item can't be purchased because the total purchase amount exceeds the limit set by the seller

[jay_h_]

I am unable to pay for an item because "One or more of the items below can't be purchased because the total purchase amount exceeds the limit set by the seller". I have emailed the seller to request an exception but he does not respond. Instead he has initiated an unpaid item case. eBay help personnel on the phone say I can do nothing if the seller does not allow me to purchase the item but that my buyer's account will not be affected because he is not allowing me to buy the item I won. Has anybody else experienced this kind of scam?

[pocomocomputing]

What is the listing number?  What is the final won bid amount?

I suspect the seller is using the GSP program and the item value exceeds the limit for Canada.

The GSP program has a cap on the amount they will cover.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html

An item's sale price, excluding shipping and handling, must not be more than:

• • $500 when shipping to the Philippines

  • $1,000 when shipping to Mexico

  • $1,350 when shipping to Russia

  • $2,500 when shipping to all other countries

[femmefan1946]

Just to be clear.

This is not a scam.

The seller is being (too) careful with shipping high value items, but if he refunds your money, all you are out is time and frustration.

Considering that the Global Shipping Program was set up to help sellers sell internationally with confidence, this strikes me as another Fail for a poorly designed program.

[jay_h_]

My winning bid was $ 2,348.00 so less than the $2,500 GSP limit for shipping to Canada.

[jay_h_]

Perhaps "scam" is too strong a word, but this seller refuses to reply to my emails and briefly relisted this item before taking it down after i complained. I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that he does not want to let me pay for the item so that he can try to sell it for a higher amount. I have until May 2nd to pay for this but cannot pay for it because of whatever restrictions he has placed on it. When I try to pay for it now, the payment page says, "One or more of the items below can't be purchased because the seller has not specified shipping costs to the location selected." More aggravating is that he has has opened an unpaid item case. I have never experienced this kind of seller before so was interested in learning whether this was a unique situation or if others have encountered it as well.

[marnotom!]

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@jay_h_ wrote:

Perhaps "scam" is too strong a word, but this seller refuses to reply to my emails and briefly relisted this item before taking it down after i complained. I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that he does not want to let me pay for the item so that he can try to sell it for a higher amount. I have until May 2nd to pay for this but cannot pay for it because of whatever restrictions he has placed on it. When I try to pay for it now, the payment page says, "One or more of the items below can't be purchased because the seller has not specified shipping costs to the location selected." More aggravating is that he has has opened an unpaid item case. I have never experienced this kind of seller before so was interested in learning whether this was a unique situation or if others have encountered it as well.

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Another possibility is that your seller has no idea what the GSP is, no idea that the GSP had been applied to this listing, and thinks that having the item forwarded to Canada through it is just as horrific a notion as one that some US sellers have of shipping directly to Canada.

Having said that, the dollar maximum does not appear to be an obstacle of the seller's creation.

[pjcdn2005]

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@jay_h_ wrote:

Perhaps "scam" is too strong a word, but this seller refuses to reply to my emails and briefly relisted this item before taking it down after i complained. I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that he does not want to let me pay for the item so that he can try to sell it for a higher amount. I have until May 2nd to pay for this but cannot pay for it because of whatever restrictions he has placed on it. When I try to pay for it now, the payment page says, "One or more of the items below can't be purchased because the seller has not specified shipping costs to the location selected." More aggravating is that he has has opened an unpaid item case. I have never experienced this kind of seller before so was interested in learning whether this was a unique situation or if others have encountered it as well.

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If the message is telling you that there is no shipping cost given that it is likely that the  seller does not ship to Canada. Did you originally see a shipping cost for Canada when you first made the purchase?

[jay_h_ · Accepted solution]

This seller finally replied and said that whatever restrictions that had been applied had not been done by him but by eBay and that the unpaid item case was also automatically done when he relisted the item. He offered to close the case so I guess the upshot is that the sale is dead. I won't waste any more of my time on this. I am not a fan of the GSP, whether it is the source of this problem or not.

[femmefan1946]

There are very very few Canadians who are, including those of us (myself, pierrelebel, marnotom! etc) who spend a lot of time explaining what it is and is not.

It is poorly designed and as your seller has told you, a poorly explained program, meant to protect Sellers from some of the pitfalls, real and imagined, of shipping internationally.

That being said, since you are in polite communication with the seller, ask him if he would be willing to set up a private listing for you, using agreed prices and shipping and USPS First Class International Parcel or Priority International shipping which offer Confirmation of Delivery.

He might say yes. Or no.

If he says yes, ask that he use your eBay ID as the title to keep others from finding and grabbing your deal.

Or he could bill you through Paypal, which has very strong Buyer and Seller protections in place.

Remember if you do this, you will be paying duty and Sales Tax to Canada Post along with a $9.95 service fee.