Anyone here shipped to Russia lately? I had a buyer for two Harry Potter sets, but eBay won't let me print the label. Might be an issue with the address. Anyone run into issues shipping there due to how the addresses are structured, or could it be something else? USPS.com won't let me print the label there either. I am worried the shipping is going to be way more than what they paid (and I am wondering how eBay came up with the estimate since they won't let me print).

I don't think you can print label via Ebay or USPS website. You need to go to post office to fill out the custom form. I recently sold one to Russia. I calculated out the shipping price and added in the final invoice before I sent out the total for the buyer to pay. It was not cheap to ship (it was close to 90 USD including insurance but that was via priority express international which was recommended by other experienced sellers on this website) but as long as the buyer is willing to pay. On the custom form, you need to fill in English if I remember it correctly. But it could be written in Russia on the shipping label. Quite a bit work.

Last time I did I was able to print shipping labels.  It's all based on box shape and weight and what the rules are of a particular country.  That is why I never ship international through Ebay, far too much work.

Make sure you ship Priority Express and confirm that it will get a tracking number all the way to the buyers door. Lots of scam buyers out of Russia right now with problems with their postal service. Just make sure you've got yourself covered for any more expensive items.

Shipping to Russia: Dont do it

Jeez, great. Yeah, I made the mistake of not having Global Shipping Program only for the item. Thinking of cancelling and issuing a refund and risking the negative feedback, the buyer only has two transactions.

Jeez, great. Yeah, I made the mistake of not having Global Shipping Program only for the item. Thinking of cancelling and issuing a refund and risking the negative feedback, the buyer only has two transactions.

 

I've done this three times before, although each time the buyer was waiting on an invoice so they hadn't paid yet.  I politely told them I didn't ship to Russia (risking an eBay open case since my seller settings didn't accurately reflect this), and rolled the dice on whether they wanted to open a case.  Then, I sent them a cancellation request, and all three accepted the cancellation.

This buyer paid right away, that is the problem. Over $500 including shipping, ugh. Not sure what to do. Paypal says it is eligible for seller protection, but I am worried about the package never making it anywhere to be signed in the first place. The address appears legit, I can find it on a map with the zip code matching what was provided.

I ship to Russia all of the time. I have never had an issue and you won't either IF your buyer understands there will be a nice long delay this time of year (and they should know that by now lol). Late Oct thru Dec your item won't even be scanned by customs for 30-40 days. So your USPS tracking will show departed the last US sorting center and then nothing for over 1 month. Then expect another 10 days for the item to be delivered once scanned and passed through Russian customs. Send it Priority Mail and NOT Express to Russia. The reason being they have 7 guys sorting thru Express but many more doing regular Priority Mail. In fact you may get lucky and your Priority Mail may get thru quite quickly. Express is guaranteed to take at least 1 month this time of year. Tracking for Priority Mail and Express is exactly the same and will be completely dependent upon those who do the scanning (or in at least 50% of cases no delivery scan at all). You can visit this site to get an idea on waiting times for express mail to Russia (use google translate):

 

http://sms-track.ru/stat/EUS-RU

 

Ebay should let you print the label if you choose Priority Mail and not Express (at least this was the way it was last time I sold on ebay to Russia). You can then use Shipcover or Shipsaver insurance. If you want insurance thru USPS then you can do the label online and buy insurance when you drop it off instore. If things have changed and you can no longer do postage online at all to Russia thru USPS or ebay then you can try stamps.com or just take it to USPS instore.

 

Shipcover is nice as they pay out automatically with no forms to fill out. They will not however cover postage costs. Personally I have never had a lost package overseas and don't bother with insurance but it is up to you to figure out the odds of being scammed. Look at your buyers feedback left for others for a nice clue. This is a great time of year for Russian scammers due to mail delays but insurance will protect you. Odds are your buyer will be fine however.

Good info, thanks. I was planning to do Shipcover, and it only lets me select Priority anyway, not express. Something with the address or box size is tripping it up though. I appreciate all of the info on this.