International Orders

If you decide to accept international orders, that opens another means to get additional sales. With the current economy, customers from other countries are looking to take advantage of current exchange rates and the savings they get from purchasing internationally. If you are willing to accept the additional risk of selling to customers in other countries, it's surprisingly easy to ship orders internationally.

International sales are the same as local sales with some important differences:

Orders must be packed well for international travel. The further a package has to travel, the more damage it will take in transit.

International shipping is more expensive and will not fit into most flat rate shipping models.

Electronics that work here, may not work in other countries depending on their electricity.

Different countries have various restrictions on what can be imported. This is why it's important to have a statement in your sales policy placing the responsibility for knowing the laws and rules of their country on the customer.

Some countries have tariffs and taxes on imports. These are usually charged to the customer when they receive the order. Your policy should also mention that taxes and tariffs are the customer's responsibility. Many customers will ask you to reduce the stated value of an order, or to say that it's a gift on the export paperwork, so they pay less taxes. This can backfire if the package is insured, and lost or damaged in transit. You will only be reimbursed for the stated value of the package. There could also be liability to you if you are caught falsifying the paperwork.

International orders are harder to investigate to see if they are fraudulent. Many of the methods discussed earlier for checking orders for fraud are more difficult or impossible to do for international orders.