

That's reassuring then. Best to keep it open to international buyers, bigger audience and more customers hopefully. My furthest buyer up to now has been Australia.

[EagleRay]

I found the Global Shipping Programme a total nightmare! I listed a fairly large fragile(ish) item a while back and didn't realise the Global Shipoing box office as checked by default. And then the item is won by someone in France! There was just no way of packing up the item so that it wouldn't get crushed - packaging felt OK for uk post but I had a very bad feeling about it. Then sure enough, item arrives in France smashed to bits. eBay tell me not to issue refund to buyer as it'll be covered by their ins, then keep me waiting for weeks (meanwhile buyer v pissed off). Then eBay turns round and says it was my fault after all as packaging inadequate and then refused to discuss from that point on. Avoid GSP like the plague now.

[ButteredToastAndStrawberryJam]

That's worrying. Surely if you'd packed it well enough for UK it would be ok for abroad too. Bad form from GSP saying one thing then changing their mind. Have you put "no buyers from abroad" now then?

[EagleRay]

The sufficient packaging was questionable - the item was a baby bath and I protected it with cardboard and tons of bubble wrap but it was obvious it was going to get crushed going overseas! I could be wrong but the packaging felt sufficient for uk only. eBay said eventually (after weeks of me chasing up every day) that it should have been entirely enclosed in a box. I'm still a bit gobsmacked that someone bought a bloody baby bath when they were in another country but there you go. I make sure GSP is unchecked now and am super paranoid about breakages. I was mortified when it happened, but really angry at how unhelpful eBay were at resolving the issue

[ButteredToastAndStrawberryJam]

I agree, seems an odd purchase from someone abroad. Yes it is upsetting when something gets broken, it's always a worry with breakable items, even if package well.