eBay

kosmetik.karnival · ‎02-19-2021

Yesterday, I encountered a buyer from another country who is using me to drop ship the purchase to an address within the United States. Not only am I charged an extra fee for the International transaction, but then he requested, like they ALL do, that no invoice be sent.

Then, today I sold another item to the same buyer, again requesting that I do not include an invoice.

Is there any way to block International buyers now with Managed Payments?

Thank you.

jayjaspersgarage · ‎02-19-2021

You should be able to block all accounts registered outside the U.S. I don't understand how a foreign bidder account could even see your auctions.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎02-19-2021

The buyer block is based on whatever address the buyer enters as their primary eBay address; not on their country of registration. Likewise, if their primary address is in the US they would be shown listings that only ship to the US regardless of their registration.

ittybitnot · ‎02-19-2021

Is there any way to block International buyers now with Managed Payments?

You can block buyers by choosing where you ship. You can also place a buyer ID on your Blocked Bidder List PRIOR to them buying something, or to prevent the ID from buying from you again. You cannot block buyers that use a non-US payment source (PayPal or credit card for instance) so long as they provide a US ship to address once you are in Managed Payments.

The block in PayPal to deny payments from non-US paypal accounts only prohibited the person from paying.

Is this same buyer asking you to ship to different addresses in the US?

Some sellers don't mind being used as a drop shipper if that is what is going on. On the other hand, I would be the one to put in a packing slip with my seller ID and email address and a wonderful "thank you for your purchase" message just because I could. But that is because I am generally a cranky old lady. LOL.

jayjaspersgarage · ‎02-19-2021

"The buyer block is based on whatever address the buyer enters as their primary eBay address; not on their country of registration. Likewise, if their primary address is in the US they would be shown listings that only ship to the US regardless of their registration."

Then the best option is to block every buyer we encounter that lies and uses a U.S. address with an account registered outside the U.S. This is a legal issue for ebay to solve. I suppose a U.S. citizen living outside the U.S. could register an account outside the U.S. based on their U.S. citizenship. How bizarre.

femmefan1946 · ‎02-19-2021

Are they sellers buying your items and having you ship them to their customers?

EBay frowns on that.
Personally, I would take the sale, but include my invoice and if I had one a price list of similar items I had for sale at my prices - which would be lower than his.

You might get a new customer out of it.

If he is having you send to a freight forwarder in the US, there is no reason to get your knickers in a knot. Forwarders are the second safest address you can ship to, better than someone's porch and almost as good as a PO box.

With a forwarded package, your responsibility for delivery ends when the forwarder accepts it. And most of the Money Back Guarantee does not apply to forwarded purchases.

You will be charged more by Paypal (and I understand by Managed Payments) for a non-US credit card, 4.4% rather than the US 2.9%.

Is the 1.5% difference a huge problem compared to making a sale and shipping to a US address?

go-bad-chicken · ‎02-19-2021

@femmefan1946 wrote:
Are they sellers buying your items and having you ship them to their customers?
EBay frowns on that.
Personally, I would take the sale, but include my invoice and if I had one a price list of similar items I had for sale at my prices - which would be lower than his.
You might get a new customer out of it.

If he is having you send to a freight forwarder in the US, there is no reason to get your knickers in a knot. Forwarders are the second safest address you can ship to, better than someone's porch and almost as good as a PO box.
With a forwarded package, your responsibility for delivery ends when the forwarder accepts it. And most of the Money Back Guarantee does not apply to forwarded purchases.

You will be charged more by Paypal (and I understand by Managed Payments) for a non-US credit card, 4.4% rather than the US 2.9%.
Is the 1.5% difference a huge problem compared to making a sale and shipping to a US address?

"With a forwarded package, your responsibility for delivery ends when the forwarder accepts it. And most of the Money Back Guarantee does not apply to forwarded purchases."

That is no longer the case. Awhile ago eBay removed that seller protection claiming that disinfranchised employees who worked at freight forwardering companies who wanted to have their packages delivered to their place of work rather than their homes were getting the shaft.

IMO eBay's reasoning behind removing that seller protection was a bunch of hoey. I believe that they did this so that the business that they receive via freight forwarders to foreign nationals would flow and not be lost.

Trinton is the eBay blue who came out on the community forums and announced it in one of the selling threads, if I remember correctly sometime back in 2019. I can't find it but another seller may come along and provide a link to that discussion.

teenytrinkets · ‎02-19-2021

I'm Canadian and I've used a US Pick-up address for years for all my US purchases. This is VERY common for people that live near the border. Mine doesn't forward packages, but there are others that do.

Once my package is "delivered" to the address I've provided to Ebay, the seller is protected. If the receiver loses my package, that's between me and the receiver. But I've never had my receiver lose a package. I have 27 packages waiting for me because the borders have been closed for a year! Think ANY of my sellers know about THAT?! LOL!

Ebay loves buyers. The more the merrier. They don't care where you're from, as long as you provide an address that a seller can ship to. And personally, as a seller, I have no problem shipping to a forwarder.

I'm not really sure how you get charged for an international sale if you're shipping to the US? And I don't really understand the no invoice business. Maybe because I pick up my packages from my US receiver don't have my packages forwarded?

teenytrinkets · ‎02-19-2021

You do realize that it's not "lying" to list shipping addresses outside your country, right? Ebay ALLOWS shipments to countries you're not a citizen of. I'm Canadian and I have multiple addresses in the US that I have shipped to (my US pick up address, my BFF that lives in GA, and several hotels). This is VERY common, and there are a LOT of US-based sellers that make the bulk of their sales this way.

teenytrinkets · ‎02-19-2021

I'm not clear on your explanation of how seller protection doesn't apply to a tracked package that has been "delivered" to the address provided on ebay? How does it matter if that address happens to be a freighter forwarder? The buyer would lose in an INR claim the second the tracking number is provided and shows "delivered"...???

go-bad-chicken · ‎02-19-2021

@teenytrinkets wrote:
I'm Canadian and I've used a US Pick-up address for years for all my US purchases. This is VERY common for people that live near the border. Mine doesn't forward packages, but there are others that do.

Once my package is "delivered" to the address I've provided to Ebay, the seller is protected. If the receiver loses my package, that's between me and the receiver. But I've never had my receiver lose a package. I have 27 packages waiting for me because the borders have been closed for a year! Think ANY of my sellers know about THAT?! LOL!

Ebay loves buyers. The more the merrier. They don't care where you're from, as long as you provide an address that a seller can ship to. And personally, as a seller, I have no problem shipping to a forwarder.

I'm not really sure how you get charged for an international sale if you're shipping to the US? And I don't really understand the no invoice business. Maybe because I pick up my packages from my US receiver don't have my packages forwarded?

Because when you make a purchase from US based sellers here on eBay.com the US seller is charged an extra 1.65% International Transaction fee because your account is registered in Canada.

teenytrinkets · ‎02-19-2021

Ah, that sounds the same as when I sell to my US buyers. It's a bit of a burn to pay more (we also have to pay fees for the US taxes that ebay funnels through our accounts, ughhh!), but great to expand your sales market. It's win, win in the end! 🙂

mam98031 · ‎02-19-2021

Your buyer wasn't "drop shipping". They were having you ship to a US address. International buyers do this all the time. Sometimes they have you ship to a re-shipper and sometimes it is to a family or friend. And sometimes they are actually here on a work visa or some other reason that has them here for an extended period of time.

Your buyer may be shipping gifts to family and friends in the US and they don't want a priced packing slip or invoice in the package.

But even if they were using you as a drop shipper, what would be your complaint if you got paid for the item? Why would you want to block them if they are a good buyer for you? Do you have too many sales?

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

teenytrinkets · ‎02-19-2021

Hahahaha.... tooo many sales... hate it when that happens! Lol

espresso_warehouse · ‎02-19-2021

Put in your listings in a very obvious font that invoices will be included with every purchase. If someone asks for you to remove the invoice, tell them you cannot as it is part of your policy.

Make sure to keep that interaction in your messages. Then report the buyer if they ask for you to remove it.

I've never had an issue with a drop shipper, but this would be my solution.