Last August I attended Citrus Con. In participating in the event, I was given the opportunity to ship my merch Internationally. It was quite an experience so I had been thinking of writing about my experience shipping merch internationally for the first time. After some busy weeks, I finally have the time to sit down and write an entry dedicated to that experience.
The intricacies of shipping is a vital information that beginners should know. This is what I realized while maneuvering the shipment of my goods. I thought it was easy because I was set on sending my merch through philpost via registered mail. I was quite confident because I have experience in the process since I have been sending mails for a few years now. However, things didn’t turn out to be as smooth as I expected. I experienced blunder after blunder. I did not like having to commit those mistakes but those mistakes were inevitable considering that it was literally my first time selling stuff and sending them through a courier.
Those mistakes were not the only thing that I experienced. There is also the thing about shipping to countries that are not catered to by philpost, like for example, countries like Romania. I needed to use a private courier so that I could send my package. However, my concerns didn’t stop there.
In this article I will write about the things to consider when selling and shipping internationally if you’re from the Philippines.
Things to consider when you decide to sell and ship merchandise:
- Packaging
- Price
- Payment Method
- Shipping
- Setting up shop
First thing’s First: Packaging
Shipping internationally (or even domestically) starts before you set up your shop. It starts from the moment you decide to sell. When you decide to sell, you have to know not only how to sell your merch, you also have to know how you are gonna ship it, and how you’ll package it. The price of your merch should take into consideration the fees for your packaging. If you are very particular about how your buyer receives your goods, then you must already decide on how you are going to package your goods.
If you are an avid shoppee/Lazada/temu/Shein buyer, then you are experienced in receiving packages and are aware of “packaging”. However receiving and sending packages are two separate and distinct experiences. When you are sending packages, your priority must be the safety and security of the items that you are sending. In my case, I was supposed to send my packages using the material I use in face to face cons, as if I’m only sending a letter to a friend. However, it dawned on me that I’ll be sending the items to a faraway place so I must make sure that the items won’t get wet and is secure enough that it would be received by the buyer in good condition. Since I’ll be sending fanbooks, some prints and stickers, I decided to use bubble wrap envelopes.
If you wish everything to look professional, if you have the means, you may also buy a thermal printer for your labels. Another option is to just buy a normal printer if you don’t have one, print the label in a sticker sheet and cut it.
Once you decide on your packaging, the second thing you need to consider is pricing your merch.
Pricing Merch
When I first planned on joining Citrus Con, I was focused on building my shop which also meant putting particular attention into pricing my items. The problem with this is, I did not consider adding packaging into the equation. I was glad though that the money I spent on packaging wasn’t that much. I still think, however, that it’s better to know how much you’ll be spending on packaging before pricing your items.
Apart from that, you must also take into consideration fees like PayPal fees, conversion fees, and other fees when you decide on the price of your items.
Shipping
The means on how to ship your items is a very important consideration when you decide to sell internationally. It’s better to cater to all countries so it’s best that you know which courier to use to ship to countries that are not catered to by your go-to courier.
I use philpost to send my packages because it is reliable and affordable. However, one of the packages that I was going to send is to a country not catered to by philpost. I have to do some research on which courier is reliable and affordable.
I also realized that it is best to choose a private courier you are most comfortable with, so building a connection with someone from that courier, in my opinion, is essential.
Method of Payment
This is an important aspect of selling: payment method. Since I only used ecwid’s free version, my only option for payments is through PayPal. If you are using PayPal you must include the PayPal fees to your price.
Setting up Shop
Choosing your storefront host
I chose ecwid as the host for my shop. It’s a bit more expensive than bigcartel, however, its free version allows you to add pictures of your items. This was the thing that sold me to ecwid. Another good thing about it is that the shipping fees are easier to set up in ecwid. I set up the rates for philpost there. The shipping set up at ecwid (free version) for me is miles better than bigcartel because you can set up the rates per weight of the item. It also has a built in customer service that allows you to add tracking numbers for the orders. There is also analytics, and they even send you articles on how to improve your shop.
This is the comparison table I used to decide on which platform to use.
Another deciding factor is also the difference when I started building my shop. I actually built both bigcartel and ecwid for the Con. Because I was impressed by how smooth I was able to set up shipping through ecwid, and how the free version is better compared to bigcartel. I decided to just go with it.
Items
When you set up shop, it’s a must that you have the means to weigh your items. This was my blunder. I just assumed the weight of my items so in the end, I had some problems with the prices. It’s important to know the weight of the items you’re selling to have an exact amount of the shipping rate paid for by the buyer. Sometimes you want to buy something, but the shipping fee may hold you back. That’s why it is important to set up your shop with the appropriate shipping fees. To this end, buying a small weighing scale is a must.
Terms and Condition
To prevent any misunderstandings and future conflict, it is wise to set up a terms and condition page for your store.
The Experience
Shipping merchandise internationally for the first time was an exhilarating experience for me. It’s an item in my bucket list crossed out.
Setting up my shop took about two months. I knew I had to take things one day at a time because of how busy I am. After getting orders, the first hurdle was waiting for my merchandise to arrive. I had to reprint some prints, stickers, and books because they ran out. I also had to have my button pins reproduced. Apart from that, I was looking for a printing service that could print my new doujinshi. I originally wanted to be the one to print them, but due to lack of skill, experience, and time constraints I had to find a printer. I was able to find a printer that can print my books like how I wanted them to be printed at an affordable price. However, due to me not liking the way the books turned out, I opted out. Fortunately, I was able to find another printer whose service was to my liking and at a cheaper price per book.
Waiting for my books to arrive was the time when I was able to think of my packaging. I searched for references on TikTok for it. This was also the time I thought of wanting to have an art account stamp made for my shipment to make my parcels more personalized. Because I did not have an opportunity to have a stamp made, I decided to make a thank you sticker with my mascot instead.
Thinking of how to package my items took a bit of time. I couldn’t really decide what to do at first. After pondering and watching some videos, I decided to buy onion paper to wrap the stickers and button pins. I thought the onion paper was a slightly more transparent paper but the paper I bought looked cheap and normal. I was honestly disappointed. I wanted my packaging to be pleasing but you really can’t do much with just a bubble wrap envelope.
After everything was ready, I was slapped in the face by another blunder. Because I just assumed the weight of my items, the weight was lower than what they actually weighed, and so the calculation for the shipping fee was lower than the actual shipping fee. I had to apologize to people because of my blunder. I thought of shouldering the fee myself, but the difference is big that I have to invoice them again.
While this was going on, PayPal put my funds on hold because the last time my account was active was 2019. It was hard because how would I send the packages without funds ready? At this time I did not have extra money. That was a hurdle. Thankfully the problem solved itself. When that was out of the way, I had another problem. The bank linked to my paypal was a savings and not a checking account. When you link a bank to paypal, its default is a checking account. You have to request to have it changed to a savings account. I already processed the transfer before it failed so I had to contact customer service just to get a refund of the fees that were deducted from my account despite the transfer not getting through.
After that, the only problem that was left to be solved was how to ship to a country philpost doesn’t cater to. The internet is unreliable, some of the customer service people for the private courier tell me different rates so I had a hard time choosing which courier to send my parcels through. I originally decided to use DHL, but when I asked about the fee, it was expensive. I know the buyer will shoulder the shipping cost, but I felt guilty about the expensive shipping fee that I really made an effort to find an affordable one. I realized that when you ship something, It’s advisable to go to the courier’s office directly and inquire. It is also a must to take your package when you inquire about their rates and build or create a connection to a courier representative so you can avail the most affordable price for your shipment.
Before this, I didn’t know shipping merch could be so complicated. Despite the difficulties though, I was glad that I could experience this. I was really happy and excited. I was tired but I was satisfied. The difficulty doesn’t stop there, however. I must say, PayPal fees are really confusing. I really had a hard time with the fees. Usually the fees deducted are close or higher than my calculation. I don’t get it. I was just glad I was able to solve the problem in the end and didn’t suffer any major problems.
Conclusion
Shipping your projects is fun if you just want to try it out. If you want it to be one of your side hustles, then you need to put extra effort and time in cultivating it as a business. It’s not always rainbows and sunshines, but when it works out, it really works out. The feeling of someone buying a project you put your whole heart into is a feeling like no other. The feeling of taking a risk and being supported is a great feeling. It’s something that is exhilarating to me.
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