Etsy Sales : airmail prices?

[diforenzad]

Hi there,
I've noticed a lot of people on eBay selling general stuff from Thailand.
I've searched a few products that could potentially sell well online and leave me with a decent margin, but my big question mark is shipping rates.
On the internet, it seems like the Economy airmail is pretty pricey for small items (everything I've looked into is in between 50 and less than 200 grams).
Would EMS tracked be a viable option?
It seems it would be cheaper to send the stuff to china and ship it from there, but then again, at this point, I'd rather export directly to the US, and do everything through a Fulfillment service warehouse.

Advices?

[fredge45]

My partner has been quite successful selling on Etsy, not eBay.

Shipping prices are always a bit of a problem. We find that, depending on customer needs, SAL works well for both European and USA destinations. Registered with tracking. Some customers have opted for the slow boat because of price and have been satisfied as well.

Thai Post website has a page for determining the prices by different services offered so one may accurately quote shipping prices.

[diforenzad]

Hi there, could I send you a PM to talk a bit about this? I like etsy more than eBay (I haven't really used ebay in ten years... was good a few years ago. Now it's just good for selling Used Items) and Thailand offers plenty of opportunities.
Would be cool to compare each other.

[BKKdreaming]

look at Thai Post website

put in 999 grams and USA to search prices

then look at #17 or #18 and you will see small packet SAL

the post office never finds this "legal" rate as it is way down the page , so print it out , or put on smartphone in Thai

small packet needs to be under 2kg and is not to all countries.

we used it last week for a packages to USA and Japan,

and no this is not my "find" it was mentioned in a thread a few months ago about selling online

[diforenzad]

look at Thai Post website

put in 999 grams and USA to search prices

then look at #17 or #18 and you will see small packet SAL

the post office never finds this "legal" rate as it is way down the page , so print it out , or put on smartphone in Thai

small packet needs to be under 2kg and is not to all countries.

we used it last week for a packages to USA and Japan,

and no this is not my "find" it was mentioned in a thread a few months ago about selling online

Cool, that's what I was looking for!

Well the stuff I'm sourcing is pretty light, so there should be no issue. I'll wait till end of songkran, so I can take care of some freelancing stuff I'm doing and then I'll start selling on etsy.

I was thinking about opening two shops, one for accessories and the other one for craft supplies, but I'm not too sure about the second one.

Most of the top etsy sellers are selling craft supplies, but still :

- profit margin are too low

- you need to have a decent hook up or sell something pretty unique

It seems easier to start selling accessories and then start from there by promoting them around the web (ugh, the hard part!).