eBay

3islanders · ‎12-07-2018

I've used the "buyer requirements" checklist before, and I've seen listings where people ask would-be bidders with low feedback to contact them before bidding, but, are sellers allowed to do this?

It doesn't say anything about being in a country they don't ship to, just that if you have low feedback they will cancel your bid, and if you win they'll cancel your win. And nothing about being willing to sell to you if you contact them first.

I understand them being wary from bad experiences, and none of this affects me personally, but I came across this auction and I'm just curious what eBay policy actually is.

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎12-07-2018

I don't remember the exact policy, but I think if they cancel a bid without a proper reason (not willing to sell to new buyers isn't one of them) they do get dinged a fee or something.

The listing does say they will only sell to US only though. Do you have a US shipping address? They said they don't ship to forwarders, and that's a super silly thing to do (because as per seller protection they only need to ensure delivery to the forwarder). They are also not allowed to not ship to a forwarder as far as I'm concerned. I buy with a Japanese forwarder all the time.

hlmacdon · ‎12-07-2018

@zee-chan-jpn-books wrote:
Do you have a US shipping address? They said they don't ship to forwarders, and that's a super silly thing to do (because as per seller protection they only need to ensure delivery to the forwarder).

All a buyer has to do is claim SNAD with paypal or file a chargeback with their bank/credit card company. Forwarders offer you no protection there. That being said they can do the same thing with a residential address so there is no point in blocking a forwarder.

Sellers like this are just begging for negative feedback and haven't adjusted to the realities of selling anything here.

pjcdn2005 · ‎12-07-2018

They can cancel any bid that they want to but if someone uses buy it now or wins the item and they cancel, they could end up with an out of stock defect. Sellers like that bother me because they certainly don't make buyers feel welcome.

femmefan1946 · ‎12-07-2018

just that if you have low feedback they will cancel your bid,

Sellers are allowed to cancel bids pretty well for any reason, or none, since they are basically protecting their business

and if you win they'll cancel your win.

The seller will get a Defect for this and it takes very few Defects to have an account restricted in the number or value of his listings, to have his fees rise, or to have his selling account closed.

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎12-07-2018

@hlmacdon wrote:
@zee-chan-jpn-books wrote:
Do you have a US shipping address? They said they don't ship to forwarders, and that's a super silly thing to do (because as per seller protection they only need to ensure delivery to the forwarder).
All a buyer has to do is claim SNAD with paypal or file a chargeback with their bank/credit card company. Forwarders offer you no protection there. That being said they can do the same thing with a residential address so there is no point in blocking a forwarder.

Yes you're right. A scamming buyer is going to scam no matter what. I personally don't think using a forwarder makes people suspicious but I have only used it as a buyer (and I love using them), never had someone buy from me with a forwarder since I ship to most countries anyway.

A few of the bigger Japanese forwarders even streamlined their service so well that you can place bids on Yahoo Japan Auction directly on their website (with Japanese automatically translated to English), and pay with your own credit card right on the spot (Yahoo Japan Auction itself does not accept foreign credit card). It's so convenient that my wallet gets upset with me all the time. Of course, most forwarders do not accept claims so it's really buy at your own risk. Personally I never had any big issues but I also don't buy very expensive things.

3islanders · ‎12-11-2018

@zee-chan-jpn-books wrote:
The listing does say they will only sell to US only though. Do you have a US shipping address?

"...none of this affects me personally, ... just curious..."
Wish I did have a US shipping address besides the friends who come across the border once a year!!, because then I could avoid that stupid Global Shipping Scam... but that's a whole other discussion 😛

3islanders · ‎12-11-2018

@femmefan1946 wrote:

Sellers are allowed to cancel bids pretty well for any reason, or none, since they are basically protecting their business

Hmm. I thought there had to be a good reason to cancel a bid, like "I don't ship to your country", or the official bidder requirements you can include in your listing template, not just "I don't feel like selling to you cos you've only got 4 feedbacks"...

Never having had to cancel someone's bid, I don't know how it works or if you had to select a reason.

femmefan1946 · ‎12-11-2018

@zee-chan-jpn-books

I personally don't think using a forwarder makes people suspicious

You don't hang around on the US Seller Boards much then. You really see the xenophobia there. Heavy into their President's poorly educated.

It's even more hysterical than reactions to a buyer who used a PO box.

I often post that I have, in moments of boredom, looked at addresses on Google Maps, and it is amazing how often an address that appears to be an apartment number is actually a post office or MailboxesRUs location.

Those people to the south are foreigners.

femmefan1946 · ‎12-11-2018

There are rules and there are guidelines.

This is pretty well guideline territory.

Cancelling bids

In general, sellers shouldn’t cancel bids on their listings. However, there are a few legitimate reasons for doing so:

A bidder contacts you to back out of the bid.
You cannot verify the identity of the bidder after trying all reasonable means of contact.

You end your listing early.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPXuy2i4Mdo

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎12-11-2018

@femmefan1946 wrote:

You don't hang around on the US Seller Boards much then. You really see the xenophobia there. Heavy into their President's poorly educated.

No I don't. Too much drama

The only time I do is when I was googling something ebay related and it linked to the US discussion board. And when I was looking up USPS related things like whether or not I can use media mail with CCE... (no I can't, comic books can't be shipped with media mail).

But seriously though. Forwarders are awesome. Even for Japanese sellers who ship overseas, I use forwarders for them too because shipping one large surface/SAL parcel is cheaper than five EMS. As long as you're not overly picky about the condition of the item (because all you see are photos) you're fine.