Cancel or open unpaid claim???

[katlover1952]

Would just like a few opinions on the situation I find myself in. On Feb 7th I sold a vintage jewelry item by auction for $22.99 USD. When I got my notice I found out the buyer was from the Ukraine which is a country I did not have shipping listed for nor have ever shipped to. I quickly emailed her & told her I would find out the shipping cost and invoice her as soon as possible. I ended up talking to a PO rep and the only shipping with tracking & by air was $43.98 (figured it out in US as this was listed on .com). I send her an invoice and told her in the message section that I understood that the shipping was quite expensive but this was the cheapest with tracking and I was not prepared to ship without tracking.( I had asked the fellow at the PO what postal service was like in the Ukraine and he suggested there had been some issues.) I offered to cancel the sale if she wished and asked for her to let me know. In a day or so I heard back from her asking for cheaper shipping. So I wrote her right back indicating I was not prepared to ship without tracking and asking her again if she wished to cancel. Have not heard from her since. I emailed her again on the 13th explaining that she would need to advise she wanted to cancel and indicating that would be the simplest and easiest thing to do if she did not want to pay the shipping cost. I indicated my only other option if I did not hear from her would be to open an unpaid claim. Told her if I did not hear from her by end of day on the 14th that this is what I would do.

Now I am not sure if I should open an unpaid claim or cancel the sale (without an email from her). I do have an email saying the shipping is too expensive but not that she wants to cancel. I do not want to end up with a defect over this so perhaps it would be best to open unpaid. Just wanted some others opinions on this.

Small packet to ship this was around $13 but I don't want to be out the cost of my item plus shipping if the darn thing does not arrive. I did also note on the Board here that someone else won't ship to the Ukraine which usually is the result of issues and with the PO fellow telling me that I really don't want to go this route and do not think I am obligated to in any way.

[dutchman48]

If you don't have Ukraine actually blocked (which I am assuming you don't since she could purchase) in your listing and you cancel, you will get a defect.

They may have an address in the US or Canada but you have no way of knowing at this point.

Send an invoice with the cost of shipping with tracking. If not paid in 4 days I believe it is in Canada, file a UID and close after 4 days.

No matter what you do, you have left yourself open for further issues.

I would strongly suggest going through your shipping preferences and making sure all countries you do not want to ship to are blocked from bidding  or purchasing ASAP to prevent any future problems of this nature.

[dutchman48]

Here is the problem from your listings.

This item will ship to Ukraine, but the seller has not specified shipping options

You need to either specify shipping costs or remove as a ship to country

[i.am.vivian]

There are 2 ways to get a DEFECT.  If you look up the word "defect" in the eBay Help pages you get, 

Sellers are expected to create great experiences for buyers. If a buyer has a negative experience with a transaction, it can result in a defect for the seller. The following count as defects:

• Seller-cancelled transactions (you no longer have the item, or chose not to ship it)
• Cases closed without seller resolution (after eBay steps in to help, and the seller is found to be responsible)

So looking at the top one I would say that you do NOT want to go that route.  I wouldn't anyway.  You might not have your shipping set up correctly if you wanted to block that particular country.  You have to actually click to block all those on your exclusion list.  Right now it says you DO ship to Europe, and the Ukraine is in Europe. I haven't heard of any real problems from there. Be different if it was Israel.  

I doubt the buyer will ever pay $44 to mail a $23 item.  But at this point I don't see how you can undo it without facing part 1 of of the Defects.  I am not sure if it would work to try to cancel saying 'problem with the buyers address', but maybe.  

It is your decision if you are not willing to risk the sale without tracking, or if you do not have enough 'insurance' saved up in your 'cookie jar' to cover a loss.

Since you did send an invoice and the buyer is not paying, you can certainly file an Unpaid Item case and be in the clear.  When that happens your buyer either pays or gets a strike. 

If a buyer had been good and communicating explaining that the cost was unexpected and simply too much, putting the item out of their price range, especially if it was something needed like baby clothes, I would feel more sorry for them.  Since it is a luxury item and they are not communicating after all this time, not once they found out you won't mail without tracking, so if it were me I would go for the Unpaid case.  You did warn the buyer so it will come as no surprise.

You can still be nice about it, but business is business, and with no payment you need to get your fees back.  You've been waiting long enough.  You can always send a nice polite note after explaining to the buyer that you needed to get your fees back and that if they see an item they want they need to ask about costs BEFORE buying.   

Others here will have different opinions, but that's mine.  

[katlover1952]

Thanks. I do ship to European countries but the shipping cost can be different for many of them so don't specify. I do specify for some like UK, France & Germany as I know what they are but to the Ukraine is again different from them. Buyers really should check shipping before buying is my thought. As a buyer I always do so I really don't see this as being the problem. The choice of how I ship to a country should be my choice not the buyers when not specified is my thought. With the Post Office saying the Ukraine has been a problem really don't want to ship there without tracking.

I think in this case to avoid a defect I need to go the unpaid claim route. Thanks for the replies.

[tobyshitzu]

If you cancel "buyer changed mind or problem with adress" after exchanging messages/buyer never paying, it will likely instantly refund the fees/NOT give a defect

If it doesn't go that way then it would give the buyer time to respond.  They agree, still no defect.  They never respond you can close and no defect

[katlover1952]

Well I did reluctantly open an unpaid claim this afternoon. I would have preferred to cancel but was concerned about getting a defect so went the other route. I felt I had sent 2 emails indicating I would only ship via tracked and also offered to cancel the sale 3 times so thought I had been fair about it.

I did go in & block a bunch of European countries but still showing Europe under "will also ship to contact seller for shipping" so hope that will suffice.

Thanks everyone for their opinions. Always appreciated.

[reallynicestamps]

I do ship to European countries but the shipping cost can be different for many of them so don't specify.

But you can specifically block any countries in Europe while shipping to the rest.

Or you can Block entire continents.

This is a separate issue from giving shipping costs.

[katlover1952]

Yes I did go in & block a bunch of European countries such as the Ukraine. What I was meaning by that was that while you can put the specific shipping costs in for countries listed separately like the UK, France & Germany, it is harder to specify shipping for the rest of Europe as one cost as they are not all the same.