Why don't buyers read auctions?

J

Jen Loves LV

Member
Aug 19, 2006
2,390
0
#1
Sorry, I need to rant.

I had a CB pochette up for auction. It ended with a buyer from Italy winning. I have no problem shipping internationally, but in my auction it states in big fat capital letters that I will ONLY ship to confirmed addresses!

Not only that but I told her in an Ebay message to make sure it was confirmed before she sent payment!! Grr!!
 
#2
I don't think international buyers (not counting Canada) can have their addresses confirmed by Paypal. They can only be verified PP members, and a lot of people get confused between the two terms.
 
#4
Oh I know, I clearly state in my auctions that all bids are in GBP I mean that is all I can accept on ebay UK. Recently I had a bidder send me an offer which I accepted, she didn't pay, then when I file a dispute she says "Oh I thought it was usd" Grrrrr! She could have had the manners to contact me!

If your buyer has good feedback then you should be ok to go ahead & ship, if she is new I would be wary!
 
#5
This is the reason I elect to only ship domestically. Then I block bidders who are from countries that I don't ship to, as well as those that don't have a paypal account (you can set this up through your seller preferences, under buyer requirements). Sure this doesn't stop US bidders who don't have confirmed addresses but that doesn't seem to happen, usually if they have paypal, they are confirmed.

Every now and then I read my buyer requirements acitivity log, and I see quite a few bidders who are blocked because they are from countries I don't ship to.
 
#6
uk and canadian addresses can be confirmed too. but yes, the currency thing drives me insane :cursing: i once had someone do a BIN and then say "oh i thought it was usd" :rolleyes: she did pay in the end though, after a little bit of persuasion ;)
 
#7
I specifically write at the top of my auctions "Please read the description thoroughly before bidding," yet I still get questions from bidders about information that I include in the auction.
 
#8
.... I do not mean to offend anyone when I say this!!...

But I can honestly say that there are a LOT of people out there who have no idea that there are other currencies besides USD.

Working at PayPal I came across this probably about once a day.. A buyer would win an auction/buy it now.. and then pay it.. and then freak out when the amount is almost double.. call PayPal and scream at me for charging them the wrong amount, and then I have to give a little lesson on currencies and how British Pounds are worth more than american dollars... and it's a little sad.. a little funny.. but probably about 60-70% of them wouldn't have any idea that other countries didn't have USD.. and the rest of them just figured that USD were worth the most so they figured it would be cheaper to buy in GBP!

Sometimes I get scared when I think about the lack of knowledge some people have...

But yeah, PayPal will give you seller protection if you ship to a confirmed address within canada, usa, or uk... (and of course follow the rest of the rules in the policy) other countries cannot have confirmed addresses...
 
#9
Jen Loves LV said:
Sorry, I need to rant.

I had a CB pochette up for auction. It ended with a buyer from Italy winning. I have no problem shipping internationally, but in my auction it states in big fat capital letters that I will ONLY ship to confirmed addresses!

Not only that but I told her in an Ebay message to make sure it was confirmed before she sent payment!! Grr!!
Click to expand...

Sorry, Jen, but how can you have no problems shipping internationally and *then* state that you don't ship to unconfirmed addresses? This is a bit of an oxymoron, because international buyers (apart from the usual countries, Canada, UK...) *cannot* have their addresses confirmed by Paypal... but it is not our fault! I'm an "old" ebayer, have 100% positive feedback and *never* had any problem with international transactions, despite living in Italy myself.

I usually ask the seller about his/her specific policy regarding paypal yadda yadda yadda but most of them answer me that the "not shipping to unconfirmed paypal addresses" is directed only to US buyers, because they know that int'l buyers cannot be confirmed.

I think that you can overcome any problem if you send the item fully insured, or with a private carrier like UPS and DHL. The buyer probably knows that he/she will have to pay extra duties, but at least you can be sure that the item will not get lost.

I would suggest you to reformulate your policy, or allow some other payment method for international buyers. I grant you, it's a big huuge pain in the a** to be "international" and to have all these problems with online transactions.
 
#10
big__japan said:
.... I do not mean to offend anyone when I say this!!...

But I can honestly say that there are a LOT of people out there who have no idea that there are other currencies besides USD.



Sometimes I get scared when I think about the lack of knowledge some people have...
Click to expand...

That is so sad. Probably true.

In my experience, it doesn't matter what you write in your auctions, the majority of people DO NOT READ your TOS. I had always stated "NO RETURNS EXCEPT FOR AUTHENTICITY REASONS". It's amazing how several times I had emails from sellers asking for returns because they didn't read measurements because they thought something was bigger or smaller that what they thought.

People on ebay having gotten VERY ballsy when asking for refunds. I don't look at ebay as a dept store. I know I cannot return or exchange and item. If I bid on something and it is not what I expected because of size, etc, I take the time to resell it myself.
 
#11
In the last month, I have had 4 people disregard the same piece of info in my tos.
i email them and tell them that if something happens, we are not covered through paypal and i will be keeping the replied email in case something does happen and i can prove to ebay/paypal in case the buyer dies try to open a claim, that the customer wanted the item shipped to a diff address adn knew the risks.

what are you supposed to do once a buyer pays!?!?! i mean, come on! they really should just register their addresses and read teh rules!

i know you have listed your cb a couple times, and (i am very sorry not to have won it) but i really hope the sale goes well for you after this! hope your little pochette finds a good home!

its just too bad we can't get on the marketplace yet!

good luck with your overseas seller.
and we are all with you on this rant!
 
#12
photoobsessive said:
what are you supposed to do once a buyer pays!?!?! i mean, come on! they really should just register their addresses and read teh rules!
Click to expand...

Photoobsessive, you should address your rant towards Paypal: it's *their* fault if we, overseas buyers, cannot register our address with paypal! What I can do with paypal is to verify my credit card address, but I cannot do anything to properly register my address as you US buyers have. It's part of the stupid Paypal policy. So it is not the buyer's fault and anybody as a seller can't expect that an overseas buyer has a verified address because that procedure is impossible for us. So it's not a question of *just* registering our address. Wr cannot do it, it is as simple.
 
#13
You can block payments from unconfirmed addresses in your Paypal preferences. That would hopefully stop any people who are unconfirmed getting as far as paying. You would still have to file an Unpaid Item Dispute with Ebay to get your final value fees back, but at least you'd be halfway there!
 
#14
Fraublucher said:
Photoobsessive, you should address your rant towards Paypal: it's *their* fault if we, overseas buyers, cannot register our address with paypal! What I can do with paypal is to verify my credit card address, but I cannot do anything to properly register my address as you US buyers have. It's part of the stupid Paypal policy. So it is not the buyer's fault and anybody as a seller can't expect that an overseas buyer has a verified address because that procedure is impossible for us. So it's not a question of *just* registering our address. Wr cannot do it, it is as simple.
Click to expand...

if it is "that simple", then there are some auctions that international bidders need not bid on. that's all. obey the rules of the seller to make for a completely seamless, stress free transactions.my rant is in line with the topic of the thread, and this is a fine time and place to rant and rave. this is a safe place for us ebayers to let it all out amongst our peers.
 
#15
dcgal said:
You can block payments from unconfirmed addresses in your Paypal preferences. That would hopefully stop any people who are unconfirmed getting as far as paying. You would still have to file an Unpaid Item Dispute with Ebay to get your final value fees back, but at least you'd be halfway there!
Click to expand...

i never knew that! i will look at that tonight. has anyone here ever used that and then had to get their ebay fees back? is it painstaking? i have never filed for return of my fees.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back