Amazon Sellers Are Making The Move Abroad | Global Expansion with Alexandra Ramirez

Amazon Sellers Are Making The Move Abroad | Global Expansion with Alexandra Ramirez Speaker 3: Most sellers think that they've mastered Amazon until they realize their growth has plateaued. The U.S. market is crowded, ad costs are crazy, margins are shrinking, but what if the biggest opportunity Isn't in another product. It's in another country. In this episode, Alexandra Ramirez shares why sellers who are expanding to Europe now are scaling faster, spending less and facing almost zero competition in certain markets. And wait until you hear how one seller discovered that their product was already being sold, making money in another country without their knowledge. It's crazy. Our guest today is the Director of Sales and Partnership at Avast's US office. This is where she helps eCommerce sellers expand globally with confidence. She has over six years of experience in the eCommerce space. And Alexandra, I know her as Allie, has worked across fast-growing startups and with industry leaders. She's a frequent speaker, and I've seen her at so many different events, but she speaks at many of these events in the industry, and she's a trusted expert in International expansion, VAT compliance, and cross-border strategies. So welcome, Ale Ramirez. But first, we're going to thank our sponsors. We want to thank Sellerboard, Sofi, the Sofi Society, Titan Network, and Connect Cash. All right, let's get back to it. Newsletter. How's that going, Kels? Speaker 1: It's going great. You can check it out at LWN.news. We post all the updates. If you're ever wondering where the webinar links can be, anything that we discuss on the show, It is all in the newsletter that goes out. We do the Wheel of Kelsey as well. There's a bunch of great stories from Norm's past and any updates from the show, key takeaways. There's a lot of good stuff in there. So check it out, lwn.news. It goes out every Monday. And I think that's it. Speaker 3: Now we can get into it. So if you have any questions or comments, throw it over in the comment section. Now sit back, relax, grab a cup of coffee, enjoy the show. Where is, there she is. Hi Allie. Speaker 2: Hi Norm, how are you? Speaker 3: Good. You know what I'm really happy that you didn't do? Speaker 2: What? Speaker 3: Wear anything orange. Speaker 2: That's actually a good idea. Neutral for all podcasts because I never know if there's a green screen situation happening. So just in case. Speaker 3: The topic today, why global expansion is critical for Amazon sellers in 25. Is it? Speaker 2: This is something I ask everybody. Why would you think if you're doing fantastic here in the US, Why would I not want to go elsewhere? We've actually seen a lot of Amazon sellers and we've seen it in the space. People have started to evolve because Amazon is no longer the only place for you to expand. There's so much competition. We've even seen it at events. We've seen it at every seller that I talk to nowadays. They're like, I have to find new ways to diversify. Whether that's going to TikTok shop, going to Walmart, going into retail shops, we've seen it all. But something that a lot of sellers kind of like forget and like say I think is absolutely critical is like there are so many new countries that you can also explore. And you don't have to think like, oh man, but it's so complex, which it can be. But with the right steps and the right strategy, it can truly be a home run. We've actually seen how easy people can just plug and play into certain areas. So for me, I think it's absolutely critical to think about not just diversifying here in the US into other platforms, but also diversifying into new countries. Speaker 3: So I'm not sure if this depends on the niche or not, but if you were to take a look at the countries to get going, like to expand to, what would be the easiest ones that you would target? Speaker 2: I would always recommend UK to be your first option to look at. I'm not saying UK should be the first one you just dive into, but in terms of exploring UK is definitely the easiest. It's one of the largest markets, most established. It has a ton of sellers that are already shopping from UK and they're shopping from Europe. And the reason why UK is also easier, language. It's just the language barrier is easier. Your listing, although you should localize it always, you don't really have to update it as much as you would, for example, a German listing or a France listing. So I would definitely always explore UK first. I would also say Germany is a second one because of the large size of it and localizing it can be quite, quite easy. A lot of German sellers really like facts. So it's very like your listing should be very like all the facts that you can list on here rather than a lot of fluff. So that aspect makes it very easy for localizing. And the time that it takes for you to set up UK, Germany, as well as France, which is a third one I would recommend to explore, can be rather quick than other countries, for example. So those are three of the ones I would always explore in terms of keywords, in terms of category. And another thing that I always like to bring up is just There are over like 500 million people already in Europe shopping online, but versus when you compare it to the U.S., like everybody buys everything online in the U.S. and North America in general. We like things quick. We like that two-day shipping from Amazon, but even like local D2C brands online, you get quick shipping nowadays. But when you look at Europe, I actually lived in Europe last summer for about four months and anytime I ordered anything, I was like, oh my God, you just have to plan ahead. You have to pay exorbitant amounts of shipping because it's just that quick shipping is just not something that they need or really care for the most part. So when you're already in a place that doesn't have too much competition online, it makes it so much easier. And like in terms of 500 million people that are shopping online, if you look at like their retail to online penetration in these countries, UK has about 26% only. And Germany has only 17% and that's of retail locations that are going online. So just to give you an idea of how vast this is, this is almost like I want to say when people were starting to go on to Amazon and online back in like 2015, 2014, the competition was just not There right nowadays, we know if you go your competition is like insane Versus if you go to Europe your competition is actually quite small for most categories. Speaker 3: Yeah, I remember this goes back a few years, but I was in Israel and I was at an event and one of the guys that was there and We got a cab back to the airport and we were talking and he had just sold his business for eight figures, low eight figures. And I said, well, why aren't you expanding to the US? And he goes, are you crazy? This was so easy, like competition wise, why would I go to the US and have to just see my profit dissolve, especially in the category that he was at. And I have to agree. And I'm saying this, I'm going down this rabbit hole because since about... Nine this morning until just before the podcast, I was on with Amazon taking care of these crazy, stupid problems that are glitches. And it's just become a way of life that you have to deal with this stuff. But yeah, I like the idea of being able to grow to a country, but here's another question. So I wanna go to UK and I see as soon as we said UK, Simon came on, his ears were burning. So how's it going, Simon? But you wanna go over to the UK, you wanna go over to Germany, you wanna expand, but how do you know what to do next? How do you know about VAT? How do you know about getting set up and starting to really sell, setting up your freight? All these little things all add up. So what do you suggest? Speaker 2: One of the things I would always say, our Avast sales team is not just selling VAT. They're not just going to get on a call and tell you sell or sell you UK or sell you Germany. They're actually going to act like a consultant because they're so familiar with all the different things that are required for this process. So we use a lot of partners and partners that you know very well as well, Norm, like YLT Translations is somebody that we work hand in hand very much so for. Translations and localization. And we also work with a partner like for 3PL and for anything logistic wise that we can also, you know, basically do everything in tandem together. So it's people that we are all very aware of how the process works. So that first call that we always have with anybody that's looking to expand, we're going to ask you, We're here to answer your loaded amount of questions just so that we understand not only what your ideal state is, but we can have the right recommendations in the right order. So the first step is always to start with your VAT, depending on where you want to store. So that's the most important thing is that a lot of people think if I want to sell for Amazon, for example, if I want to sell in seven different countries, oh my God, I have to open a VAT everywhere. And that's not always the case. You only need a VAT number wherever you are storing your goods. So we all know that FBA typically makes it very easy for certain things to be able to like send your shipments across to different areas in the US as well. So you can send your things to an FBA warehouse and then they'll ship it across the country. Similar, it works in Europe. So they have something called the Pan-EU FBA program where you only need two VAT numbers. You're going to store in two different countries, but you can sell into seven just because you're using the FBA program. So those are things that a lot of sellers aren't aware of that Amazon specifically can make it quite easy for you to sell cross-border, especially within the European Union. So that's something that is really, really good for you to know that the complexity will be there in terms of the listing still or the localization, but not in the taxation. One thing that I will always, always say is that we see a lot of sellers overlooking when they're doing their own. You know, Avast exists exclusively because of how complex this can be. So we try to solve Removing all the complexity so you just focus on what you can focus, which is the growth and how much inventory you have and all that sort of things. And it's very overlooked that compliance can be very, very costly mistake if you don't set it up appropriately. So that's something that we also help with. We make sure that you're fully compliant with any we call eco tax. There are eco taxes that are assigned and you want to make sure that you're fully compliant so you don't wake up one day and all of a sudden your listing is closed. So those are some of the things that we also ensure that as a seller, when you're setting everything up from day one, you're setting everything up appropriately. Speaker 3: I remember I was trying to sell my beauty products in Japan. In Japan, they came back and they said, okay, no problem, but go out and buy a toothbrush. Literally, this is what they told us. Go out and buy a toothbrush and then show us the receipt. So I did have somebody in Japan that went out, got a toothbrush, shot it, and he was gonna be our guy taking care of everything over in Japan. But he came back with the receipt, shot it, and that's how we got it accepted into Japan. Because of a toothbrush. Yeah. So let's talk about that. What are some of the compliance regulations that sellers have to be aware of? Want more unfiltered tips from top eCommerce experts? Well, hit subscribe and you'll never miss a Lunch With Norm episode. Speaker 2: So it's all going to depend on what category you're in. You mentioned beauty, you know, beauty will have very specific things like most consumables in their labeling that's required that can be a little bit different than the US. So that's something that depending on what category you're on, we'll ask a few questions there and kind of like decide which route you need to go. We also ensure that we understand what your packaging looks like or not looks like physically, but like what is in your packaging? Is there plastic? Is there foam? Those type of things can actually go into the regulations as well per country. So each country also varies, which that's the part that sometimes again, Can make it very scary because every single country you sell in, you do have to be compliant in them. But those are things again that we can help you with. So if we think about in the UK, for example, what your packaging has, whether it's plastic or foam, that can carry an eco tax, which is called EPR. In other countries, it actually is not just your packaging, but it's your product itself. So if your product has, as an example, batteries, Or electronics or trying to think of additional things that they're the most common ones, but multiple countries will require your packaging and your products to be registered on this. That's called EPR. And it's very, very commonly overlooked. And it's one of the things that we see the most common reason as to why somebody's listing gets shut down either in Europe or in the UK. So that's why from day one, when you talk to our team, they're going to ask you about your packaging, about your products, list all the different things in the countries that you're looking to that will require EPR. And then we'll consult on that just to ensure that you're from square A to Z, you're fully compliant. Speaker 3: What about labeling and languages? Speaker 2: Labeling and languages, certain things don't require, like there's a lot of logos that you do have to put on there and like have it fully translated. And that's something that we do use a partner specifically for. So we can refer you for those labelings. And it's a partner that again, we work hand in hand, so that as we are doing certain steps of the process, they're doing the other steps. So once everything is ready. Your product is fully ready to go. So that's the beauty of the partners that we work with. They understand our processes, we understand theirs, and we kind of like work simultaneously to ensure that your labeling, your VAT, everything is done precisely to help. Speaker 3: So if you have a package, let's say, I'll just use a supplement. It comes in a box. Can it be in English and then all everything, like all the different languages have instructions be on the inside? Speaker 2: It depends again on the category. I think for consumable, it will need to be in the language and depends on the country as well. So for UK, it's fine. For France, they're a little bit pickier. So those definitely everything on the packaging has to be in the language. And very, again, varies by category and by country. So it's a very, very long list, but we can absolutely, that's where we kind of like go into understanding your category. Then we break it down by understanding what exactly you're looking to do with that product and then what your packaging looks like. It's kind of like a tree going downwards. Speaker 3: Wouldn't that be like a major deterrent if I had to go and take my beauty products, relabel my beauty products on a what if, I'm not sure what my forecast would be in Germany, France, UK, and these are all relabeled. That's a major expense, isn't it? Speaker 2: It could be. But we don't ever recommend you starting, for example, hop in with both feet into nine countries. That's something that we're very upfront about. We want to make sure that this is positive and that you're testing the water. So that's why we usually recommend UK first. The labeling is already in English. We'll just confirm if there's anything specific that you should have to change, but usually you don't have to. So that's the easiest route. You can kind of test the waters and then potentially Germany again, just due to the size. That's where we really recommend before you kind of like expand into additional countries. Now, the good thing is when you already have those two VAT numbers, when you're ready to jump two feet forward, you're like, I've already tested the market, I'm ready to go and relabel additional countries, then you can use Pan-EU FBA because you've already got two countries. So that's something the route that we typically say that we recommend because we don't want your strategy to just be throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. That wouldn't necessarily be profitable. So strategy is definitely one of the most important things that we walk you through depending on what you're looking to do. Speaker 3: Okay, and I just noticed Simon had something. You need CE UK CA. What is that? Speaker 1: You need CE UK CA compliance that requires an authorized representation more cost. Speaker 2: I'm not quite sure about CE, but there is authorized representative that's required and some of it is included in some of our programs, depending on where you're going to. So there is authorized representative that is required or a fiscal representative that's required in certain countries. Some of those we can do separately if you've already got your VAT set up and some of them will be included in certain countries with us. Speaker 3: That's what happened in Japan. That's why we had to go out at the time in 2018 or 19 and buy a toothbrush. So I do want to just talk about a VAT nightmare that happened for one of our clients. And this is just because of his ignorance. He went and he's got a very popular, like it's a well-known beauty brand. So our agency was taking it. We had it in the US, but he wanted to go start selling In the UK, or in both UK and EU, and all of a sudden, a year or so later, he again, he took care of all of this. He got a bill for VAT for $1,000,000. $1,000,000. And so, yeah, they didn't go after him though. Like he just shut down going over to Europe. And nothing happened for 1 million bucks. But you know, if you think you're going to skirt the system with different things, different ways, don't, you know, make sure that it's everything's above board. And if you don't know, What's above board and what's not you got to find somebody that will and this is where like there's other companies out there But Avast has been around they're probably the most well-known for doing this, but there's definitely other people out there, too So I would go and make sure that I'm doing it right. It's like Amazon in general. It's just too big of a beast to understand Amazon's affiliate program is one of the most underused growth levers in eCommerce. Check out Liz Saunders here to learn how smart brands are using affiliates to drive ranking, conversions, and organic traffic. And guess what? Without spending more on ads. Speaker 2: I actually compare it exactly what you're saying is like when you own a business and especially when you have multiple channels, It's much easier to work with a CPA than to do your own taxes for your multiple business avenues. I'm sure that you yourself, Norm, you probably have a company or a CPA because it's just too much to keep track of. I mean, with all the different businesses that you have, I'm sure that would be a lot of complication. So, I mean even me personally, like I just prefer to use a CPA. I know it's gonna get done right. I know I'm not gonna have any issues and that's really what I compare this to because if you choose to do your own VAT, that's definitely an avenue that you can take. The amount of back and forth that's going to take, the amount of documentation that you might not have in the right language, or if you needed a, for example, Spain requires certain documentation to be not notarized, but there's a called an apple steel. So like there's specific things that is going to make a process that could maybe take four to eight weeks to then make We've been together for six months or seven months rather than the four to eight weeks that we already know because we know how to work with the team. We have offices in all the different countries that we serve. So, I personally have just opened our first Florida office, but we have about 13 different offices all around the world. We have offices all over Europe, in the UK, we have offices in China, we have offices in the US as well. So, when you have people physically in that country that can go knock on the door of the It makes life a little bit easier. It makes things happen in the right way. So that's the first step. Now, let's say you decided to do your own VAT. You open your VAT number. You're like, I got this. You opened your own Amazon account in Germany. Say, that's great and dandy, but then what about filing? Are you going to be working in German, filing your own things? Like, it just seems like a lot of hassle where that's exactly what companies like us exist. And it's for a very nominal fee. Speaker 3: I'm going to throw you a bit of a curveball, but let's talk about tariffs. If you're sending in product into the EU or over into the UK, what about tariffs? Do we have to worry about them? Speaker 2: It depends on what country. Right now, I know there's tariffs being evaluated in every country. But for right now, this is a way that you can avoid the exorbitance fees that we know are coming from you still working with China. And we know a lot of people saying, oh, well, I'll just change my manufacturer. That's great, but it's not a reality for every seller right now. Sometimes you've already got an established product or the product is coming from multiple different manufacturers in China being assembled in a whole different area. Like the reality of just saying just switch manufacturers and don't do China is not as easy as said than done. So what's a workaround is doing exactly what you just said Norm is like why not then test now UK and you can send things directly into Europe or into UK and avoid some of these fees. So we know a lot of people have had to take on and like absorb that cost or maybe increase your pricing and it's really affecting a lot of sellers. So this is another area where you can kind of like Not only help in, you know, avoid the competitive saturation that exists in the US, but also help with your costs by sending it into a new country. Speaker 3: But if you are, you know, let's say that you're in the pet space, the beauty space, there's, you know, a lot of products that are manufactured in the US. Now you're sending it over there. Now, like this changes every day, but there is a, what, 30% tariff. Is that correct? Speaker 2: I believe so. Like you said, it changes every day. Speaker 3: Every day. So yeah, it's just something to keep in mind. If you are manufacturing in the U.S. and sending it over there, you just got to make sure that you understand the tariffs and just keep up to date with them. Make sure whoever you're using to send it over there understands. Speaker 2: We were just talking to a seller very recently, actually, selling a very specific type of jump rope. And they had never really thought about expanding at all. They're doing really great in the U.S. And the only reason they thought about it was exactly for this reason, the tariffs. They're like, well, maybe I should check UK, maybe I should check Germany. When they start doing the keyword research and kind of like checking on what the opportunity looks like, what the saturation looks like, they found their own product already being sold. So you found a reseller. ...had never even like seen it or thought that there would be resellers. So he then decided, okay, well, these are the two countries are going to because of course they're already doing well, but his brand is already on there. And this is not the first client. This is in the month and a half, probably in a month and a half, we've had four of these cases. Never thought about it. Tariffs kind of like is making people re-evaluate things they're going on and finding resellers reselling their brand already successfully in Europe. So you never know. It might be your own brand that's being resold or that there's only one or two competitors in the space and you could come in guns a-blazing pretty much already like You know, killing the game because there's no saturation. Speaker 3: Ah, interesting. Okay, now we are at the bottom of the hour. And if this is the first time listening to the podcast, we do something a little bit different, more towards the top of the hour. And that's called the Wheel of Kelsey, where our guests provide a prize to somebody. And today, what do we have? Speaker 2: So today, we're going to give away a customs clearance for free. If you're interested in having us make sure that your product, if it's coming from a different country, clears customs, which we all know can be quite a headache sometimes. Things can get stuck in customs for umpteenth amount of time. So we're actually offering a free customs clearance with a VAS, so in whichever country you're interested in, which could be between 100 or 200 euros that you're saving. There's no setup fee. You're just going to pay whatever your import duty, so whatever you're owed to the government. Speaker 3: And we also have something for everybody, right? Speaker 2: Yep. So we have a very special offer as well. So in addition to that free customs that somebody's going to get, you can actually get your first VAT free. So if you're interested in exploring, like we mentioned, UK, or Germany, that first one is going to be free. And if you're being a little bit excited and you're like, you want to do two of them, that second one, you'll also get a 50% discount. So today you can do VAT. You can also do OSS, which is called one-stop shop and allows you to do cross-border selling between multiple European countries. So that also will get you 50% off of that. In addition to that, EPR, which is what we were talking about, that eco tax, if it does apply to you. You'll get a 10% discount on that. Speaker 3: To enter, it's hashtag wheelofkelsey or tag two people. You get a second entry and we have a third option now. It's our newsletter. So on Monday, if you receive the newsletter, I hope you do receive the newsletter, check it out. You'll see the Wheel of Kelsey and that'll be for this prize. So we have changed things up a little bit. This week's Wheel of Kelsey And this is from last week. So we got all of our people who entered through the newsletter. So yeah, I just wanted to confuse everybody. So next week we're going to see Ali's prize or giveaway in the Wheel of Kelsey. All right. So let's go to a sponsor. If you're selling on Amazon and you're not using seller board, well, here's what you're missing. Real profit calculations, accounting for all fees, returns, ad spend, VAT, and even time-based COGS and shipping costs. Plus inventory forecasting. You'll know exactly when to reorder, how much and avoid those costly stock outs. You'll get smart PPC automation. Seller board doesn't just track ads. It improves them with bid optimization, keyword rules and budget reallocation. You'll get reimbursement tools, find and claim back money for damaged stock, unreturned items or Amazon fee errors. You'll get alerts, review requests and listing monitors so you can stay informed and be reactive. And now Walmart sellers are covered too. You can connect your Walmart account and unlock the same profitability tracking with no Amazon account. Plan start at just $19 and you'll get a two month free trial if you use this link. So stop guessing, start growing. Use SellerBoard, the accurate profit analytics tool for Amazon and Walmart sellers. Okay, what would you say to a seven-figure seller who's hesitant about expanding into Europe because of the complexity? Speaker 2: I mean, we talked a little bit about it. Strategy is going to be everything, right? You didn't get to be a seven-figure seller without strategy, without systems, without Potentially working with a partner or an agency or somebody to help you with multiple complexities of growing into becoming a seven-figure seller, right? So that's exactly what I would say about working with Avast. It's just a partner to remove a lot of the complexities and the barriers for the expansion. So not only do you want to make sure that you're doing a correct research and a correct strategy before launching in Europe, but using the right partner is going to be essential, just like you did in US. Speaker 3: Can international expansion be profitable from day one? Speaker 2: It can be as long as SKUs are properly vetted. That's something that I would say is essential. And that's how some of our sellers that were hesitant found, you know, their own product or their niche that had no real competitive edge there. So that's something that, you know, is essential, just like you do when you're launching into a new marketplace or like, you know, you're considering TikTok shop before you want to launch, you want to make sure that You're vetting your SKU, vetting your category. So I would say if you do that and strategically, absolutely. We've seen it happen time and time and again. And making sure that you have the right things in place, you know, your right 3PL or your right process for logistics in place while you're doing your VAT. So don't wait until your VAT number is launched. For you to then decide, okay, now which way do I go? You want to make sure you use that time of your VAT being in process to find what the right solution for logistics is going to be. Speaker 3: I guess the next thing about what we should be talking about is, forget the VAT, and we've talked a little bit about this, but what are some other things that, and let's just take a look at a VASC. First of all, you're in a bunch of other countries, but what are some other things other than the VAT that And we're here to answer some of the questions that you can help with. Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great question because as I mentioned in the beginning, that is just for you to be able to store in that country. So it doesn't necessarily mean for you to sell, that's all you're going to either need or want, but it's in that country that you want to store in. So that's going to be step one. But then you also want to make sure that you have an EORI number. So EORI is for you to be able to clear customs. And the exciting thing with EORI, different from VAT, is that you only need one for Europe and one for the UK. So you don't need one for each individual country. You're going to only need one for the entire European Union and one for UK because of Brexit. And then we mentioned EPR, which is that eco tax. It will, it's basically making sellers take on the responsibility of recycling, which is why batteries and electronics are typically the categories we see the most or plastic. Because they're saying, if you're bringing plastic and batteries and electronics into my country, then you're going to pay for us to recycle it. That's basically what's going on here. So, EPR is something that we can really, really make sure that you're compliant with, with your either product or with your packaging. And then, customs, as we mentioned, you know, having a representative where needed or when needed. You can have either direct or indirect representation with our customs. We have an entire customs team that actually works directly with Amazon. So, they're referring clients to us all the time that need that direct or indirect representation. Speaker 3: Let's talk a little bit about managing expectations. Speaker 2: Yep. Speaker 3: So I think that's a critical issue. What can sellers expect when they turn over their information to you? Speaker 2: We're very, very clear with our timelines because all of these timings that we have on file, they're not ours. They're not of us. They are each one of those countries' government timelines. So we like to make sure people know, just for example, if you're looking for Q4, now's the time to do it. Because, let's say for UK, it can be between 8 and 12 weeks. It could turn around and be that 8, right at that 7 mark or 8-week mark, but it could be closer to that 12-week mark. So, if you're looking to be already in a specific country, you want to make sure you use these timelines ahead of time so that you can have your VAT number readily available. So, it's not going to be an overnight thing and I do like To let people know that, that we're at the mercy of each one of those government tax offices. So we do have a list that we can provide our customers and that's usually when somebody comes to us and says, I really just want France or I really just want Spain because I've done the research and this is where it is. We're going to let you know, listen, it's a great idea. We're going to start it for you, but this is what the timeline looks like. For Spain, it takes a little bit longer. We know I'm half Spanish, so I can say this, but Spain can be a little bit slower for certain things, you know. Culturally, the timelines just overall for everything are a little bit longer versus UK or Germany, for example, are much quicker. So we're very upfront with that as soon as somebody tells us what countries they're looking at. Let us know what you're interested in and we can tell you exactly the timeline for that country. Speaker 3: Can you tell me three to five action steps people can start with to start selling in Europe? Speaker 2: I would say definitely that keyword research is essential first to make sure what does that niche look like in that country that you're interested in. Secondly is ensure, and you can do this with us, like we can do that first call. It's completely for free. You can just do an exploratory call and kind of like understand what it's going to look like for your listing so that you know what regulations you're going to fall under. Like, do you fall under this eco tax or do you not? Do you fall under labeling that you need to change or not? Do you need a new logistics partner or can you use your local one? So do a full holistic view and you can set up a meeting with anybody on our team to understand what this is going to look like and then from there kind of like look at your strategy. So I would say definitely doing a full deep dive of the niche and then of labeling of eco tax and customs. And again, we can help you with that. Speaker 3: Okay, great. I guess the other thing is culture. You know, if you take a look here in Canada, I'm in Toronto, Ontario is considered fairly conservative, born in Quebec, which is more European. It's a completely different culture. Then you go to Newfoundland, and that's a completely different culture compared to out West. So right here, we've got so many different It's kind of like Europe, but we just don't say, oh, this country is over here, over here, but it is so different. So when I'm looking at Europe, do I have to set up the listings differently to reflect the culture? Speaker 2: I would absolutely say yes. So we've talked a lot about language, but localization with your listing is essential because I think as a whole, the US typically just says Europe. And that's something that, you know, we all fall under. It's like, oh, just Europe. But we have to break it down to more individualized because German listings typically, as I mentioned earlier, they like more facts and like the full details of this product. So that's what the listing, but even in the images, that's something that you want to make sure you take into consideration. In Germany, you're going to want to list more facts and even in the images and make sure like if it's a consumable that the nutrition facts are kind of like at the head of your images. Whereas if you think about Spain, lifestyle images are the most essential part that has to be the center of your listing because that's the most important thing to a Spanish seller. Whereas for somebody in the UK has a little bit of a mix. They can be in between The German listing and the Spain listing, they do like that lifestyle, but it's not really the most important, but it still has to be an element in there. So that's kind of like the things that we can also direct you with, because it's very essential that you break down those listings into Very, very localized customs, as you mentioned. Speaker 3: If there is one takeaway sellers should know and take away from this episode, what would that be? Speaker 2: I would say don't delay. It doesn't mean you have to do this today, but start looking at what this would look like if you are interested in exploring. Now's the time. You really want to make sure that you're understanding what it would look like. And then if you're looking at doing it and you're just a hundred percent not sure, set up a call with somebody on our team and they'll walk you through what this could potentially cost just so that you can budget. Maybe you're not ready for this Q3 or Q4, but come Q1 next year, you are ready, but that way you already know exactly what you need to do prior to it. So I think it's really, really the time because of the amount of saturation that exists in the U.S. That this is where you want to go. I've truly seen sellers explode bigger that are already doing very, very well in the US, even bigger over there because the saturation just doesn't exist. I mean, the opportunity is massive and I don't think enough sellers are taking advantage of the opportunity. Speaker 3: We've talked a lot about getting into these different countries and what Avast can do. Speaker 2: But for the seller themselves, what apps are available to them to do the research, like a Helium 10? I would definitely recommend, same thing that you would use in the US, use a Helium 10. Do your full keyword research, maybe Jungle Scout, and make sure that it looks like it's a viable route. You might even find that maybe there's nobody really in your category or in your niche even selling In UK and Germany, yes, they're the biggest ones, but remember, there are so many, especially for Amazon, already set up and established marketplaces that you can really go into. Even Ireland, I know a lot of people don't really know, but Ireland recently launched an Amazon marketplace there. And Amazon themselves, and we can help you set this up, this isn't our promotion, this is Amazon's promotion, but they're wanting people to come into Amazon Ireland so bad That they're actually paying for you to set up your VAT because that's the first step required for you to even open an Amazon account. So if you are interested in doing one, not only are we offering a free VAT, but you could even open Ireland as well and Amazon will pay you not only for your VAT, but your full year's filing. So it's over $1,500 that they're offering just because not enough people are even selling there. So those are things that are so, so exciting to hear that you're like, huh, maybe that's where I should go because Amazon's paying people to come. Speaker 3: Just pull up that last comment from Simon Kells. Uh-oh. All right, so if you're selling similar stuff to me, I recommend you do not come to the UK and Europe. You don't stand a chance. Stay away. All right, Simon. We get the message. Okay, how do people get a hold of you? Speaker 2: So, you're more than welcome to email me directly. My email is alexandra.ramirez at avastgroup.com. I know that when we post it, we'll have it here as well. My personal email and we also have a link for you all to get the promo for that free VAT. So we'll also drop that in here for you all just to make sure that not only do you have access to me but access to the promo. If you have still questions or you just kind of want to explore, reach out. We'll get on a call and just kind of like explore your products and take it from there. Speaker 3: You're in our WhatsApp group, aren't you? Speaker 2: I do believe I am. Yeah. Speaker 3: So you could also get Ali there. Speaker 2: Reach out to me directly on WhatsApp too. Speaker 3: Yep. Kels, let's go to our last sponsor. We'll come back for the Wheel of Kelsey. Are you spending more on Amazon ads and getting less return? There's a smarter way to grow and without increasing your budget. Levante's Affiliate Shift Calculator shows what you could do if you really allocate just a portion of your ad spend into affiliate marketing. If you're an Amazon seller doing over $5 million a year, This is for you. And guess what? It's free. All you have to do is click on the link in the description to go to your custom forecast today. All right. You know what? We forgot any questions or comments. Speaker 1: Yeah. So we have a question from Simon. He says, there's a lot of setup. Would you say realistically you need about nine to 12 months to get everything before trading? Speaker 2: I would say an average timeframe could be closer to like four to six. It's been VAT labeling because everything that we offer, the customs, the labeling, excuse me, not labeling, the customs, the VAT, the EURI, the timelines for the ones that we see the most, which is UK and Germany, are typically between 8 to 12 weeks. So that's already just for the first few steps. It's just going to take 12 weeks. And simultaneously, that's why I always say while we're doing the VAT, the URI and all those setups, that's when you want to make sure that you're setting up your logistics, setting up your labeling where needed. So depending on where you're manufacturing and how quick they could change the labeling and things like that, it could be closer to four to six, but I don't think you need nine to 12. If you're looking at Spain or other countries that could take longer, then yes, that could be a closer time frame. But for UK, Germany, France, four to six months in total. Speaker 3: All right. Any others, Kels? Speaker 1: One more that I want to bring up from Simon. Germany has a very efficient online tax system called Esther. It is probably the easiest in all of Europe and it translates to English. The support is brilliant. Speaker 2: That's fantastic. We also do have an office in Germany. Again, though, our team in Germany meets very regularly with the German tax office that not only set up the VAT but any filing issues that we encounter. So that's also why we like to have local people. They can speak the language and when you're having to deal with, you know, anything that has to do with your filing issues, you'll have people that can speak to them in their language. Speaker 3: All right. Okay, Kels, let's go over to the wheel. Speaker 1: All right. So this is for the AI workshop coming up on July 20th. So I'm going to shuffle these up, give this a spin. Again, Alexandra's episode or giveaway will be on the next episode. And it looks like Brian is today's winner. Speaker 3: Ah, all right. Speaker 1: Brian, you just won the AI workshop. Congratulations. Speaker 3: All right, Ali. Thank you so much for coming on. Don't go away. I'm going to remove you, but let's talk afterwards. Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you so much for having me. Speaker 3: All right. Thanks. So I hope everybody learned a lot today about going international. I think it's a One thing I would recommend, let's put it this way. If you're not doing well in the U.S. and you're U.S. or Canadian based, I would not go over and try any expansion. Get the feel, get the sales under your belt before you do anything. So that's just my opinion. Ali might think completely different, but I think that it's very important that you are comfortable selling in the U.S. And then you can go over to Europe and try that or the UK. That's it for today. And we will see you next Wednesday.