eBay-canceling a sale *after* an item is sold

soolin

If the buyer pays just refund them with an apology and say you can't ship overseas. Ebay can't do anything to make you ship the item, so don't worry about that.

*louby_lou*

You could tell them that you have a flat rate for international of £50, so its fully insured etc, and see if the postage cost will put them off (as postage can be maually put in on the invoice and message them), as the buyer can't pay till they have an invoice the contains a postage figure, i think.

Lil_Sprite

*louby_lou* wrote: »

You could tell them that you have a flat rate for international of £50, so its fully insured etc, and see if the postage cost will put them off (as postage can be maually put in on the invoice and message them), as the buyer can't pay till they have an invoice the contains a postage figure, i think.

That wouldn't work, as eBay already told me that I can't even charge a different rate from the one advertised if the buyer doesn't want to pay it. This despite the fact that I selected the shipping option of "no international postage."

gymfiend

What a bizarre thing for eBay to tell you, that you have to use your quoted UK shipping rates to send abroad? Not heard that before. I'd do as louby suggests and send them a ridiculous high quote in the invoice.

Lil_Sprite

gymfiend wrote: »

What a bizarre thing for eBay to tell you, that you have to use your quoted UK shipping rates to send abroad? Not heard that before. I'd do as louby suggests and send them a ridiculous high quote in the invoice.

I know, it's insane. I've never encountered anything like this before, and I'm stressed by the whole issue. From what eBay told me, there is simply no point in trying to charge an insanely high rate to put the buyer off, as the customer can merely take the matter to eBay, who will tell me I have to send it for the UK rate I advertised. I still don't know if I should just send the darn thing (and then worry about it getting there without problem) or just suffer the fallout if I refuse to sell it (the irony is this is an inexpensive item that's just bringing a small amount of money, that I would just as happily have dropped off at a charity shop!).

Either way, I'm done selling on eBay after this. It's simply outrageous to tell someone they have to send a product internationally when they advertised it with no international shipping, and that they have to do it at the in-country shipping rate! I really wish this problem would just go away, and I've got to figure out the solution that will do that the quickest and with the least problems to worry about in the aftermath.

gymfiend

I'd ask eBay to clarify exactly where it states on their site that international postage must be charged at the same rate as quoted UK postage if international postage rates aren't provided, really can't believe that's right...

Lil_Sprite

This is what eBay said re: postage charges:

"As this was an honest
mistake, try writing to your buyer to ask if they'd be willing to pay
additional postage charges. The fact that you didn't list specific
postage costs for non-UK destinations may strengthen your plea. However,
please note that the buyer isn't obliged to pay any extra charges."

antwebb

That means the buyer isn't obliged to pay more, not you are obliged to send it for less. That is you can't force them to complete the sale at whatever cost you choose, however they also cannot force you to send it for a price you do not agree to - in which case if you cannot agree a price all they can do is leave you negative feedback, which you can respond to on your own feedback profile.
"- Seller would not ship item! Avoid!"
"Response from seller: International shipping was clearly not offered, so why bid from overseas?"

Honest oppinion though - make it clear that if customs send them a bill its their problem not yours, get written acceptance of this, and send it. Oh and get proof of postage and charge them for insurance! Invaluable if they do open a PayPal dispute.

Gotta wonder, if you bought something from hong kong on ebay and customs sent you a bill, do you reckon you'd ever see a penny out of the seller? (Disclaimer - This in no way consitutes legal advice lol)

Anthony

antwebb

By the way, stumbled on this post coz I was searching for advice as I'm in a similiar situation.

I offered International Shipping in all my auctions stating contact with destination for a quote.

Some guy asked for price of shipping to Malta for a large and reasonably heavy item, this would be about £70, item value bout a tenner. I replied and also posted my reply on the auction stating "From the prices I can find it would not be economical to post this item overseas. If you know of a cheaper international courier, feel free to get a quote and add £3 for my packaging etc, boxed weight and dimensions will be approx under 5kg & 500x500x250 mm"

He went ahead and won the auction anyway for £13.03 then asked for an invoice including price to ship to Malta. I've now had to spend ages finding quotes I can rely on and sent an invoice including £65 shipping.

Reckon he'll pay?

soolin

Personally I think a lot of issues can be avoided by complying with the ebay suggestion that where international postage is offered that the costs are shown clearly in the auction P and P menus.

Most of my items (at least those under £39) are offered internationally and my aucitons show all the postage costs to the various destinations so that a buyer need never ask for a Quote.

I also see no point in offering heavy things internationally as you do of course pay paypal fees on the postage element and that can wipe out your profit straight away. Alos, what are you going to do if your item fails to arrive? You do realise you have to refund the buyer in full, including that postage cost which you might not be able to reclaim.