eBay

msau4301 · ‎04-27-2022

Anyone ever have a buyer who changed their location/country in order to bid? I had buyer/bidder who was in Australia and couldn't bid, so they changed to a Canadian address, bid and won (three auctions), then changed their address back to Australia?! Is this allowed?? Also I haven't shipped to Australia for a few years now, anyone know if things are pretty good (mail wise??) Thanks!

ricarmic · ‎04-27-2022

If the auctions identify that you don't ship to Australia you can simply cancel with the reason "Problem with Buyer Address" or whatever the wording is. That doesn't count against you and you have evidence that you don't ship to that country.

If your terms did show you ship to Australia, and they're trying to dodge the higher shipping, I think you still are ok becuase they showed as Canadian when they won, and the address should reflect that?

A message to support might be required to confirm if it is a complicate situation.

I'm surprised that they would be able to change countries like that without leaving a trail that would still block them (ie country of registration).

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-27-2022

Canada Post states that there may be some delays to Australia but they are accepting mail to there. I used to ship a lot there without a problem. Did they actually tell you that they bid with a Canadian address? Your listings do not have Australia blocked, they just say that you 'may not ship to Australia' so they should have checked with you before bidding.

As ricarmic mentioned, you can cancel using problem with address if you don't want to ship there. Since they can't pay unless you had a shipping cost to Australia, you could also wait the four days and then cancel for unpaid item. But if I didn't want to ship, I would go the problem with address route.

I normally wouldn't have a problem shipping there. But I would find it odd/annoying that they wouldn't ask you if you were willing to do so before they placed their bids.

38e_avenue · ‎04-27-2022

@ricarmic wrote:

A message to support might be required to confirm if it is a complicate situation.

They will not help. I had a literally identical situation as described above. You can cancel the transaction and not ship, but the buyer can STILL leave you a negative feedback for your "lack of cooperation". Not worth of trying. Just negotiate a fair shipping price with the buyer. And if you are lucky and the buyer is late with the payment, THEN you can ban him, cancel the trasaction, and you are SAFE, because as a "non-payer" the buyer will not have a possibility to leave a negative feedback.

msau4301 · ‎04-27-2022

I was surprised also that they could do this! Problem is they had initially asked me if I would ship to Australia, it was a $15 item they were asking about so I thought it would be okay and told him that. Then I was told he had unpaid/cancellation items that were stopping him from bidding. He said it was because of sellers cancelling on him (gee, now I understand why). But( foolishly) I changed my settings to remove unpaid item/cancellation blocks, and opened up international for them (after all it was a $15 item!) but I didn't realize I hadn't actually checked off Australia so he still couldn't get through. Next thing you know he messages me "no worries I got it to work". I didn't question it at that time, then I saw he won and was going to send him invoice and saw it was a Toronto address (which explained how he got through)....but I also saw he was now bidding on two other items (more expensive than the first). When he won those and I tried to send a combined invoice, I saw he had now changed it back to Australia address. I mean I did tell him I would ship there (when I thought it was a $15 item), suddently at $120 I'm a little more nervous! I know I have seen people change their country/location back and forth from Canada and US (for shipping cost reasons) but I had never seen it for a country that I don't usually ship to. Sigh...I'm going to take a chance and have sent him an invoice for shipping (untracked to Australia). I can tell he is a collector (vintage Barbie) by his feedback and hoping he just really, really wanted the items so I will just take the gamble (assuming he pays!)

msau4301 · ‎04-27-2022

Yes, I agree, see my response to ricarmic. I had said okay when he messaged me and I thought it was one $15 item (it would be worth the risk and this way I give Australia another try....it's been a while), but then he decided to add a couple more items (at an extra $72 plus shipping). I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and see what happens. You are right, I don't officially have Australia blocked, but as with many other countries, I didn't think they could bid (and he was having trouble at first because he told me) so his work around was to change the address to Toronto and it let his bids through. I thought maybe he had a friend here.

Also....I guess any country can see your listings whether you ship there or not?? Would make it a lot easier if they couldn't see it. Also same for "blocked buyers", I guess they can always still see you??

Thanks for responding!😊

msau4301 · ‎04-27-2022

Good to know I'm not alone. I have already done this and sent invoice...waiting to see. Fingers crossed.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-28-2022

If the country isn't blocked they can see your listings and can bid or click on buy it now. But they can't pay for them unless you add a shipping method.

femmefan1946 · ‎04-28-2022

You can cancel the transaction and not ship, but the buyer can STILL leave you a negative feedback

Yes.

Cancelled transactions do allow for feedback. The idea, I would guess, is that cancellations are often a mutual decision that this is just not going to happen.

The reason for the cancellation is not important.

Losing a Dispute* means that feedback cannot be left for the winner, or any feedback already left can be removed on request.

*Confusingly, eBay's automatic ending of unpaid transactions after four days is ALSO called a"cancellation" although there are penalties for the loser just as before.

femmefan1946 · ‎04-28-2022

@msau4301

Then I was told he had unpaid/cancellation items that were stopping him from bidding.

Do you not have an automatic Block on bidders with Strikes for unpaid transactions?

Given the history, I suggest you contact eBay through one of their social media accounts (since we now know that the phone clerks work for a Utah subcontractor) and explain the timeline.

https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en

  https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ — Message button in upper right on landing page.

  https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851

If his invoice is showing a Canadian address, the shipping fee should be the domestic fee.

If his invoice is showing an Australian address, the shipping fee should either show the $120 you mention OR no amount at all, in which case you can fill in the appropriate amount of $120 plus a bit for the expected return shipping.

I hope I am correct in all that.

And now, boys and girls, have we all learned why Blocked Buyer Lists should not be changed? 😢

femmefan1946 · ‎04-28-2022

Untracked?

If by some odd chance he pays the shipping, it only takes a Not Received claim and he keeps the doll and you are out his whole payment, shipping included.

zee-chan · ‎04-28-2022

@msau4301 wrote:
I'm going to take a chance and have sent him an invoice for shipping (untracked to Australia). I can tell he is a collector (vintage Barbie) by his feedback and hoping he just really, really wanted the items so I will just take the gamble (assuming he pays!)

NOOOOO. Ship with tracked packet at the very least. Don't take chances. Unless you're willing to lose $120. Why did you rush to send him that combined shipping invoice for untracked shipping before coming to the boards to ask for help? So many red flags!

Has he paid yet? If he hasn't, then I think you can still send a new combined invoice, and say something like "As the cost of the total sale has increased from your initial inquiry, after consulting my supervisor, I was told to send your order with Tracked Packet instead. I have revised and sent you a new invoice to reflect the updated shipping charge."

It doesn't matter if you don't actually have a supervisor. It makes you sound more like a "shop" rather than a casual / at-home seller, and it's the perfect excuse to use for why you had to change the shipping cost (my boss said so!). If this guy is a scammer, then it might scare him away. If he is a legit collector, then he should be willing to pay for the increased shipping cost.

msau4301 · ‎04-28-2022

Thanks everyone! It was a bad day overall. My biggest problem is reacting too fast. Great advise here!

msau4301 · ‎04-28-2022

And now, boys and girls, have we all learned why Blocked Buyer Lists should not be changed? 😢

True enough! Not sure why I have to be such a softee...every time someone asks I feel bad and change it for them. Lesson learned...it's back on!

zee-chan · ‎04-28-2022

Asking again... Has he paid yet?

And don't be a softie. Keep this in mind - nobody in this world needs a Barbie doll to survive. We are not talking about day-to-day grocery and things necessary for survival; we're talking about collectibles here. If they cannot afford trackable shipping, then they cannot afford to buy collectibles. Period. Only ship untracked on things that you can afford to lose.

msau4301 · ‎04-28-2022

Yes, he has paid. (I also have paid with my being too naive!) I have learned my lesson (I'm no stranger to the school of hard knocks.) You are right, if they can't afford the tracked shipping they can't buy. My mistake was replying to him when he was inquiring about one low price item (was $14.99 at the time) and not even clueing in that he might be filling his cart with other stuff (it wasn't just one doll). I'm taking it to post office this morning. I'm hoping (again naively) he might be an honest soul, if not he never gets anything from me again (wish the saying "what doesn't kill us makes a stronger" were true!) The fact that he changed countries back and forth to sneak through does make my spidey senses tingle but then I'm trying to be optimistic now that I've passed the point of no return.

I loved your "talking to my supervisor" line you mentioned in previous response by the way, I will have to try that one (for my next faux pas).

I will also try and post a follow up here to what happens...if anyone is interested. Queen of wrong choices should be my nickname. Thanks again for you input!

38e_avenue · ‎04-28-2022

@femmefan1946 wrote:

And now, boys and girls, have we all learned why Blocked Buyer Lists should not be changed?

I just checked my blocked buyers list - 278 nickames ......

I block for non-payments, theft, blackmail or extorsion, stolen credit cards, and also for stupid questions, too ...

38e_avenue · ‎04-28-2022

@femmefan1946 wrote:
Untracked?
If by some odd chance he pays the shipping, it only takes a Not Received claim and he keeps the doll and you are out his whole payment, shipping included.

In the past, I also believed in "tracking", but happily shipped 20 years without it.

No one shipment to the US was EVER lost. However, I lost some packages shipped to overseas. I would say 1 lost package for 1.000 shipped, which makes 0.1%. After I switched to "tracking" I immediately lost a package to the UK. Tracking did show "delivered". The buyer claimed "not received". Yes, I would probably win the INR case, but the buyer would be still able to leave a negative feedback, so I proposed a replacement, which arrived to its destination. Last month I had a lost tracked First Class to Georgia. ChitChats claims they shipped to the US, USPS says they never got it at all. It's what is worth the "tracking".

marnotom! · ‎04-28-2022

This suggestion is probably too late, but if you’re nervous about sending this stuff to Australia without tracking, send it with tracking, pay for the difference yourself, and add that difference to your ledger of business expenses.

femmefan1946 · ‎04-28-2022

No one shipment to the US was EVER lost.

Whether the shipment is lost or not, the question is "can you prove it". A scammer claiming Not Received wins the case if the shipment is not tracked.

Yes, I would probably win the INR case, but the buyer would be still able to leave a negative feedback,

No.

The loser in a dispute cannot leave feedback.

I had a lost tracked First Class to Georgia. ChitChats claims they shipped to the US,

Your dispute there is with chitchat.