Still worried about opening shipping to the world? Think it is going to cost too much to ship your goods out of the good old U.S.A?   Well, before you close off a really great source of customers, check out the actual postal charges.

How much does it weigh?

I sell some very lightweight items (2-3 ounces).  I sell many, much heavier items too.  However, since the postal rate increases of May 2007, I have found that shipping a 2-3 ounce muzzle to a Canadian customer costs me 16-30 cents LESS than sending it to my U.S. customers.  At first I thought this was an error, but I checked and this was, indeed the case.

Check out the prices:

• The cost of shipping the 2 ounce item to Canada is $1.00, vs. $1.30 to the U.S.
• The cost of shipping the 2 ounce item to Canada is $1.31, vs. $1.47 to the U.S.

Now, even to send my 3 ounce item all the way to New Zealand costs me only about twice the amount to send it to my U.S. customers.

Maybe you can enjoy an expanded customer base AND save money in the process!

Take the time to do the research.  If you can, open your sales to allow sales outside of the U.S.  You will transact business with some really great customers, and will save a little money in the process!