The problem I have w/ shipping outside the US is, well, the shipping. Even if I use an expensive form of traceable shipping, make sure it's insured, and declare it's honest value (this last part a lot of people do not like at all, but oh well), what happens if customs sits on the package? Or "loses" it and no one ever files a claim over there in customs. Have you ever tried to get any information out of customs, either yours or someone else's? Ha!
Buyers get irate, and I don't blame them. They paid for the item and I furnished tracking, but where the heck is it??? I have absolutely no control of events after it leaves the US border, and have seen time and time again eBay will grab the money from my bank account and give it to the buyer. Now I've paid paypal and eBay's fees, paid for the shipping, lost all the money for the item AND don't have the item anymore! One would have to be pretty idiotic to have that scene play out more than a few times. Within the borders, USPS always pays a claim. UPS, whom I consider as evil a company as eBay, won't. They totally destroyed 3 Epson 2200 printers that I carefully packed and shipped through them (we're talking well over $1000 here). Never paid a red cent on the claims because they said they were poorly packed.
That's the problem w/ these giant companies. They have their "policies" that are designed to protect themselves, not their customers. They take control over events out of our hands, and we're essentially powerless to address customer complaints ourselves. When I ship US only, I avoid all of these problems and know that if there's an issue, I won't get my money stolen from me. It's a no brainer at that point to decide on US only shipping. Shipping into the US is a breeze. No camera item I ever bought showed any sign of being inspected by US customs, and was never held in customs. It's shipping OUT of the US that's the problem.
