A shipping policy is one of the three business policies that sellers can set. The other two being the payments and returns policies. Payments and returns policies are relatively simple to set. But when determining your shipping policy, there are more things to consider due to nature of cross border selling.
Where are you selling to? The US, UK, Australia, etc.
Will your shipping be free or charged separately?
Are you charging different shipping fees for different locations?
Do your listings have items that fall under different weight brackets? This may incur different shipping costs.
Have you familiarised yourself with a variety of logistics providers shipping terms and charges?
Are you able to honour your handling time? The best suggestion is no more than 3 days.
Check what international shipping services are available in your city and what shipping methods they offer.
Calculate how much the shipping of your items will cost depending on their weight and the intended region or country of destination.
Evaluate the shipping times offered by international shipping services. Ensure that they are reputable logistics providers with a long standing reliable record of on time delivery.
Offer buyers the Economy shipping by default — 11-23 business days. Offer it as free shipping for buyers by including shipping costs in the item price.
In addition, offer at least one option for Expedited Shipping, at extra cost. Expedited Shipping usually takes up to 10 business days.
After you have defined the shipping options and cost which are acceptable to you, go to the Sell Your Item template to set up shipping options.
More than 80% of buyers look for items with this option. And the free shipping option boosts the listing’s visibility.
Offer shipping discounts and additional relevant promotions clearly — in order to win your buyers’ loyalty.
Offer at least one option for Expedited Shipping, at extra cost — in order to give your buyers as many options as possible. Shipping costs are paid by the buyer who needs the item urgently, in addition, you save on eBay fees since the Expedited Shipping cost is not included in the item’s total cost.
If shipping to specific countries or addresses is beyond the abilities of your business, you can block such shipping possibility.
When choosing the types of services in the shipping policy, there is a long list to choose from. However there are only 3 that you should focus on for international direct shipping that can be used by cross border sellers.
The main difference between these 3 is the delivery timeframe. Choose the one that aligns best with your shipping provider’s terms.
For a better shopping experience, provide faster shipping when possible.
Tip: If you plan on using economy shipping, set it as ‘free shipping’ and allow ‘optional upgrade to expedited’. This gives your buyer a faster delivery option.
After you have defined the shipping options and cost which are acceptable to you, go to the Sell Your Item template to set up shipping options. You can also set up your shipping options in the Listing Template section > Business Policy section of eBay Seller Hub or in My eBay account settings. If you want to opt out, simply click on the Opt out link on the Manage business policies page.
On the Sell your Item page, scroll down to the Shipping details section.
ebay.com is a US e-commerce site, so the Domestic shipping section defines the shipping options within the United States and to the United States from other countries. Setting on options in this section by default is mandatory for all sellers who create listings on ebay.com.
The International shipping section helps you set up shipping options to all other countries in the world.
On the Sell your Item page, scroll down to the Shipping details section.
ebay.com is a US e-commerce site, so the Domestic shipping section defines the shipping options within the United States and to the United States from other countries. Setting on options in this section by default is mandatory for all sellers who create listings on ebay.com.
The International shipping section helps you set up shipping options to all other countries in the world.
The shipping cost is set up in the first field of the section. From the drop-down menu, under Domestic shipping, select Flat: same cost to all buyers.
It means that you charge all buyers the same amount for shipping, regardless of their location.
Other options are useful only for US sellers:
Do not select these options if you are outside the United States.
The shipping cost is set up in the first field of the section. From the drop-down menu, under Domestic shipping, select Flat: same cost to all buyers.
It means that you charge all buyers the same amount for shipping, regardless of their location.
Other options are useful only for US sellers:
Do not select these options if you are outside the United States.
When you select Flat: same cost to all buyers you will have access to setting up the Shipping rate table.
Shipping rate tables allow you to more accurately tailor your shipping charges to your buyer. You can indicate multiple shipping options for the same region or state. You can specify shipping costs in your shipping rate tables by item or by weight. Once you’ve set up your shipping tables, you can use them any time you list an item.
As a rule, sellers who ship items to the United States set a flat shipping rate for the whole country, so you can skip this setting.
When you select Flat: same cost to all buyers you will have access to setting up the Shipping rate table.
Shipping rate tables allow you to more accurately tailor your shipping charges to your buyer. You can indicate multiple shipping options for the same region or state. You can specify shipping costs in your shipping rate tables by item or by weight. Once you’ve set up your shipping tables, you can use them any time you list an item.
As a rule, sellers who ship items to the United States set a flat shipping rate for the whole country, so you can skip this setting.
The Services field provides access to setting up the international shipping services that you can use.
From the drop-down menu under Services, select an option depending on the shipping time that your postal service or international shipping service offers.
Offer buyers Economy shipping as the main option and Expedited shipping as an additional, express but more expensive shipping option.
The Services field provides access to setting up the international shipping services that you can use.
From the drop-down menu under Services, select an option depending on the shipping time that your postal service or international shipping service offers.
Offer buyers Economy shipping as the main option and Expedited shipping as an additional, express but more expensive shipping option.
Please note: the free shipping option boosts the listing’s visibility.
From the drop-down menu under Services, select the Economy services from abroad section, then Economy Shipping from outside US (11 to 23 business days).
Set the shipping cost in the Cost field.
Please note: there is also the Free Shipping checkbox. Check the box if you want to offer buyers this option.
If you can use shipping services that offer expedited shipping to the US, you can add up to three additional fields for additional shipping services by clicking on the Offer additional service button. Remove the service with the Remove service button.
Next to the Services field, you can see the Shipping Calculator tab. This tool is relevant only for US sellers. It allows you to calculate shipping costs within the United States.
Please note: the free shipping option boosts the listing’s visibility.
From the drop-down menu under Services, select the Economy services from abroad section, then Economy Shipping from outside US (11 to 23 business days).
Set the shipping cost in the Cost field.
Please note: there is also the Free Shipping checkbox. Check the box if you want to offer buyers this option.
If you can use shipping services that offer expedited shipping to the US, you can add up to three additional fields for additional shipping services by clicking on the Offer additional service button. Remove the service with the Remove service button.
Next to the Services field, you can see the Shipping Calculator tab. This tool is relevant only for US sellers. It allows you to calculate shipping costs within the United States.
Set the handling time. To do this, select the relevant option from the Handling time drop-down menu.
Handling Time – the time it takes you to ship the item from the buyer’s purchase (in business days).
We recommend that the handling time should be set up to 1 business day. The shorter your handling time, the higher the position of your listing is in the search results.
Choosing this option, you should stay within the capabilities of your business, don’t reduce Handling Days if you can not meet them!
Set the handling time. To do this, select the relevant option from the Handling time drop-down menu.
Handling Time – the time it takes you to ship the item from the buyer’s purchase (in business days).
We recommend that the handling time should be set up to 1 business day. The shorter your handling time, the higher the position of your listing is in the search results.
Choosing this option, you should stay within the capabilities of your business, don’t reduce Handling Days if you can not meet them!
International Shipping section helps you to set up options on ebay.com for the shipping outside the US. In the drop-down menu, select Flat: same cost to all buyers.
From the drop-down menu, you can select:
International Shipping section helps you to set up options on ebay.com for the shipping outside the US. In the drop-down menu, select Flat: same cost to all buyers.
From the drop-down menu, you can select:
Flat: same cost to all buyers as an International shipping option
Selection of the Flat: same cost to all buyers option means that you charge all buyers the same amount for shipping, regardless of their location.
When you select Flat: same cost to all buyers you will have access to setting up the Shipping rate table.
Shipping rate tables allow you to more accurately tailor your shipping charges to your buyer. You can indicate multiple shipping options for the same region or state. In addition, you can specify shipping costs in your shipping rate tables by item or by weight. Once you’ve set up your shipping tables, you can use them any time you list an item.
This is an optional step, if you’re a beginner, we recommend you to skip it and move to step 8.
Flat: same cost to all buyers as an International shipping option
Selection of the Flat: same cost to all buyers option means that you charge all buyers the same amount for shipping, regardless of their location.
When you select Flat: same cost to all buyers you will have access to setting up the Shipping rate table.
Shipping rate tables allow you to more accurately tailor your shipping charges to your buyer. You can indicate multiple shipping options for the same region or state. In addition, you can specify shipping costs in your shipping rate tables by item or by weight. Once you’ve set up your shipping tables, you can use them any time you list an item.
This is an optional step, if you’re a beginner, we recommend you to skip it and move to step 8.
Once you’ve set up your shipping tables, you can use them any time you list an item. You can also create multiple shipping tables.
Click the Create button. The Shipping rate tables form automatically opens in a new window.
In this form you can:
To create a new table, select one of the options in the Set shipping rates by field — according to one of the following criteria:
We recommend that you choose the Item option here.
When you create a new table, be sure to enter its name in the Table Name field, otherwise, the data will not be saved.
Watch the video below for more information.
Once you’ve set up your shipping tables, you can use them any time you list an item. You can also create multiple shipping tables.
Click the Create button. The Shipping rate tables form automatically opens in a new window.
In this form you can:
To create a new table, select one of the options in the Set shipping rates by field — according to one of the following criteria:
We recommend that you choose the Item option here.
When you create a new table, be sure to enter its name in the Table Name field, otherwise, the data will not be saved.
Watch the video below for more information.
Offer buyers Economy shipping by default — 11-23 business days. Offer it as free shipping for buyers by including shipping costs in the item price. For this option of international shipping, we recommend using any service within the Economy shipping option.
In addition, offer at least one option for Expedited shipping, at extra cost. Expedited shipping usually takes up to 10 business days. Select, for example, DHL or UPS service.
For the Standard shipping option, select, for example, the DPD service.
When you select Economy, Standard or Expedited shipping, make settings for those regions and states you can ship to within the drop-down menu.
After you have set up all the options, click the Save button.
Then set up the shipping type cost (in US dollars).
After you have set up all the options in the Shipping rate table, click on the Save button.
We recommend using the Shipping rate tables within Expedited shipping — it makes your work with this shipping type especially useful and easy. For example, you can offer the Expedited shipping option only for certain countries.
Please note that the shipping options you specify in the Shipping rate table will be the priority options for a particular region (country).
Offer buyers Economy shipping by default — 11-23 business days. Offer it as free shipping for buyers by including shipping costs in the item price. For this option of international shipping, we recommend using any service within the Economy shipping option.
In addition, offer at least one option for Expedited shipping, at extra cost. Expedited shipping usually takes up to 10 business days. Select, for example, DHL or UPS service.
For the Standard shipping option, select, for example, the DPD service.
When you select Economy, Standard or Expedited shipping, make settings for those regions and states you can ship to within the drop-down menu.
After you have set up all the options, click the Save button.
Then set up the shipping type cost (in US dollars).
After you have set up all the options in the Shipping rate table, click on the Save button.
We recommend using the Shipping rate tables within Expedited shipping — it makes your work with this shipping type especially useful and easy. For example, you can offer the Expedited shipping option only for certain countries.
Please note that the shipping options you specify in the Shipping rate table will be the priority options for a particular region (country).
The Services field provides access to a selection of International shipping services that you can use for your items for international shipping.
The set of shipping services in the drop-down menu depends on what you’ve selected in the Ship to field.
Select Worldwide.
And then one of the shipping methods available to you.
Offer buyers the Economy shipping by default — 11-23 business days. Offer it as free shipping for buyers by including shipping costs in the item price. For this option of international shipping, we recommend using any service within the Economy shipping option.
In addition, offer at least one option for Expedited Shipping, at extra cost. Expedited Shipping usually takes up to 10 business days.
The second option of the Ship to field is the Choose Custom Location.
You can set up additional fields for additional shipping services (for different regions in total or for the same region).
By clicking on the Offer additional service button, add shipping service variations. Remove the service with the Remove service button.
The Services field provides access to a selection of International shipping services that you can use for your items for international shipping.
The set of shipping services in the drop-down menu depends on what you’ve selected in the Ship to field.
Select Worldwide.
And then one of the shipping methods available to you.
Offer buyers the Economy shipping by default — 11-23 business days. Offer it as free shipping for buyers by including shipping costs in the item price. For this option of international shipping, we recommend using any service within the Economy shipping option.
In addition, offer at least one option for Expedited Shipping, at extra cost. Expedited Shipping usually takes up to 10 business days.
The second option of the Ship to field is the Choose Custom Location.
You can set up additional fields for additional shipping services (for different regions in total or for the same region).
By clicking on the Offer additional service button, add shipping service variations. Remove the service with the Remove service button.
In this section, you can select those countries or regions you do not want to ship to.
To exclude certain shipping locations, click on the Create exclusion list button
In this section, you can select those countries or regions you do not want to ship to.
To exclude certain shipping locations, click on the Create exclusion list button
The Edit exclude shipping locations form will open automatically in a new window.
Set exclusions for the Domestic Shipping or for the International Shipping, ticking the boxes for the regions or countries you do not want to send items to.
Here you can set an exception for the shipping to the Post Box (PO Box).
Click the Save and close button.
By default, this section selects the option No excluded locations.
The Edit exclude shipping locations form will open automatically in a new window.
Set exclusions for the Domestic Shipping or for the International Shipping, ticking the boxes for the regions or countries you do not want to send items to.
Here you can set an exception for the shipping to the Post Box (PO Box).
Click the Save and close button.
By default, this section selects the option No excluded locations.
In the item location field, you should clearly specify the city and country where your item is located.
In the item location field, you should clearly specify the city and country where your item is located.
Remember, please, that according to eBay policy, you are not allowed to provide false, incorrect, non-specific or misleading item location information in the Item location field as well as in the Item description field.
Remember, please, that according to eBay policy, you are not allowed to provide false, incorrect, non-specific or misleading item location information in the Item location field as well as in the Item description field.
Follow these step-by-step instructions if you are not ready to ship items to specific countries, regions and more. You can exclude certain shipping locations from all your active listings or for specific items.
Tip : For selling in the US, you may want to exclude Alaska/Hawaii, APO/FPO, US Protectorates due to higher shipping costs. If these locations are important markets for the item you are selling, you can set a separate shipping cost.
You may also want to exclude PO Box addresses as due to safety reasons, many logistics companies will not ship here.
To exclude certain shipping locations for all your active listings, go to My eBay and select the Account section. Click the Business Policies button in the Selling subsection.
To exclude certain shipping locations for all your active listings, go to My eBay and select the Account section. Click the Business Policies button in the Selling subsection.
Enter the name of your new policy into the Policy name section. It will help you to tell different policies apart so you can quickly find what you are looking for. Put a tick in the box Set as the default shipping policy.
Set up your Shipping Options as usual. To exclude specific regions, scroll down and find the Exclude shipping locations section. Click the Create exclusion list link.
The Edit exclude shipping locations form will open automatically in a new window.
Set exclusions for Domestic Shipping or for International Shipping, ticking the boxes for the regions or countries you do not wish to send items to.
Click the Apply bottom.
To exclude certain shipping locations for one item, scroll down to the Shipping details section on the Sell your Item page. Scroll down to Shipping details. Click Edit in the Business policies section.
The form will open automatically in a new window. Enter the name of your new policy into the Policy name section.
Scroll down to the International shipping section. Click the Create exclusion list link.
The Edit exclude shipping locations form will open automatically in a new window.
Set exclusions for Domestic Shipping or for International Shipping, ticking the boxes for the regions or countries you do not wish to send items to. Here you can set an exception for shipping to a Post Box (PO Box).
Click the Apply bottom.
