Selling Overseas

dsdl23185

At the moment i am selling an item on Ebay that is getting a lot of attention from overseas buyers,China,Norway and the USA so far.

This is only the second item i have ever sold on Ebay so am looking for any advice from seasoned Ebay sellers on what to lookout for.

I have said that I am prepared to send but obviously with an increase in P+P and any insurance or custom requirements to be met by them.

Paypal buyers only.


Is their anything else I should think of?

Expecting item to go for £100+

soolin

When you sell high cost items overseas you must always quote for airmail signed for as a buyer using paypal can chargeback if you can't prove delivery of an item. You also need to ensure that you are also covered against loss, so make sure you quote for sufficient insurance on the package as well.

The problem here though is that your item will attract duty or customs charges in most countries so you may end up in the situation where it sits in customs waiting to be claimed. If the buyer chooses not to claim it having been surprised at the charges incurred you may get them starting a chargeback to get their money back which you will lose as of course you can't prove delivery.

I'm also concerned that you have bidders without them having asked for postage costs, to me that is a problem as at the end of the auction you quote a large amount for signed for and insured which they refuse to pay and you have the hassle of an NPB. It is always best to quote up front for costs so that the buyer knows where they stand, when you list the item you can show as many payment options, including overseas, as you choose.

One word of warning, if th eitem is heavy the buyer may try and talk you into sending it surface mail, don't do this as you run the risk of a chargeback as buyers will often put in a chargeback when the item is delayed as they know that once they get to day 45 they lose the chargeback option.

I don't want to be school marmy here but the time to decide about overseas buyers was before you listed the item, not now you have bids. For instance, I would certainly hesitate in sending to China and the Far east due to scam problems and there are some other countries where problems are very common.

Soo

bleugh

soolin, NOT airmail, that only covers proof pof postage.

you need AIRSURE, that covers proof of receipt. - its more expensive, (£4.50 on top of normal post), paypal WONT accept anything else

soolin

bleugh thank you, I couldn't remember what the service was called. I just used the phrase 'airmail signed for'.

I don't send expensive items overseas, only cheap ones due to problems I had in the past with customs and duty charges, so have no real knowledge of the various tracked services.

Soo

Agutka

So what do you do when sending to countries other than the 28 covered by Airsure? Can you then not use Royal Mail?

ukbill69

One word with international buyers, watch out for paypal fraud, paypal just took £13 off me plus the money that was fraud.

soolin

ukbill69 wrote:

One word with international buyers, watch out for paypal fraud, paypal just took £13 off me plus the money that was fraud.

I don't think there is necessarily more fraud with overseas buyers it is more a case that the delay that sometimes occurs when sending parcels means that a buyer can start a chargeback before giving the item time to arrive. If you add to this the parcels that get caught at customs for whatever reason it can be problematic.

The rules for selling overseas are the same as selling in the uK in that a chargeback can be won by a buyer whenever the seller can't prove delivery.

Soo

bleugh

Agutka wrote:

So what do you do when sending to countries other than the 28 covered by Airsure? Can you then not use Royal Mail?

DONT use paypal :-)

pin

I've had a few foreign buyers in the past. As long as they have a decent feedback and are well aware of the costs (i.e. increased p&p and are know there may be customs charges) there hasn't been too much of a problem.

I do ask for a contact landline number (and do give them a call) to double check they exist.

I send either international signed for or airsure (where its avaiable).

Of course there are always risks, but there are risks sending to UK buyers as well.

dsdl23185

Thanks for the feedback,luckily it went to a UK buyer so no worries about overseas posting.

I had originally put it on Ebay as a UK only sale but after receiving emails from abroad asking if I would post there I suppose I had greedy thoughts of extra cash,not thinking of the extra hassle. :rolleyes:

Hintza

I know where bleugh is coming from but if I didn't sell overseas using PayPal then half my sales would dry up. I regularly list in France and the majority of my buyers are newbies with zero to 1/2 feedback scores.

I recently posted an item to Brussels (£360) but the guy had a Swiss email address was a brand new member with no feedback needless to say I was a tad worried. The price I might add was about £50 more than if I had sold in the UK.

I managed however to find out that he was a fairly emminent economist working for the Swiss government with the EU. So posted it off with a little feeling of trepidation but that was over a month ago so hoefully everything was OK...he has left no feedback so I can only assume. Needless to say I haven't left him any... although I probably will in a week or so once I am happy that there is no chance of a chargeback.


You nee to speculate a bit to accumulate!! (Touch wood... )