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Right now I was checking eBay UK because I was going to cancel my subscription to Vendio in favor of using eBay's Selling Manager Pro auction management system and I was greeted with the big fat image above.  It would appear that eBay wants to remind its UK buyers that they can get goods for a fairly steep discount by importing from other countries because of the conversion rate between British Pounds (GBP) and Euros, and US Dollars (USD).  Right now, the exchange rate of dollars to pounds is 1:1.975 according to XE.  That means that the pound is worth nearly twice the dollar.

What does this mean for eBay sellers?  For both sellers that sell as a hobby and those who sell for a living, it means that they could be missing out on a significant source of revenue.  It's very common on eBay to see a seller's auction description with the following: "NO INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS!"  But if you stop to think about it, that US-centric mindset could be costing you money. 

Here are some reasons that many sellers are reluctant to sell internationally:

• Increased cost of shipping
• Increase risk of lost shipments due to lack of tracking tools
• Fear of negative feedback due to lost shipments
• Having to fill out customs forms is intimidating
• Credit card fraud in certain countries is rampant

Fortunately each of these has a solution.

Increased Cost of Shipping
Although it does cost more to ship to foreign countries, it's not that big of a deal because your buyers are paying for it anyway.  Most buyer that purchase from a foreign country expect to pay extra because importing can be expensive.  However, you have to think about it from their perspective.  They may be buying an item for a fraction of the price in their country, depending on the exchange rate at the time.  They'll probably still come out ahead even if they have to pay double the regular shipping price.

Increase Risk of Lost Shipments Due to Lack of Tracking Tools
This one can be a problem, but there are plenty of things you can do to reduce your risk.  The first is only shipping to Paypal confirmed addresses if you are accepting Paypal.   This means that their address is verified as their credit card address which provides an extra layer of security.  Second, you can track USPS International Priority Mail by the customs number.  Third, you can also purchase insurance to Canada for as little as $2.05 for $100 of coverage.  This might also mean that less than 2.05% of packages get lost on their way and probably even less than that because they still have administrative costs involved with selling insurance.  Lastly, you can build that 2% loss expectancy into your frame of mind, meaning that you shouldn't sweat over an item or two getting lost on the way because chances are, it's going to be a very rare occurance. 

Fear of Negative Feedback Due To Lost Shipments
I might be stereotyping, but in general, I've found international buyers to be much more polite and willing to solve problems than American buyers.  In fact, when thinking back to the few negatives I've received, I don't believe that any of them are from international bidders.  Most of them have been very nice about everything, even when things go wrong.  Plus, usually by responding promptly to their emails and giving refunds when it's clear the package is gone, you'll be able to avert any negatives.

Having To Fill Out Customs Forms Is Intimidating
You might not be sure which customs form to use and in general, post office employees may have a tendency to not be very helpful in explaining things.  Luckily there are only three customs forms anyway.  The first is form 2976-FCMI which is used for USPS First Class Mail International.  The other is 2976-A-PMI for USPS Priority Mail International.  The last one is 2976-A-EMI for USPS Express Mail International.  If you're using a postage printing program such as Endicia, you can fill it out on the computer instead of handwriting it out.  When using Endica, the First Class Mail form is actually integrated with the shipping label itself so there is no need to print anything else.  Priority Mail prints out 4 copies of the customs form on regular paper which you then have to cut, but it's still easier than writing it by hand.  Then you slip them into a customs form envelope that you can get for free from USPS.  Either way, you basically just put in their address, your address, a one line description of what's inside and the value of it which is the price they bought it for on eBay. 

Credit Card Fraud in Certain Countries is Rampant
Everyone that's been on the internet for more than 5 minutes has probably gotten the email scam from the Nigerian Prince asking to use their bank account to transfer 80 million dollars, but so what?  If you don't want to risk getting ripped off by some guy in a country you couldn't locate on the map, just set it up in eBay that way.  If you only wanted to ship to major, non-third world countries you could do something like this:

That covers most of your bases and as long as you go edit My Account -> Preferences -> Selling Preferences -> Buyer Requirements and check this box, you'll be okay:

So now you know that you won't be ripped off by a Nigerian prince because you've taken measures to avoid fraud.  Now go off and sell some stuff to some guy from a little villa in Spain with confidence!