This guide is for international buyers who want items from U.S. sellers who do not normally ship to their countries. Many (not all) U.S. sellers are willing to make exceptions to their normal shipping rules.

1. Contact the seller before placing any bids. Ask the seller to consider shipping to you and assure them that if there are any problems, you will communicate with them about it first (instead of filing a complaint or leaving negative feedback because you assume we won't bother with customer service). If you have more than one ID, use the one with a higher or better feedback rating - if the seller feels like you understand how eBay works overall and are a reasonable customer, they are more likely to feel comfortable making an exception for you.

2. Understand why the shipping is so high. If a seller is using USPS, delivery confirmation (which proves we sent the item out and that you received it) on packages sent within the US  costs 75 cents or less, but tracking and insurance on international packages isn't as cheap! You may well prefer to have something send FCI, but the risks, to buyer and seller, are great. Think about it - if your friend says, 'I sent it out on the 10th' or 'I know I packed it carefully, the shippers must have damaged it', you will just believe them. If a seller tells you that, you will likely want proof and want the situation corrected. You should also understand that almost every seller considers a refund to be for the purchase price only - meaning, yes, you could end up paying the shipping costs there and back even if they exceed the cost of your purchase. So please check your seller's feedback and the item description carefully to try to make sure you know what you are getting, and that you are likely to be happy with it.

- USPS First Class International does not offer tracking or insurance, and is a relatively low-cost way to send items under 4 pounds.

- Priority Mail International (packages by weight) starts at $16.00, only offers tracking to certain locations, and does not include insurance. Flat Rate Global Priority options are Envelopes, which start at $9.00 for Canada and Mexico, and $11.00 everywhere else and Boxes which start at $22.00 for Canada and Mexico.

- Global Express Guaranteed (which starts at $22.00) and Express Mail International (which starts at $28.50) offer tracking and insurance.

There are other add-on services that can help provide security for seller and buyer. The Return Receipt service ($2.15) can be used for delivery confirmation, but only for Express Mail, Registered Mail, and insured Priority Mail International items, and does not provide tracking. The Registered Mail option costs $10.15 and can be used to provide limited protection on FCI items and PMI Flat Rate Envelopes. PMI offers reasonable insurance rates. Please be aware that some countries do not allow Return Receipt, and many restrict to Registered Mail.

3. Understand why many U.S. sellers do not to ship items internationally. If the buyer doesn't understand that it may take a long time for the item to arrive (even if the seller shipped it the same day payment was made), cannot communicate with, or understand communication from, the seller, doesn't understand what they were buying, or holds the seller responsible for loss or damage in transit (risks that are obviously increased by the longer journey), sellers risk issues with problems, refunds, and potential negative feedback for things totally beyond their control. With the advent of the star system, even more sellers are hesitant to do this, because they are concerned about being judged unfairly for prices and delivery times that are not under their control.

4. Do not ask us to ship items marked as a gift instead of merchandise. Many sellers go to the same post office almost every day. The postal workers there know we sell things. They know (and notice) if we mark a package as a gift. We could get in a lot of trouble, and it can damage our rapport with our local postal workers. Also many countries are now enforcing it by going after the buyers who live in their countries - YOU can get in trouble for this as well.

5. Leave positive feedback. Having to look up your contact info to send an email asking if it has arrived yet, and if you are happy with it, just adds to a feeling of it being bothersome. The sooner we know it has been a good transaction, the better we will feel about future sales to you, and to other international buyers.

Let's say your seller has agreed to ship your item. It arrives, you are happy with it, and you want to make more purchases from them. They may be willing to use a less expensive service that doesn't provide them as much protection this time (now that they know that everything went smoothly with your first purchase).

One final note -  I personally really don't care for purchases from foreign buyers that are sent to companies in the U.S. that will then reship it to you. My limited experience with these so far has been that the buyers are completely unable to communicate with or understand me, that the companies themselves do not assist their buyers in handling these transactions, nor will they assist me with the transaction even if I call them for help, and that I have no control whatsover over how the company may repack it, how they will ship it, or when they will ship it - leaving me with a customer I cannot communicate with and a high risk of problems beyond my control. If you want an item from me, I expect to be the one who ships it out to you.

I hope this guide has been helpful to you - good luck and happy bidding :)