once i sell something on eBay, shipping is usually pretty easy. i just go to the post office, pay for Priority, get a box, and then package and mail the item. depending on size, i sometimes use bubble wrap. also, if the item is worth a certain amount, i sometimes pay for insurance.

things get a little harder when the person buying the item is in another country. first, the price of global priority seems to more than double in cost compared to shipping in the US. second, i've been told by the post office that they cant insure global mail (once its out of the country, they cant be held responsible for it or something). and third, eBay doesn't allow a dual listing of local/foreign shipping cost (that i know of).

after finding out the hard way that things cost a ton more to ship outside of the US, i started pointing out in all my auctions that world-wide shipping will cost double the listed shipping cost. i thought that would fix things. however, i've still been paid the US cost of shipping from someone in another country. they seemed to ignore my instructions on paying double the listed US price, and refused to pay anything more than what they already did. after a few days of waiting to see if they would change their mind, i just shipped the item in a standard padded envelope. it was the only thing i could afford without cutting into the cost of the item. i wouldn't know what kind of condition the item would arrive in since it wasn't in a hard box, but hey - it wasn't my problem.

another thing that bothers me about selling on eBay - when i say i accept PayPal and money orders/cashiers checks only - that's what i mean. if they try to pay with a Credit Card, they wont get anywhere. if they send me a personal check, then im going to hold on to it for around two weeks to make sure it clears before sending their item.