{"id":1546,"date":"2014-05-15T19:23:22","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T23:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1546"},"modified":"2014-09-03T21:23:09","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T01:23:09","slug":"international-shipping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1546","title":{"rendered":"International Shipping"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last summer, I received an email from someone in The Netherlands\u00a0asking if I did international shipping on my signs. \u00a0At first it sounded terrifying. \u00a0When I worked corporate just sending documents overseas was always a nightmare. \u00a0I couldn’t imagine the headache that shipping a wood sign would create.<\/p>\n

I answered back that if they gave me a little time I would research it and let them know.<\/p>\n

This is where Etsy really becomes an asset. \u00a0They have this great community of people that answer your questions. \u00a0I noticed a few shop owners that repeatedly answered questions. \u00a0It must take a lot of time out of their already busy day and I for one am very appreciative. \u00a0I read a ton about the ins and outs and everyone really calmed my fears and told me to jump in.<\/p>\n

Just like with other shipping I check with the USPS for shipping quotes<\/a>\u00a0to put on the shop listing. \u00a0I also needed to check \u00a0to see which countries will accept my signs. \u00a0Each country has a list of things they don’t allow to enter their border. \u00a0It ranges from things you would expect like flowers (so no invasive bugs come in) to weird things like typewriter ribbon (Italy, who knows why). \u00a0The list of all the countries is here<\/a>\u00a0and it really is worth a read even if you aren’t shipping. \u00a0Some of the stuff is weird and creepy.<\/p>\n

I picked a few countries to start out with that I had researched and knew I should be ok shipping there. \u00a0So far I have Canada, UK, France, The Netherlands, and Australia. \u00a0When you add a country to the shipping list, it allows customers in those countries to see you when they do a basic search. \u00a0I also found out that customers are used to paying for international shipping so don’t let the rates scare you off.<\/p>\n

Once I was (semi) confident I had a clue I wrote the customer back and she bought the sign!<\/p>\n

Now on to what I think is the best Etsy feature of all – shipping labels! \u00a0 They take the name and address info the customer entered, the dimensions and weight of the package you enter and creates a mailing label. \u00a0You print it out, stick it on your package and give it to your mailman. \u00a0 That means no post office in 10 degree weather with a tiny baby. \u00a0When you ship internationally, the customs form for that country is included on the label. \u00a0You print it out, stick it on your package, sign the customs line and give it to your mailman. \u00a0That’s it. \u00a0Really.<\/p>\n

What prompts this post today is I have my first repeat international customer! \u00a0That first customer who asked me to ship to The Netherlands came back and bought another sign today. \u00a0 I love repeat customers because it’s a real gauge that you are doing something right. \u00a0That someone has noticed your hard work and thought they got great service. \u00a0And that is priceless after a long hard day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last summer, I received an email from someone in The Netherlands\u00a0asking if I did international shipping on my signs. \u00a0At first it sounded terrifying. \u00a0When I worked corporate just sending documents overseas was always a nightmare. \u00a0I couldn’t imagine the…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[183,186],"tags":[243,242,97,241,184],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/RR-logo-square-300-pix.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1J4KT-oW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1015,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1015","url_meta":{"origin":1546,"position":0},"title":"A few new wood signs","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"So I have been hard at work around here on a bunch more signs. \u00a0They are quickly becoming popular in the etsy shop. \u00a0So popular in fact that I sold one of the signs before I even got to post about here! So first we have another sign for our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Kelly Sherman Design"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/karma2-etsy-1-039-ksd.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1343,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1343","url_meta":{"origin":1546,"position":1},"title":"EcoEnclose – Ecofriendly Shipping Products","date":"July 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A big part of what I try to do with Kelly Sherman Design is find ways to make awesome things without so much waste. \u00a0A lot of thought goes into each design because not only do I have to figure out what the makeover should be but what products to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Green Ideas"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/RR-logo-square-300-pix.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1528,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1528","url_meta":{"origin":1546,"position":2},"title":"New Wood Signs","date":"May 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"As you may know I\u00a0make and sell\u00a0ecofriendly wood signs in addition to the furniture that I refinish (more on them here). \u00a0Over the last year or so it's been a great way to continue to work when I was pregnant. \u00a0It's also so much easier to pack and ship a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Kelly Sherman Design"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/e1-1038.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1050,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1050","url_meta":{"origin":1546,"position":3},"title":"Custom Wood Signs","date":"December 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A few years ago my uncle had made me a burned lettering sign with what is now my maiden name. \u00a0It has been hanging on the front of the house this whole time. \u00a0Now I have a new name and TB would probably like to be included in the fun.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Green Ideas"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/family-etsy-1-022-ksd.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1006,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1006","url_meta":{"origin":1546,"position":4},"title":"Reclaimed Wood Signs","date":"November 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I love to makeover furniture. \u00a0The problem with furniture is that it takes up a lot of room. \u00a0And working on it makes your arms very, very tired. \u00a0 I thought maybe I could start working on something smaller for the shop. \u00a0I figured TB would really appreciate a break\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Green Ideas"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/screw-it-sign-ksd.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":890,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=890","url_meta":{"origin":1546,"position":5},"title":"Reclaimed Wine Crate Table","date":"July 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently a friend of ours showed up at our house with his parents' truck. \u00a0Inside were a bunch of wine crates that had served their purpose of protecting the wine bottles during shipping and had been headed for the trash. \u00a0 He figured I might like to make them into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/etsy-5-822-crop-2-RR.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1546"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1546"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1548,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1546\/revisions\/1548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}