Printing International Shipping Labels From Home

Ashlee asked me to talk a little about printing international shipping labels from home. I couldn't write that post until I actually had an international label to print. I got a sale to the UK today, so here you go!

Really, there is almost no reason to ever have to go to the post office. I only ever go if I miss my mail lady in the morning (and even then, I send my husband so I STILL don't have to go :-D )

The first thing I am going to do is go into my Sold Items and click on "I need to ship X items."  Then, I will click on "Print Shipping Label" beside the item I'm ready to ship.

I'll see this screen:

Zoomed in:

Look at the top green circle. I want to make sure I'm choosing the best shipping method, so I'll click on "Compare Shipping Rates"   This is the screen that comes up:

My buyer paid for a Priority flat rate envelope, so that's already selected. First Class International is cheaper, but I can't use that because he paid for Priority. I'll double check and see that regular Priority International is more expensive than the flat rate envelope, so I'll stick with that.

Enter your package dimensions and weight. Mine are pre-filled based on the information I entered when I listed it. I double-checked the weight, and it's actually 15 oz, so I changed that. Next, click on "Save."

It will take you back to the previous screen. Here is the zoomed in version of that screen again:

Next, I'm going to change my printer. My thermal printer is my default printer, but I can't print international labels on that one, so I'll need to change it to my desktop printer. I don't want the postage cost to show up, so I'll make sure that box isn't checked.

Next, I'll click on "Continue to Customs Form" over on the right.

This will open up the customs form. The top half will automatically be filled in based on what you typed on the previous screen, but here is the bottom half:

For description, we don't need to be so specific, so I'll just change that to "men's coat." The Qty, Value, and Weight fields will be automatically filled in. Leave all the (optional) fields blank. The country of origin stays at United States (unless you're shipping from somewhere other than the US, of course). "Type of items in package" will stay Merchandise. This is important. You WILL get international buyers who ask you to mark their items as a gift. This is ILLEGAL. Do not do it!

Lastly, put a checkmark next to the red arrow, showing that you have read the prohibitions and restrictions. You can either click on that link before printing your label, or you can bookmark the International Mail Manual. If you are brand new to shipping internationally, it is really important that you actually double-check these restrictions. You'd be amazed the things that some countries don't allow, so until you get a wide variety of international shipments under your belt, it's a good idea to check them all before shipping.

Once you've checked that box, click on "Pay and Print". This will bring up the Finish Printing Your Label Screen:

Click on View and Print Label, which will create your label and bring up your printer dialogue box.

Go ahead and send your label to your printer. For First Class International or Priority Flat Rate Envelope, one page will print out. For regular Priority, 2 pages will print out. Either way, the customs information will automatically be included on your label, so there's no need to go to the post office to fill out a customs form. I'm shipping in a flat rate envelope, so here's what printed out:

I cut the bottom half off and cut it into scrap paper. Sign and date the top. Then I like to put it into a customs sleeve (if the package is big enough for it) and stick it onto the package. This saves my packaging tape.

Whether you use a sleeve or tape doesn't really matter. Attach it to your package and put it out for your mail carrier! That's it!