Selling abroad

[Llynda]

I really need to widen my market and since it is such a niche one, I should be selling abroad. Problem is, I'm not sure how to set this up ie delivery charges, currency converter etc. Has anyone done this and can give me a few tips please. I always get the hang of it in the end but never know where to start. :confused:

Thanks

Llynda
bigdogstuff.co.uk

[little-linguist]

Hi Llynda,

We sell abroad but don't bother with the currency converter bit. We just advertise everything in £, the cards are billed in £s and then the customers' card providers will convert the amount into their local currency. The currency converter is just to give a guide price anyway (I think) as you generally still bill in £s unless you've requested the option from your merchant provider to bill in a foreign currency (usually costs more hence why we didn't bother!).

With regard to shipping, you just set it up as you would for UK. You need to decide how you're going to ship (Royal Mail or courier, for example) and then you will probably find that it's best to offer shipping amounts by weight as international mailing prices shoot up quite a lot for different weight limits. Overseas shipping isn't cheap and there is a maximum weight limit of 2kg per parcel for Royal Mail Airmail or Surface Mail.

Oh, if you're VAT registered, don't forget that VAT is automatically deducted for orders shipped to Non-EU countries so your customers will save 17.5% (this feature is all built in - you don't need to set it up). You just need to keep proof of posting of items sent outside the EU to keep Mr VAT Man happy!

Just some general (non-Bluepark) hints for selling abroad:

1) Check that your business insurance properly covers you for selling abroad, especially if you're going to be selling to North America. I know that we had to add extra product liability cover.

2) If you choose to ship items via Royal Mail Surface mail, make sure your customers are aware that it takes AGES (6 - 8 weeks) for parcels to arrive. We offer a choice of Air or Surface but the customers that choose surface always whinge about how long it takes!

[lewey]

Just to add about if you are keeping your prices in £s (we do as well): Somewhere appropriate eg shipping charges page to other countries or similar, emphasise that your prices are in £s, and that the customer's card / bank will automatically convert to their local currency.

When we started getting a few orders from USA - we then got a steady stream of emails from them afterwards saying how they had purchased an item for X $ but then had been charged twice that on their card. (when of course the prices were actually in £s). The Americans don't seem to think about there being other countries in the world who use different currencies, and that especially at the moment the US$ isn't worth so much.

[petad]

When we started getting a few orders from USA - we then got a steady stream of emails from them afterwards saying how they had purchased an item for X $ but then had been charged twice that on their card. (when of course the prices were actually in £s). The Americans don't seem to think about there being other countries in the world who use different currencies, and that especially at the moment the US$ isn't worth so much.
Funnily enough, we just got our first of these yesterday from someone in the States. Even funnier, they placed their order on 15 December, and asked for delivery before Christmas. Even after we emailed them to explain that international posting dates for Christmas had passed, they still wanted their order. And now they can't understand why they have been charged double. Words like insular and parochial come to mind (as well as thick).

lewey - how would you suggest getting the message you suggest on the checkout screen?

Pete

[Llynda]

Thanks for that - always good to know the little bits that get forgotten that end up getting you in a mess.

[little-linguist]

we then got a steady stream of emails from them afterwards saying how they had purchased an item for X $ but then had been charged twice that on their card.
Yes! We also get these emails often too. We then reply with the usual bit about how the pound is not the same as the dollar and point them in the direction of xe.com to see for themselves. The funniest reply I'd ever had was the other day when the customer said:
"yes I understand about exchange rates. We often holiday in Italy but I have never experienced the dollar being TWICE that of the Euro. We are horrified about how you have ripped us off ....blah blah blah."
I then had to reply again to explain how not only is the pound different to the dollar, but it is also different to the Euro.
(un)fortunately, our new business insurance policy does not provide public / product liability cover for selling to North America so we will no longer have these comedy moments!

[lewey]

For Pete:

In response to your question how to put the message I suggest on the checkout screen, I'm not entirely sure as that is something I haven't done. However I take it it would be a matter of making some changes in the language editor to edit / add to the appropriate lines there.

[little-linguist]

For Pete:

In response to your question how to put the message I suggest on the checkout screen, I'm not entirely sure as that is something I haven't done. However I take it it would be a matter of making some changes in the language editor to edit / add to the appropriate lines there.

Yes - you do change it in the language editor. However, my personal experience is that 99% of customers don't really read this text anyway - even if you put it in red and bold, they still will be emailing with stupid queries after ordering!

[Gillf]

Hi,

I have sold worldwide from the start and have the currency converter set up on my site. And so far have not had a single American customer complain about the price. I use Airsure and International Signed for Air Mail, and because my product is fairly light a £5.00 charge evens out the cost to me to roughly equivalent to the UK free shipping. The only problem I have had is two parcels going missing, one of which I am reasonably certain went missing before it left the UK. So all in all my world wide business has been relatively trouble free.

Having said that, some of the American customers are strange. One completely misunderstood me when using the On line Assistant and thought I was getting "angry". Weird!

Cheers

[petad]

I have sold worldwide from the start and have the currency converter set up on my site.
I am being really thick here - how do I enable the currency converter on the home page like Gillf has on her site? I have created an alternative currency through the Currency Editor, but can't work out how to display the drop-down list. I thought it might be a standard Block, but can't find one.

Any help much appreciated.

Pete

Update: I knew as soon as I posted this, I'd work it out - it is the Local Settings Block, so it's working now...

[Adva Trading]

I cannot see how you can sell big stuff overseas. Surely it would cost too much to post compare to your (local) competitors. Or it will take too long to deliver.

[petad]

I cannot see how you can sell big stuff overseas. Surely it would cost too much to post compare to your (local) competitors. Or it will take too long to deliver.
You are right, and we state on the big items that they cannot be shipped outside the EU (like on the pedal cars http://www.fatbananafeet.com/licensed-brands/brum_pedal_car.html). Other stuff is OK though, as we just up the postage charge, and our Insurers cover sales to the USA (as long as we don't sell too many items). Airmail to the US is about 5 days.

Regards

Pete

[reefphyto]

How do you add the currency converter to your site. I have setup the euro option but cant get it to appear?

Any ideas

TIA

[Rich]

Make sure the currency is Selectable via the Currency Manager, then add the Local Settings block to one or more of your layouts via the Layout Manager.

[pinkypie]

Can I also make a suggestion. When you ship overseas if someone returns something for a refund you need to ensure that you note that payment is refunded in £. An example of this was that someone placed and order with me and their card was charged $199 (at this time I used to give free shipping) and because when I refunded the amount the customer recieved was $186 as the rate had changed. She kicked up a hell of a stink and threatened me and call me all sorts, in the end I gave in and refunded her the additional back to get rid of her. I know that it is not much but it is when running a small business and when you have already given free shipping (a lot of people used to buy over the maximum and return the stuff to get free shipping - if you know what I mean).

If you check out my refunds and returns policy: http://www.lingerie-heaven.com/refunds-and-returns.html

I have noted this to ensure all angles are covered:

Payments from Overseas Customers

Your card payment will be processed in GBP Sterling and your receipt will show GBP Sterling prices. If your card is held in a different currency, your card issuer will charge you the Currency Exchange Rate in use for that day and this will be shown on your monthly statement. Please note that any refund will be made in GBP and your card issuer will refund you using the Exchange Rate that is in use for that day and this could be different to the original rate you was charged when making your payment. Your card issuer may also levy a currency conversion charge and/or a transaction fee, and this may not be reversed in the event of any refund or order cancellation. This means that your refund could be slightly more or less than you have originally paid and we will not be responsible for this difference.

[little-linguist]

Can I also make a suggestion. When you ship overseas if someone returns something for a refund you need to ensure that you note that payment is refunded in £..

Good point, Gill.

We also make customers aware that if they order over the free shipping level (currently £100) and then return some stuff so their total spend is then below the free shipping level, we will deduct the original outbound shipping value (£3.95 in our case) from their refund. In practise, we don't always do this if it's just a few quid but if someone ordered £100 worth of stuff and then sent back £90, we definitely would!

[pinkypie]

Hi LL,

I used to offer free postage on all orders over £100 but I found people would deliberately order more than the limit to get the free shipping. I decided that it was not worth it after the card fees for refunding as well as the postage. The final straw came when someone ordered £125 worth and then returned it all but £20. So now we charge £2.50. It seems to be standard across the board now and most people are charging delivery.

That is a good idea on the charging for postage though if they then go under the order limit, I never thought of that.

Clare x

[little-linguist]

Sorry Clare, just realised I addressed previous post to Gill when it should have been for you. I get muddled up with all the bra shops!

[pinkypie]

Thats OK, I do know what you mean!!