I live in Canada and so far have only shipped to the US and within Canada to keep things simple. But lately I have been wanting to expand a bit more and now seems like a great time to do it with the massive increase in market activity. I understand the pokemon market in the US and canada but I am simply clueless about the rest of the world.
I was thinking of adding Europe + UK, Australia, and japan to areas I ship to. Should I add or remove anything from these choices?
Is now actually a bad time to do this because of shipping delays? Should I exclude japan for the time being?
Are there any countries I should avoid at all costs? Places that maybe have a high rate of scams?
And maybe are there places I should really be looking to sell to because people over there simply struggle to get cards.
Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Covid related issues strongly vary within Europe depending on the country.
There should be information given by your local postal service regarding international shipping and which countries have reduced service capacity, like so:
For example, Croatia has incredible delays at customs, France has delays as well, but in Germany I recieve packages from Japan or the USA via Air Mail, through customs, within the standard 7-20 days.
I would not ship anything without tracking right now though that Iām not willing to lose.
Just some anecdotal info. I donāt order enough to make any kind of serious claim but here is what I have seen. My PWE orders from France and Turkey have come relatively quick. My tracked packages from France and Australia are taking two months. Iām in the US
Iām in Canada too and I have sold cards abroad (sports cards/non-sports) and typically didnāt have an issue as long as you ship with tracking just to protect yourself.
That said, I think doing any shipping overseas now is likely going to be more of a headache. For example, Iām still waiting on a purchase I made near the end of March, coming in from Australia. Left Australia Apr 3 and latest tracking details says it hasnāt even been received by Canadian customs yet. I did check Canada Post and Australia packages are more ārigorously inspectedā leading to delays. Iām being patient though as I understand the situation globally, but other buyers may not be as patient and claim āitem not receivedā the moment theyāre able.
Iām not sure how it is for other countries receiving packages from us though, like if their customs inspections are heightened for packages inbound from certain countries the way our customs is right now. That would probably help you decide whether or not itās worth the risk.