2008-03-10T15:47:01-07:00 Practical Ecommerce info@practicalecommerce.com http://www.practicalecommerce.com/ Copyright 2007 Confluence Publishing DBA Practical Ecommerce http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/693/Exporting-Your-Products-First-Learn-The-Terminology 2008-03-10T15:47:01-07:00

To sell products overseas, you will need to learn the international buying and selling terminology, also referred to as "Incoterms 2000" (or, International Commercial Terms). These were first developed in 1936 by the International Chamber of Commerce , which adopted 13 Incoterms to make it easier for international traders to understand one another's responsibilities when conducting a buy-sell transaction. The following are the 13 Incoterms. 1. "EXW" - Ex Works (Named Place) - Seller delivers when he or she places the goods at the disposal of buyer at seller's premises or another named place (i.e. work, factory, warehouse). 2. "FCA" - Free Carrier (Named Place) - Seller delivers when he or she delivers the goods, cleared for export, to the carrier nominated by buyer at the named place. 3. "FAS" - Free Alongside Ship (Named Port of Shipment) - Seller delivers when the goods are placed alongside the vessel at the named port of shipment. 4. "FOB" - Free On Board (Named Port of...

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/687/Exporting-Your-Products-Do-It-Yourself-or-Hire-an-Exporting-Firm 2008-03-03T16:27:50-07:00

Once you have conducted your market research and made the decision to export your products to foreign markets, you must devise an international sales and marketing strategy. Your initial obstacle will be determining which overseas markets have the most potential for selling your products. Second, you will need to decide whether to market them via "direct selling" or "indirect selling." You may decide to apply a different approach for each market or simply use the same approach throughout. Direct Selling "Direct selling" means that you will be responsible for exporting your products to customers in foreign markets. You will be responsible for identifying the best distribution approach, complying with foreign market regulations and requirements, collecting payments, producing export documentation, appropriately labeling your product, shipping logistics, after-sale service and so forth. I recommended that you assign this task to a separate department within your company that is...

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/651/Getting-Started-In-Exporting 2008-01-16T16:02:54-07:00

Exporting can be a lucrative component of an online business. But many small business owners shy away from it simply because they have limited knowledge of the process. For these owners, there are two good places to begin. The first is creating an international section on your website detailing your terms and conditions, including a currency conversion calculator. The second is conducting research on international markets. Create An International Web Section It is important to communicate interest to your prospective international customers. You can do this by creating a page on your website detailing your export terms and conditions. This section would also detail who you are prepared to conduct business with, such as end-user consumers and/or volume buyers such as distributors and importers. (It may or may not be economical to initially ship low volume items directly to international end-user consumers for a number of reasons, including the amount of paperwork that is...