This is a simple guide, explaining how easy it is to export from the USA to the UK Great Britain etc. In fact its almost identical to domestic US shipping, but just takes 1-3 days longer to arrive to your British buyers... ! This guide also applies to shipping internationally to any other country, although some may take longer than to the UK, and some are potentially not as safe to ship to (certain African countries etc allegedly should be avoided...).

I am a UK buyer who has found many many US sellers simply didnt realise how easy it was to export their items to us in Britain. I am writing this guide as I keep explaining the same information to US sellers who all say they wish they knew before and also wish there was a guide for this ! So here it is finally as I promised y'all :)

If you have "Worldwide" shipping enabled on your auctions and havent set bidder restrictions to stop buyers bidding if they are "from countries I dont ship to", then you will often get foreign bidders on your auctions. They will bump your prices up if they dont win, which is clearly a good thing, but if they do win, dont panic ! Its very easy to get the items to them...

Obviously you can setup your shipping costs in your auctions to display your actual costs for Express International Mail, Priority International Mail, Priority Flat-Rate Boxes / Envelopes International and First Class International Mail, and to get the prices you can follow this guide and use usps.com to price up, print labels and arrange free home pickup etc as you usually would. Even if you just set "Worldwide" shipping on auctions and dont put the prices in to start with, they are easy to work out after the auction finishes if an international bidder wins...

I have written this guide from the point of view of a UK British buyer importing from you in the US, but you can apply this information to bidders from anywhere in the world. USPS (usps.com) ships worldwide so you can too and you should take advantage of this bonus to maximise your profits !

- The most expensive option is Global Express Guaranteed International Mail, which takes only 1-3 days to get to the buyer in the UK and is fully trackable with delivery confirmation but costs a fortune. Only really a viable option for very expensive <=$2,499 items.

- The second most expensive option is Express International Mail which has less insurance ($100 is free) cover than Global Express Guaranteed International Mail but still substantially more than Priority International Mail. This method takes 5 days to arrive with the buyer in the UK and is fully tracked with delivery confirmation.

- The third and most standard / normally chosen option is Priority International Mail which has adequate insurance cover if you pay a little extra for it (and require it) and takes 6-10 days to arrive with the buyer in the UK. This is fully tracked with delivery confirmation also. Priority International Mail has a weight limit of 20 pounds 0 ounces, so if its above this weight, you have no option but to go for Express International Mail.

- There are also subsets of Priority International Mail, such as (large / regular / small) flat-rate boxes and flat-rate envelopes etc. Apart from the smallest ones, they all have the same features as standard Priority International Mail, whereas the small envelopes and small flat-rate boxes miss out on the full tracking, but have all the other features and freebies still. If the items fit into one of these flat-rate Priority International Mail subset packages, use them as they will save you and the buyer lots of shipping costs !

- Then finally, there is First Class International Mail. This is by far the cheapest method, but usually takes about 8-14 days to arrive and offers no tracking or delivery confirmation, but sellers can still get proof of postage if they pay a small fee ($1.20 i believe). First Class International Mail has a weight limit of 4 pounds 0 ounces, so if your package exceeds this you must resort to Priority International Mail...

You can price up all of these shipping options on usps.com, just as you would for a domestic shipped item, but changing the destination country to the UK (or wherever you want to ship to).

There are size restrictions for all the different mail types, but they all work out to be very matched to the price paid for shipping. The more expensive the shipping method, the larger and heavier packages can be sent basically. If your items can fit into a smaller flat-rate envelope or box for example, you will save a lot over the standard price for that shipping method.

The one other key difference between these shipping methods is how they are processed and used. First Class International Mail requires you, the seller, to physically deliver the item to your local post sorting office. When you take the package there, they will give you a customs form / label to fill out with the total value etc. If you want proof of postage you can get it at the Post Office when handing in the package.

All the other US shipping methods, from Priority International Mail and upwards in terms of cost, all offer free online postage label printing, free online customs form / label printing (filled in for you), free packing materials, free packing boxes / envelopes etc and free home pickup of the item, just as they would for your standard domestic within-US only mail.

Its also worth bearing all these freebies in mind when looking at how fairly you charge for P&P, as if you get a free box, free bubble wrap etc packing materials, free printouts of shipping and customs labels and a free pickup from your house, how much "Packing" / "Handling" is it really fair to charge ? On the reverse of this same point, realise that to ship First Class International Mail may often include a journey and time to visit your local post office to physically hand in the package, get it priced up and (in some cases) get proof of postage.

Finally, in terms of pricing it all up, once you have the package weight (and dimensions if possible, but not essential), you can go onto usps.com and find out the exact price there, for ALL these shipping methods, not just the trackable ones. Just click on Mailing & Services - Price Comparisons on the right hand side of the main page, then change destination country to UK and you're there, done ! However, its not possible to print out First Class International Mail shipping labels online, so to get that done you must physically visit the post office as described above...

Using usps.com for international shipping is identical in every way to how you normally ship domestically and it makes the whole shipping process very simple as well.

Some US sellers may want to only ship using Express International Mail, but if you know how much more expensive it is than Priority International Mail and how with Priority International Mail you get all the same benefits and freebies, and that the only difference is 1-3 extra days to arrive with your buyer in the UK (etc), usually US sellers will be happy to ship using Priority International Mail instead. Also remember that its cheaper to buy postage online from the usps.com website (than physically taking the package to the Post Office) and this saving could be somewhat passed on to your buyer... :)

I have imported from so many sellers that say in their auctions that they only ship to their own country. Often this is simply because they dont realise how effortlessly easy it is to ship internationally / to the UK, but once you see the ease of pricing on usps.com and how its identical for you as shipping domestically etc, (apart from 1-3 extra days delivery time), US sellers will usually be delighted to ship to their UK buying public :)

Dont forget that upon import to the UK your package is subject to British Customs taxes also. If it is marked on the customs form / label as over certain values (£36 for "gifts" and £18 for all other categories) there will be taxes on your items before they will be released for delivery to the UK buyers. Also, if your package goes over the £18 / £36 values for the goods, then Customs will also tax on what was spent on shipping / postage costs ! These customs charges, (and the associated stitch-up rip-off £8-12 that Royal Mail / Parcel Force will charge UK buyers (for the "admin" of sending a 1 page letter to them) additional to the customs charge), are usually the buyer's responsibility and not all sellers will pay them for the buyers. They do not constitute part of the P&P costs from eBay and are out of the seller's control, beyond what value you mark the customs form with... These Customs charges only apply to goods imported from outside the EU.

At the end of the day, if the postal method has tracking and / or delivery confirmation, you can basically trust it to get here (or anywhere !) asap. This will also give you a proper recourse & comeback should something happen and the item get lost in the post or turn up damaged etc. As a rule of thumb, the more postage actually costs and the more features it has available, the higher the maximum insurance payout possible, so bear this in mind if exporting expensive goods...

Trust us foreign buyers and make use of the vastly increased market opportunities from shipping internationally ! Set your shipping to "worldwide", remove bidder restrictions to those of us from "countries you dont ship to" and reap the financial rewards without fear !

I hope you found this guide helpful ! I wish someone had written it before I had to discover all this myself during my import / export purchasing :) If you found it useful, please vote YES that it was helpful :)

Thanks so much :)