UK only, bidder from overseas

PenguinJim

I'm in Taiwan and sometimes have UK items delivered to (confirmed) UK addresses. Last year, for example, I had a Nook HD+ delivered to a friend who was going to visit me the following month.

It's certainly fine to send them a message reminding them that you only offer delivery to the UK, but retracting their bid and blocking them when they haven't done anything wrong? That's terrible advice!

soolin

PenguinJim wrote: »

I'm in Taiwan and sometimes have UK items delivered to (confirmed) UK addresses. Last year, for example, I had a Nook HD+ delivered to a friend who was going to visit me the following month.

It's certainly fine to send them a message reminding them that you only offer delivery to the UK, but retracting their bid and blocking them when they haven't done anything wrong? That's terrible advice!

It might be terrible advice but unfortunately it is what a fair number of us sellers would do. We have no support from ebay, we are told to protect ourselves and if the ebay system 'might' have let someone through despite our systems then it is in our interest to stop and block them before they damage our dashboard.

If I am selling on auction (which is rare for me now as I am virtually all BIN) and I happened to see a user that either looked wrong, had a registered country that I don't ship to or even, as I have done once a few years back, had an off putting user name I would just cancel bid and block- sellers can't risk having to try and cancel anymore .

Even in th epast few months I have blocked someone who asked a question on one of my BINs purely because he left a high percentage of poor feedback to other sellers.

We have to protect ourselves however we can now

PenguinJim

You're welcome to your prejudices, of course, but I don't see how they apply in this case. Either they'll win and pay and request delivery to a confirmed UK address, or Beanie will make use of the Second Chance Offer function.

bxboards

PenguinJim wrote: »

You're welcome to your prejudices, of course, but I don't see how they apply in this case. Either they'll win and pay and request delivery to a confirmed UK address, or Beanie will make use of the Second Chance Offer function.

The trouble is the overseas bidder can then leave negative feedback for the seller. Many buyers do not take up Second Chance offers, as their bid has been inflated unfairly by the winning unwelcome bid. In many cases this leads to a wrecked auction, and a re-list down the line.

It's not a case of 'prejudice' its a case of protecting an account. Ebay do not protect sellers, therefore a sensible seller takes all measures to protect themselves.

If the bidder has UK address, I would think they'd drop the seller a message telling them that, no just go ahead a bid.

soolin

PenguinJim wrote: »

You're welcome to your prejudices, of course, but I don't see how they apply in this case. Either they'll win and pay and request delivery to a confirmed UK address, or Beanie will make use of the Second Chance Offer function.

Firstly, that winning bidder can leave feedback and poor stars which leaves a smaller seller at risk. Secondly, I suspect you don't quite understand how the SCO system works, you can't just 'do a SCO' unless you have persuaded the initial bidder to cancel, or you have completed an NPB on them.

Not prejudice at all and I actually find it extremely frustrating that you can completely fail to see the issue- and immediately pay the prejudice card.

PenguinJim

soolin wrote: »

Firstly, that winning bidder can leave feedback and poor stars which leaves a smaller seller at risk.

If the bidder couldn't complete the transaction i.e. provide a confirmed shipping address to one of the accepted countries of the initial listing, then eBay can easily be contacted to have the inaccurate feedback removed.

soolin wrote: »

Secondly, I suspect you don't quite understand how the SCO system works, you can't just 'do a SCO' unless you have persuaded the initial bidder to cancel, or you have completed an NPB on them.

No, I'm fairly sure that we can do a SCO immediately. At least... we could a couple of years ago. I'm sorry, have they changed the system? The FAQ doesn't mention these new rules you're describing.

("Prejudice" card? It was a perfectly legitimate use of the word. How would you describe pre-judging groups of people? If I thought it was unacceptable prejudice then I would have said that you weren't welcome to it!! )

soolin

PenguinJim wrote: »

If the bidder couldn't complete the transaction i.e. provide a confirmed shipping address to one of the accepted countries of the initial listing, then eBay can easily be contacted to have the inaccurate feedback removed.

No, I'm fairly sure that we can do a SCO immediately. At least... we could a couple of years ago. I'm sorry, have they changed the system? The FAQ doesn't mention these new rules you're describing.

("Prejudice" card? It was a perfectly legitimate use of the word. How would you describe pre-judging groups of people? If I thought it was unacceptable prejudice then I would have said that you weren't welcome to it!! )

Getting feedback removed is no longer easy, we have people on here who have refused to sell to a country they do not ship to and ebay have refused to remove the feedback, it is not worth the risk.

As for a SCO yes it can be done immediately, but that is not the point. The first transaction is still valid, doing a SCO does not wipe it out so if you sell on a SCO you get to pay two lots of FVFs and both buyers can leave feedback.

As soon as item is sold the FVFs are charged- so if you end up with a buyer in a country you do not ship to and they refuse to cancel the transation then that is it- you pay your fees and you take your feedback.

As for prejudice, it is not prejudice if you make a decision not to sell to certain countries- it is basic common sense. Germany for instance forbids the sale of certain war memorabilia so I would have to block that country if I listed something that was prohibited- how can that be prejudice? Likewise i block Italy due to their poor postal service.

Maybe as a seller you are happy to shop worldwide, regardless of weight of item or value- good on you, that is not an option for most of the rest of us who have limits on weight or value.

PenguinJim

Ah, OK, I've just never seen that before. Sorry!

soolin

PenguinJim wrote: »

Ah, OK, I've just never seen that before. Sorry!

apologies, I posted a bit of a rant- it is just a bad time for sellers with the the new defect rule at the moment and many of us have defects through no fault of our own because ebay will not protect us from their own dodgy system.

PenguinJim

I'm sorry to bother you again, but I've been trying to find some of these MSE people you mentioned who were in the same situation who couldn't get negative feedback removed, and I'm not having much luck! I got as far back as 2010 (and found a few threads that were a bit more positive on the subject) and was about to give up when I found the exact opposite - UK postage only, Australian buyer refused to cancel, negative feedback removed by ebay.

Do you happen to have a link handy? If we're going to accept anecdotal evidence over eBay's own T&Cs, I'm sure that first-hand anecdotal evidence would be appreciated by everyone.

Also,

soolin wrote: »

If I am selling on auction (which is rare for me now as I am virtually all BIN) and I happened to see a user that either looked wrong, had a registered country that I don't ship to or even, as I have done once a few years back, had an off putting user name...

is hardly the same as

soolin wrote: »

As for prejudice, it is not prejudice if you make a decision not to sell to certain countries- it is basic common sense. Germany for instance forbids the sale of certain war memorabilia so I would have to block that country if I listed something that was prohibited- how can that be prejudice? Likewise i block Italy due to their poor postal service.

But I think you're taking "prejudice" as an insult where none was intended (or even implied, looking back at it, as I clearly said you were welcome to it!). I block whole continents willy-nilly, removing scores of countries with which I've had no personal experience! I can't think of a better word for blocking continents with barely a thought, or blocking buyers because you don't like their username, than "prejudice".

(I hope that this post still makes sense after I submit it - soolin edited in four paragraphs to their last post after I'd already replied, which made my reply rather less clear! Now I can't be bothered to go back and explain how a NPB and SCO can be done at the same time)