How effective Etsy International Shipping can help you grow your buyer base
Do you know the most popular online shopping platform for vintage and handmade products? If yes, that’s great, but if you don’t know, then don’t worry, we’ll let you know in this article. If you want to become a seller or buy artwork, handmade bags, and craft supplies, you must visit Etsy. Etsy international shipping can be a challenge for sellers, but you can grow your customer base if done effectively.
In this article, we’ll show you how you can grow your Etsy business by selling internationally. Etsy is in operation in 83 countries and gets 20% of its revenue from overseas. The purpose of telling this all is that when you have a massive international audience, why do you want to limit yourself to domestic customers?
On this page:
How Etsy Calculates International Shipping Costs?
If you’re located in the USA and selling on Etsy, you’ll have the option of calculating shipping rates for specific areas. When you add a listing, you just have to add your location and zip code.
If you want to get Etsy international shipping prices, you’ll have to provide the name of the countries you want to ship your products.
Remember, along with the calculated international shipping cost, you’ll have to pay another cost as well. In July 2018, Etsy introduced a shipping transaction fee. This fee has caused a headache for small sellers. This shipping transaction fee is 5% of the shipping cost.
When you decide to ship internationally on Etsy, ensure you know the policies. Different countries have different customs and taxes that you’ll have to pay when shipping the items.
In European countries, buyers pay VAT for shipping, so you have nothing to do with taxes. Therefore, it’s crucial to mention this in your store and let buyers know beforehand. Let buyers know that your government imposes the VAT, and you’ll have to pay it.
Moreover, share all the product dimensions with your buyers, such as size and weight. These dimensions directly impact the shipping cost.
When you tell your buyers everything in advance, trust between you and buyers will develop. Finally, it will make the transaction process easier.
Furthermore, if you’re uncertain about the policies of any country, the best option is to communicate with your customers. If there is any problem with their shipping address, then contact your customers. Asking beforehand is a good practice.
Otherwise, it will make your customers unhappy when you make a mistake, and it won’t negatively impact your store. You can make smooth deliveries when you understand Etsy’s international shipping policies.
How to Set Up International Shipping on Etsy?
As mentioned earlier, when you add a listing, don’t forget to mention the countries in which you ship your items. It will ensure that your products appear in Etsy search results.
Most buyers click on the items that can be shipped to their country. For sellers in the USA and Canada, there is an option for calculating Etsy international shipping prices.
If you’re located in any other country and you have to calculate shipping yourself, then follow the below-given steps:
- Go to Shop Manager and click on Listings.
- Select the thumbnail of the listing you want to work on and click Edit from the menu.
- Go to Shipping Area and use the dropdown menu for Shipping Origin. In this option, you can choose the product’s originating country.
- Go to Add location and select the countries in which you want to ship your products. Use the Shipping Cost option and add shipping prices for each country.
- For European countries, you can select the option of European Countries. It will help you because, in some regions, the shipping cost will be higher than the cost you enter. By doing this, the original cost will override your entered cost.
- For destinations you don’t want to set shipping charges, you can choose the option of Everywhere Else. For those countries, the cost will be marked automatically.
So, by following these steps, you can set shipping prices for each destination and region.
Does Etsy Translations Work?
Selling your products internationally gives you an advantage when your listing is translated into that particular language.
Buyers set language preferences, and they’ll see listings in that language. Etsy translates the listing according to the country they visit a website from or according to the preference set by the user.
Translations on Etsy are handled in two ways: Manual and automatic. When sellers set an automatic translation option, their listing will appear in their search results when buyers search for that product in different languages.
If you have disabled this option, your listing will only be visible in the manual language you have set for. If you want to disable automatic translations, perform the following steps:
- Go to Shop Manager and click Settings.
- Go to Options.
- Here, you’ll find an automatic listing translation option, which you can either disable or enable. Don’t forget to save the changes.
Recently the option of manual translation was added to Etsy, and it allows sellers to write listings in other languages.
If the sellers can’t do it themselves, then they can hire professional translators. The manual translation option helps ensure your listings are optimized for search engines.
If you want to activate the manual translations, perform the following steps:
- Go to Shop Manager and click Settings.
- Select Languages and Translations.
- Click Manage Languages and add the other languages you want to use.
- Again go to Shop Manager and select the listing you want to translate.
- If you want to add the tags and descriptions of listings in the selected language, then go to the Listings section and select the Translations tab.
- You can translate the shop title, message to buyers, shop announcement, about page, and privacy policy page in the “Shop Page” section.
Take your Store Global by using Etsy International Shipping
As mentioned at the start, Etsy is an excellent platform for selling handmade and art craft products. You can sell your products in 83 countries, but selling internationally can be tricky.
You can make Etsy international shipping easy when you know what you are doing – You just need to understand how Etsy calculates international shipping prices.
Moreover, understand the policies of countries regarding customs and taxes. When you understand and handle all these aspects carefully, you will not face any issues with Etsy’s international shipping.
