Absolute Nonsense

[capital_nick]

Made a sale and noticed the deduction in fees seems higher than it should be.  I checked the sale stats and noticed an "International Fee" because the buyer's registered address is in Canada.  The shipping address is to Montana!  I specifically have sales to the US only, for this exact reason.  How was I supposed to know?  I wouldn't have made the sale if I had known ebay was going to take another chunk out of what they already take.  Just venting.  Buyers should not be able to have a different ship-to country than the one they're registered to.  Is there no recourse?

[mybigsale]

@nuclearomen 

@capital_nick 

It's sad.  Someone once said, ebay is eventually going to get 100% of your sale.

We are already there. If you use promoted listings (at 100%) eBay can collect 113.25% in fees (more for some categories) of the sale (full transaction including Item Price+Shipping+State Tax).

I have seen posts where inexperienced sellers did just that; paying eBay more than the total transaction cost and then having to also pay for shipping. They were less than happy. 🙄

[inhawaii]

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@capital_nick wrote:

There's always at least one in the group that has to swing the pendulum to the other extreme of compromise and outside the realm of practicality.  And at the same time, totally miss the point.

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I thought I got the point, that you don't like paying the fee and thinks it's absolute nonsense.

I was just wondering if you were happy to make a $900 sale despite the $15 fee?

[mybigsale]

@capital_nick 

eBay could easily add a seller preference to block or allow international payments. From my experience eBay will never see this suggestion and we will need to wait for eBay to independently come up with this idea. Probably not going to happen.

I would like for you to have the ability to block international payments/fees.

I would prefer to have the sale and allow the international payment/fees, even for deliveries to the US.

[nuclearomen]

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@mybigsale wrote:

@nuclearomen 

@capital_nick 

It's sad.  Someone once said, ebay is eventually going to get 100% of your sale.

We are already there. If you use promoted listings (at 100%) eBay can collect 113.25% in fees (more for some categories) of the sale (full transaction including Item Price+Shipping+State Tax).

I have seen posts where inexperienced sellers did just that; paying eBay more than the total transaction cost and then having to also pay for shipping. They were less than happy. 🙄

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lol, the 100% election ability is the worst feature on PLs, can easily make a mistake. Never done the 100% but when changing the election from their suggested at times I'll type in 4 or 5 etc... and it will keep their 7 or 9 and come to be 47 - 59 etc... election and I have to retype it in. 

[luckythewinner]

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How was I supposed to know? 

You can't know where a buyer wants to ship until he pays and gives a shipping address. 

Buyers should not be able to have a different ship-to country than the one they're registered to

You can set your seller preferences to specify the countries you ship to. But you will still be liable for international fees if a buyer is registered outside the USA. (BTW PayPal had an international fee, too). 

[ittybitnot]

(BTW PayPal had an international fee, too). 

@luckythewinner 

That is correct.  However, PayPal allowed sellers to NOT accept payments from non-US sources that would incur the fee. 

eBay would allow the users to bid, they just couldn't pay when the Pal was the only option allowed. It was an 'all or nothing' setting though, not listing specific so you could accept payments for a $6 trinket, but block those for an expensive IPhone headed to New Castle, DE and the Russian Federation. 

[stuff4divas]

@capital_nick  yes, for future, consider EIS which does not charge int'l fees and will be the only ebay int'l shipping choice, replacing GSP and EISD, unless you choose FedEx, UPS, etc instead

[capital_nick]

The sale was for a friend and a Best Offer.

[capital_nick]

Maybe so.  But the international fee was more than the fvf would have been on just the shipping.  Even though the fvf % is more.  The sale was $900.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

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@mybigsale wrote:

@capital_nick 

eBay could easily add a seller preference to block or allow international payments. From my experience eBay will never see this suggestion and we will need to wait for eBay to independently come up with this idea. Probably not going to happen.

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We did have this ability when we had to use PayPal, (you know, the 'safe way to pay online') but that was taken away with the switch to MP.

[capital_nick]

It's just the sum of the whole.  I know this is the reality of ebay.  But taking into consideration all of it:  $900 sale.  Selling for a friend.  Free shipping.  Extra insurance on the shipping.  International fee.  Tax hit.  Ending up with $736.  I remember a day when that $900 would have been what feels like $825 at the end of the day.

[susanb1872]

I see that you mentioned you sold this item for a friend and your net was $736.  Not sure if you are going to take income tax into consideration when you give the money to your friend since this profit will appear on your 1099. 

[marnotom!]

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@capital_nick wrote:

It's just the sum of the whole.  I know this is the reality of ebay.  But taking into consideration all of it:  $900 sale.  Selling for a friend.  Free shipping.  Extra insurance on the shipping.  International fee.  Tax hit.  Ending up with $736.  I remember a day when that $900 would have been what feels like $825 at the end of the day.

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In eBay's Bronze Age, we listed (on auction) a number of items on behalf of a friend and got a cut of the sale.  I can't remember what the percentage was, exactly, but it was greater than what eBay would have got for the sale.  When we'd finished with him, we did the number crunching and post mortem and concluded that for all the work we had to put into these auctions, we'd undersold ourselves drastically.  I suspect you're going through a similar process and feelings.

[monroe67]

"Made a sale and noticed the deduction in fees seems higher than it should be.  I checked the sale stats and noticed an "International Fee" because the buyer's registered address is in Canada.  The shipping address is to Montana!  I specifically have sales to the US only, for this exact reason.  How was I supposed to know?  I wouldn't have made the sale if I had known ebay was going to take another chunk out of what they already take.  Just venting.  Buyers should not be able to have a different ship-to country than the one they're registered to.  Is there no recourse?"

Yes, the first time you're "hit" with that International Fee, it can be a shock.  I understand the need to vent.  

As other posters have said, you simply cannot know in advance where your buyers actually live, sleep, eat, work, etc.   Those buyers may not be able to find your items in their home countries.  Freight forwarding companies will accept deliveries in the USA, and send the items on to consumers/purchasers in other countries.  I am sure those buyers pay something to those freight forwarders, but that's an agreement between those two parties.  

You cannot limit your eBay sales to the US only -- you can only exclude nations from your delivery addresses.  

Unfortunately, no, there is no "recourse."  It seems like a problem for you now.  Lots of US-based eBay sellers have felt the same surprise that you are feeling, and have accepted the possibility of selling to somebody using a freight forwarding company's mailing address.  As some other posters have suggested, would you rather not have sold the Item?  Aren't you glad you did sell it?  Is your friend glad it was sold?  

I didn't realize Montana is a popular state for deliveries for Canadians.  The simplest reason, of course, is that Montana charges no sales taxes on its consumers.  Lots of Eastern Europeans have eBay delivery addresses in Delaware for the same reason:  no sales tax.