International Book Shipping: A Guide for Self-Published Creators
Yes, print-on-demand makes it possible to sell your books worldwide. But that doesn’t necessarily make it easy.
International printing and shipping bring new concerns and complications for your creator business. You want to sell to customers anywhere worldwide, but you must be conscious of the different legal requirements and fulfillment times for international orders.
Manifestation
Luckily, Lulu makes it pretty easy to fulfill orders anywhere. This guide will help you understand the requirements for different countries, but you should always learn the specific and up-to-date requirements for your home country.
Understanding International Print-On-Demand
Print-on-demand makes it easy to print your book orders as close to the destination as possible. Lulu’s network includes printers worldwide, helping reduce the emissions we create from shipping books and keeping the shipping times short.
But when you sell directly to your audience using Lulu Direct, there are some tax concerns you need to consider.
First, take note of the printing locations Lulu offers:
We avoid international book shipping whenever possible, opting to ship from the printer, offering the shortest, least expensive shipping options. We’ve automated this process so that you can use our Pricing Calculator to quickly and easily see the cost to print and ship to various places.
Lulu Pricing calculator displaying shipping options and rates
https://www.lulu.com/pricing
In this example, I’ve selected France as my destination. The results show me the cost and time to deliver—the prices are in USD because I’ve set that as the currency for my account. You’ll see your own printing and shipping costs based on the currency you select for your account.
It’s important to note that using Lulu to print your books also means using Lulu to fulfill your books. Even if you’re selling directly to your audience using Lulu Direct, our print facilities will handle the packaging for your orders.
Packaging & Documentation for International Book Shipping
Online bookstores will print and package your book before sending it. The delivery time will vary based on where the book is going, but Lulu always uses the cheapest way to deliver your books.
International shipping services can add customs fees or other charges based on the destination country. The cost of shipping books is difficult to calculate, but Lulu’s calculator will show you the shipping charge based on the book you want to print, the delivery options, and the destination.
Because Lulu handles the shipping for you, there’s no need to calculate shipping costs manually, worry about weight limits, or keep shipping documentation on hand. For most, the only document that matters is a commercial invoice, which Lulu includes with the book.
International Book Shipping: VAT and Shipping Fees
You should always use Lulu’s pricing calculator to understand international shipping costs. Our tool shows you the estimated printing, packaging, and shipping price based entirely on the location you pick.
But the shipping calculator does NOT include taxes like VAT in Europe. Lulu follows all regional regulations for taxation, including for international shipments. Carefully review Lulu’s tax documentation, particularly if you sell directly to your fans internationally.
If you’re selling your books on Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, or a site you built, you’ll be responsible for all the taxes and fees. Of course, your customers will see the taxes they owe based on the order total and location. You’ll have the option to match Lulu’s shipping methods and delivery speeds (again, use the Pricing Calculator to see costs) for your customers, but that doesn’t prevent additional charges your customers may be charged when we ship internationally.
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Value Added Tax for Europe
Please note: Effective July 1, 2021, Lulu will collect Value Added Tax (VAT) in all European Union countries to charge the VAT rate of the buyer’s shipping country for orders within the EU per the European Union (EU) new VAT rules.
All your international orders shipping to EU countries will be subject to VAT.
Shipping Times & Details
I’m always surprised that I still have to explain this occasionally: print-on-demand takes a little time to prepare and ship your books. Printing a single book doesn’t take long, but our printers never stop, so we don’t always get a book printed immediately after placing an order.
Still, we can usually print and ship a book to most places worldwide in 5-7 business days. The shipping box for your books will be padded, with shrink-wrapping around the book to prevent movement during shipping.
Books are printed after an order is placed; we do not pre-print and stock inventory, so there are no local warehouses full of books (which is an additional cost for creators to store unsold books).
Getting Help With International Shipping
There are a lot of nuances and potential issues that arise when you ship anything internationally. If you’re worried and want to be sure your boxes of books arrive in a timely fashion, check out our detailed Shipping FAQs:
Lulu Shipping FAQ
Lulu Direct Shipping FAQ
Sales Tax FAQ
Growing Your Content Business With International Shipping
Growing your business means finding new readers and capturing their interest. Expanding into other countries to continue building your audience often means doing the same. Luckily, we handle international shipping and fulfillment for you.
You just need to know the costs associated with printing and shipping (you’ll find those in the pricing calculator) and the potential fees based on the destination country. The most important thing to note is any potential taxes you may owe based on sales in different countries. There is no one answer; taxes are naturally complex.
But there are many benefits—you can reach fans worldwide and rely on Lulu’s high-quality printing to ensure those new fans get the best books.
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