How to ship internationally on eBay

I decided right away that I wanted to offer international shipping.  So many sellers here in the U.S. are afraid of selling items to buyers abroad that it felt like a great unexploited market for me to target.  Having been an expat before, I know there are certain brands you can only get in the U.S., and I also know Americans and foreigners alike seek some of these brands out specifically.

The problem with international shipping is that getting an option that offers tracking can be prohibitively expensive, and sending an item First Class Mail International, although inexpensive, doesn't provide delivery confirmation.  However, if you're like me and only sell personal items, you have more to gain from the traffic you'll drive to your items by shipping internationally than you have to lose from... well, losing an item.

For instance, I just sold an item to someone in Moscow.  It's a small personal item - a rain jacket my son wore a few times but no longer fits.  I'm sending the item First Class Mail International for about $6.50 in shipping fees.  However, if for some reason the item should get lost, I have no way of determining where or how it was lost, which means if the buyer says he didn't get it my only option would be to offer him a certificate of mailing proving that the item was in fact sent.  If he's not satisfied with that, I then have to offer him a refund AND I'm out a small rain jacket.  Now, if we were talking about a Cartier watch then that prospect would certainly make me reconsider my international shipping policy, but for a Gap rain jacket I think I'll take my chances.

So, to Russia with love, the item goes. :)  Wish me luck!