Any tips for selling to international customer
I've been a seller for over 20 yrs. I have about 75 items sold, so mostly purchases but I def am not a complete novice to selling.
I used to sell WAY more frequently probably 15 years back. I also sold a few things to international buyers before ebay began using their EIS hub system, I shipped directly to the country. So have some experience with customs and shipping overseas.
All that being said, it has been a loooong time since I sold anything to an international buyer, and as the face of cybersecurity (as well as the ebay platform) has definitely evolved, I want to make sure I'm not making any huge mistakes or falling prey to any scammers.
For example: One time a few months back I sold a computer and the user wanted to return it just b/c he changed his mind.
Late at night, way overtired, I looked at my ebay app and accidentally AGREED to accept the return before they had even shipped back the item. Just tapped the wrong button. Yes, I should have been more careful about exactly what I was agreeing to. I thought I was just verifying my home address! Thankfully I got lucky and had an honest buyer who sent the item back to me, but literally nothing would have been able to stop that buyer from just keeping the item and my refund if they'd wanted to.
In order to help make this process go as smoothly as possible, are there any tips that maybe experienced sellers would have for me or any mistakes more experienced sellers have made that they have learned something from or caused them to change their practices?
Obviously making the transaction outside of ebay (wire transfer for example) is a huge no no. Other than that I'm not aware of any major red flags.
From what I understand, once the item is received at the EIS hub, the seller is pretty much protected from anything that happens to the package after that point?
Its just very strange because this buyer is in Europe, and made me an offer at the listed price not a lower price (I think so he could ask me a question, but like, why not just send me a message with the question then purchase the item after I answer?) The user also asked me the condition of the item when I described the condition at length along with almost 2 dozen detailed photos of the item. Subsequently they have asked me to ship fedex overnight stating they will pay the over $100 shipping fee.
I want to say I'm getting whiff of some sort of chargeback or INAD scam here? Especially given the brand of product I am selling is one of the most stolen brands of merchandise that exists. However their profile looks fine and they have been an ebay member for a long time (>20 years) so possibly the person just isn't super savvy with technology?
Anyway thanks in advance for any tips or words of advice.
Sincerely,
Rusty Old
eBay Seller
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoA hijacked account is the usual explanation.
And the "77" seller is naive enough to have left a false positive (instead of filing an Unpaid Item Claim) which can be removed, giving the seller a Defect.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoAbout the best advice I can give you is to opt into EIS. While I sold internationally prior to EIS it was through the GSP and the countries I sold to were VERY limited due to the risks involved and lack of seller protection. When EIS first came out I sat back and waited to see if the program was going to stand behind the seller protections they were offering and they appear to be.
I have opted into EIS and now basically sell internationally to almost every country in the world, the few exceptions are countries EIS doesn't ship to. The seller protections are basically full proof once your item arrives at the EIS hub. Not only do they protection the seller from any eBay claims they also have protection from chargebacks. I just wish the domestic seller protections were that good.
Some lower dollar items are probably less suitable for EIS but high dollar items and high scammer target items, i.e. your laptop, are ideal for using EIS.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agohis buyer is in Europe, and made me an offer at the listed price not a lower price...
SCAM!!
The user also asked me the condition of the item when I described the condition at length ....
People are sometimes stupid, and sometimes are testing the seller's responsiveness.
Subsequently they have asked me to ship fedex overnight stating they will pay the over $100 shipping fee.
SCAM!!
Refuse the Offer and Block.
Nothing to do with overseas or domestic.
cduvalusa
OP2 years agoSeems I was automatically opted into EIS. However based on what @reallynicestamps says and what my gut is telling me I feel like I might heed his advice.
Any explanation (or link to a description of) how this scam even works? How would offering to pay $150 for an express shipping tier I didn't even offer accomplish anything? I'm assuming they use some sort of bogus payment method? And why do the offer? What does that accomplish over just buying the item?
brightlightbookseller
·2 years agoBy doing an offer, they can bypass the Immediate Payment Required settings on the seller's listing, and then they usually ask for phone number or email address, to which they'll send a fake payment confirmed notice, either hoping to get the item free, or with a link that leads to either a phishing scam, or asks the seller to pay something to sign up for something like PayPal Business (the link is obviously fake and not anything to do with PayPal) or something else along those lines. There are many variations, but they all involve making the seller think the item has been purchased without it actually being purchased, which is why the offer is their tool to make the sale.
cduvalusa
OP2 years agoAhhhhhhh, makes total sense. Well major thanks to @reallynicestamps for helping a dude out. I'm glad my gut told me to come here and check first!
Also thank you to everyone else who provides help & advice to folks like me to help keep ebay a safe and fun community to sell!
I do have one follow up question, if these users are scammers what is the most common cause of them having an account that was created many years ago? Also though they seem to have very little recent feedbacks they do have several positive feedbacks associated with their account. (which based on screenshots like the one below, are quite fake lol)
Like I get fake feedback/reviews can probably be left but how do you fake the "member since" date? Have all of these user accounts literally been scamming sellers for 10+ years? How do they not get blocked by ebay? That just seems sus.
ebay credentials bought on darkweb? or abandoned accounts that were once legit and have now been hacked into? I've literally gotten 2 of these fake offer attempts in the last 18 hours or so that both came from one of these "older" ebay accounts.
brightlightbookseller
·2 years agoThose are probably stolen accounts, probably with phishing schemes or yes, leaked usernames/password bought on the dark web. Old accounts that have been abandoned are very valuable because of that member since date.
vintage-camerastuff
·2 years agoFrom what I understand, once the item is received at the EIS hub, the seller is pretty much protected from anything that happens to the package after that point?
EIS is very good. Once the package arrives at the hub you are covered. No more worries shipping international.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoNearly 90% of my sales are international.
But I am not eligible for eIS because I am in Canada and most of those international sales are to the USA.
EIS is a Seller Protection program .
You are protected because once accepted by eIS at their plant(s), you are no longer responsible for delivery, including delayed delivery.
You are also protected against the customs delay scam, because the buyer pays import fees before you ship.
Most people are honest. Actually on a percentage basis, I have more problems with US customers than with overseas customers.
accidentally AGREED to accept the return before I had even shipped back the item.
Once you had agreed to accept the return, why did you ship? The customer did not want the item.
cduvalusa
OP2 years agothanks @reallynicestamps there was a typo in my post I meant to say I accidentally AGREED to accept the return before they had even shipped back the item. Point is I made a dumb seller mistake (as I think it was the first item that I had ever sold that I had done a return for) and have made a point to be more diligent with my selling practices.