Choosing to offer your item internationally as well as to the United Kingdom or Ireland may significantly increase the number of potential buyers you reach. This could help you sell more items and command higher prices. For more information about global trading, visit eBay’s International Trading page.

Note: Whenever you sell to buyers in other countries, make sure you comply with the law in those countries. Get details

Listing items for international buyers
To make your items available to buyers in other countries, a seller may need to be verified before making items available to buyers in other countries. Sellers in most countries can be PayPal Verified. In Germany and Switzerland, PostIdent is used to verify sellers, while in Austria, ID Verify is used.

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

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

• You can select the international site visibility listing upgrade for the countries where you want your eBay items to appear in search results.

• You can list your item for sale directly on other eBay sites. You’ll need to meet all the selling requirements of the other sites, and pay the other sites’ fees as well.

• Whenever you allow postage to other countries, or worldwide, buyers in those countries can choose to see international items in their search results.

Communicating with buyers

Selling to buyers in other countries can mean answering emails at unusual times due to time differences. You'll also need to communicate clearly about currencies and sometimes overcome language barriers.

Currencies
There are two key features that help international buyers convert the price of your item to the currencies they understand:

• Bids and prices on the item page display automatically in both the currency you specify and the approximate home currency equivalent for the site from which the buyer is viewing the item.

• A buyer can convert all Search and Listings prices to local site currency by clicking the Show all prices in local currency (for example, US dollars on the US site) link in the Show box on the Search and Listings pages of all non-UK eBay sites.

  For information about how to allow your international buyers to pay for items using different currencies, see Using PayPal Internationally.

Language translation
If you do not speak the same language as the potential buyer, you may want to use translation software to translate key phrases. Some translation services are available 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 increase the chance of an understandable translation.

Escrow services
If you are selling high-value or large items, you may offer your buyers the option of using an Escrow service. Consider the value of the item and the risk exposure compared to the fee the escrow service will charge.

• Review the buyer's Feedback.

• Consider the value and nature of the item

• Assess risk and, if uncomfortable, conduct the transaction using a third party escrow service (if available).

Learn more about using Escrow.

Instant Money Transfers

The use of Instant Money Transfers as a payment method is not allowed on eBay.co.uk. We have banned the use of Instant Money Transfers as a payment method on the eBay.co.uk site to protect members, because in the past some sellers have exploited Instant Money Transfers in order to defraud buyers.

If you notice a listing offering Instant Money Transfers as a payment option, you should report it to us so that we can maximise site safety. To do this, click on the “Contact Us” link on the left-hand side of any Help page. Please remember to include the Item Number when you contact us. The Item Number can be found in the top right-hand corner of the listing.