I sell some coins on eBay, and was previously using eBay's Global Shipping Program, which was recently changed to the International Shipping Program. In those programs, I just shipped my packages to an eBay hub in the U.S., and they handle the shipment overseas from there. But now eBay has added a restriction that means anything made of a precious metal is not eligible for the program, so no silver or gold coins (and seemingly even bronze coins as well). I confirmed this with several eBay customer service reps after finding that my listings were suddenly no longer showing international shipping options. I'll now have to handle international shipping myself, which I haven't done before. Curious from others who have shipped coins internationally: What shipping options do you use, i.e. USPS First Class Mail International or something else? How do you handle setting customs value and filling out customs forms? Can those be filled out online? Any countries you refuse to ship to (and why)?
I always used the first class mail international or the eBay international shipping. The eBay international one was not the same as the global shipping program but I can't say if they still exist separately. For that one the label you would print would be somewhere in Kentucky I think and they'd somehow know where to send it. Anyway, for first class mail international, if it was four or fewer lower value coins I'd put them in an envelope with an international stamp or two and drop them in the mail, and they usually arrive. If you need to buy the package rate, it does let you fill out customs online. It will give you a list of each individual coin but I just delete those and enter "13 collectible coins" or something like that. Some people will lie and say "metal discs" or something but I never have. I don't ship to India, Mexico or Russia, or any country that seems politically suspect. Generally most of Europe, Canada, and more developed Asian countries are pretty safe. I don't do Central and South America anymore or Africa. The reason why is just that too often they don't arrive and you have no recourse but to give a refund.
You need to read up on shipping to EU Countries. The laws regarding customs declaration labels have recently changed.
I sell records on Discogs and this was a huge headache for everyone shipping to Europe (even within Europe). I don't know if it applies differently to coins or other goods, but here's an article that's informative. VAT could need to be paid by the seller, or the buyer, and could be collected at different times. https://www.discogs.com/selling/updates/uk-eu-vat-changes-on-discogs
Seems like eBay calculates and collects VAT from the buyer during the checkout process until a seller reaches 10,000 euros in (annual? not clear) sales to EU buyers, in which case the seller is responsible for registering for VAT. Based on this page: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling/vat-obligations-eu?id=4650) And apparently UK buyers have to pay a 20% VAT charge, which is pretty crazy. I assume that's in addition to customs fees. This whole thing seems like more of a headache than I thought.
There is a reason the job/role of "Customs Broker" exists... If you are going to ship, say, USPS, you need to review the USPS mail manual section for the specific destination country to figure out if it's even allowed... For example, at random: https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/tz_020.htm
