Requirements for selling internationally Communicating with buyers Currencies Posting internationally

By offering your items internationally as well as to the United Kingdom or Ireland, you can significantly increase the number of potential buyers you reach, helping you sell more items and achieve higher prices.

There are three ways that buyers in other countries can see your listings:

• When you list your item, select worldwide postage and your listing will be seen on the eBay country site on which you registered and the Global Buying Hub.

• List your items for sale directly on eBay sites around the world. 

• From time to time eBay runs promotions across other eBay country sites to promote international trade: in these case you get wider international visibility simply adding worldwide postage options to your listing, with no further effort.

You’ll need to meet the selling requirements and pay the fees for each country's site.

Requirements for selling internationally

To make items available to buyers in other countries, you might need to be ID Verified. ID verification is used in some countries to prove a seller's identity (see details of ID Verify in the US).

Whenever you sell to buyers in various countries, make sure that you comply with the international trading laws in those countries. You should also make sure you're aware of export controls on goods to certain countries.

You also need to specify postage worldwide, or to the individual countries or regions where you’re willing to sell.

Communicating with buyers

Selling to buyers in various countries can mean answering emails at unusual times because of time differences.  

If you don’t speak the same language as a potential buyer, you might want to use translation software to translate key phrases. Some translation services are available for free on the Internet. Many are not 100% accurate, however, and eBay cannot guarantee their services. If you use such a service, provide simple, grammatically correct phrases free of abbreviations to make translations more understandable.

Currencies

Bids and prices on a listing automatically appear in both the currency you specify and the currency for the site from which the buyer is viewing the item.

Bids and prices on a listing automatically appear in both the currency you specify and the currency that's typically used for the country site on which the buyer is viewing the item. (Note that equivalence is approximate.)

To sell globally, you’ll need to accept PayPal as a method of payment. In most countries, sellers should be PayPal Verified. In Germany and Switzerland, the verification process is PostIdent (link opens information written in German).

Posting internationally

We recommend that you include information about the postage service (Royal Mail or courier) you're planning to use and the cost because items with this information attract more buyers.  Some considerations when shipping internationally are:

• Postage costs: Costs to send to other countries can vary greatly depending on the distance and postage methods. Most sellers specify that buyers pay the postage costs for international sales.

• Insurance: If you sell valuable items, consider purchasing insurance. Check with your carrier for insurance options, or contact a third-party postal insurance provider for insurance coverage.

• Customs and documentation : All international packages must clear customs in the destination country, and you'll need to complete the appropriate customs forms.