Affiliate since: 07/17/2014, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read King Isaac's 22 other Ask SC answers

An ECA has no restriction to the borders it can cover to sell its item.
Therefore an advise to restrict shipping your item locally would be same as saying, please restrict your earning potentials as an ECA.

You should do more local shipping but you must also get international shipping rates from your local courier or postal services and be prepared for any international orders.

You never know who would click and order your item first. It may be 100% International buyer or 100% Local buyers. So either ways you have to just be prepared for them.

Hope this helps.

Cheers;)
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An ECA has no restriction to the borders it can cover to sell its item.
Therefore an advise to restrict shipping your item locally would be same as saying, please restrict your earning potentials as an ECA.

You should do more local shipping but you must also get international shipping rates from your local courier or postal services and be prepared for any international orders.

You never know who would click and order your item first. It may be 100% International buyer
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Affiliate since: 10/04/2013, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Ronelle's 268 other Ask SC answers

I would say it would be better to stay more regional until you are fully engaged in business, and very comfortable with shipping.

For the USA, Canada &/or Mexico might not be too difficult as far as shipping regulations and costs go, since they border us. They are still international borders, though, so check out the procedures thoroughly before you begin to include shipping to them. Canada would be the easier of the two, I think.

After a full year, see how things are going, reach out to Canada/Mexico if you have not already, get your feet wet. Expand slowly, like maybe South America. These are all land-connected countries, so the shipping might be more reasonable.

For people in Europe or African countries, I would say the same thing... stay more regional at first, then reach out further. Same thing, actually, for all areas.

Good luck to all ECAs in SFI!:))...
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I would say it would be better to stay more regional until you are fully engaged in business, and very comfortable with shipping.

For the USA, Canada &/or Mexico might not be too difficult as far as shipping regulations and costs go, since they border us. They are still international borders, though, so check out the procedures thoroughly before you begin to include shipping to them. Canada would be the easier of the two, I think.

After a full year, see how things are
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Affiliate since: 09/25/2012, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Djebah's 53 other Ask SC answers

Hello there,

First, ECA is an acronym for E-Commerce Associate. The program allows commercial sellers and companies of all kinds, from around the world, to market their products and services side-by-side with TripleClicks own products and services.

Deciding to ship product regionally and internationally plays a very important role in whether you will be a successful ECA or not. As you know, TripleClicks currently has 2,964,824 Members in 203 Countries with Members as per the latest statistics. This means that TripleClicks has a world wide reach and is not limited to any particular region or country.

Limiting shipping to your region would be like limiting yourself to the amount of profits you choose to make on TripleClicks. You don't need to limit shipping to your region while your business grows. That will even not make your business grow as you may wish for.

I would advise that you take your business to the maximum reach of TripleClicks members by opening up your shipping to both your region and internationally. That is the only way with which you can see a better profit in less time. And what more? Shipping your items to international affiliates or TripleClicks members wouldn't cost you anything more. What you simply need to do is to add the cost of the shipping to the final price of the product.

In conclusion, it doesn't matter if you are a new ECA or not. Don't stagnant your ECA by shipping only locally or regionally. Open up your business to the outside world by offering to ship internationally.

I hope that was helpful.




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Hello there,

First, ECA is an acronym for E-Commerce Associate. The program allows commercial sellers and companies of all kinds, from around the world, to market their products and services side-by-side with TripleClicks own products and services.

Deciding to ship product regionally and internationally plays a very important role in whether you will be a successful ECA or not. As you know, TripleClicks currently has 2,964,824 Members in 203 Countries with Members as per the
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Affiliate since: 07/05/2024, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Nafisa's 286 other Ask SC answers

I feel that you should market your ECA within your region first as you start promoting your business and your products in an environment in which you are familiar. There are several advantages for doing so.

1. Shipment costs outside your own region would be much higher and buyers would definitely not be willing to pay for that product. This would be the main advantage.

2. Your local buyers would understand shipment methods and also not query your charges-this would lend a greater relationship between your local buyers building a customer base. The possibility of repeat customers is very likely and this means expanding your business. Also it is easier to sort out any payment difficulties and work around hitches in technology when you are in one region.

3. It is much easier to build a customer base within your own geographical region for obvious reasons. This will give you experience on how to handle an overseas clientele. You will be able to answer questions better from prospective overseas buyers.

4. It is not difficult to add more countries to your shipping list and you can gradually expand your business to offer shipment outside your own region.
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I feel that you should market your ECA within your region first as you start promoting your business and your products in an environment in which you are familiar. There are several advantages for doing so.

1. Shipment costs outside your own region would be much higher and buyers would definitely not be willing to pay for that product. This would be the main advantage.

2. Your local buyers would understand shipment methods and also not query your charges-this would lend
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Affiliate since: 07/02/2024, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Williams's 638 other Ask SC answers

This is a good question. It is something that should be decided by the business. Not everyone wants to deal with the hassles of international shipping not to mention the cost. Costs matter. If you are selling trinkets that you make at home, you will probably not have an international market for them. The shipping will cost more than the item itself. But if you have exquisite trinkets in high demand, you may consider an international audience because the value is there for the customer.

No customer is going to be willing to by $50 for a watch then have to pay $50 to have it shipped when they can get a comparable watch locally for $65. These are the issues ECAs face when they are contemplating international shipping.

Therefore, ECAs have to make the choice based on what they offer. High end products in high demand have broad appeal. Those that are easy to ship should prove profitable for the ECA.
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This is a good question. It is something that should be decided by the business. Not everyone wants to deal with the hassles of international shipping not to mention the cost. Costs matter. If you are selling trinkets that you make at home, you will probably not have an international market for them. The shipping will cost more than the item itself. But if you have exquisite trinkets in high demand, you may consider an international audience because the value is there for the customer.

No
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Affiliate since: 04/23/2014, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Catherine's 1 other Ask SC answers

We all know that to ship internationally would be the ideal answer for your business, but I think the person who is making the decision should ask themselves can I afford to ship every where initially, by looking at the budget and expenses of your business first. Your initially goal could be reach as many people in my community first, which would increase my capital then expand to other surrounding states or countries, then go globally. This is a sound business plan for your business where you are today. However, this may not be for every business. You must look at your own business individually, because we are all at different levels in our business.
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We all know that to ship internationally would be the ideal answer for your business, but I think the person who is making the decision should ask themselves can I afford to ship every where initially, by looking at the budget and expenses of your business first. Your initially goal could be reach as many people in my community first, which would increase my capital then expand to other surrounding states or countries, then go globally. This is a sound business plan for your business where you are
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Affiliate since: 08/02/2013, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Terry 's 42 other Ask SC answers

Hi Vickie,
I like your questions as it is 'topical' for me right now.

This is a difficult one for me to get to grips with but here goes:

(a) If you live in a country with a 'strong currency', like USD or EUR/GBP, then perhaps selling overseas to affiliates in countries with 'weak currencies' can be a problem because the 'landed costs' - including high shipping, makes the product less competitive. For us here in RSA, 'darn too expensive'. !

(b) The opposite therefore applies for us in 'weak currency' areas - to sell to overseas countries with 'strong currencies'...as our landed cost to the client is so much cheaper in their currency.

As I am myself now looking at signing up two ECA's - I also face this dilemma to concentrate on the region, or country, or go international.
The latter seems attractive to earn 'hard currency', but the process will be that much more complex, insofaras controlling the shipping aspect. (a challenge, but nothing too difficult).

Unfortunately, selling within ones own region poses that question of 'competitive products', but if we can organise selling those 'day to day' items, at a slightly lower rate - then perhaps it could be a winning formula.
(In the USA for example, I see that there are many day to day products being sold via TC store - which probably competitive in USA, but not for us to buy - living in S.Africa).

I'm still thinking through the process, so these are thoughts off the top of my head for now....but hope it helps ...
Best of luck with your endeavours - and no doubt reading more on FORUM, and the Training in SFI - we can resolve these issues....



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Hi Vickie,
I like your questions as it is 'topical' for me right now.

This is a difficult one for me to get to grips with but here goes:

(a) If you live in a country with a 'strong currency', like USD or EUR/GBP, then perhaps selling overseas to affiliates in countries with 'weak currencies' can be a problem because the 'landed costs' - including high shipping, makes the product less competitive. For us here in RSA, 'darn too expensive'. !

(b) The opposite
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Affiliate since: 11/03/2013, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read John's 17 other Ask SC answers

One of the main benefits of opening an ECA store is to expand your market outside you region, worldwide if possible.

Unless you are selling furniture or other items that would require being shipped in containers rather than small boxes or envelopes, I would recommend that you do a little research about shipping prices and calculate an average into your product prices.

Don't limit yourself to a small area when there are people from over 100 countries that can see your ECA store and may want to order from you. You could lose a lot of business.
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One of the main benefits of opening an ECA store is to expand your market outside you region, worldwide if possible.

Unless you are selling furniture or other items that would require being shipped in containers rather than small boxes or envelopes, I would recommend that you do a little research about shipping prices and calculate an average into your product prices.

Don't limit yourself to a small area when there are people from over 100 countries that can see your ECA store
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Affiliate since: 10/01/2013, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Nimo's 381 other Ask SC answers

I would say ship internationally right from the start. A sale is a sale.

Let’s face it, unless you are extremely skilled at promoting your store or products, you are not going to be flooded with orders. In most cases, I suspect that orders will trickle in and you will have time to learn how to deal with local and international orders.

Before listing your products, you would have worked out your costs and margins including shipping cost, local and international. I see no sense in limiting yourself to just the local market.

If you are drop shipping your arrangement with your supplier or suppliers will most likely include shipping internationally, so why not go for it.

Ship internationally right from the start.

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I would say ship internationally right from the start. A sale is a sale.

Let’s face it, unless you are extremely skilled at promoting your store or products, you are not going to be flooded with orders. In most cases, I suspect that orders will trickle in and you will have time to learn how to deal with local and international orders.

Before listing your products, you would have worked out your costs and margins including shipping cost, local and international. I
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Affiliate since: 01/14/2013, Power Rank: 598 | Read Sule's 287 other Ask SC answers

Shipping costs are always a very important cost consideration for ECAs. In some cases, shipping costs can even be higher than the actual cost of goods depending on where in the world the ECA is operating from. For a fairly new ECA, since you want to sell your products and in a very competitive market, you must watch your shipping costs very closely.

Generally speaking, the farther you ship your goods, the higher your shipping costs. For that reason, I am inclined to recommend to fairly new ECAs to limit their shipping to their geographical regions of the world at first to “test the waters” of international commerce. By the time you get known in the business and your customer base is encouraging, you can decide to expand further afield. That to me is what makes good commercial sense.

I hope you find this answer useful? Good luck!


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Shipping costs are always a very important cost consideration for ECAs. In some cases, shipping costs can even be higher than the actual cost of goods depending on where in the world the ECA is operating from. For a fairly new ECA, since you want to sell your products and in a very competitive market, you must watch your shipping costs very closely.

Generally speaking, the farther you ship your goods, the higher your shipping costs. For that reason, I am inclined to recommend to fairly
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