A couple of eBay issues

[Eric the Shed]

Hi folks

As a recent seller on eBay thought I should share a couple of thoughts.

1. I have just sold some figures for a ridiculously low price. It was only when I got to parcelling these up I see the buyer is in spain. Mt details explicitly say that I only ship to uk. Could I cancelled the sale on these grounds? In the end I accepted the deal as I did not want to affect my rating

2. A recent buyer contacted me after I had posted his goods stating that the address given by PayPal was wrong. Indeed he went as far to say that he had actually moved and forgotten to update address. He stated that the old address was a vacant property and had no access.
I responded by saying that there was little I could do. No parcel had been returned to me.
He then opened a dispute stating he had been to the old property but there was no parcel.
This deal was wrth the princely sum of £3.80. In the end I offered him a full refund as the eBay forums suggested that even with the wrong address the customer is still right.

Thoughts?

[Elk101]

Unfortunately this seems to be the way eBay is going. I've put off selling stuff recently because of problems like this.  How come if the property had no access they were able to confirm there was no parcel?

The same thing happened to me with a buyer bidding on something, winning it and only then mentioning that they were outside the UK. I asked them to pay recorded delivery (which only really works till it is passed to the other country's mail system) or accept in text the potential loss if it went astray. As it was, the buyer was a nice guy and we kept in touch till the item arrived.

[matakishi]

Ebay is set up for businesses not small sellers, there are a plethora of rules that put sellers at a disadvantage which is why I haven't sold anything there for years. Unless you have the turn over to absorb the scammers and the idiots you're in for a rough ride.
Whatever you do will be wrong. If you'd sent to a non Paypal address you'd be wrong too because that violates the rules. The empty property guy is either an idiot or a scammer, either way it's all your fault according to ebay, all you can do is move on having learned.

[Lowtardog]

Ebay is set up for businesses not small sellers, there are a plethora of rules that put sellers at a disadvantage which is why I haven't sold anything there for years. Unless you have the turn over to absorb the scammers and the idiots you're in for a rough ride.
Whatever you do will be wrong. If you'd sent to a non Paypal address you'd be wrong too because that violates the rules. The empty property guy is either an idiot or a scammer, either way it's all your fault according to ebay, all you can do is move on having learned.

This really, for those sales where you have items bought by another outside the UK I usually try as quick as possible to send them an invoice. I also state at the bottom of the blurb that should anyone buy from outside the UK postage will be null and void. I think you can set up your postage charges so it filters to UK prices only.

[Mason]

You can put 'UK only' until you are blue in the face, people will always bother you or just bid anyway.
The ebay filters will stop someone from bidding from a blocked country only if their principle address that they have registered to them is outside those on the 'allowed' list.
If they change their address to a UK address (in your example) before bidding it will allow this.

I once had a winning bidder who lived in Regent Street.....until I got a message from a fella in Italy telling me that was what he had done so he could bid, and would I post to Italy instead please...!

You have been warned.
 

Oh, and ebay can be a complete git nowadays, which is why I try and sell as much as possible through the Bazaar nowadays.

[Lowtardog]

You can put 'UK only' until you are blue in the face, people will always bother you or just bid anyway.
The ebay filters will stop someone from bidding from a blocked country only if their principle address that they have registered to them is outside those on the 'allowed' list.
If they change their address to a UK address (in your example) before bidding it will allow this.

I once had a winning bidder who lived in Regent Street.....until I got a message from a fella in Italy telling me that was what he had done so he could bid, and would I post to Italy instead please...!

You have been warned.
 

Oh, and ebay can be a complete git nowadays, which is why I try and sell as much as possible through the Bazaar nowadays.

Very true come to think of it I have been caught that way. Italy being the old story normally

[Cubs]

Yeah, as a Seller you are at a decided disadvantage. Try to set up your selling preferences well in advance on the system, as well as stating them in the listing. For expensive items, make sure you only send them via a postal service that tracks and has a signed delivery. After that you just have to take it on the chin the few times you do get dicked over; frustrating for sure, but hopefully statistically slight enough that you don't suffer too much.

[Just John]

Out of genuine curiosity why do a lot of UK sellers have a problem with posting outside the UK? Surely its no more work than posting within the UK. If it's a fear of fraud can you not just insist on registered/tracked postage?

[thebinmann]

For simmilar reasons, including the fact they take 10% of postage, ebay is all but dead to me....

[Mason]

Out of genuine curiosity why do a lot of UK sellers have a problem with posting outside the UK? Surely its no more work than posting within the UK. If it's a fear of fraud can you not just insist on registered/tracked postage?

The reason I state that is that I dont need to go the post office.

I can just stick stamps on to the required value, especially for figures etc...for example: under 100g and I can just stick a Large Letter stamp on the envelope and chuck it in a post box.

Just so much easier.

Although I only use ebay as a last resort nowadays as their policies are so unfriendly to sellers.

[Van-Helsing]

Ebay Rules for the small seller -

If you don't want to ship World Wide, don't you don't HAVE to list Internationally - it's fiddly to do, but it can be "set up". This actually prevents anyone outside of the UK bidding on your Goods - as well as this, check if (some canny people can get around it) someone outside the UK has managed to Bid, if this is the case - cancel the bid immediately, and block the bidder. There are plenty of Guides online about how to do this sort of thing.

IF a Buyer does the "can you ship to another address please" the answer is - don't period, refund the money, cancel the transaction, report it to ebay, don't leave FB and if the Buyer leaves you Negative, point out to Ebay he hasn't the right as A - he's had no goods fron you and B - he tried to break Ebays rules and get things shipped to the wrong address.

ALWAYS (and I mean always) ship things with some form of tracking - my Mrs always adds a couple of quid to the starting price to cover this, even if a bidder/buyer states they don't want tracking (and alarm bell for sure) ship it with tracking anyway. If they try and leave Negative FB for you offering a better and more secure service you can actually in such circumstances ask Ebay to remove such Feedback, and even though Ebay states its impossible to remove Negative FB - Linda has got them to remove it no less than three times. In addition means that even if they try and pull the "wrong address" crap, you can actually prove delivery which 90% of the time covers you - and if by some miracle it doesn't, you can still track your parcel and/or reclaim your goods or put in a claim with the Royal Mail if you can't.

After all that, Block the Buyers and complain about him as well - Buyers can still get "Strikes" against their account, enough strikes they are banned from Ebay anyway.

[Cubs]

Out of genuine curiosity why do a lot of UK sellers have a problem with posting outside the UK? Surely its no more work than posting within the UK. If it's a fear of fraud can you not just insist on registered/tracked postage?

Registered Delivery outside the UK can get very, very expensive. Personally I don't mind taking the time to quote for a few different postage costs - US, Aus, EU etc.. - but because the costs are often prohibitively high and it does take a little time, presumably some people feel it's just not worth their while.

[Dr DeAth]

Ebay Rules for the small seller -

If you don't want to ship World Wide, don't you don't HAVE to list Internationally - it's fiddly to do, but it can be "set up". This actually prevents anyone outside of the UK bidding on your Goods - as well as this, check if (some canny people can get around it) someone outside the UK has managed to Bid, if this is the case - cancel the bid immediately, and block the bidder. There are plenty of Guides online about how to do this sort of thing.

IF a Buyer does the "can you ship to another address please" the answer is - don't period, refund the money, cancel the transaction, report it to ebay, don't leave FB and if the Buyer leaves you Negative, point out to Ebay he hasn't the right as A - he's had no goods fron you and B - he tried to break Ebays rules and get things shipped to the wrong address.

ALWAYS (and I mean always) ship things with some form of tracking - my Mrs always adds a couple of quid to the starting price to cover this, even if a bidder/buyer states they don't want tracking (and alarm bell for sure) ship it with tracking anyway. If they try and leave Negative FB for you offering a better and more secure service you can actually in such circumstances ask Ebay to remove such Feedback, and even though Ebay states its impossible to remove Negative FB - Linda has got them to remove it no less than three times. In addition means that even if they try and pull the "wrong address" crap, you can actually prove delivery which 90% of the time covers you - and if by some miracle it doesn't, you can still track your parcel and/or reclaim your goods or put in a claim with the Royal Mail if you can't.

After all that, Block the Buyers and complain about him as well - Buyers can still get "Strikes" against their account, enough strikes they are banned from Ebay anyway.

Thanks for the good advice.  I've just started selling a few bits (ones that don't sell on the Bazzar here first) and have set my preferences to block people with low ratings. I know hat may be a bit unfair on the new obeyers but it makes me feel a bit more secure  

[Van-Helsing]

Thanks for the good advice.  I've just started selling a few bits (ones that don't sell on the Bazzar here first) and have set my preferences to block people with low ratings. I know hat may be a bit unfair on the new obeyers but it makes me feel a bit more secure  

You are entirely welcome, I'll pass the thanks onto Linda (it was her info - she's the eBay wallah)

Ebay really isn't set up to be "user friendly" anymore though. but if you are careful its still "OK"

[Conquistador]

Registered Delivery outside the UK can get very, very expensive. Personally I don't mind taking the time to quote for a few different postage costs - US, Aus, EU etc.. - but because the costs are often prohibitively high and it does take a little time, presumably some people feel it's just not worth their while.

This is why I post items here "US Only" because I find every time someone asks postage costs to (Europe, Asia, Africa,) I never hear back from them again...  Bitter reality I am sad to observe.  

Gracias.

Glenn

EDIT:  Yes there are very rare exceptions and I salute those brave individuals!