Help! First-Time Seller Questions

Christiflora

Christiflora

O.G.
Oct 17, 2006
1,770
453
#1
My situation - I listed an LV bag on eBay. Since I did not want to worry about buying and selling outside US, I had payment instructions for US buyers only. However, since I am a newbee, I did not know that I had to block international bidders in my listing. Surprisingly, someone from UK did a BIN on my item this afternoon. I am afraid my nightmare is just starting.

1. The buyer has only 7 feedback, with the last one a negative. The feedback from the seller of the last transaction says in Italian, "pessimo, pende in giro; venditori":confused1: . What does it mean? Anyone knows? Anyway, it sounds bad.:sad:
Actually, I am not afraid that the buyer would not pay. After 7 days, I'll initiate a non-payer claim to get my final value fee back, and get a credit for relist (per instruction from eBay Live help). If this is the case, all it costs me is time and trouble.

2. Ok, let's say the buyer pays me. What should I do with shipping? I heard all kinds of wild stories about high custom charges, package stuck at UK Customs for days, and buyers claiming item not received. As precaution, which shipping carrier and shipping method should I use? Should I use usps Global Experss Mail EMS or usps international priority mail? Which one allows me to purchase insurance and delivery confirmation? What should I declare on the customs form? I hate to see the buyer gets slapped with a high custom duty and VAT fees. Before I ask the buyer for his preference, would you educate me about the best route to take, so that I get full protection from loss and potential scammer buyers, and that my buyer can receive the bag fast without paying costly customs charges?
 
#2
Hm...I feel like such an Ebay guru as of late, since I have had some first hand experience with the international sellers recently.

First off, if you said in your auction, and it says in your listing "Ships to United States" you don't HAVE to ship to the UK.

But, if you decide to ship to the UK, here is what I would suggest.

You could do a bank transfer, if that is something that the buyer is comfortable with. It is simply the same thing as a check (the bank information that you have is on your check, andthat is the same information that you would give them) and they instantly deposit it into your account. As a seller, this is an incredibly safe way. You would just have to go into your local bank and see how much they charge for you to receive it, and how much it would charge the buyer. I think my bank charged me like $15 to receive them.

I think that you need your bank swift code, your routing number and your bank number.

Super easy. If you don't feel comfortable with that, you could check PayPal. I do believe that PayPal is now covering people in the UK, so you SHOULD be covered by the PayPal...but you could also use Bidpay if you want. I know that a lot of sellers accept this as payment from international buyers because there is no fear of chargebacks.

As far as shipping, I would message the buyer and say that the shipping listed was for United States only, and then I would go on usps.com and check out the difference in shipping costs and quote the buyer on some different costs.

Preferably, I would use EMS, since there is tracking, automatic insurance up to $100 and it is the fastest. However, it can be really expensive. Usually I think it's around $25-40.

If you want insurance on your package, you can't put insurance on Global Priority. I tried to do that and my postal lady told me I couldn't.

So, the other option would be Parcel Post, and that could take forever.

However, before I shipped, I would let the buyer know that you are not responsible for customs delays and that the estimated shipping time that you are giving them doesn't include customs. One nice thing about EMS is that they have guaranteed delivery dates. I just sent something to China on Weds, and they had a guaranteed date of Tuesday.

One more thing to add....the BUYER is responsible for any and all customs fees that are associated with the merchandise. DO NOT declare it as a gift. I don't know that it is ILLEGAL persay, but you can't declare it a gift, when it wasn't. Always declare it at full value. If you don't declare it at full value, insurance isn't going to help you either. Make sure that the buyer knows that they are responsible for all taxes and customs BEFORE you ship. It is not YOUR fault if there is high taxes associated with customs.

And....as I end this novel....if you ever want to know what someone said in a different language, go to freetranslation.com and then copy-paste it, and just pick the appropriate languages. ^_^ I've done it several times.

If you have any other questions, feel free to message me.
 
#3
Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

I do not feel comfortable giving my bank account information to strangers, so bank wire is out. Paypal can charge back for as long as 3 months, after I send my bag. Sounds dangerous. BIDPAY? I do not know how. Anyway, very complicated.

Shipment is another problem. I have no control of UK Customs. The buyer may later decide to give up and reverse charge. I'll be stuck then.
My only hope is that the buyer does not pay. Let's pray for a week.

Let my situation be a lesson to all new sellers who do not want to sell to someone outside of country. Make sure that you block bidders from outside of your country, for eBay does not automatically do it for you.

I do not understand why eBay did not automatically block for me or at least give me the option or warn me by asking me if I wanted to open my auction to additional buyers, especially that I did not check off any shipping fees outside of US.
 
#5
cola262 said:
Just do the following:
1. Refund the money and explain this to the seller
2. Apply the restrictions to your buyers
3. Relist the item
Click to expand...

I just talked to eBay Live. I was told to do exactly the same things as you suggested.
Furthermore, eBay said that I could still apply for a refund for the final value fee, because the buyer did not follow listing terms (since I did not specify charges for non-US shipping).

Yes, I added the buyers restriction in my perference profile. Now, I need to sit back and wait 7 days.
 
#6
Christiflora said:
I just talked to eBay Live. I was told to do exactly the same things as you suggested.
Furthermore, eBay said that I could still apply for a refund for the final value fee, because the buyer did not follow listing terms (since I did not specify charges for non-US shipping).

Yes, I added the buyers restriction in my perference profile. Now, I need to sit back and wait 7 days.
Click to expand...

Don't forget you can also put these restrictions in your paypal profile. Some sellers completely ingnore your policy and pay with paypal anyway!
 
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