I am a new individual seller and my marketplace is in Australia. My item was listed and available for purchase on the 10th of October 2023. About 90% of the people that want to purchase my product live in the USA and UK. I have FBA EXPORT enabled and there are no restrictions as it’s only an audio CD with my original music.
I have sent my Australian store link to people in the above mentioned countries and when they select ‘Ship outside Australia’ it shows New Zealand only because it’s in the same region. I’m not sure what’s going on but I have read that Amazon process new ASINs for eligibility once a month. Is this export-eligibility and the reason for the delay?. I have sent messages to support and the response hasn’t been helpful. They cannot tell me if I have done something wrong or if I have to wait until they check for export-eligibility.
In the Export settings it shows’ Currently FBA exports program in Australia is shipping to New Zealand only’. I have not excluded any countries/regions from FBA export. This is disappointing because I don’t know where I stand.
Hello @hans54,
thank you for joining our forum. I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing issues with having your products made available internationally through FBA Export.
It would be helpful to post the ASIN to see, if it is available to be ordered by members of the forum.
In general, not all ASINs are eligible to be exported to every country across the world. The eligibility depends on both the source and recipient country customs and import regulations.
Australia is known to be a country with limited export abilities, customs limitations may prevent your products from being exported.
My strong recommendation is that you also ship your inventory directly into USA FBA, which will enable better shipping possibilities.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to post here whenever you need help.
Hi Kika,
Thanks so much for your quick response. I may have to go with your suggestion as it is the only others way I could sell globally. I understand Amazon has rules and policies but it would help if they told me exactly what needs to be done to fix any issues in FBA EXPORT. My product is approved and I don’t see any limitations. I will probably have to upgrade to a professional account to ship to US & UK marketplaces.
Cheers
You are welcome. From what I know, Australia has always been tricky. They have strict customs regulations that often rule out export on the basis of fears over shipping endangered local species etc.
Remember how Johnny Depp and Amber Heard failed to declare a small puppy in a customs declaration and then they both had to publicly apologize in a video and pay a huge fine?
Australia is a special place.
Anyway, I hope you find a way how to make your business successful. Feel free to post here whenever you need any help & also invite any Amazon Seller friends to ensure this community grows! 
Hi Kika,
Thanks. I do remember the Johnny Depp puppy incident. Australia has strict biosecurity controls to help minimise the risk of pests and diseases entering the country. All travellers must declare certain food, plant material and animal products. Animals, birds, reptiles etc. need to be in quarantine for 10 to 30 days and it depends on the country they are travelling from
I can walk into the post office and mail a CD to another country without a problem, all I have to provide is the description and value of the item for customs and I think that’s what Amazon does with the commercial invoice they prepare and send with the item. It’s only a CD and the ASIN status shows it’s eligible, exportable, no restrictions and limitations. It’s been 2 weeks since it was listed in the Australian store and Amazon cannot tell me the exact reason as to why they are unable to deliver outside Australia.
I have sent about 5 messages to support and I keep getting the same reply every time ’ Delivery currently to Australia and New Zealand only’. This is frustrating and disappointing. I will be removing 50% of my inventory for now and sell globally on eBay. I will have to pack and ship and that’s fine. I think the problem is with Amazon, they are offering FBA EXPORT to their sellers and unable to deliver the service. This is a one off thing for me and eBay may be the way to go. I didn’t realize how complicated this was going to be. Even to list and sell from marketplaces outside Australia I will need to have a bank account in those countries, nominate someone to deal with duties and taxes, upgrade to a professional account and ship inventory to those countries. Amazon is a great selling platform but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be the right one for me. The main reason I chose Amazon was because of FBA Export, shipping and packing.
Kind regards.
I completely get what you are dealing with. I am doing FBA in the US and Canada with all export settings enabled and I am still unable to create any MCF orders to non-US addresses out of my US inventory.
Amazon is a lot stricter than the actual customs regulations. Why waste time when you can ship inventory directly to the US?
It’s so easy and you don’t need to deal with any customs hassle as long as your inventory is valued under $1000.
Let me know if you need any help with shipping to the US.
It’s similar when you are entering the EU from outside the zone. I think they are over-concerned but it’s the law so there’s no choice but to comply…
Thanks once again Kika. I understand Amazon aren’t interested in selling CD’s anymore due authenticity. Amazon strictly prohibits the sale of counterfeit and fake products and that’s understandable. If that’s the case they need to be more direct and advise their sellers rather than keeping them in limbo. My CD contains my original material copyrighted with the US copyright office.
I have requested removal of my inventory and have them returned to me. I will sell and ship direct to my customers. I also have a contact in the UK that will sell and ship them for me if I shipped them over to him in bulk. UK is a hassle with VAT. Shipping to the USA cost AU$21.00 per CD and that’s a fair bit. I am looking at ECWID to sell the CD’s and have relatives and friends in the US that will help me with the shipping if needed. Thanks for your offer, much appreciated.
You are welcome, thank you for the update. I think that you made a good decision with regards to removing your FBA inventory.
Please note that individually shipping each CD to its international customer can be costly and you may also experience postal delays and non-receipt complaints.
My suggestion is that you launch as a FBA seller in the US to fulfill all international orders and maintain a local FBA inventory in Australia to supply any occasional domestic purchases.
I received my inventory from Amazon, they charged US$49.00 to process and ship them back to me. I registered as a seller with .com and .ca, opened a virtual bank account, filled in the W-8 form and everything looked ok but I wasn’t able to list my product because Music, CD’s, and DVD’s are gated products. It’s strange that I was able to list in the Australian marketplace. Anyway there isn’t much I can do now and I need a break from this nightmare 
. There are many seller’s out there stuck with CD’s and DVD’s they cannot sell on Amazon. What really disappoints me is that Amazon didn’t tell me that the product was gated, I had to spend hours searching the internet for info relating to my problem. In time to come things may change, who’s to know.
Don’t worry about that. Just apply and have the category ungated.
You should be able to get this sorted out. All you need is an invoice from a distributor that contains your information and a combined purchase of minimum 10 units.