i have a high end auction that is getting a LOT of inquiries from buyers in indonesia. when i searched the community boards, i found many warnings about indonesia (like "don't sell to indonesia EVER!"). i know not to ship to an unconfirmed paypal address but what if someone is willing to pay by wire transfer -- should i still avoid it simply because the buyer is in indonesia?
what's the deal with indonesia?
- Thread starter kicksarefortwids
- Start date
I've been scammed twice by Indonesians. They stole someone's Paypal account and used it to pay for the item. Next I ship off the item AFTER I transferred the money to my bank account. Days later, Paypal emails me to say that the account was stolen and that I need to give the money back or else they will freeze my account so that I can't use it again. What am I suppose to do? So I give the money back, I don't have my item anymore and Paypal does absolutely nothing.
Please do yourself a big favor and RUN the other way!
Please do yourself a big favor and RUN the other way!
am i the only person who is extremely uncomfortable with threads like this? i'm sure there are people on tpf from indonesia who could easily be offended by the advice to never ever ship to indonesia. the same goes for any country.
wire transfer is safe for the seller, but if you're uncomfortable giving out your bank details you could always use western union. this is generally more expensive for the buyer though, depending on the amount your item sold for.
wire transfer is safe for the seller, but if you're uncomfortable giving out your bank details you could always use western union. this is generally more expensive for the buyer though, depending on the amount your item sold for.
which is why i posted this thread -- even if indonesia is on a "do-not-ship-to" list (and i did not come up with this -- as i said, there are many references on the ebay discussion boards to countries where fraud is apparently rampant), i wanted to understand the risk to a seller if a buyer is willing to pay by wire transfer. here is an example of a post i found on ebay:
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]A few warning signals should help you be prepared:[/FONT]
the reason this came up is i received an unusual number of inquiries from people who want me to ship to indonesia. i have sold dozens of bags and have never had so many.- [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Buyer's eBay account country differs from shipping country.[/FONT]
- [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Buyer pays quickly and usually pays the highest price for express, or overnight shipping with a courier (UPS, Fed Ex, DHL, or EMS services).[/FONT]
- [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You should NEVER ship to these countries: Africa (Nigeria), Indonesia, and Caribbean Islands.[/FONT]
i hope tpf members from indonesia are savvy enough to understand that this is not a personal attack on them but there is obviously a problem with fraud in their country. there is so much fraud on ebay and honest sellers like me are just looking for some advice, any advice.
btw, i have heard "don't ever use western union" too -- why is that??
Wherever the buyer is, if he or she pays via wire transfer or western union, there's no way of getting the money back so it's totally safe for you as a seller.
Western Union is unsafe from buyer's point of view because there's no recourse if the seller doesn't deliver. But from seller's point of view, its totally safe as it's the same as receiving cash.
I've been to Indonesia several times.
Ok Indonesia has a great income divide - the rich are filthy rich and the poor are, well, a tad richer than America's homeless! The rich love designer brands and they would flock to neighboring countries like Australia and Singapore every month just to get their dose of genuine leather goods because what's sold in their countries are normally fakes. I have had 2 Indo customers in the past, 1 by bank transfer and the other by Paypal (registered address in US but probably moved back to Indo), no problems with them, but that's just me. I can understand if you have qualms about dealing with them. I did have odd offers to pay cash in mail etc which I declined though.
Personally I wouldn't term them as cheaters. They're just in a country that has very relaxed procedures, even Western Union is too laid back to confirm that they have already paid for their goods. It's not ingrained in their culture to deliberately cheat others, unlike the notorious South African scammers and mainland Chinese.
Ok Indonesia has a great income divide - the rich are filthy rich and the poor are, well, a tad richer than America's homeless! The rich love designer brands and they would flock to neighboring countries like Australia and Singapore every month just to get their dose of genuine leather goods because what's sold in their countries are normally fakes. I have had 2 Indo customers in the past, 1 by bank transfer and the other by Paypal (registered address in US but probably moved back to Indo), no problems with them, but that's just me. I can understand if you have qualms about dealing with them. I did have odd offers to pay cash in mail etc which I declined though.
Personally I wouldn't term them as cheaters. They're just in a country that has very relaxed procedures, even Western Union is too laid back to confirm that they have already paid for their goods. It's not ingrained in their culture to deliberately cheat others, unlike the notorious South African scammers and mainland Chinese.
As someone from Indonesia who had bought stuff off fbay, I'd say you have to communicate with the potential buyer first to get the "feel". I was once someone from Indonesia who had 0 feedback but someone took a chance on me and I got my first fbay star
Like they all say, do not judge a book by its cover 
I would never deny there are such things happening with buyers from Indonesia, but then again, it's really everywhere isn't it? Scams and frauds even happen in the States. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I do hope that it wouldn't stain your judgement about Indonesian buyers in general.
Thank you
Hi there, nice to meet you! Can't believe you've been here. What parts of Indonesia have you gone to? I live in Jakarta, have you been here?
You're right most parts about Indonesia but I don't think that the poor are a tad richer than America's homeless 
The poor live on about a dollar a day. I don't think America's bums could even survive with less than a dollar a day Anyway, the truth is, as most of you probably know, Indonesia is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. That said, imported goods are very pricey here, let alone designer ones. What inflated the price is not only the weak Indonesian Rupiah against other currencies (Usd, Euro, Yen, etc) but also the cost of "importing" goods. Indonesian customs used to be one of the most corrupt areas in the government -- that and the presidency itself
So anything imported is usually very expensive. I can understand the interests that the OP was getting from Indo buyers. Brands like LV, Chanel etc are most usually "untouchable" by the mere mortals of $200/month income, that is one of the reasons why buying fake stuff here is so rampant. Of course there are a lot of rich indo people here who could actually afford the real things yet buy fakes. Beacause why? Because it's the culture here. They think, if i use real one, people would think it's fake anyway - so why buy the real thing when you can get so much cheaper for a knock-off that people could hardly differentiate anyway?
Anyway, I've been ranting. Oh well, having one too many vodka lime
Wow, are you saying that cheating is INGRAINED in South African and Chinese cultures? That's a pretty bold/racist statement.
Sorry. Just joined in 2008 and today is the first time I ever actually searched anything about my country.
Sorry If I offended you. I didn't mean no "drama". Just clarifying, as not so many ppl from my country did so.
Thx