Selling your products online allows for immediate entry into the global marketplace. However, shipping your product overseas presents a few challenges if you have little experience with taxes, duties, customs laws, and consumer protection issues involved with international commerce.

If you are just getting started, the following resources will help you to understand legal and regulatory requirements when shipping overseas:

• Export.gov - E-Commerce Toolbox: This site brings together information and resources the U.S. Department of Commerce and other U.S. government agencies offer to U.S. businesses interested in using the Internet to export their products.

• Electronic Commerce: Selling Internationally - A Guide for Business: As members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States and 28 other countries have signed on to guidelines that help protect consumer information on the Internet.