I sell prints of my original space-inspired artwork. I reside in the U.S. A fair amount of my potential customer base is located in the U.K. (based on my newsletter subscribers).
What would be involved in selling to international customers (eg. licenses, permits, customs, duties, shipping, etc.)? And, how could I make it worth it for both myself and my foreign customers? (Factoring in my time and costs, as well as their costs for shipping and duties.)
Topic summary
A U.S.-based artist selling space-inspired prints is exploring whether to serve international customers, particularly in the U.K. where they have a notable subscriber base.
Key concerns raised:
- Navigating licenses, permits, customs, and duties
- Managing international shipping costs and logistics
- Balancing time investment against potential revenue
- Ensuring value for both seller and overseas buyers
Advice provided:
Selling into Europe likely isn’t worthwhile without achieving significant sales volume. Major obstacles include complex regulations and shipping/duty costs. The recommended approach is establishing an EU-based distributor to handle fulfillment locally, avoiding per-order international complications—but this strategy only makes economic sense at high volume.
Status: The discussion remains open with no definitive solution for low-to-moderate volume sellers.
Short answer? Selling into Europe is probably not worth it unless you can reach a critical mass in terms of scale.
All of the factors you mentioned above are big road blocks, and there are no simple shortcuts. In my experience, the key to selling into Europe is finding a way to set up a distributor within the EU so that you aren’t dealing with international shipping and duties on an individual basis but this requires high volume to be worth pursuing.