Parcels entering another country may be screened to look for prohibited items and for tax purposes. You can visit that country’s customs website to look for any restrictions or rules for your item especially if you are selling drugs, supplements or food.

Due to the long distance of the shipments, time is now a concern. That is why there are various service types a seller or buyer can choose.

Economy, Standard and Expedited.

It is important for sellers to inform buyers on the shipping type so they know what to expect.

Some logistics companies do not support shipping to some areas. You can consult your service provider for more on this.

As most of eBay’s transactions are shipped via airplane, shipping large items can be tricky due to the high cost. However, if the demand is there and with the right price, a buyer would not mind paying for the shipping fees.

Shipments need to follow rules set by the airline. Usually, they can’t ship liquid and batteries if sellers don’t provide proper documentation.

US will most likely be one of your key target markets. Learning about importing to this one country is enough to get you started.

Many logistics providers can ship to the US mainland (Except the protectorates and smaller islands) without any issue and price difference.

The US also imposes no tax for items below USD 800 for their de-minimis rule. They have rules on importing health and beauty products so you will need to educate yourself on that. Aside from that, you can start to list in most of the categories.

Moving forward, you can slowly learn how to explore selling to more countries. You may consult your account manager and the logistics provider for more information on this.

Selecting the right shipping service for your products is important. This is because international shipping costs can be expensive for cheaper items which make buyers feel the price is not worth paying.

1. 1. Cheaper alternatives such as Economy and Standard – For cheaper items it is best to use shipping that does not make the total buy price significantly higher. This can make your product less competitive in the first place.
   2. Premium alternatives such as Expedited – More suitable for more expensive items. This is because the price can easily be justified on top of the higher item price. With more expensive items, buyers usually would want to get the item faster with more reliable tracking details.

Once you have decided which shipping rule you are going to apply on which item, you can start setting your shipping policy.