Anyone getting charged an international fee on domestic shipment if buyer uses a foreign card?

[stevemartin60]

Just checking.  

Had my first decent sale in months today, and am shipping to Texas.  eBay is charging me $16+ for an "international fee" even though I don't ship internationally, and this painting isn't going to a foreign country.

C.S. and a C.S. "Supervisor" insist it's a valid charge because the guy's registerd address is in Mexico, even though the shipping address is TX.

[chapeau-noir]

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@mam98031 wrote:

@chapeau-noir 

I've been called everything you can think of and some you can't.  🤣

What I'm seeing more and more on the threads is the behavior of posting on Social Media bleeding over into our forums.   And people having no toleration for those that don't see things exactly as they do.  That is really very sad.  There is so much to be learned from each other.

I enjoy your jokes.  It often helps when a thread is getting too heavy.

I don't like the fee any better than anyone else, but I'm in EIS now and most of those fees will now go away for me.  I'll only have to pay on domestic shipments.  I'm fine with that.  It is better than it was.

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Unfortunately, it's nothing new - I used to hang out on boxing forums - I've seen so much sheet-posting and profiling down through the years it's utterly ridiculous, like being around a bunch of pimply 14-year-old boys, and that was close to 20 years ago.  I also remember the vintage board here being wrecked by tr0lls way back when - there's just stricter moderation at this point so this behaviour is kicked out so it doesn't get too grubby.

I might try EIS - I used to just ship internationally on my own from about 2000 (before I started on eBay) but stopped when the mails got so snarled up during the pandemic and I'm just part time now, but seems like you can't lose giving it a go.

[mam98031]

I think you should give it a try.  Just don't sell anything that is too expensive as they are learning and growing right now.  But so far I like it.

Oh I remember how bad some of these forums were.  Especially the Feedback forum and the Power Seller forum.  It was nuts.  Things are much calmer now.  But still it is sad to see the Social Media influences coming into the forum.  This can be a great place to have a debate and learn new things.  I love a good debate as long as everyone is civil.

It's late here, I'm off for some sleep.  Enjoy the rest of your night.

[stevemartin60]

Thanks for all contributions here.

The bottom line for me, as with so much with eBay these past few years, is this is something that should not be pinned on sellers.  It is an obligation, if it's anything, that is being created by the buyer, and the buyer should pay for it.

My point is, this is just another of a myriad of ways eBay makes things far harder for sellers than buyers.

Anybody know if eBay is double dipping and charging the seller some similar fee?  Wouldn't surprise me one bit.

[dbfolks166mt]

I might try EIS - I used to just ship internationally on my own from about 2000 (before I started on eBay) but stopped when the mails got so snarled up during the pandemic and I'm just part time now, but seems like you can't lose giving it a go.

     When eBay announced the EIS program I was using the GSP program but was a little skeptical of EIS and opted out to see how things went. The transition was a bit less than optimal and had a few issues that sellers have posted about on this forum. The program seems to have stabilized a bit and eBay appears, based on some postings, to be standing behind the seller protections the program is offering. Those protections are far and above what sellers have with domestic sales. 

     One of the down sides to EIS at the moment is you cannot combine shipping, which you could not do with the GSP either, but they are supposed to be working on that. The other drawback, and this is a USPS catch, is for the domestic leg of the shipping you are limited to under 1 pound for shipping first class to the hub but if the seller was directly shipping internationally the limit for international first class is up to 4 pounds. 

     The EIS program has some size and weight limits, both minimum and maximum, that are more restrictive than under the GSP and under USPS's size and weight limits. They also have a restricted items list that they apply across the board in what I assume is an attempt to adhere to the import laws of foreign countries. 

     Overall though the program seems to be functioning well and I have recently opted back into the program. 

     I didn't have a lot of international sales with GSP and do not expect to have a lot with EIS either simply because of the cost of shipping to an international buyer. 

[luckythewinner]

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The bottom line for me, as with so much with eBay these past few years, is this is something that should not be pinned on sellers. 

The bottom line for me is that is appears that you called customer support and talked to two reps and then posted here before you even bothered to read the fee schedule. 

In that post you asked if anyone else was getting charged the international fee, and went on to explain a situation that is called out as a bullet point in the "International Fee" sections of the fee schedule.

[stevemartin60]

1. eBay saying they're doing something (even--maybe even especially--in fine print) is a far cry from having their user bases's input, or/and from doing something that is ethically right.

2. If I made it my vocation to study each and every "fine print" policy change eBay has made over the years, that could become my new full time job.

3. And, didn't somebody say that when Paypal used to do it, the rightful party used to pay?

[dhbookds]

Paypal charged the seller the same way.......it's been policy for years......10-15 at least.

[joliztoyco]

I thought you could opt out of "foreign currency" payments and avoid paying conversion fees with Paypal.
Maybe I'm remembering wrong....

[dhbookds]

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@joliztoyco wrote:

I thought you could opt out of "foreign currency" payments and avoid paying conversion fees with Paypal.
Maybe I'm remembering wrong....

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don't remember......seems like you would have to opt out of selling internationally.......in any case, paypal did have the fee.......the same as ebay does now........

[marnotom!]

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@joliztoyco wrote:

I thought you could opt out of "foreign currency" payments and avoid paying conversion fees with Paypal.
Maybe I'm remembering wrong....

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I think payment recipients had the option of blocking payments in currencies they didn't hold.  Buyers using a currency other than US dollars have the option of having PayPal or their credit card issuer convert the payment before sending it along to the seller, though.

[ms.rodriguez*]

The sellers also paid a fee to paypal. I know because I had quite a few buyers from foreign buyers.

[ms.rodriguez*]

Yes, you could refuse the payment.

[thelongball]

Hello- Its upsetting I know as I'm set up not to sell internationally either. When a buyer has a US address it slips thru the system, and we are charged the fee because the buyer is paying with foreign funds. Thats the reason for the fee. There is no way to block this because its all based on shipping addresses. Foreign buyers know and use this way to get around the system. They either have a friend forward it to them or a 3rd party shipping service such as Shipmycards to get it to them. If they live close to the border and can come across, they pick it up themselves. They use PO boxes alot of times. Hope this helps let you know why. But I don't know a way to prevent it. 

[marnotom!]

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@thelongball wrote:

Hello- Its upsetting I know as I'm set up not to sell internationally either. When a buyer has a US address it slips thru the system, and we are charged the fee because the buyer is paying with foreign funds. Thats the reason for the fee. There is no way to block this because its all based on shipping addresses. Foreign buyers know and use this way to get around the system. They either have a friend forward it to them or a 3rd party shipping service such as Shipmycards to get it to them. If they live close to the border and can come across, they pick it up themselves. They use PO boxes alot of times. Hope this helps let you know why. But I don't know a way to prevent it. 

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All sellers are set up to sell internationally.  They're just not all set up to ship internationally.  Sorry to be nitpicky here, but this distinction is important.

As to how to "prevent" international fee charges, the only real way to do it is to stop accepting credit card payments, and that's obviously not possible if you're selling on eBay.  These "international fees" are the "cross border" fees that VISA, Mastercard, and AMEX levy on sellers with credit card merchant accounts, and MP is just passing those along to the seller rather than absorbing them themselves.

[maxine*j]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@maxine*j wrote:

FX fees are universal.  They cover the cost of currency conversion, etc.  1.65% is rather modest, compared to what many payment networks assess.  Just another business expense when you prepare your tax return.

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@maxine*j 

Currency conversion percentages is much higher and paid by the buyer, not the seller.  

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Well, in my own experience through the years, both accepting and using credit cards internationally, I found that FX charges and fees assessments varied.  Some cards are actually FX-free to the user, for example. 

FX fees are pretty much nonsense in this day and age, anyhow, now that everything is done in the flash of an electron.  But banks are onto a good thing.

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