Ebay shipping question?

Question

I always provide free shipping on any items that I sell and it has always been within the US. If someone from Canada is bidding, how do I go about charging them for shipping? Or would I just not deal with international customers? Or would the "free shipping" have to apply to them as well? Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

eBay is international. You should state with the product that "FREE" Shipping is withing the continental US & everywhere else there will be a shipping fee. You can contact the USPS for the rates to all countries.

For now, if it says free shipping you should have to honor it.

Answer 2

Either in your item listing or in your sellers terms and conditions make it clear that free shipping only applies to the U.S.

You could additionally add that non-U.S. buyers should contact you before bidding to ask for a shipping quotation.

*EDIT* Reply to your additional info:-

Weigh the item and allow for the additional weight of packing materials, and then check the websites of whichever postal/courier companies you can use. Bear in mind that overall dimensions of the package may also affect shipping rates, the websites you consult should make things clear.

It makes sense to go for a fully-tracked and insured service unless the goods are low value; eBay sellers often say "I can't be held responsible for shipping losses/damage" but eBay's rules clearly state that the seller is fully responsible for safe delivery of the goods and the buyer can claim a PayPal chargeback if goods fail to arrive or are damaged on arrival. If you have an insured shipping/courier service you can claim these costs back.

Sadly there are increasing numbers of scamming buyers who falsely claim non-receipt/damaged goods, so I send almost everything home or abroad via fully tracked signed for and insured services and take a quick photo or two of the goods as they're being packed and once wrapped as they're being handed over to the courier.

Selling to foreign countries does not need to be any more difficult or risky than domestic sales, but ultimately if you don't feel comfortable doing so then tell the seller that you've made a mistake in not restricting your offer to US only buyers and cancel the unwelcome bid. Don't forget to edit your listing to prevent other unwelcome bidders.  

With these precautions I sell worldwide excluding only those countries where I cannot get a fully-tracked signed for service and have had only a tiny percentage of fully-resolvable problems and have never had any negative or neutral f/b.