My Forray into Global Commerce

In all fairness, I've been selling to international customers for some time now.  But recently, my finds seem to be travelling further and further--to Russia, New Zealand, Finland, Israel and Slovenia (which I had to look up on a map).  Just as I love to imagine the backstory to some item I find in a box at Goodwill, I like to imagine its new home somewhere across the globe.  What will Dentist Barbie's life be like in Morelia, Mexico?  And those Robeez baby shoes that went to Slovenia--will the baby wearing them be the talk of the town (or village??), or are Robeez all the rage there already?

This week I had my first sale to China. Two weeks ago (at my major haul--for those of you who have been keeping up with this blog), I purchased a slew of needlework kits for $1 each.  Mind you I don't do needlework.  But I love the idea of it.  And I imagine the life these kits had stashed in someone's craft basket gathering dust, and the new life I'm sending them to where they will hopefully finally be opened and stitched to completion.  This "Asian Bellpuls" was bought by "Waxdoll22" in Chongqing City.  Although her address originally showed up looking like several pillars--eBay obviously hasn't mastered Chinese translation.  I had to email Waxdoll22 and ask for her address in English.  I was a bit afraid she wouldn't pay.  She'd never bought anything on eBay before and bid $34 for my cross stitch kit.  Additionally, she purchased a Baby Sampler cross stitch kit, for a grand total of $55.23 including shipping.  But Waxdoll22 came through, sent me her address and her Paypal coin. 

But I'm wondering about the new home of these kits.  The baby sampler, after all, has a chart to personalize it with the name of the baby and the birthdate.  Will Waxdoll22 be able to translate without the chart?  Does Bucilla offer a chart somewhere online in Mandarin? (I actually have no idea if that's what they speak in Chongqing.) Or is Waxdoll22 an entrepreneur herself, maybe ready to design her own cross stich baby sampler to market to China?  And speaking of that Chinese market, in my urge to picture the Yubei District of Chongqing City, I googled it.  And now I know that Chongqing City is known as the Chicago of the Yangtze.  And that there's a huge Chinese middle class with money to burn.  I think it's time to do a little market research on eBay China and find out what they're in the market for.  Luckily, I have another "Asian Bellpulls" kit!