Shipping to blocked country
Summary: triber explained that they had stopped shipping outside the US and Canada due to increased costs, despite sometimes being contacted by international buyers like those from Australia. They sought help from the community on how to ship to countries that are blocked. msau4301 shared that the listings must have a shipping service connected for buyers in a blocked country to purchase. They suggested adding Australia as an option in Business Policies and selecting a service in International Shipping to make it work. pjcdn2005 agreed, advising to revise the listing and include a shipping service and cost for Australia. mrdutch1001 offered another strategy, suggesting customizing the listing specifically for the interested buyer by adjusting the shipping costs and sharing the link with them to avoid unintended purchases by others.
A couple of years ago when shipping costs increased I decided to sell to just US and Canada. A couple of times a buyer from Australia has contacted me asking if they could purchase an item, I have tried, but it hasn't worked because Australia is blocked.
Had another request yesterday and I explained the situation and I got this reply:
Thank you for your reply. What a shame. In the ebay ad it says that you would ship to Australia, but that I would have to contact you first. Strange.
Is it not possible to mail to a blocked country? If it is possible, how do I do it.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agowhat I have done in such circumstances, is change the listing to be specific to said buyer, including the shipping costs to their location, and eliminate all other shipping costs so that no one else can sneak in and purchase the item....and then provide said buyer with the link to purchase said item...
pjcdn2005
·2 years agoAs @msau4301 mentioned you need to add a shipping cost and service for Australia in your listing. Go into the listing to revise it, In the international shipping section click on destination - Australia and then choose a service such as economy international shipping and then add a cost.
msau4301
·2 years agoI checked your listing and while it says you ship to Canada and US, Australia is not listed on the blocked/excluded list BUT my understanding is buyers can't purchase unless you actually have a shipping service or flat rate set up.
I know because I had similar situation with a buyer from Italy that used to buy from me even though I am primarily only shipping to Canada and US also and just used "Buyer to contact for costs" and I could send her an invoice but that didn't work any more.
I was told by customer service that a shipping service had to be connected for them to buy.
If you go to Business Policies, under Shipping (not shipping preferences, it is the one in Policies) you edit it to include/check off Australia PLUS under International Shipping you have to include a service (ie Small Package International or which ever you would be using). It should also allow flat rate if you use that (I use calculated shipping). This worked for me anyways so if you do yours with shipping policies this should work.