Ebay problem, need some advice from the veterans.

[Baltimore]

Hey Everyone,

So I've been selling on ebay a bit more recently, and it has been going very smoothly. However, hit a bit of a speed bump yesterday. One of my items was bid on by someone with no feedback. I wasn't too concerned, I have done it before and it has turned out fine, but then I received this message some time later:

"Would you please make a ship to Indonesia?"

Here's where the problem starts. On every auction it specifically says that I ship to the United States. This person opened an account, bid on my item, and now wants me to ship it to a country that I do not ship to. I politely responded saying that I do not ship to Indonesia, but I'm not sure where to go from here. What happens if they win the auction? There were a couple other bids from other people, so I'm hoping one of them outbids this person and the problem fixes itself. Any advice about steps to take if they do win would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys, It's nice to have a group of knowledgable people to ask about this kind of stuff.

 

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[detectingarizona]

i would say just not count his bid, kick him out of the auction, other then that good luck! HH

 

[Iron Patch]

Sounds like there was quite a bit of time left so what you should have done was cancelled the bid and blocked him. And if this is a concern you should have your page set to block non American bidders.

 

[jmb2email]

I had an ebay business for years before i got tired of all the crap. You can reject their bid by going into the help areas and search for "remove bid".

For the future the best bet is to go in to your listing settings from now on and set it to "# of positive feedback to bid" as well as set to only US bidders etc. You can block a lot, but 99.9999% of bids like that from indonesia are scams.

Don't ship overseas is your best bet... unfortunately. Ebay and Paypal will not cover you either. I shipped an item to a person in US that had a code on it. They recieved the item used the code, then shipped it back and denied funds. I was out $1000 after days on the phone with ebay and paypal.

This is short info and hope it helps. You can get a lot more online or in the forums and help on ebay, but be aware... ebay and paypal will not cover you, that's why i quit the business after doing it for 7 years. Scammers swarm to ebay and paypal.

JMB

 

[Baltimore]

Excellent guys, thanks a bunch. The bids have been canceled and the countries have been blocked. Thanks again, I appreciate the help!

 

[Iron Patch]

I had an ebay business for years before i got tired of all the crap. You can reject their bid by going into the help areas and search for "remove bid".

For the future the best bet is to go in to your listing settings from now on and set it to "# of positive feedback to bid" as well as set to only US bidders etc. You can block a lot, but 99.9999% of bids like that from indonesia are scams.

Don't ship overseas is your best bet... unfortunately. Ebay and Paypal will not cover you either. I shipped an item to a person in US that had a code on it. They recieved the item used the code, then shipped it back and denied funds. I was out $1000 after days on the phone with ebay and paypal.

This is short info and hope it helps. You can get a lot more online or in the forums and help on ebay, but be aware... ebay and paypal will not cover you, that's why i quit the business after doing it for 7 years. Scammers swarm to ebay and paypal.

JMB

All depends what you sell. I ship overseas and have no more problems doing that than North America. Also, my biggest losses ($300 was the highest) are from the post office losing packages, and not people ripping me off. I still have an active Ebay store and my experience is quite different than what you describe.

 

[randazzo1]

All depends what you sell. I ship overseas and have no more problems doing that than North America. Also, my biggest losses ($300 was the highest) are from the post office losing packages, and not people ripping me off. I still have an active Ebay store and my experience is quite different than what you describe.

Agreed. Shipping items over seas can be harrowing because there is either no tracking or it takes for ever to get deliver confirmation -- but when all is said and done, I've not had any more trouble with foreign customers than domestic customers.

I had my fingers crossed the last three weeks waiting for a high value item (jewelry) to arrive in Moscow. Turned out to be another great transaction with a Russian customer that not only outbid all the domestic customers, but then paid an extra $52.00 to have the item shipped to Russia. Generally, once we have one successful delivery we waive the express mail requirement for that customer.

 

[Iron Patch]

Agreed. Shipping items over seas can be harrowing because there is either no tracking or it takes for ever to get deliver confirmation -- but when all is said and done, I've not had any more trouble with foreign customers than domestic customers.

I had my fingers crossed the last three weeks waiting for a high value item (jewelry) to arrive in Moscow. Turned out to be another great transaction with a Russian customer that not only outbid all the domestic customers, but then paid an extra $52.00 to have the item shipped to Russia. Generally, once we have one successful delivery we waive the express mail requirement for that customer.

At an extra $52 I wouldn't be waving back.


Obviously for a higher priced item $52 isn't a big deal and I can't imagine how many times I've paid $20 for things that weren't really that expensive.

 

[woodstock]

This is my opinion ... 9 times out of 10 the total costs of shipping oversea's is way to high to even consider it unless ALL the FEES are paid by the buyer . And then you have to remember that these overseas purchasers without a decent feedback record are VERY RISKY . They can make claims that the item wasn't received as described and file a refund and get it and then your out the money .... And if your auction says "no overseas" then stick to your auction . I always make it clear that I ship to the LOWER 48 only.... IMHO , Woodstock

 

[diggummup]

At an extra $52 I wouldn't be waving back.


Obviously for a higher priced item $52 isn't a big deal and I can't imagine how many times I've paid $20 for things that weren't really that expensive.

lol, I had a guy from Sweden once, paid over $50 for shipping on an item that cost about the same.

 

[PatrickD]

Just my $.02 worth. We do business internationally and have to ship samples throughout Asia, Middle East, Europe, South America, Caribbean, etc. My advice, NEVER use USPS. Repeat NEVER (Neeaaaveerrr). You will be lucky if they show up. Use a delivery courier with a full tracking number system like DHL, UPS or Fedex.

 

[Iron Patch]

lol, I had a guy from Sweden once, paid over $50 for shipping on an item that cost about the same.

That guy was sane compared to the one who sent me $1,000 cash in a little box for the payment! He was from the UK, was just a random sale, and paid me with $1,000 in US 20s.

 

[detectingarizona]

That guy was sane compared to the one who sent me $1,000 cash in a little box for the payment! He was from the UK, was just a random sale, and paid me with $1,000 in US 20s.

that is funny! wish someone would send me that! lol GL HH

 

[dejapooh]

What was your decision and what happened?

 

[MoJoe]

On the flip side - Does anyone know how Hong Kong gets off so cheap? I ordered a METAL, liquid filled compass from Hong Kong for $3.85 and free shipping. It took a couple weeks but I got my compass, and noticed they paid less than $.80 to ship it. I weighed it and put the info in oin the web like I was going to ship it to my buddy that lives 25 miles away. The shipping was going to be like $3.15. How can it be 4X cheaper from Hong Kong than 25 miles down the road? WTH?

 

[randazzo1]

On the flip side - Does anyone know how Hong Kong gets off so cheap? I ordered a METAL, liquid filled compass from Hong Kong for $3.85 and free shipping. It took a couple weeks but I got my compass, and noticed they paid less than $.80 to ship it. I weighed it and put the info in oin the web like I was going to ship it to my buddy that lives 25 miles away. The shipping was going to be like $3.15. How can it be 4X cheaper from Hong Kong than 25 miles down the road? WTH?

I'm not sure about Hong Kong -- but postal shipments originating in mainland china are subsidized by the Chinese government. My guess is that with the exit of the British, its the same in Hong Kong.

 

[50cent]

buy American
sell American

 

[Baltimore]

What was your decision and what happened?

I cancelled the bids and blocked the country. I decided that I'm not running a business, just selling random thrift store and yard sale finds, so it really isn't worth it to deal with the hassle of shipping a $35 item all the way to Indonesia. Plus, 0 feedback and a request with weird grammar to ship to a distant asian country is basically a giant red flag.