Not Everything Has To Be Shipped Internationally
For many world wide businesses and international sellers there’s a lot to be decided on the shipping side of your sales. You need to choose where to ship, and remember that not everything has to be international. Sometimes, shipping an item to the other side of the world, or many miles away, may cost you more as the shipper than the actual item is worth or the payment you are receiving – in cases like this, it is just not feasible to offer international shipping, it’s a drain on your profits and is also not beneficial to the consumer who will likely face a long delay and higher shipping cost, than they would have with a seller closer to home. It could be damaging for your businesses reputation to even attempt international shipping in many cases.
So what should you consider if you are thinking of shipping internationally?
If you use international selling sites, you can receive considerable discounts for your shipping options and continual good feedback on top of this can mean that international shipping can be productive. However, when people look to purchase items on websites like this in the majority they are looking for the cheapest options and this will include the price of shipping. A higher shipping fee will contribute to making the overall price much greater than the product is worth and unless your product is one which is truly unique, the chances are that a buyer will be able to find a cheaper option from another seller.You can look at things like Priority Mail Services which is a preferred shipping method for many, this is because it offers a good trade off between delivery speed and costs – items are usually delivered between 2 and 3 days. There is the option of flat rate fees for small packages such as small boxes, flat packages or envelopes, which means it is a lot easier to calculate a shipping cost upfront and with this option it doesn’t matter where your buyer is located as the price will always stay the same. As well as low costs, people also want speedy deliveries and with the thousands of sellers online today this is a buyer prerogative, international sellers can rarely secure guaranteed next day deliveries which can put them out of the running for many sales.
As with all businesses, expenditures are something which should only be 100% necessary, and if your business can stay afloat without the option of international selling then this can save you a lot of money in the long run – even down to saving money on containers and packaging for long distance transportations and the price of listing items online.
If you do choose to ship internationally, you may prefer to look at a fulfilment warehouse to house your products and organise the distribution to specific countries in order to keep costs down.
