I usually only ship to the US Lately I have had several requests from the UK If I use paypal and ship to the UK what additional things do I have to do to protect myself.Also what is the best shipping service USPS Fed Ex or UPS?If I shipped a couple of pieces of jewelry about how much is shipping?Thanks
I have shipped to the UK many times with no problems on payments via PayPal at all. I use Express Mail Service or Royal Mail.
The only problem is if the buyer doesn't understand customs duty. This is a legal/moral dilemma. Many countries including the UK have to deal with the reality of very tight customs duties, which are much less of an issue for USA buyers because the USA has generous limits. Personally, I stick to the rules and declare the sale price on the postal records. I take the precaution of letting the buyer know in the listings that customs duties are highly likely. I also give them the option of either Royal Mail or Parcelforce as the UK handler.
I have had my feedback smacked about by UK buyers, but usually it is on the shipping and handling charges. This is because buyers confuse the Customs Duty with my shipping fees or generally see the stars as a chance to vent about Customs Duty.
But the transactions are usually great.
If you let them know well in advance that they are up for these charges, you will be fine.
If you underdeclare, you are taking a risk that Customs
- may check your item and put their own valuation on it, which may be worse for your buyer.
- hold it which would be scary or
- return it to you.
- might let it sail through (but unlikely).
Depends on how much drama you want. Personally I like a quiet life so I stick to the normal system and make sure there is lots of communication with the buyer. It seems to be working. There are lots of nice UK buyers.
I do suggest you read this link
http://forum.purseblog.com/ebay-forum/customs-duties-websites-links-various-countries-postal-services-558212.html
There are many approaches to this and lots of different views on this issue.