Any way to block international buyers who have forwarding from USA?

[pullulate93.123]

I've had a few international based buyers make offers on items, even though it says explicitly in my auctions that I don't ship outside the lower 48 and I put all the preferences into ebay to block international sales etc. When we had paypal we could go there and block buyers who try to pay in foreign currencies but we don't have that now with managed payments, only shipping address. They obviously have people here who accept the package then forward it overseas to them. This sounds like a huge pain to deal with. I mean I could cancel the sale, but would I still have to pay fvf? Are there any esoteric ways in the settings beyond opting out of global shipping, who have addresses to which I don't ship, etc?

[ittybitnot]

 They aren't covered by eBay money back guarantee, 

That is no longer true. 

[stephenmorgan]

 I mean I could cancel the sale, but would I still have to pay fvf?

There is a option to cancel the order because there is a problem with the shippers address.  I do not think you will have to pay a FVF if you use that option.

You can also tell the buyer your listings does not offer internationally shipping and ask if they want a refund.  If they answer yes then you can use the option to cancel the order because buyer requested.  You will not pay FVF for this selection.

[redline_auto_llc]

Straight from the policy for not covered items: 

• The item was sent to another address after the original delivery, or buyer uses a freight forwarder (exceptions which are still eligible for coverage include: eBay shipping programs such as the Global Shipping Program and eBay international standard delivery)

Our job as sellers is to deliver it to the delivery address used at checkout in as described condition. I have never had a CS rep think twice about settling a case in my favor when a freight forwarder was used, and we all know how much they like siding with the buyer.

[ittybitnot]

Straight from the policy for not covered items: 

The page has not been updated. 

[donsdetour]

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@redline_auto_llc wrote:

Straight from the policy for not covered items: 

• The item was sent to another address after the original delivery, or buyer uses a freight forwarder (exceptions which are still eligible for coverage include: eBay shipping programs such as the Global Shipping Program and eBay international standard delivery)

Our job as sellers is to deliver it to the delivery address used at checkout in as described condition. I have never had a CS rep think twice about settling a case in my favor when a freight forwarder was used, and we all know how much they like siding with the buyer.

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If an unknown (not eBay sanctioned) freight forwarder you have to prove it was not an addy for a owner or employee of such;

In other words you can not say it was forwarded shipped after delivery: it is covered by ebay,s buyers guarantee.

As far as eBay is concerned it was deliveedr there, and not forwarded due to tracking stops there.

[redline_auto_llc]

All I can go off of is personal experience and what information is available on the policy, YMMV. If someone can link proof that freight forwarders are now covered I will retract my statement. What I do know is that I called in yesterday for a German buyer who had used a forwarder in Florida. Buyer claimed damaged in transit. CS rep Googled the shipping address, saw that it was a freight forwarder, and closed the case in my favor. That has been my experience every time, and that adds up to dozens of examples. And we all know how "helpful" CS reps are.

Regardless, let's say that they are covered. Buyer is still required to return item to you as a seller to receive a refund, unless it's a small enough item that eBay issues a courtesy refund out of their pocket. The eBay provided return label must show tracking within 2 weeks or the return is closeable. Very few international buyers will be willing to pay the expense to ship the item back into the states. Assuming you found one of the rare few that did, the freight forwarder would then have to print out the label that you as a seller provided and affix it to the return and deliver it to USPS, once again within 2 weeks. Odds are highly in your favor that that won't happen. 

Again, YMMV. But I've sold hundreds of items to overseas sellers using freight forwarders. I've had dozens of cases closed in my favor, and on the ones where I don't feel like talking to a CS rep I just issue a return label and let it take care of itself via timeout. Of the hundreds of freight forwarder sales I've made, I have not received a single one back as a return. Best of luck.

[songbirdblue]

Freight forwarder with 1 Aeropost Way in Miami has their buyers ship to one address and zip code, but their shipments are bulk delivered to a different address and zip code. Makes INR quite easy for the 'buyer'.

We need to be able to block non US addresses.

[forward-motion]

I'm sorry, I don't know how to block them. However, I have dealt with them and I have to say they make up a good portion of my sales. I wouldn't want to block them. For the most part it has gone smoothly. I did have two issues that were found in my favor because they used another shipper. I was only obligated to get it to the US address on time. My advice is keep selling to them, if there is no problem leave it alone.  

[13dolphinfan13]

I am looking to block them also I sold an unopened item on ebay shipped item to Florida not even knowing it is a forwarding company. Now the guy from Saudi Arabia sent me pictures saying the item was open a $600 laptop I don't want to deal with this again losing sleep over it 

[theteamsetguy]

13dolphinfan13,

There is no way to block them. I have had no problems with foreign buyers shipping directly or to freight forwarders. I like and welcome with open arms foreign buyers since they typically spend more 💰 and tend to be repeat buyers.

[katzrul15]

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@theteamsetguy wrote:

13dolphinfan13,

There is no way to block them. I have had no problems with foreign buyers shipping directly or to freight forwarders. I like and welcome with open arms foreign buyers since they typically spend more 💰 and tend to be repeat buyers.

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Same here - but I have had issues with high-value items/Russian Federation.  I too wish there was a way to limit "some items" vs others.  It is a risk a Seller has when selling on here currently.  

[13dolphinfan13]

So what do I do with this guy that claims the item I sold that was new unopened  was opened when he received it this is the 1st time I have shipped to freight forwarder and am having problems it is a $600 laptop 

[theteamsetguy]

First of all, you could’ve sold the same item to a buyer in the United States and he/she can claim it was opened. So, it doesn’t matter where the buyer is. 

If you were a TRS seller and offers returns. I would tell the buyer to send the item back and you can deduct up to 50% of the sales price of the refund. Then I would resist it. Remember because of eBay’s MBG policy no returns does not mean no refunds. If you have not already done so, please go read eBay’s MBG policy.

Whether you sell online, in a store, or at flea markets you will have scammers, shoplifters, employee theft, and etc. It’s just a cost of doing business and you just have to budget for it. I budget for returns, mis delivered packages, damaged in transit, false item not received claims, and etc. 

A vast majority of buyers are honest. Only a tiny percentage of the transactions are fraudulent. If you read these boards or the internet you would think most of the transactions involve scammers because most of the sellers that get scammed are **bleep** and want to announce it to the world. With the millions transactions on eBay each day, even if one one thousandth of one percent of the transactions involve scammers is a large number.