I'm beggining to recieve a lot of interest for international orders.  What is the best way to set up international shipping for my products?  They are small items no more than 1 lb.

We have the exact weight for each item entered into each item's product page.  Then under Shipping Settings, we've selected the International shipping options (USPS only...FedEx and UPS are so expensive they're not worth listing, plus their paperwork requirements are absolutely insane).  AC does a great job of pulling up international options for international addresses.  And with using a weight-based system, our shipping rates are almost always within a $1 or $2, even on orders that are very heavy.  The only caveat is that your ship weights entered into each item must be as exact as possible.  Even a 10th of an ounce off can make a big difference (although probably not on small orders like you're having so far). 

I am using Bongo International to handle my international shipping as well as credit card verification. They take responsibility for international orders, fraud etc. You have an 8 in 10 chance that an international credit card is fraud. Prior to Bongo the only thing I accepted was bank wires, and I quoted each order for shipping. I definitely do not want international customer entering orders via the website.

 

One of the bigger issues are international cards being used to place orders shipped within the USA. You need to keep an eye on that as well. The scammers are everywhere. What may look to be like a US order, may very well be fraudulent. I found all this international business to be too risky, hence contracting Bongo.

---

Best Regards,
Louis
TackleToyStore.com

Interesting, does Bongo cover the cost if it's fraud or do they just facilitate shipping?  Does the liability pass to them on fraud?

---

Ed Sturrock
Co-Founder, VP of Product Management

They cover fraud too. Their service is to verify credit cards, then upon verification and order acceptance, I ship the product to Bongo, then Bongo ships it to the overseas client. They charge the client for shipping, so they make their $$$ on shipping the merchandise to the client. My cost is $0.00.

---

Best Regards,
Louis
TackleToyStore.com

Louis,

 real interesting, I am going to check out bongo right now. thanks!

---

Article on Me & Americommerce

That sounds great.  I'm going to try both.  Thanks for the advice.