Incorrectly charged international fee, got refunded

[discountkittycat]

Just a heads-up to any seller in a similar situation.. my listing specifically excluded all but the continental US and the item sold and I shipped to an address within the continental US. However, since the buyer apparently has an address outside the US, I was charged 1.65% international fee. Doesn't sound like much, but for this item it was more than $20.

Anyway, good news is that I called support and they refunded me, said some bug is to blame.  Guessing that if it is a software bug, eBay can likely identify any listings that were charged incorrectly and issue an automatic refund some time in the future - but regardless you may want to check your charges anyway. 

[isaiah53-57]

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@discountkittycat wrote:

Just a heads-up to any seller in a similar situation.. my listing specifically excluded all but the continental US and the item sold and I shipped to an address within the continental US. However, since the buyer apparently has an address outside the US, I was charged 1.65% international fee. Doesn't sound like much, but for this item it was more than $20.

Anyway, good news is that I called support and they refunded me, said some bug is to blame.  Guessing that if it is a software bug, eBay can likely identify any listings that were charged incorrectly and issue an automatic refund some time in the future - but regardless you may want to check your charges anyway. 

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Oh that was a good one HAHAHAH ebay issuing an automatic refund HAHAHAHAHA oh wait...you were serious weren't you

[crazystuff4sale]

They just gave you a courtesy refund because you complained.

There is in fact a 1.65% international fee when the buyer is registered in a country other than USA.

[katzrul15]

It certainly is not a "glitch".  🙂

It is supposed to apply.  The site allows for Sellers registered outside the US to buy on the site and ship to a US based address.  The fee applies as their "payment" source is outside the US, so the 1.65% international fee applies.

Goodness.  E-Bay really needs to update the laminated cards their CS reads from.  

[1tuna]

if you shipped your item to a freight forwarder in the USA than the fee was supposed to apply to you also

that is how foreign buyers are able to get the goods........they use a forwarder and since they are registered outside the USA than the 1.65% fee is supposed to be applied

I think you lucked out out with a refund

[discountkittycat]

Wait a minute though.. the "registered address" means nothing to me, the seller.. I don't care if you registered from the moon, fees for this item are/should be relevant to THIS ITEM, right? Particularly since I've expressly excluded my listings for non-US customers, and when my item sells and ships to Oregon, a state within the continental US - via a label purchased from eBay - presumably with a delivery address in Oregon PROVIDED by eBay.. In fact, the concept of "international" wasn't part of any piece of the process until I just happened to glance at the fees for my item and noticed "international fee." 

Are you telling me this is one of those "we're eBay, pay up" type of fees?

[1tuna]

exactly.....................if you want the sale to the Oregon address then you are supposed to be paying the fee

I payed it for years and years with paypal but had no idea I was doing that

paypal used to send me pie charts  for my selling  activity and international was always at 30-40% of my sales

now I know they were including the freight forwarders sales in those figures for international

I think a lot of sellers dont pay attention to that fee for using a FF

[eleanor*rigby]

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@discountkittycat wrote:

Wait a minute though.. the "registered address" means nothing to me, the seller.. I don't care if you registered from the moon, fees for this item are/should be relevant to THIS ITEM, right? Particularly since I've expressly excluded my listings for non-US customers, and when my item sells and ships to Oregon, a state within the continental US - via a label purchased from eBay - presumably with a delivery address in Oregon PROVIDED by eBay.. In fact, the concept of "international" wasn't part of any piece of the process until I just happened to glance at the fees for my item and noticed "international fee." 

Are you telling me this is one of those "we're eBay, pay up" type of fees?

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It's one of those "we've explained this to sellers in black and white for those who take the time to read about seller fees" kind of fees:

Selling fees 

[luckythewinner]

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@discountkittycat wrote:

Are you telling me this is one of those "we're eBay, pay up" type of fees?

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When you think about it, that's pretty much the definition of every single fee that eBay charges.

[discountkittycat]

To be honest, it's not the fee itself that bothers me, it's the dishonest, misleading, and deceitful way that the all-powerful eBay enforces this and other policies on sellers. And I'm sure there are equivalent situations for buyers.  **bleep**, eBay, it's supposed to be a marketplace, why are you always **bleep** in the room? 

I mean, if given the option to allow third-party shippers for an extra 1.65%, I might be willing to do it in order to gain the additional exposure to buyers. Seems like every day I learn something new about eBay and it is ALWAYS something that makes me think the exact opposite of "what a great company." With some expletives sprinkled in, of course.

[dryophelia]

@discountkittycat 

There is no way to block ‘non-US’ costumers from buying if the have a USA shipping address. 
Previously, PayPal allowed us to block international payments. Adyen does not. 

This was a one time courtesy refund. It isn’t likely to happen again. If it was the doll lot, you picked the right transaction. 1.65% on a $50 sale isn’t really very much. It adds up when it’s a $1200+ sale. 

[bctk5292]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

Goodness. E-Bay really needs to update the laminated cards their CS reads from.  

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They did, but the Shar-pie rubbed off.

[kensgiftshop]

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@discountkittycat wrote:

Wait a minute though.. the "registered address" means nothing to me, the seller.. I don't care if you registered from the moon, fees for this item are/should be relevant to THIS ITEM, right? Particularly since I've expressly excluded my listings for non-US customers, and when my item sells and ships to Oregon, a state within the continental US - via a label purchased from eBay - presumably with a delivery address in Oregon PROVIDED by eBay.. In fact, the concept of "international" wasn't part of any piece of the process until I just happened to glance at the fees for my item and noticed "international fee." 

Are you telling me this is one of those "we're eBay, pay up" type of fees?

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Yes, it wasn't a glitch, it's the way it is.

[discountkittycat]

Sorry friend, not good enough. Some of us sellers-who-aren't-as-smart-as-you-clearly-are actually do read the black and white, including the eBay section on how to sell internationally, which includes a section on receiving payments from international buyers stating this policy item "When you ship internationally, an additional international fee applies"  [emphasis added]. Registered address fee should be a buyer fee, not seller. Here's the actual item:

[discountkittycat]

Right, but most of them are well-disclosed prior to listing an item, and an item's price typically takes fees into account. Except for the hidden ones, obviously.