International bidder but I don't ship international except Canada and usa

[arcra8009]

Hello, new seller here. Need advice. I put an item up for bidding and just received my first bid. However, I prefer to sell and ship to Canada and USA only. The bidder is from Singapore. So how would that work? I don't belief I have it set up with shipping option for international buyers except USA and domestic Canada. If he wins the bid, do I have to sell it to him and mail it to Singapore? Also will I be in the hole for the international shipping overseas which I don't think has been set up as an option. Advice appreciated. Thank you.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@arcra8009 wrote:
Hello, new seller here. Need advice. I put an item up for bidding and just received my first bid. However, I prefer to sell and ship to Canada and USA only. The bidder is from Singapore. So how would that work? I don't belief I have it set up with shipping option for international buyers except USA and domestic Canada. If he wins the bid, do I have to sell it to him and mail it to Singapore? Also will I be in the hole for the international shipping overseas which I don't think has been set up as an option. Advice appreciated. Thank you.

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@arcra8009 

@marnotom! 

This is a bit after the fact but most likely your issue was caused by the current shipping glitch with recently created listings. When I test listings created several weeks ago the settings are fine. Anything new appears to have defaulted to World even when specific countries are chosen and others are blocked. Basically the glitch has over ridden correct options a seller has chosen.

-Lotz

[pjcdn2005]

All of your listings including the auction, show worldwide shipping but without a shipping cost other than to Canada and the US. You need to turn off shipping to other countries on your listings if you don't want to ship outside of Canada and the US. You should also block the countries that you don't want to ship to.

You can't make shipping changes to your auction now since it has a bid but you might want to figure out a shipping cost to Singapore as reallynicestamps suggested and let your buyer know what the shipping cost will be in case they want to retract their bid. If the package is under 2kg you can ship it tracked packet international but it will be fairly expensive.  Do not use surface mail.  The Canada Post calculator will give you a price.  
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/information/app/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s6

[reallynicestamps]

Two possibilities.

He has a freight forwarder (either a business or his auntie) at a US address which will send his purchases to him.

This is a Good Thing. Not only does your responsibility for delivery end at the forwarder, but most commercial forwarders also make sure his Singaporean import fees are paid before they ship to him. The two most common possible frauds are prevented by this.

Or.

You did not set a Block against overseas bidders.

In the short run, let the bidder know how much it would cost to ship the item to Singapore using a Tracked Air Mail service. Ask if he wants to keep bidding or if he wants to cancel.

You could cancel the bid without his "permission" as "problem with address" but doing a little education first helps all sellers. Many buyers do not understand the cost of international shipping and buyers in low income* countries may be shocked by the rates. x

*Singapore is not a low income country. The average income is more than double that of Canada.

[arcra8009]

Thanks for this! How do I go about blocking an international bidder? Also, how do I cancel a bid? Thanks..

[reallynicestamps]

Yup.

No Returns does not mean No Refunds.

It means that you never want to see the item again, even if the unhappy buyer is refunded.

[marnotom!]

In case you're still following responses to your question, @arcra8009, I just want to point out that you can't actually block international bidders/buyers on eBay.  You can only restrict your "ship to" locations.

So if you had your Buyer Requirements and shipping set properly, this bidder from Singapore could still bid on your item if they had their "ship to" location set to a location to where you shipped, in this case Canada and the USA.

[3islanders]

Setting up buyer requirements, including specifiying countries you don't ship to:

https://www.ebay.ca/help/creating-managing-listings/listings/selling/setting-buyer-requirements?id=4...

However there are a lot of little boxes to check when you list an item... in the shipping options there's a link for excluded locations: click that and check all the boxes except for Canada & USA.  As others have noted, someone might be registered in another country but still have a Canadian or US address on file.

I've found if you don't get AAALLLLL the boxes, you can still end up looking like you'll ship to other countries.

Cancelling bids:

https://www.ebay.ca/help/listings/selling-auctions/selling/cancelling-bid?id=4140&st=3&pos=1&query=C...

[3islanders]

Also, it is of course up to you to choose what shipping methods you want to use, but I wonder if you might want to review them -- I'm not sure how successful $13 handlebar grips will be with $43 shipping across Canada. Cda Post rates suck, but there are cheaper options, surely.

[marnotom!]

Your auction shows up on eBay Singapore as offering worldwide shipping but only local pickup from Richmond is offered as a shipping method.

I should also add that eBay will not enforce your “final sale” terms if a buyer feels the item is not as described.