Dakotamaid, thats a great idea. I will do that next time. I have had people pm me and say, can you ship to******, and I am willing as long as they KNOW the shipping will be alot more! Have mailed to Austrailia, Canada, Netherlands, but its so much more.

a very nice lady sent me two boxes of color catchers so i could try them out and it cost her just a bit over three dollars. True, sometimes the cost of shipping is not worth it but other times it is well worth it. I do agree though , there must be an understanding between the two parties....i was just curious to know if it is more trouble than mailing it in the States aside figuring out the cost of shipping?

that`s a good idea!!

I have sold fabrics to many all over the world, never had a problem. Wording in your ad is important.

I had a hard time figuring out the customs slips. A lady in Austrailia actually helped me do that. Not sure about figuring prices as I always go to the PO and have them do it, lol!

I have always shipped to Canada on here as well as in my etsy store. I know that my Canadian buyers are more than willing to pay the extra shipping but about 6 months ago I seriously debated not shipping to Canada because of the HUGE headache I received later.

I made some crib bumpers that I had sold for 75.00 in my etsy store. The lady was very happy to find ones that matched the quilt that someone had given her as a baby gift :) Same fabrics and all! So I shipped them to her and she was furious about the horrendous fees that came due on delivery. She was so mad at me! She said that she had paid the shipping and did not think that it was fair that she should have to pay anymore. I paid the shipping fees on my end. Not being from Canada, I had no idea what the fees were for or why she had been charged them. It is not my country and I do not understand how the Canadian government does things. After numerous calls on both ends we fund out how the fees were all broke down. We were able to get the charge on delivery reduced but it was still a good size fee. We found out that it was basically a random search fee charge and brokerage fees or something else yadda yadda yadda. Not really sure. Part of the problem was that I shipped with UPS not through the regular mail. I didn't realize that it would make any difference. I had looked a couple places for a good sized box to fit them in since they are long and skinny and ended up just going there to buy the box and ship it there to avoid any more hassle. Anyways I ended up splitting the fees with her. Basically just to keep peace and to avoid a negative review by her. I lost hours trying to figure it all out. And after paying the additional fees on the bumper pads (which I had already discounted) I ended up losing money on the whole deal. It cost me in the end.

I have since shipped to Canada but I have been really nervous about it every time. Honestly if I have another bad experience like that I probably wont ship there again. I know that it is unfair to you guys as the buyer but a huge headache is unfair to the seller too :(

UPS does charge very high brokerage fees. Shipping through the mail is a much better option

The only thing that is a hassle to me is when in line at the PO and you're shipping to Canada, you have to get out of line to fill out the customs forms. Then get back in line to finalize the mailing. That part is just a big hassle especially if you use a busy post office. If USPS could do a better job of providing info, it would help greatly. Mainly it's just a time factor when you're trying to mail out several things.

I don't mind doing it at all but this could be one of the issues. :)

Several people have commented why it's harder. And truth be told, if I can sell something in the U.S. without the headaches I will do so....

Next time fill out your custom forms at home first and this will speed up your timing; or grab a handful of Custom Forms for your future International mailing.
I grab handfuls of Custom tickets and have them ready and filled before mailing. This practice makes you and Postal Clerk happy.
You can also Pre-pay your future mailing for a Flat rate envelope/Priority mailing, or selected mailing with pre-paid postage from the Post Office


*I like to mail international but Canada is different from the other Countries that I have been mailing to lately.
No offense to the Canadians, but the postal system is different in my opinion.