International Question

I make and sell soaps and bath/body products here in the US and am familiar with the labeling guidelines here. However, I have been contacted by a shop in Madrid Spain that would like to carry my products...do I need to label products differently if a shop decides to carry my products internationally? Or would it be similar as selling a product through Etsy to someone overseas?

Also, does anyone have recommendations for the most cost effective way to ship large orders overseas? I am running in to some pretty astronomical quotes!

I believe Spain is going to have their own laws about soaps in their country. If this is going to be available in a shop for resale you need to research their laws and labeling requirements plus have your labels translated into Spanish. This is going to be an expensive endeavour and you will need to make the shop owner aware of these costs as they will need to be charged back to the customer.

Ooooh! I know this!

It is basically the same that goes on when it is made over here. Someone - either you or the customer - will need to register on the CPNP (http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consu...roducts_notification_portal_cpnp/index_en.htm) and register the soap.

For making soap, I think the same applies to importing - the recipe (each recipe, including variations in colour/scent) needs to be checked and approved by a qualified person called a Safety Assessor and this will cost between around 150€ (currently about $186). If you're still interested, I can give you some tips on who to look at.

The labels have some very strict but straightforward guidelines such as using INCI, where the "use by" and weight information goes, that sort of thing.

Craig I wasn't sure if Spain was part of the EU. Scott was telling me about it one other time.

Spain is indeed in the eu. In this case, it might not be a good thing!

LOL - I talked to Scott one time about what is required and he told me how it works for wholesale but he said on a personal level I don't have to get a Safety Assessment.

I wasn't aware that recipes can be registered without it. Interesting though

Well selling out of Canada if I get an order out of the EU then I don't need an SA but if I were to get a wholesale account then I would have to do the same as you.

"...I have been contacted by a shop in Madrid Spain that would like to carry my products..."

Another thing to consider before you leap into much more work on this ... is this a scam? I get a fair number of inquiries about shipping my product internationally for resale and 99% or more of these inquiries are not remotely legit.

Any sensible business person, regardless of the country they live in, will be looking at your product to add to their bottom line. If you're making an luxury soap with gold and pearl dust and a precious oil from a rare grain that only you raise, harvest, and press, I can perhaps see why someone would want to import your product regardless of astronomical shipping costs.

Otherwise, I would advise testing the air thoroughly for Scent of Scam.

And, no, you aren't going to find a low-cost international shipper. For small quantities, USPS is probably the least expensive, compared with carriers such as UPS and FedEx, once you factor in the brokerage fees, customs fees, as well as the base shipping costs. Even ocean freight is not cheap and is really more suitable for large volume shipments (pallets and shipping containers).

Oh, dear, I didn't mean to be the one to put an end to this conversation!

Any new developments?

I just received a request for 150 bars of soap to Madrid Spain also. I wonder if it's the same business? I also think this might be a scam.I hate to turn down business? What is the name of the business that contacted you?

rainwater said:

I just received a request for 150 bars of soap to Madrid Spain also. I wonder if it's the same business? I also think this might be a scam.I hate to turn down business? What is the name of the business that contacted you?

Click to expand...

Just be careful a lot of scam is going out in the Internet.

I guess you could test them with a small batch you wold be willing to sacrifice if it is a scam. Make them pay for the shipping label upfront as a show of good faith. If they use USPS international, I think they could e-mail you the prepaid label. UPS - they could give their shipper number to send. Does smell fishy though.

I feel a little odd that the OP vanished after I suggested the inquiry may be a scam. But honestly a lot of these "will you sell to Spain, Nigeria, Cyprus" type of inquiries are total scams, so the potential has to be kept in mind. Here are a few of the fake inquiries I've gotten in just the past two weeks:

Hello Sales, I will like to place an order and delivery will be to Thailand, i have a personal carrier that would handle collection. Do you accept card payment? Please advise accordingly. Thank you. Jeffrey Archer.

Dear Sir/Madam, I write to inform you that we are interested in a bulk purchase of your products as We were able to get your email address with the help of a directory research based on your country.. Please kindly send to us your catalog/Website through pdf or jpg attachment. Regards, Mr.OSU ADABRAKA, Ghana.

Dear Sir, Please provide us your best competitive price and delivery time for the item as mentioned on the attached. Please reply as early as possible. Kindest regards, Chris Rojero, Saudi Arabia

Dear Sir, We got your company information through an exhaustive search in the directories.We are authorized government/Business agent based in Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs,the Islamic State of Qatar. There is an ongoing offer for the supply of your products to the government of Islamic State of Qatar under the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs project procurement division and in a large quantity for their ongoing rehabilitation and promotional project in the countries. I am an agent and my interest for every business I do is my commission and as a commission agent, .Please can you furnish me in full details about the standard of your products. I will try to make sure I do everything possible to make sure the supply contract is award to you company. Best Regard, Mr. Rashid Musa, Qatar

It gets pretty boring.

I've decided it's not worth it to subject my bank account and whatever else they might be able to hack to make a sale. I'm happy to stay right her in the US.

I received two separate requests today for shipping overseas stating that I had to use their preferred carrier. One of them has contacted me for a second time even after I told her I didn't ship overseas, because I smelled a scam coming.

One of them actually took the time to write down the items they wanted which totaled $4000! If only....