Buyers using a mail drop or freight forwarder to circumvent my "Opt Out" of international shipping

[theoriginalbenjammin-7]

Beware! I am OPTED OUT  of eBay's new international shipping, but I was charged an additional 1.3% selling fee because the buyer's registered address was in France.

International Fee Charged because the buyer’s registered address is in France. 

 There was no indication of this in the shipping address. The ship to address was in Delaware, a Freight Forwarder with a SUITE NUMBER , not a PMB or PO Box, in Delaware USA. 

In order to determine his address, we have to click on his user name, which one would not normally do when shipping an item to a buyer. 

My listing clearly stated: Listed shipping costs are for the lower 48 (USA) states. Others please contact seller for shipping terms. 

IMHO there should be some sort of notification to the seller that the additional 1.3% surcharge will be added to your selling fee due to the buyer's registered address being  international. 

I have now changed my verbiage to: 

USA Buyers Only, Ships to final destination USA ONLY no mail drops or freight forwarders

I had had issues with the former Global Shipping Program, and had chosen not to use it. So now in order to OPT OUT we have to go into your "Account Settings, Shipping Preferences" and opt out. 

But if the buyer is using a shipping drop IE  freight forwarder and has a registered address other than in the USA you WILL BE CHARGED AN ADDITIONAL 1.3% Selling Fee

referances 

[inhawaii]

Thank you but I think most of us know this already.

Just curious, as long as you're shipping it to a US address, why the fuss?

As long as the package get's to the US destination, you're covered.

You would rather lose the sale than pay the 1.3%?

If so, then that's your decision.

BTW You can't make up your own rules.

Simply by typing it in your listing does not make it enforceable.

[1tuna]

the fee for shipping to a freight forwarder is 1.65%

this is an old complaint and the general consensus amongst the community is to grin and bear it

there is no real way too get around this

keep on ebayin

@theoriginalbenjammin-7 

[ebooksdiva]

Nothing to “Beware of” here…Before I Opted into EIS, I shipped to freight forwarders plenty of times and also sold to someone from other countries who was buying a gifts for someone in the States. 
To me a sale is a sale…no matter who is buying and where it’s going. 

[theoriginalbenjammin-7]

Rockstar? BTW You can't make up your own rules? Yes, You can.

[soh.maryl]

The "Rockstar" designation is assigned by eBay, not the person under whose ID it appears.

It's based on the # of FB they have received and given.

And, no, on eBay, you cannot make up your own rules.  If you have discovered information otherwise, please return and share it with us.  

[marnotom!]

You can opt out of using the eBay International Shipping service.

You cannot opt out of selling to non-US buyers.

[broto_64]

This extra fee for this type of sale is merely a "return insurance" purchase we make, albeit semi-involuntarily. What it means is, for a mere 1.65% more money there is guaranteed No Returns on this order because quite simply put the buyer can not return the order to the seller, ever, no matter what.

Which, roughly 2 out of 100... 
I think I get more returns than that.

[ebooksdiva]

I beg to differ…no you cannot. eBay goes by their TOS not a sellers. What you write in your description as far as who you will or will not ship to is not enforced nor endorsed by eBay. If you want to exclude countries you don’t want to ship to you need to do so in shipping preferences.  

You currently are only excluding: 

APO/FPO, Alaska/Hawaii, Barbados, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Libya, Martinique, New Caledonia, Reunion, Russian Federation, US Protectorates, Ukraine, Venezuela

FYI: Your missing out from sales to US military bases APO/FPO and Alaska and Hawaii. They all ship the same as if shipping across the US for the exception of needing customs forms for APO/FPO(customs forms are filed out for you). I don’t understand the logic behind those exclusions.

[cstpos]

@theoriginalbenjammin-7  We have a few customers based in Europe who own and ship to the companies they own in the United States. The payment, however, is based in the country of the parent company, so we are charged a "currency conversion" fee for foreign transactions. Most credit cards based in the USA also charge a currency conversion fee for individuals, too.So if you vacation in England, for eaxample, your cc statement might include the currency conversion fee for all of your purchases made with that card.

It doesn't seem fair to prevent sellers from blocking transactions that impact your bottom line, but we all agree to it when we transact on ebay. I know the Terms of Service agreements are long and tedious to read, but it does tell us what we can expect. We can then decide if we want to continue to do business on any given platform, not just ebay.

We considered selling on Amazon, but they make you agree to shipping conditions and how much you can charge for shipping  that would mean we would probably lose money. So we decided it wasn't a viable platform for us.

[soh.maryl]

"The buyer cannot return the order to the seller, ever, no matter what"?

Can you explain that statement further?  

[maxine*j]

---

@theoriginalbenjammin-7 wrote:

...  BTW You can't make up your own rules? Yes, You can.

---

You're right.  You can make up any rules you like and you can include those rules in your listings.  However, doing so is a meaningless exercise because  your made-up, personal rules cannot be enforced. 

You cannot enforce rules that do not comply with the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code and with the eBay policies and terms which you agreed to in order so sell on eBay.

And, by the way, I have sent many things to customers through the freight forwarders they use. It is a safe and secure way to do business with international customers, without my having to deal with customs declarations, documentation, fees, duties, regulations, inspections, etc., or be concerned about the reliability of foreign postal systems.

-

[robbie31415]

International buyers using a FF isn't a violation of eBay policy, and the terms are still met because you are only shipping domestically.

There is no block for international buyers only international shipping addresses.

Your made up requirements are a violation of eBay policy because it's not true information. If you want to sell on this platform you have to sell to all buyers.

[maxine*j]

I assume you were not actually directing that reply to me but to the OP, right?

-

[monster-deals]

---

@marnotom! wrote:

You can opt out of using the eBay International Shipping service.

You cannot opt out of selling to non-US buyers.

---

I have several hundred USA based users I have opted out of selling to.