Thread: Wonder (how to improve) edge

Originally Posted by Troggie

I will second what Jimmy said about international bidders. You can use a small international flat rate box which they would receive within 10 USPS business days. 14.95 is the cost to anywhere in the world. I have been buying and selling on ebay for 12+ years now and all my "hot" items I make sure to allow international shipping because it will normally up the bid count by 30%.

The problem with flat rate boxes is that there is no insurance on them and as far as ebay is concerned the seller is responsible for the item arriving properly to the buyer. So you are still assuming the risk during transit. The cheapest internationally insured option is at double that cost and most international buyers balk at that.

Originally Posted by gugi

The problem with flat rate boxes is that there is no insurance on them and as far as ebay is concerned the seller is responsible for the item arriving properly to the buyer. So you are still assuming the risk during transit. The cheapest internationally insured option is at double that cost and most international buyers balk at that.

This is true. When I sell internationally I insist that the item must be insured. This requires global priority at a minimum and even for a razor sized package about $20 USD + the insurance. I sold a bicycle to a fellow in London and I had to package it in two cartons because of size requirements. The bike sold for 2k but I could only insure for a maximum of $625 each carton IIRC. Better than nothing and fortunately it all went well with no damage. In that instance the buyer had to pay the insurance. Ebay's new policy holds the seller responsible for insuring packages.