Item bought by a non-UK buyer

Just_Dance

Hi,

I listed an expensive digital SLR camera on eBay earlier as a buy-it-now for £999 and despite stating in my listing that I only ship to the UK, and only offering UK postage options, it was bought by someone in Australia! They last used their eBay account in 2006 which also concerned me - because all their feedback was 4 years old, it said their feedback score was 0%.

They hadn't paid, so I filled out the "resolve a problem" form on eBay to cancel the transaction, picking the option "the buyer has requested that the item be sent somewhere I don't ship to", and emailed the buyer explaining why - I thought that would be the end of it and that the transaction would automatically be cancelled but it turns out that the buyer has to agree first (basically holding my item hostage!) - now the buyer has emailed me back sounding quite agressive demanding I send it to an address in the UK (which isn't listed on her profile). Also, her account is now full of recent purchases (all in Australian dollars) and has 100% feedback, when earlier there were no purchases listed since 2006. It all seems really unsafe and I really don't want to go ahead, especially not with such a high value item. I've fallen victim in the past to eBay scams where the buyer says they haven't received the item and eBay automatically takes the money back out of my account to give them a full refund! There's no way I can afford to lose £999, and I think it's so ridiculous that eBay doesn't give the seller any power to refuse a sale.

Is there any way I can get out of this without 1. getting negative feedback and 2. losing all my fees (which on a £999 item are HUGE!)

Thank you so much - really worried about all this!! x

System

contact ebay and tell them the situation-i would not ship this item .dont stress about the neg feedback id be more concerned about the fees.

soolin

CHRISSYG wrote: »

contact ebay and tell them the situation-i would not ship this item .dont stress about the neg feedback id be more concerned about the fees.

The problem is that unless the OP had disabled all of the overseas options (and this includes more than just not showing overseas postage costs) the buyer has a winning bid and the fees remain payable.

Hopefully though the buyer will agree to the mutual and that at least gets the fees back. If not then you are probably stuck as the mutual cancels out the option of even doing an nPB.

Hammyman

I've had a few auctions bid on by people who've not used their account for four years. All been UK based though. I've sold a netbook to one of them and had no problems touch wood.

soolin

Hammyman wrote: »

I've had a few auctions bid on by people who've not used their account for four years. All been UK based though. I've sold a netbook to one of them and had no problems touch wood.

The problem with this though is the issue of shipping a very expensive camera via courier and getting all th paypal requirements fulfilled.

terra_ferma

Selling such an expensive item without understanding the basics of how ebay works is asking for trouble...

You could quote the courier postage for Australia, with tracking, signature etc, and that may be too expensive and convince them to cancel (but don't take the micky, provide evidence of your costs)

Just_Dance

Thanks for your help so far everyone.

I contacted the buyer again saying that I was really sorry but I was still unwilling to take the risk of sending such a high value item to an address which wasn't listed in her account to a non-UK eBayer, and that as all my listings state that I only post to UK buyers, I felt the best option would still be to cancel the transaction. For some reason, even though my Buyer Requirements are set to block non-UK buyers, she was still able to buy it??? Anyway she sent me a reply saying "SEND ME MY CAMERA OR I'LL GIVE YOU NEGATIVE!!!!!" (she hadn't even paid, there's no way i'd send it!), then 5 minutes or so later sent another reply saying "DON'T IGNORE ME!!!", then left me negative feedback and low Detailed Seller Ratings - including low ratings for "item as descibed", "postage time" etc. (how on earth she's allowed to do this when she only won the item a few hours ago and hadn't even paid, i'll never know!) - not only that, she also "declined" the "Cancel a Transaction" process, which led to me receiving an email from eBay saying "The buyer has not agreed to cancel this transaction. You must still complete this transaction with the buyer", and she's still listed as the winning buyer in my account with the item sitting there saying "awaiting payment"! It's a complete joke!

Obviously i've now lost my fees and my reputation and i've got nothing to show for it except some negative feedback and an item I can't relist. Naturally I would like to get my fees back, have the transaction fully cancelled and the negative feedback and DSRs removed, but I have no idea how to go about any of this or if it's even possible - if anyone has any advice on the next steps i'd be so grateful. Thank you! x

terra_ferma

Just_Dance wrote: »

Obviously i've now lost my fees and my reputation and i've got nothing to show for it except some negative feedback and an item I can't relist. Naturally I would like to get my fees back, have the transaction fully cancelled and the negative feedback and DSRs removed, but I have no idea how to go about any of this or if it's even possible - if anyone has any advice on the next steps i'd be so grateful. Thank you! x

I believe you can request that ebay remove fb if the buyer has not paid. Worth contacting them.

chancesare_2

And ensure you block her from bidding again.

Crowqueen

Yup, if you file an unpaid item dispute then you should be able to get your fees back and the feedback removed.

For the price it sold for, though, finding an insured courier to Aus might have been worth it. £1000 should be enough to find a decent carrier.

Astec

Problem is you can only open one dispute, so he can't do a NPB...

Try ringing ebay and see if they can do owt.