These days there are lots of people using the likes of eBay and Amazon Marketplace to sell their goods online. Even if you aren’t a professional seller and have a regular full-time job, selling stuff online is a nice little way to bring in a bit of extra pocket money. You never know, this hobby could eventually develop into a proper income for you!

There’s just one part of selling online that is difficult to break into: selling abroad. Using the internet opens you up to a lot of buyers from international markets, which can make it ever so easy to make a sale. But before you do, you need to read these following pointers to make sure you are ready for some of the implications that might follow.

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Make It Clear Where You’re Based

We’ve all been there before – we’ve been looking for a product on Amazon or eBay, found a really cheap one and clicked ‘purchase’. But then you notice that the expected delivery date is in a couple of weeks – why so long? That’s because the product is coming from abroad! This can be really annoying, especially if you want the item as quickly as possible. So, make sure you don’t disappoint any buyers who don’t realize you are based abroad – be sure to clearly state where you are based so that they know what kind of postage time to expect.

There’s No Package Too Big

Worried that whatever it is you sell is too big and costly to post abroad? Don’t panic; shipping cars to and from various countries is possible now and something that many sellers do, so if we can ship cars, I’m sure that your product will be easy to send to a different country! And don’t forget that you can always charge the cost of postage and packaging to the buyer, so you don’t have to incur any of these extra charges.

Don’t Lose Money Through Currency Exchanges

One of the main challenges that international sellers face is the constant fluctuation of foreign currencies. Because of this, it is worth always reviewing your prices and changing them if there are any major changes in the value of your own currency or the one that your buyers will be using. That way, you won’t inadvertently be stung by any unexpected changes to the market currencies.

Use A Local Selling Platform

Websites like eBay and Amazon Marketplace are great ways to open up your own products to some international customers. However, if you want to try and attract even more customers from international markets, then you might want to find some location-specific selling platforms. For instance, every country will have its own version of eBay that its citizens use to sell and buy things. These local platforms might even be more popular than the American giants like eBay, so it really is worth checking them out.

These tips should make it ever so easy to reach out to new international customers when you sell online!