If you sell on Ebay and put "US buyers only" and an Australian wins the auction, what do y

Longacre · August 12, 2008 10:45PM

I don't sell much on Ebay, but occasionally I will sell an item or two. For one auction, I put in big, bold letters, "US bidders only". I am not sure if that is against the rules, but the auction listing did not get pulled down.

During the course of the auction, a bidder sends me an email message. The guy is in Australia, and he says, "I know your auction says only US bidders, but would it be OK if I bid on your item?" I wrote him back, thanked him for his interest, but specifically told him I did not want him bidding, and I was not going to ship outside the US (particularly since I had a flat shipping fee on the auction listing, because I limited it to US bidders). I did not get a response from him.

Then, lo and behold, the same guy from Australia bids the next day, and come the end of the auction, he wins it.

What would you do in that instance? I will tell you what I did in a later installment of this saga.

Barndog · August 12, 2008 10:51PM

if adamant about it, block anyone who inquires to prevent from happening what did happen to you.

SaorAlba · August 12, 2008 10:52PM

He clearly violated your terms. It would be nice if instead of just putting in checks in check boxes on where you accept bids from, and hoping that bidders will not bid, if they could truly be blocked. But frankly eBay doesn't care. They got their insertion fee, and the final auction value fee and that is all that matters.

CertifiedGoldCoins · August 12, 2008 10:53PM

I don't understand how he was able to place a bid if you selected the option to limit bidding to USA only, but given what you wrote, you're within your rights to offer it to the underbidder and ignore the Australian with limited intelligence.

ricko · August 12, 2008 11:13PM

Second place gets the prize... Cheers, RickO

farthing · August 12, 2008 11:17PM

Why the fear to ship outside the US?

TwoSides2aCoin · August 12, 2008 11:19PM

Send him immigration and naturalization paperwork. Although I'm not sure he understands English.

Just kidding.

storm888 · August 12, 2008 11:23PM

Adjust your SYIF.............

Buyer requirements

Use Buyer Requirements to block certain buyers from bidding on or purchasing your items.

Block buyers who:

Don't have a PayPal account

Have received 2 Unpaid item Strike(s) within 12 month(s)

Are registered in countries to which I don't ship

Have 4 Policy violation report(s) within 6 month(s)

Have a feedback score equal to or lower than -1

Have bid on or bought my items in the last 10 days and have met my limit of 10 who have a feedback score of 5 or lower

TwoSides2aCoin · August 12, 2008 11:24PM

Seriously, though !

Help is out there.

storm888 · August 12, 2008 11:26PM

<< I don't understand how he was able to place a bid if you selected the option to limit bidding to USA only, but given what you wrote, you're within your rights to offer it to the underbidder and ignore the Australian with limited intelligence. >>

////////////////////////////////////////

The "country check-boxes" ONLY affect the display of countries shipped to.

You must set the "buyer requirements" to:

Block buyers who: Are registered in countries to which I don't ship

CertifiedGoldCoins · August 12, 2008 11:54PM

<< The "country check-boxes" ONLY affect the display of countries shipped to.
You must set the "buyer requirements" to:
Block buyers who: Are registered in countries to which I don't ship >>

You are correct, storm888. I did that so long ago that I plumb forgot about it.

mrpotatoheadd · August 13, 2008 12:07AM

<< What would you do in that instance? >>

I would try to figure out what would cause me the least amount of hassle- contacting the underbidder to see if he's still interested in the item and relisting it if he's not or just selling it to the Australian bidder and being done with it.

And then, I'd do as others have already suggested and set my selling preferences so that this situation doesn't arise again.

SaorAlba · August 13, 2008 12:08AM

<< 

<< The "country check-boxes" ONLY affect the display of countries shipped to.
You must set the "buyer requirements" to:
Block buyers who: Are registered in countries to which I don't ship >>

You are correct, storm888. I did that so long ago that I plumb forgot about it.

>>

Unfortunately many have found ways around that, for instance register on the foreign eBay and then change it to a USA address. It is possible to do, the Chinese do it all the time.

lathmach · August 13, 2008 12:41AM

Send him his coin.
Australia was called "Little America" when I was a kid.

Ray

SaorAlba · August 13, 2008 12:42AM

<< Send him his coin.
Australia was called "Little America" when I was a kid.

Ray >>

But... make the buyer pay the appropriate registered postage if that is what you choose to do. Remember paypoo claims if it goes and gets taken by a Tasmanian Devil or something.

MrHalfDime · August 13, 2008 12:45AM

What have you got against Aussie blokes? Did a dingo eat your baby?

rgCoinGuy · August 13, 2008 1:06AM

Be careful messing with Aussies.

Placid · August 13, 2008 1:10AM

Ship the coin or expect a negative.

mr1931S · August 13, 2008 1:12AM

Send him the coin.He needs to pay fully for postage/handling though.Let him know that if the item doesn't show up,that's just too bad.

Do the blocking thing as others have suggested for future auctions.The Aussie probably figures if you were serious about "US buyers only" you would have put the blocks in place.

dac076 · August 13, 2008 1:15AM

I sell US only as well, but have had a couple of Aussies send me a request to buy in the past. I made the exceptions, and both transactions went well. I wouldn't have been as accommodating with some other areas of the world. The fact that you said no and he bid anyway would be a bit irritating though.

dac076 · August 13, 2008 1:16AM

<< 

<< Send him his coin.
Australia was called "Little America" when I was a kid.

Ray >>

But... make the buyer pay the appropriate registered postage if that is what you choose to do. Remember paypoo claims if it goes and gets taken by a Tasmanian Devil or something. >>

Yes, you'll definitely have to adjust your shipping cost, no matter how you send it.

SaorAlba · August 13, 2008 1:20AM

<< I sell US only as well, but have had a couple of Aussies send me a request to buy in the past. I made the exceptions, and both transactions went well. I wouldn't have been as accommodating with some other areas of the world. The fact that you said no and he bid anyway would be a bit irritating though. >>

Conversely lots of Aussie sellers don't usually care to ship outside of Oz, but just an email to them, explaining why you want it and you will accommodate for postage persuades them to sell to you.

adamlaneus · August 13, 2008 1:34AM

In my experience, shipping internationally is a huge stressful pain. I have never lost a package. However, I dislike waiting for a full month for the package to go through customs with the buyer hounding me all that time.

I would generally refuse to complete the transaction unless the seller had the political skills to convince me otherwise. It would take a series of positive communications from the seller to convince me to do that.

eBay, with their policies of forcing the seller to minimize shipping...doesn't exactly make it easy to figure out what international shipping charges are. And it is very easy to underestimate international shipping to the tune of $20.

eBay, damn them, also calls me at home. They ask for me by my account name. That will get your attention if you are concerned about fraud. They then go into a scripted advertising campaign about how great selling internationally is. I hate eBay so much at this time.

Tvac897 · August 13, 2008 1:50AM

<< Second place gets the prize... Cheers, RickO >>

-Agreed

mrpotatoheadd · August 13, 2008 1:55AM

I mail lots of coins out of the country and based on feedback left by buyers, most shipments are delivered in less than a month. In addition, my international buyers have mostly been patient while waiting for their coins to arrive- it's the domestic buyers who are more likely to be sending "I didn't get my coin. Where is it? When did you ship it?" emails.

Longacre · August 13, 2008 2:00AM

In case anyone is playing along at home, here is what I did. After being disgusted that my direct request that he not bid was not honored, I settled down. I estimated the cost to ship the coin as best I could (I erred a little on the high side). It was a lot more of a hassle for me with filling out the documentation at the post office, tracking things, etc., etc. I told him the shipping estimate, and he said fine and paid me the purchase price plus the full shipping.

When I went to the post office (after filling out the papers, etc.), I found out that the shipping cost was about $6 less than he paid me for. Although it was tempting to keep the extra cash for my pain and suffering, I actually refunded the guy the cash through Paypal.

Overall, he was happy, I think I did the right thing, and although I did not make an Obscene Profit, I did make a little bit of a profit, so I was somewhat happy.

Do you agree with my approach?

SaorAlba · August 13, 2008 2:13AM

<< In case anyone is playing along at home, here is what I did. After being disgusted that my direct request that he not bid was not honored, I settled down. I estimated the cost to ship the coin as best I could (I erred a little on the high side). It was a lot more of a hassle for me with filling out the documentation at the post office, tracking things, etc., etc. I told him the shipping estimate, and he said fine and paid me the purchase price plus the full shipping.

When I went to the post office (after filling out the papers, etc.), I found out that the shipping cost was about $6 less than he paid me for. Although it was tempting to keep the extra cash for my pain and suffering, I actually refunded the guy the cash through Paypal.

Overall, he was happy, I think I did the right thing, and although I did not make an Obscene Profit, I did make a little bit of a profit, so I was somewhat happy.

Do you agree with my approach? >>

Very classy.

sonoranmonsoon · August 13, 2008 2:36AM

<< I don't understand how he was able to place a bid if you selected the option to limit bidding to USA only >>

My thoughts exactly. You need to check the appropriate box when listing the item, then you will never have this problem. It seems like you only wrote it in the discription. That is not going to stop anyone from bidding. You are going to have to ship to him now or face a negative strike on your account. He is safe because you can not neg him.

mackdriver · August 13, 2008 3:05AM

I have been in the same situation a few times and as long as the buyer agrees to the higher shipping costs,i send the item.I also have to feel comfortable with thier feedback also.

Boom · August 13, 2008 4:06AM

Manually change your preferences, both at ebay and PayPal.

If the person has paid ( I have NOT read anything more than the OP question)
it's entirely up to you whether to ship or refund his money & risk a neg.

Sellers' responsibility to make the necessary preferences as applied to
who can & who cannot partake in said auctions.

Good Luck!

Bochiman · August 13, 2008 4:36AM

<< 

<< I don't understand how he was able to place a bid if you selected the option to limit bidding to USA only, but given what you wrote, you're within your rights to offer it to the underbidder and ignore the Australian with limited intelligence. >>

////////////////////////////////////////

The "country check-boxes" ONLY affect the display of countries shipped to.

You must set the "buyer requirements" to:

Block buyers who: Are registered in countries to which I don't ship >>

Yep....learn to use ebay before actually selling on it....helps keep issues from happening.

Ask him if he is willing to pay the greater rate, get a money order, wait until it clears.

jcocoin · August 13, 2008 5:13AM

Hi Longacre - Sounds like you did a nice thing to keep the buyer happy. Sometimes these choices have to be made on a case by case basis. I had a similar situation months ago when a person from Israel bought an item from me using Buy It Now. I specifically say in the terms of the auction “US Bidders Only”. This is for many reasons, some fraud originating from outside the US, if you do have to file a claim with the post office it takes even longer to settle, etc. The short version of my story is that the Israel buyer wanted me to ship to his country and he would pay with a certified check. Before I could even answer the buyer, another ebay member contacted me to tell me that the same buyer had sent him a certified check not long ago and it bounced. I told the buyer I was not willing to ship to another country. At that point he answered me with a nasty email swearing at me and told me to shove my coin… Two weeks later he asked about the coin and wanted to give me an address in the USA to ship to. I nicely reminded him where he told me to put my coin, and he said ok, nevermind…
Lucky for me he did not neg me, but maybe that was only because at the time I could also leave him a neg.

John

storm888 · August 13, 2008 6:05AM

How do you meet PayPal "Seller Protection" requirements to Australia
without using Express Mail for $27.00?

Thanks.

Mickley · August 13, 2008 6:36AM

<< In case anyone is playing along at home, here is what I did. After being disgusted that my direct request that he not bid was not honored, I settled down. I estimated the cost to ship the coin as best I could (I erred a little on the high side). It was a lot more of a hassle for me with filling out the documentation at the post office, tracking things, etc., etc. I told him the shipping estimate, and he said fine and paid me the purchase price plus the full shipping.

When I went to the post office (after filling out the papers, etc.), I found out that the shipping cost was about $6 less than he paid me for. Although it was tempting to keep the extra cash for my pain and suffering, I actually refunded the guy the cash through Paypal.

Overall, he was happy, I think I did the right thing, and although I did not make an Obscene Profit, I did make a little bit of a profit, so I was somewhat happy.

Do you agree with my approach? >>

I think you were more than fair, and I like that approach. I would have thought, however, that ebay would block non us buyers from bidding if you said you'd only take u.s., I guess I was wrong.

If you sell on Ebay and put "US buyers only" and an Australian wins the auction, what do y

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If you sell on Ebay and put &quot;US buyers only&quot; and an Australian wins the auction, what do y

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If you sell on Ebay and put "US buyers only" and an Australian wins the auction, what do y