Why Sell Internationally and How Does It Work?
Why Sell Internationally? If you're the average online seller, chances are that almost all your customers are from the country you call home. Interestingly, most sellers don’t list anything outside their own borders. If this sounds all too familiar, you're probably missing out on millions of potential buyers who aren’t native English speakers. By selling directly into the fast-growing markets of, for example, France (population 64M), Germany (82M), Italy (59M), and Spain (45M), you can introduce the same great selling items to a host to people who've never seen them before. Reasons to sell internationally... -
By selling internationally, you increase your channels quickly and easily -- No learning new marketplace procedures and regulations nor setting up new accounts -
No need to source new items -- Many seller say their best-sellers do just as well abroad and often see slow-movers get a new lease on life in new markets -
Get more out of your ChannelAdvisor fees and time investment -- You've already spent the time learning ChannelAdvisor so why not take advantage of selling from multiple accounts instead of just one? -
Leverage your experience and ad templates -- Experienced sellers and their polished ad templates outshine the often inexperienced competitors in new marketplaces like France, Spain and Italy -
Establish your market position early in a marketplace's development -- Imagine transporting your current knowledge base and polished ads and applying them years ago when eBay UK or US was still developing. That's where some European markets are today. What are you waiting for? -
Advantageous exchange rates -- Exchange rates can greatly work in your favor if the currency of the country you're selling into is stronger than your own. We've seen this tip the advantage even when your normal prices may not be the cheapest. -
Fast ROI -- For case studies of clients who've expanded their channels by selling directly into European markets through ChannelAdvisor, click here.
Challenges and solutions... All too often, sellers list into these markets with their normal English ads and the language proves to be a prohibitive barrier to foreign customers. Wouldn't you want to see the product you're going to spend money on described in your own language? Our recommendation is to translate your ads, but we do NOT recommend using automated translation tools! Cultural subtleties and the technical nature of products demand cultural expertise as well as industry know-how to communicate accurately. We therefore recommend using professional translators or one of our official ChannelAdvisor partners who specialize in translation and set up the new account for you. Our partners professionally translate your items, ad templates, customized checkout page messages, and also: set up the entire account(s) for you, create foreign posting templates, convert prices, adjust shipping information, find matching eBay categories, translate your attributes, and even support you during the launch of the items if posting errors occur. Due to the complexity and time it takes to translate and create new accounts, outsourcing is a great alternative to doing-it-yourself. To learn more about official ChannelAdvisor partners who translate your items and integrate them directly into your accounts, click here or see the list below: Doing-it-yourself... Since the growth rate of the US market has leveled off, selling internationally provides an opportunity to reach another group of buyers. By reaching this other group of buyers, it is likely that sales volume and challenges to manage them will increase.
ChannelAdvisor provides a comprehensive solution to solve the challenges of managing international sellers and buyers. All of these features are optional; however, international sellers will find these features valuable in running their businesses efficiently. You can manage international sellers and buyers by doing the following: • Enabling multiple languages in Checkout • Enabling international payment types • Selecting a tax calculation strategy • Customizing data collection in Checkout • Customizing invoices • Creating ship-to zones • Enabling metric weights • Enabling Multiple Languages in Checkout We support the following languages in Checkout: French, German, Spanish, Italian, and three English language versions (including one for the UK market, one for the Australian market, and one for the US market). We recommend offering buyers only one English version. To enable multiple languages in Checkout 1. On the Console, choose Channel Management Module. 2. From the Console, select Checkout > Configure Checkout. 3. Under the Account Checkout Setting section, do the following: • Choose to Charge Shipping Rates in Checkout by clicking Yes or No. • If the response is no, enter the unique instructions in the text box. Choose the language for the custom text (default text is provided). • Optionally, enter the custom text.
You must enter the text for each language. 2. In the section, Require alternate checkout method for orders over specified amount, do the following: • To display unique buyer instructions for purchase completion, enter the text here. • Choose the language for the custom text (default text is provided). • Optionally, enter the custom text.
You must enter the text for each language. Enabling International Payment Types 1. From the Console, select Checkout > Payment Settings. 2. Under Credit Card Processing, click the credit cards that you accept. Selecting a Tax Calculation Strategy You can use one of the following tax calculation strategies, one per account. • Disable the sales tax for this account. • Enable value-added tax collection: Use this option if the tax jurisdiction requires that tax is applied based on the value of the item. This is the typical model for sellers in Europe and Australia. The following two examples show the total costs using the inclusive and exclusive value-added tax options.
Prices inclusive with 10%
Prices exclusive of 10% tax on merchandise and shipping
Item Price
$10.00
$10.00
Taxes
$0.91
$1.00
Subtotal
$10.00
$11.00
Shipping
$2.00
$2.00
Tax on Shipping
$0.00
$0.20
Total
$12.00
$13.20
• Enable sales tax collection based on selected countries: Use this option if the tax jurisdiction requires that tax is applied based on where buyers are located. This is the common model in the United States and Canada. Tax will be added to the order at the time of checkout. If you change any of the three tax modules (no tax, or enable tax (US), or enable tax from VAT inclusive to VAT exclusive), a message appears warning that any currently open orders that have not checked out cannot be consolidated with a new order. The following situations will show the message: • Going from VAT enable to VAT disabled • Going from VAT disabled to VAT enabled • Going from VAT inclusive to VAT exclusive • Going from VAT exclusive to VAT inclusive • Going from having VAT to the U.S. model (enable sales tax collection module based on selected countries) • Going from the U.S. model to the VAT If the user changes only the rate, the tax for the item is calculated when the item closes and the order is invoiced. After you choose the tax calculation strategy, the following happens: • Invoices will display an additional box with tax information when the sale meets the correct criteria. You cannot edit or override an invoice with VAT in the Edit Sales view.
Tax Rate
Price without Tax
Tax
5.00%
19,05 €
0,95 €
17.50%
34,04 €
5,96 €
Shipping
5.50%
0,00 €
0,22 €
• Checkout reports will display the VAT tax amount. To enable value-added tax collection 1. From the Console, select Checkout > Checkout Sales Tax. 2. Select one of the following from the drop-down box: • Inclusive of tax: Prices you will enter for this account include the tax in the price of the merchandise • Exclusive of tax: Prices you will enter exclude the tax in the price of the merchandise. Tax will be added at checkout. See the example on the following page. 3. If you use the value-added tax (VAT) inclusive setting, your weekly and monthly ChannelAdvisor reports will display the adjusted GMV amount, without VAT. 4. Enter a number representing the tax percentage. 5. Check shipping tax preferences. Indicate if shipping rates are inclusive or exclusive of tax. 6. To apply the VAT rate by class, do the following: • Select Inventory > Classification. • Check the class level VAT Rate and enter the percentage of tax. The tax type (inclusive or exclusive) will follow the global level on Settings > Checkout > Checkout Sales Tax. To enable sales tax collection nased on selected countries 1. From the Console, select Checkout > Checkout Sales Tax. 2. Select the countries you must collect sales tax in by enabling them in the list. The next screen will require you to select the states/regions in each country in which you need to collect tax. Customizing Data Collection in Checkout 1. From the Console, select Checkout > Checkout Options. 2. Once enabled, these fields will appear on the checkout screen. 3. Click Required Field, Optional Field, or Do Not Capture for each of the following data items. • Company • Daytime Phone • Evening Phone • Job Title Customizing Invoices You can customize the header and footer on invoices. On the header, you might want to include the seller’s address, tax id number, or other pertinent information. To customize invoices 1. From the Console, select Checkout > Invoice Settings. 2. Under the Invoice Messages heading, enter custom text for the header and footer that will appear on the invoice/packing slips. Creating Ship-to Zones For the US, Canada, and Australia, state or region is an important part of the mailing address. In other countries, state or region is not relevant. You can set the state or region as not required in the States and Provinces. This feature eliminates the need for the buyer to enter a state or region when entering shipping information during checkout. The system assumes one shipping rate for any locations in the country. To create a ship-to zone 1. From the Console, select Settings > Account Ship to Zone. 2. Highlight the valid shipping zones. 3. Assign shipping locations. • For the US, Canada, and Australia, select the valid states to which items will be shipped. During checkout, buyers in the chosen locations will be required to select a state/region. • For other locations, select No Region Required to prevent the state/ region field from appearing in checkout and assume one shipping rate for the country. If individual states/regions for a country are enabled, the buyers in the location will need to select a region during checkout. Enabling Metric Weights This feature allows the user the flexibility to choose the weight measurement units for inventory items based upon the account. It is important to note that no mathematical calculation takes place to convert the weight from pounds to kilograms or vice versa. This only changes the weight label. To enable metric weights 1. From the Console, select Settings>General Settings. 2. Under Weight System for Account, choose either English (lb) or Metric (kg). To learn more about official ChannelAdvisor partners who translate your items and integrate them directly into your accounts, click here or see below: InterCultural Elements Updated 13 September 2007 Login to give us your comments on this SSC content
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