How UK Retailers Can Sell Internationally on eBay

An Insight Into eBay

You don’t need a complicated or expensive international eCommerce platform to start selling outside the UK. You can use eBay instead.

As one of the world’s largest global eCommerce marketplaces, eBay offers retailers access to more than 100 million buyers across 20+ countries. You’ll be in good company. Major brands like Toys R Us and Dyson use eBay to reach buyers beyond their home shores.

There are currently three ways to sell internationally on eBay.

In this article, we’ll explain the merits of each of them, what makes eBay such a powerful cross-border eCommerce solution and why shipping should be one of your top priorities when selling on the platform.

Why Sell Internationally on eBay?

If you already have an established presence on eBay or don’t want to go through the hassle of creating an international eCommerce store, selling across borders on eBay is a no-brainer.

Because of its established platform, eBay gives you access to over 147 million potential consumers across 190 markets. International trade is also a core part of the platform, and 62 percent of all transactions are international.

eBay also takes a lot of the risk out of cross-border eCommerce. In many cases, it will take care of some of the regulatory leg work on your behalf. It also offers protection to both retailers and consumers - the latter who will feel far more confident trying a new, international brand because of the platform’s reputation.

It’s not as difficult as you think, either. As we’ll see below, there are multiple ways you can sell internationally on eBay.

eBay’s International Selling Requirements

There are a couple of things you’ll need to be aware of before selling internationally through eBay. The first is making sure your products can legally be sold in the countries you list them in. Regulations can vary drastically between countries, so make sure you do your research.

In addition, you must meet the following criteria before eBay lets you sell internationally:

• Have a verified eBay account in good standing
• Have earned 10+ feedback points as a seller
• Made your first sale more than 90 days ago
• Meet the requirements of each eBay site you want to sell on

eBay may also ask you to sign an international selling agreement. This confirms you acknowledge the products you sell to international buyers are subject to the policies of those respective sites.

Three Ways to Ship Internationally With eBay

There are three ways retailers can ship internationally on eBay:

• Basic international selling
• Advanced international selling
• eBay’s Global Shipping Program
• We’ll explain each in detail below

Basic International Selling

eBay’s basic international selling option lets retailers make their UK listings available to buyers worldwide. The only thing retailers need to do is add international postage information to their UK listings.

Choose this method, and your products will be shown to international shoppers searching on eBay.co.uk, eBay’s international websites, and eBay.com for shoppers without their own international site.

Basic international selling is the easiest method to sell internationally on eBay, but it has its limitations. The biggest is that your product will be flagged as an international listing. Customers have the option (which they tend to exercise) to filter out international items in favour of faster shipping options.

The other issue is currency conversions. When using eBay’s basic international selling solution, product prices are displayed to users in their local currency. Because you can only select one price for your items (the price you list them to UK consumers) you’re at the mercy of currency fluctuations. This can play havoc with your accounting and mean your products end up being significantly more expensive than local alternatives.

Advanced International Selling

Instead of creating one listing that is accessed by consumers around the world, eBay’s advanced international selling program lets retailers create specific listings for each of its international sites.

The benefit of this method is that you can tailor your entire listing to the local market. The language, price and shipping options can all be localised. Of course, if you’re going to localise your listings, customers will also expect you to offer customer service in their local language. This requires more work on the part of retailers, but it’s well worth it.

Products will have much better visibility using the advanced international selling option. Even if consumers choose to hide international sales, your products will still be visible because they’re counted as local listings.

Retailers can list items on any of eBay’s 20+ international sites using the same login information they use in the UK. This doesn’t just make it convenient for retailers to manage. It also means international customers will be able to see your existing feedback scores. You’re not starting from a blank slate, in other words, and this puts you at an advantage over newer local sellers who don’t have your sales history.

eBay’s Global Shipping Program

The final way to sell internationally on eBay is through the company’s Global Shipping Program. This is an enhanced version of eBay’s basic international selling option. Instead of you posting the items, however, eBay takes responsibility for the entire shipping process. All retailers need to do is send their products to a shipping centre in the UK.

As a result, retailers don’t have to worry about international regulations, customs duties, or other fees associated with selling across borders. eBay takes care of everything, shipping your products to 64 countries. You needn’t worry about negative feedback related to delivery, either. eBay removes any such reviews.

Why You Should Ship eBay Sales Yourself

You don’t have to use eBay’s Global Shipping Program to transport your products. Retailers selling internationally on eBay can choose up to five international shipping services in order to offer a better, more localised service. It can often work out significantly cheaper for retailers and customers if brands arrange their own shipping, too. That’s because there are additional fees associated with GSP and customers are charged priority shipping fees by eBay.

Some goods aren’t eligible for GSP, either. Items weighing more than 30kg, measuring larger than 125,000 cm³ or costing more than £2000 can’t be sent using GSP. Even if you’re products are eligible, the system still isn’t perfect. Goods sent via GSP can be opened by eBay at warehouses and may not be repackaged to your standards.

Shipping items yourself using a cross-border parcel delivery service means you can offer customers a faster, cheaper and more streamlined delivery experience. Better still, you can use your own delivery service whether you sell using eBay’s basic or advanced international selling options.

Get Selling on eBay with Pro Carrier

So what’s stopping you from selling on eBay? Choose the program that works for you, then reach out to our team for advice on how we can help you send products internationally.

Does Pro Carrier integrate with eBay?

​Go and check out our ecommerce integrations.