Affiliate since: 05/03/2002, Power Rank: 435 | Read Mar's 582 other Ask SC answers

As a fairly new ECA you’re in the point of deciding the best strategy to start your business. . As you stated you can either start selling your products in your region or sell them internationally. Which is better?

You can find out the best for starting your ECA by taking into consideration the following points:

- How much is your starting budget?

Depending on the products compare the cost of shipping and handling locally versus internationally. Consider also your business operation cost such as cost of maintaining warehouse for your products, utility cost or if you’re employing the drop shipping method there are cost involved in maintaining your inventory to avoid items getting out of stock. What about the cost of warranty, shipping returns and so on?

- What kind of products are you selling?

If you’re selling digital products, you can save on shipping and handling cost. If you’re selling expensive and fragile products such as jewellery, electronic products, etc., you’ll need to consider cost for special packaging and additional charge for goods insurance. If you’re shipping locally, you don’t have to worry about customs and taxes, while shipping internationally will incur these charges for your products to be shipped.

By taking into consideration the factors above, you’ll be able to figure out what’s the best for starting your ECA business.

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As a fairly new ECA you’re in the point of deciding the best strategy to start your business. . As you stated you can either start selling your products in your region or sell them internationally. Which is better?

You can find out the best for starting your ECA by taking into consideration the following points:

- How much is your starting budget?

Depending on the products compare the cost of shipping and handling locally versus internationally. Consider also your
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Affiliate since: 04/02/2014, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Mary's 22 other Ask SC answers

To answer this question correctly (without making assumptions) without knowing your exact items or methods of obtaining the items.

There are circumstances that need to be addressed to fully answer this I will focus on what I believe are the most important factors.

1. Digital items for sale. Sell these to everybody no physical shipping involved.
2. Drop Shipped items. Sell wherein the company delivery areas.
3. Items that are Red Hot and that are in such a great demand or Rare. Sell to anyone who will pay your asking price.
4. Items that are high demand in another country sell to that country.
5. Unique invention or handcrafted items. Call me crazy sentimental but I always offer these to my family or friends first. But you don't have to stop there. You could start a fad of your own!

If your more comfortable taking it slow and starting locally then do that. In the business of selling products folks are always looking for the "Newly listed; newly available; Now available in a new area.....It is in every Seller's interest to keep folks shopping and looking for those "New" items to purchase.

I started with $41.75 and did the slowly growing myself. I only did the local thing for a while and yes I made a shipping error a time or two myself. Sometimes folks just want to buy with free shipping only and I made the errors offering those items and miscalculating the weight or forgetting I was offering free shipping and not adding it to the price I wanted.

As a new ECA the main concern is getting the listing details right on the item size and weight. The description is important too. A little kitty cat trinket doesn't sound as appealing as "An Adorable Miniature Orange Striped Cat Collectible Figurine." With the final important detail of correctly pricing the item and shipping costs if you offer free shipping.

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To answer this question correctly (without making assumptions) without knowing your exact items or methods of obtaining the items.

There are circumstances that need to be addressed to fully answer this I will focus on what I believe are the most important factors.

1. Digital items for sale. Sell these to everybody no physical shipping involved.
2. Drop Shipped items. Sell wherein the company delivery areas.
3. Items that are Red Hot and that are in such a great demand
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

This depends on the price of what you are selling.

Something to keep in mind: People are still going to shop around for the best deal. If what you are putting online is a lot more than what they can run down the street for they are going to run down the street.

With that being said, can you keep the price to a reasonable standard if you ship over seas? Are you going to have to charge $20-$30 for shipping a $20 item? If the answer is yes, just keep it in your own country. Are you going to have to charge $20-30 for an item that is $200? If the answer is yes, you have a potential customer in foreign countries and may be able to make it work.

Call UPS, FedX, and DSL. See what each would charge for a standard shipping of a product of yours you are intending to put on TripleClicks. See if you would, your friends, or your customers would be willing to purchase it for the price you are charging with shipping added or included.
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This depends on the price of what you are selling.

Something to keep in mind: People are still going to shop around for the best deal. If what you are putting online is a lot more than what they can run down the street for they are going to run down the street.

With that being said, can you keep the price to a reasonable standard if you ship over seas? Are you going to have to charge $20-$30 for shipping a $20 item? If the answer is yes, just keep it in your own country.
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Affiliate since: 08/29/2023, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Osaro's 206 other Ask SC answers

I think what really matters is the experience you brought in with you, the type of products you sell and your financial standing.

1. Your experience in sales and shipping will be important in determining what methods you want to apply. If you are fairly inexperienced and the type that requires a long learning curve, then it may be wise to concentrate in your region for a while and this period of transition will depend on how long it takes you to overcome these short comings.

2. The nature of products you sell, physical or digital is important when considering your target market share. For example digital products may not necessarily require any constraints in terms of geographical area, so to this extent you may decide to ship globally. However, for physical products, the advice in #1 above suffice.

3. Your financial situation really maters in this regard. This is because as an ECA you pay for the shipment of goods to customers before you are reimbursed by SFI, which may take a couple of days. This means that you are going to spend more on shipments to destinations outside your region, so if you are buoyant you may decide to broaden you area of operation, otherwise it is advisable to stick to your region to reduce cost, especially on shipment of physical products.

To conclude, one cannot discount the advantages in marketing your products globally because your products will be exposed to an infinite customer base, increasing your market share and hence revenue. Having said this, it may not be economically and practically viable to globalize, hence a tactical and strategic consideration is made to go local. Please note that a globalized marketer may not necessarily be more successful than a localized one.

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I think what really matters is the experience you brought in with you, the type of products you sell and your financial standing.

1. Your experience in sales and shipping will be important in determining what methods you want to apply. If you are fairly inexperienced and the type that requires a long learning curve, then it may be wise to concentrate in your region for a while and this period of transition will depend on how long it takes you to overcome these short comings.

2.
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Affiliate since: 08/06/2012, Power Rank: 227 | Read Ronilo's 408 other Ask SC answers

I made a research of the shipping cost from my country to different parts of the world and when I added it to the price of the items I want to sell The price became unattractive, as I compared it when the item is purchased locally. The only advantage is the buyer will earn VP if he will buy my item.

So here is my conclusion in selling items at TripleClicks as ECA.

1. I will sell physical items locally or with in my region - The main reason is the shipment cost. I will also try to minimize my prophet on Physical items to make the price competitive. We wil have an edge if we can compete with the local price because aside from the good price, our customers also earns VP.

2. I will sell digital products internationally. Digital product can be sent as attachment in email or can be downloaded at no cost for shipment.

3. I will physical products internati?nally if my product is unique and only me has it. In this case there will be no problem to your buyers if you add the shipment cost. The don't have anything to compare with your product because of its uniqueness.

Keep this in mind, we are not selling anything that we know no one will buy because its price is unreasonable.
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I made a research of the shipping cost from my country to different parts of the world and when I added it to the price of the items I want to sell The price became unattractive, as I compared it when the item is purchased locally. The only advantage is the buyer will earn VP if he will buy my item.

So here is my conclusion in selling items at TripleClicks as ECA.

1. I will sell physical items locally or with in my region - The main reason is the shipment cost. I will also try
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Affiliate since: 04/02/2014, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Anja's 41 other Ask SC answers

Hello Tricia.

As fairly new ECA, I think you mean someone that has no prior experience with an own shop?

It is quite hard and a lot to learn for a newcomer with a new shop.
He needs to learn the basic laws and regulations to owning a shop in his country (regulations, accounting, taxes, ...) as well as those for his products like detailed declarations. He also needs to present himself from day zero in the public and enter business / sales exhibitions and much more to do and learn.

Requiring about the Shipping fees is not only about the costs itself, it also includes inquiring about which of your products can even be shipped to which countries (ex: not all countries allow specific beverages) and to update the information at least each half a year. So it might take a burden off ones shoulders to wait two months with going internationally, if that is your main concern (I'd rather call it the least).

Officially stating that you are shipping internationally (i.e have a public list with international shipping fees listed) is more a question of budget:

<- For best results you'd need to enter international exhibits (not just those small local ones) and also advertise internationally. Even if affiliates advertise your business, it is always better when your shop is already existent in the world of public business. But even the smallest stall can already cost a fortune...
<- The license for international business costs more, as well as other requirements
<- You need more storage place and products to invest into (with a dropshipping company this gets even more expensive)

CONCLUSION
These additional costs and efforts are the biggest concern I'd have in opening up an international store. So, I'd rather advice you to open up a regional one first.
Don't worry, you don't need to forfeit international clients completely as long as offer your clients to ship to other countries on application/request. It still needs the research but limits the countries to the few interested clients that order from you (instead of your mainly international clientele.
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Hello Tricia.

As fairly new ECA, I think you mean someone that has no prior experience with an own shop?

It is quite hard and a lot to learn for a newcomer with a new shop.
He needs to learn the basic laws and regulations to owning a shop in his country (regulations, accounting, taxes, ...) as well as those for his products like detailed declarations. He also needs to present himself from day zero in the public and enter business / sales exhibitions and much more to do
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Affiliate since: 06/11/2013, Power Rank: 5 | Read Maree's 55 other Ask SC answers

Personally I like to limit the selling of my Clothing to my Country as Shipping Costs can be very expensive.
With living in New Zealand I would worry whether the parcel arrived to an overseas address. So I prefer to offer my garments to Kiwi and Aussie citizens.

First impressions are so important. Dealing with customers requirements are essential.
I also sell products that involve no posting. So these are purchased World Wide.
I make sure to reply to all purchases within 24 hours.
There is nothing worse than making a purchase and not hearing back from the supplier.

Start small with supplying first to your country.
Understanding how to do listings.
How to process payments and ship items.
Once you feel more confident and you are comfortable with your ECA Store.
Take on the challenge to spread your wings a little wider.

I also suggest to read your customers reviews.
I find reading these reviews very helpful with any improvements I need to put into place with how I can communicate better with my client base.
It is quite rewarding when these customers return for regular services from my ECA store.



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Personally I like to limit the selling of my Clothing to my Country as Shipping Costs can be very expensive.
With living in New Zealand I would worry whether the parcel arrived to an overseas address. So I prefer to offer my garments to Kiwi and Aussie citizens.

First impressions are so important. Dealing with customers requirements are essential.
I also sell products that involve no posting. So these are purchased World Wide.
I make sure to reply to all purchases within
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Affiliate since: 01/22/2013, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Fran's 122 other Ask SC answers

Hi Tricia,

If you live outside of the United States, you will probably be are able to sell items in other countries.
It is very expensive to send products out of the United States, so it would probably be a good idea to sell just in the United States.

The reason?
I use a drop shipper, but they do not ship outside the United States, so I decided to try to ship products to other countries myself.
I was selling a product to a nice affiliate that lives in Australia.
I found that the cost of slow shipment would be $75.00, the product only sold for $27.00! The buyer was very nice and agreed the shipping was too much.
Therefore, I had to decline the order and lost the sale.

The lesson I learned was to limit selling products in your own country, unless shipping costs are a reasonable charge for sending to other countries.

May you be a success in all you do.

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Hi Tricia,

If you live outside of the United States, you will probably be are able to sell items in other countries.
It is very expensive to send products out of the United States, so it would probably be a good idea to sell just in the United States.

The reason?
I use a drop shipper, but they do not ship outside the United States, so I decided to try to ship products to other countries myself.
I was selling a product to a nice affiliate that lives in Australia.
I
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Affiliate since: 03/27/2013, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Stefan's 93 other Ask SC answers

This is a very valid question.

From a non cost perspective, whether you start local or sell international is really determined by:

What your are selling.
What you expected earning potenital is.
Your time to devote.
Your desire to grow.

If you are selling services as opposed to products, then its really irrelevant and rather you probalby want to sell to as many people as you can. However, if your are selling products, then your decision to sell internationally to start vs later really depends your product and whether it is restricted in certain countries, its weight or products weights, export duties, taxes etc.

Bottomline is that international product sales can be very costly and very complex, especially if you are new to this business as there are many varialbles that must be learned and processes spelled out for each and every country you sell to. The exception to this is if you use a drop shipper whom does it for you. This can be ideal but only is ideal as the product you sell and whether they are drop shippable so to speak.

SInce International sales can be costly shipping wise, thus, digging into your earning potential, as a new ECA, it may behoove you to sell locally in your country and build a base business that will grow to the point where you can support a international customer base.

Experience is key when it comes to dealing with internaitonal sales. Shipping is only one facet. The other complaexity is customer service and dealing with customers whom speak different languages etc. This can be time consuming not to mention costly period.

This all goes to how much time you have to devote and what your potential earnings can be with Domestic vs Internatonal sales. This really is up to you and what fits into your business plan. If it were me and I was a new ECA, I would not sell internationally until the time i was educated in the areas of International shipping and also had the time and captial to support that aspect of my business.

I hope this was some value to you and I wish you all the best in your business.
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This is a very valid question.

From a non cost perspective, whether you start local or sell international is really determined by:

What your are selling.
What you expected earning potenital is.
Your time to devote.
Your desire to grow.

If you are selling services as opposed to products, then its really irrelevant and rather you probalby want to sell to as many people as you can. However, if your are selling products, then your decision to sell
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

Good question Tricia.
Personally I am of the opinion that a fairly new ECA should confine their products to their own region. Take it step by step. Since the products are sold locally the ECA can save on the shipping and handling cost. By selling locally there are various options available to the purchaser as well as ECA. The purchaser will be able to collect the products personally or in certain instances the ECA can also hand deliver the products if it is within a permissible range or location. Furthermore the shipping or transport cost will only be very minimal if the products are confined locally or within your region.
As your business develops you will be able to be begin selling to international market. However you have to be prudent in determining the sales price since you have to take into account the additional costs involved i.e shipping,custom duties e.t.c
Hope the above suffice and good luck to you.
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Good question Tricia.
Personally I am of the opinion that a fairly new ECA should confine their products to their own region. Take it step by step. Since the products are sold locally the ECA can save on the shipping and handling cost. By selling locally there are various options available to the purchaser as well as ECA. The purchaser will be able to collect the products personally or in certain instances the ECA can also hand deliver the products if it is within a permissible range or location.
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