Safest way to seller to an overseas buyer?

LoveMyMarc

♥'s MJ, RM, & LV
Jul 6, 2008
3,055
3
I had someone message me on Bonanza and they asked if I would ship to the UK. I have never shipped outside of the US when selling on eBay or Bonz. They also have 0 feedback.

If I did sell to an international buyer, should I accept PayPal? I am afraid of being scammed and I want to protect myself.

What other payments could I accept if I decide to sell to them?


TIA!



Oops. I meant "sell" in the title. :blush:
 
There is no fool proof way to protect yourself against being scammed these days, unfortunately. :sad:

That said, I sell internationally frequently and have been very lucky with my buyers, thus far. I always ship USPS Priority International, fully insured. I also have never accepted anything other than Paypal.

As far as your buyer having zero feedback on Bonanza, I've seen this come up quite frequently lately and do not see it as an issue. Most buyers on Bonz do have zero feedback, as they are mostly passers-by. :yes:

Most importantly hon, go with your gut!
 
I have read too many horror stories here. So, I wouldn't recommend it honestly. Especially paid by paypal, forget about it! If the potential buyer agrees to pay by bank wire transfer or WU, I would consider it. But if you are not in a rush to sell, I would recommend you to wait for an another buyer.

If you are, I would recommend to tell the buyer you won't underdeclare the value on the custom form. If the buyer asked to underdeclare, don't do it. It is no benefit for a seller to underdeclare the value. You only can insure the item the same amount on the custom form. If the custom opens a package and find it is not correctly declared, it will be a big pain in your neck. So, don't bend this rule!! Shipped by Express Mail with insurance!
 
Hm, well I told the person who was interested in the bag that I would sell to her, but I wouldn't accept PayPal. This is what she said:
I’m contacting a friend in the States to see if he can help me with this using his ebay account.

I'm not saying this person is a scammer, but, I don't think this sounds too safe.
 
When I replyed you last time, I just read an international transaction horror story here. I think I overreacted to a word of "international zero feedback buyer.":shame: It sounds your potential buyer would like to buy it desparately. I don't know what you are selling. So, my guess is an item you are selling is very sought after or it's HG for the buyer or it is not available in UK.

Anyway, who knows if the buyer's friend will help her or not. If he does, and his ebay feedback is good and if you feel comfortable to deal with him, that might work for both of you.

Other people mentioned having international buyers pay with echecks via PP. Don't know what that entails but seems to be safer than a normal PP payment.

I totally forget about echeck. I only used it once as a reciever. I don't know about it so well. It is supposed to be online version of regular check, I think. It might work well for you and your buyer. I had to pay $5 fee to receive it. My transaction was a domestic one. It might be different for an international transaction.

Anyway, to ship a package internationally, is not hard. Just you need to fill out a few forms. But if something goes wrong, it is much harder to fix it. I do many international shipping for my work. So, I really don't mind shipping internationally. But I'm not open for international buyers on ebay and bonz. But some international buyers always contacted me, if I could ship outside US. Here is my rule for it.

1) If their way of approaching is polite, I start to consider it.
2) I do toolhaus check of a potential buyer, if it is a ebay listing. If it's on bonz, I try to communicate with a potential buyer.
3) If I feel comfortable to deal with the buyer, I mention it might be charged duty, custom, and any other kind of taxes in their country. No underdeclare the value on the custom form. Shipped by Express Mail. If they don't agree with my way, that's the end of story. At this point, most of them are gone.

If you feel good about the buyer and comfortable communicating with her, you could find the way for both of you. But if you don't, just wait for an another buyer.:wlae:
 
^Thanks!


Well, I decided to tell the potential buyer that I for sure will not sell to them. This is what they messaged me today:

How do we do the transaction without going through ebay as you said? Could I pay half or 2/3 of the price and get the rest paid once I receive the item? Thanks.

Ummm....are they nuts?! I am not willing to take THAT chance. Geeze!
 
You go to "My Bonanza" and click "Edit items." Then there are three tabs. Click "Advanced options." There is "Buyer restriction" section down below. You can put a member's id in the list.

I also recommend you not to enable buy it now. That makes a buyer needs to wait for your approval. There are much more zero feedback new buyer on bonz. So, it gives you a chance to communicate with your potential buyer before you would like to finish the transaction. If you are firm about your price and no OBO, it gives you a chance to check your potential buyer unlike ebay BIN. You can find it to change the setting on the first line of the booth property part. Very top.

Good luck!:smile: