Paranoia about selling an iPhone
Summary: tullfan canceled an order after discovering an international fee due to the buyer's registered address being in Nigeria, and sought advice on preventing such situations. albertabrightalberta suggested understanding the buyer's location and recommended not listing high-fraud items like iPhones on eBay, especially without proper protections. Other participants discussed the risks associated with using freight forwarders, mentioning that while buyers might waive their Money Back Guarantee (MBG) by using them, enforcement by eBay is uncertain. theteamsetguy and others shared differing opinions on international sales, with reminders of the risks and suggestions such as using eBay's International Shipping program to avoid extra fees. Overall, the discussion centered around the risks and strategies for selling internationally on eBay.
I just canceled an order after seeing I was charged a fee for international something or another. It seems that the buyers registered address was in Nigeria.
How can I prevent this in the future?
janet9988
·1 week agoIt is totally in line within eBay policy for ann international buyer to purchase from you.
kensgiftshop
·1 week agoThe way to prevent it, don't list it on Ebay.
Sell local for cash.
eoma689485
·1 week agoThere are 2 reasons eBay adds a 1.65% international fee...
The delivery address is outside the U.S. or the buyer’s registered account address is outside the U.S., even if they are using a U.S.-based freight forwarding address to receive the item.
To avoid that fee - sell your items using eBay's EIS , if you do, the international fee is waived.
More information is here: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/setting-shipping-options/ebay-international-shipping-program?id=5348
mam98031
·1 week agoIt goes by the registered address of the account being used to purchase the item.
powell-collectibles
·1 week agoIf you're not using eBay International Shipping to ship your item, we charge an international fee if either:
The delivery address for the item (entered by the buyer during checkout) is outside the US, or
The buyer's registered address is outside the US (regardless of the delivery address for the item)
inhawaii
·1 week agoDon't sell iPhones on ebay.
fullers_uk
·1 week agoSounds like you had a close shave.
iamalwaysright
·1 week agoIf he turns out to be a prince, don't send him anything 😂
But yea, even with my experience and high feedback score, I'd be paranoid to sell an iPhone too. And not just to Nigeria, but to anywhere.
kensgiftshop
·1 week agoYa, no way I'd sell an iPhone online.
christworks
·1 week ago@tullfan Don't sell anything online - here or elsewhere - that you are not completely okay with losing the item and losing the money. There are many ways a transaction can go sideways for both seller and buyer. It doesn't even have to any malicious intent by either party. Their carrier can misdeliver an item. As long as there is a delivery scan, you are in the clear and your buyer must fight the carrier to either go get the item from address they delivered it to or fight for the insurance. You could accidently send the wrong item to someone. Complete accident, but someone could end up with a free iPhone. The package could fall off a transport truck on the way to the airplane, and then get run over by the front wheel of a 747 as it taxis in.
I wouldn't have cancelled that order. I would have messaged the buyer informing them since they used a Freight Fowarder that they waive their 30 Day Money Back Guarantee and that no returns will be accepted. I would have further told them that any attempt to return the item would be denied and reported to eBay as buyer abuse. Then I would ship that puppy off.
chapeau-noir
·1 week agoYou mean that tiny fee we're assessed for selling internationally?
theteamsetguy
·1 week ago · EditedWhy are you listing on eBay when are not willing to ship internationally? The ability to sell something anywhere in the world is a reason many sellers use eBay. The beauty of selling on eBay is that it opens markets worldwide including Nigeria.
A vast majority of items sold overseas a completed without a hitch. You only read about the very small percentage of transactions that that go south. Millions of IPhones are sold overseas on eBay annually. In my opinion your chances of getting into a car accident are much greater than having an issue with a iPhone sale going overseas. No one ever post anything when their iPhone sale to foreign buyer goes off without a hitch.
albertabrightalberta
·1 week agoI hope you were honest when you canceled the sale. What reason did you choose for cancelling?
I looked at your listings and you only ship to the US. So if the buyer in Nigeria is using a freight forwarder, you're only responsible for tracking showing delivery to the US address.
"How can I prevent this in the future?"
Don't list on ebay! And don't list high fraud items.
Sell electronics locally.
tullfan
OP1 week agoI read where they could claim the item was not as described, get a refund and ship me back a paperclip.
albertabrightalberta
·1 week agoAnd you don't think a buyer in Wisconsin or Massachusetts or Texas might do the same thing?
You can get scammed but a buyer using a freight forwarder relinquishes their MBG by using a 3rd party so you're actually safer when it comes to a NAD claim.
christworks
·1 week ago@albertabrightalberta You are correct - a buyer does relinquish their MBG. However, eBay has no sure fire way that I'm aware of to claim this. If you know of one, please share. The return system does not block someone from using a freight forwarder form opening a return of any kind. They can still open an INAD and seller is faced with the same choices as they have when a buyer does not use a FF. They can accept the return and provide a label, or they can ask eBay to step in.
This may very well be one of the narrow reasons to ask eBay to step in, but if your expensive item was on the line would you trust that whomever is on the other end of eBay, whether that is a human or AI, would understand the buyer had relinquished their MBG and actually enforce policy?
albertabrightalberta
·1 week ago@christworks
"However, eBay has no sure fire way that I'm aware of to claim this. If you know of one, please share. The return system does not block someone from using a freight forwarder form opening a return of any kind."
Personally, I've never had a problem with a buyer who used a FF. However I've heard of other sellers who've been able to ask questions of buyers and those buyers admitted to using a reshipper so those messages can be "ammunition" a seller can use in their own defense.
"They can still open an INAD and seller is faced with the same choices as they have when a buyer does not use a FF."
True but the return shipping label has the reshipper's domestic address so that buyer has to foot the bill to get their item back to the FF at their own expense and sometimes that can be so prohibitively expensive that the buyer and the complaint just go away. And even if the Nigerian (or whatever nationality) buyer does follow through on the return, they need to do so and get the return back to the seller within ebay's required timeframe.
As the seller, I'd be hopeful that the buyer decides that there's just too much work involved and they just disappear, never to be heard from again.
christworks
·1 week ago@albertabrightalberta You may be okay with riding on hope, but it is incomplete advice to tell less experienced sellers, "Hey, don't worry. They used a freight forwarder so they waive their MBG" without also giving context.
Sellers cannot depend on eBay to enforce this policy if nothing else because there is no reporting system for such a buyer. If a seller doesn't know they are swinging on a vine on this one, they may let go without eBay there to catch them.
inhawaii
·1 week ago"I read where they could claim the item was not as described, get a refund and ship me back a paperclip."
The same holds true if you're selling to Nigeria, Hawaii, Texas or Rhode Island.
tools*
·1 week agoEspecially in Hawaii, and I hear the handsome ones are the worst.
kensgiftshop
·1 week agoThat can happen with any buyer.
tools*
·1 week agoNo, they'd actually get the refund after shipping back a paperclip.