Which countries to do business with

On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 20:33:16 +0000, zeebop <yeah DeleteThis @um.right> wrote:

 >It can be hassle selling to Non-EU countries because you have to offer
 >them the EX VAT price, and remember not to claim vat back on those
 >sales. A few more forms to fill out for each sale as well, because you
 >will be exporting as opposed to 'moving'.
 >You also get 'dodgy' countries outside the EU. Damn those dodgy
 >countries.

Let me put the opposite view. We have the equivalent of VAT here in
Australia except we call it GST (Goods and Services Tax). If we sell
overseas we don't charge tax but the recipient is responsible for any
tax at their end (usually collected via the postal service and often
not collected at all on small amounts.

We've sold items to a lot of EU countries, to many in the Americas,
Asia etc. You take their credit card -- double check if you think it
is "dodgy" (or from a "dodgy country", even ask to see a faxed copy.

But we check and double check for sales here too. Most of the world's
phone directories are on line, and that's a good first check.

The accounts software (QuickBooks for us) produces a monthly total of
taxed sales and non-taxed sales at the click of a button.

Many years ago I used to have a very small business in London and we
sold overseas when credit cards were almost unknown, but I'll admit it
was more difficult then, especially to Eastern Europe, China, Russia
etc. -- but our little business did it! Even had a customer in
Pakistan, making bagpipes, who always paid -- I'd get phone calls from
people coming through London who'd say 'I've got some money for you',
even got paid in cash wqhile at a trade fair in Chicago by the boss of
a well known US company paying that bloke's account.

And nothing dodgy about it, just bending a few currency regulations to
help him achieve more exports -- I paid the tax on the profit and on
the one occasion I met him he talked about the problem quite openly in
front of a man from his government.

If you can sell overseas by post, there's only one extra form per
package though you'll get cramp trying to write hard enough for the
multiple copies.

Exporting isn't that hard -- and it is great to have to look up the
atlas to find out where something you've sold is going to.

But I'd avoid those people who want to order ten times what you've
ever sold in one purchase, and then suggest that if you let them have
your bank details they'll pay you a few million extra...


--
Gordon Woolf
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.worsleypress.com" target="_blank">www.worsleypress.com</a>
New book: Success in Store -- How to Start or Buy
a Retail Business, Enjoy Running It and Make Money<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Which countries to do business with