Selling & Shipping internationally.

[ivangterrace]

Hello,

So recently with the restrictions put on resellers that makes them sell to their own regions, and the onset of very angry australians and new zealanders in regards to wargaming price increases; I want to open my sell thread to them.

Here are my questions:

What is the best service to use, USPS, UPS, or Fedex?

What guarantees (if any) can I give to a buyer in regards to when their package will arrive?

How much extra wear do boxes get when going overseas and should I do any extra packing procedures in order to assure my customer's goods arrive in the piece(s) I said it would in my trading post?

Will tracking (delivery conf. etc), getting the box marked 'fragile' and insuring the package be enough protection for the buyer and I? Or are there more things I should do when purchasing additional services to be done to the packages I send?

Extra question: How do I figure out costs before I ship? Right now I've been calculating shipping as a % of what you spend on models and then eating the rest of the cost. Can I make an easy scale system like that or do I have to know each box's specifications and how much it weighs and calculate the cost for every transaction?

Thank you for your time

[kturock]

I'll put my answers in after your questions.

Hello,

So recently with the restrictions put on resellers that makes them sell to their own regions, and the onset of very angry australians and new zealanders in regards to wargaming price increases; I want to open my sell thread to them.

Here are my questions:

What is the best service to use, USPS, UPS, or Fedex?

Best? Best how? All 3 have a trackable service. But it's not cheap. USPS is the cheapest because it uses the government run postal serives, delivery services. The con to that is UPS and FEDEX hire private employees. They get paid more so than can be more reliable.

What guarantees (if any) can I give to a buyer in regards to when their package will arrive? See the above. Nothing is guaranteed once it leaves your hands. All services have had theft in the US. In some countries marking the item as insured or registered marks it as having value, and a reason to be stolen or rifled. There is no when. it depends on both countries customs departments.

How much extra wear do boxes get when going overseas and should I do any extra packing procedures in order to assure my customer's goods arrive in the piece(s) I said it would in my trading post? Alot. It goes by air, several times. ON succesively smaller planes. It can get left on the tarmac waiting for a plane and be subject to wind, rain, sun. Use bubble wrap and stryofoam pieces. At least 2 inces of padding around each item and each other and the sides/top/bottom of the box.

Will tracking (delivery conf. etc), getting the box marked 'fragile' and insuring the package be enough protection for the buyer and I? Or are there more things I should do when purchasing additional services to be done to the packages I send? Insurance always protects the buyer AND seller. Who loses the moeny if the plane crashes or lands on the river? Marking it fragile? What language? Insurance isn't available to every country. That should tell you something.

Extra question: How do I figure out costs before I ship? Right now I've been calculating shipping as a % of what you spend on models and then eating the rest of the cost. Can I make an easy scale system like that or do I have to know each box's specifications and how much it weighs and calculate the cost for every transaction?
It depends on how much shipping you plan on doing. You can buy a small postal scale from the office supples stores or USPS. Shop around. ALL of the shipping services have online price calculators. USE THEM. Box the minis, just loose. Throw some bubble wrap or pieces of stryofoam in on top, then a couple sheets of paper. That'll give you an approximate weight. Then round up a couple ounces.

Thank you for your time

[MagickalMemories]

I have an answer for you, too:

I want to open my sell thread to them.

If you're talking about buying at a discount in your region (based on your region's MSRP pricing), then selling to them at a slightly inflated rate (which would still be cheaper than their existing prices), you'll need to be an advertiser, if you want to do that here.


Eric