eBay

afineview · ‎05-02-2017

I don't ship internationally and have blocked bidders whose primary address is not in a location I ship to.

I've selected excluded locations and display that on my auctions.

And, I've blocked payments from buyers without a U.S. Paypal account, as well as blocked payments in foreign currencies.

So, how on earth was a buyer in Vietnam able to bid on and win one of my auctions?

I've attached a screenshot from the auction this bidder just won - showing that I have excluded all but U.S. locations.

copper.boom · ‎05-02-2017

Are they located in Vietnam with a US shipping address (possibly a freight forwarder)?

Or is their shipping address in Vietnam?

megadestroyers · ‎05-02-2017

Bidder most likely using a US address as a forwarding shipper. Thus, this would be his "primary address". Good that you have your Paypal blocked; bidder will likely be unable to make payment as the account likely off-shore. In fact, you may get an email saying can't pay, why.

afineview · ‎05-02-2017

@copper.boom wrote:
Are they located in Vietnam with a US shipping address (possibly a freight forwarder)?

Or is their shipping address in Vietnam?

Since they haven't paid yet, I don't know the shipping address yet, but the buyer's primary location is Vietnam. I don't want unqualified bidders winning auctions when qualified bidders are also bidding. Thought the blocks I have set up were supposed to exclude that ... ???

Not sure how they were even able to bid on the item.

How would I know if an address is a forwarding service?

afineview · ‎05-02-2017

@megadestroyers wrote:
Bidder most likely using a US address as a forwarding shipper. Thus, this would be his "primary address". Good that you have your Paypal blocked; bidder will likely be unable to make payment as the account likely off-shore. In fact, you may get an email saying can't pay, why.

Is there a way to know if an address is a forwarding service?

Buyer hasn't paid yet, so I don't have the ship to addy yet.

castlemagicmemories · ‎05-02-2017

@afineview wrote:
@megadestroyers wrote:
Bidder most likely using a US address as a forwarding shipper. Thus, this would be his "primary address". Good that you have your Paypal blocked; bidder will likely be unable to make payment as the account likely off-shore. In fact, you may get an email saying can't pay, why.
Is there a way to know if an address is a forwarding service?

Buyer hasn't paid yet, so I don't have the ship to addy yet.

I think you can google it to find out.

copper.boom · ‎05-02-2017

You can go to your sold page and click on the print shipping label option. You don't have to purchase a label to see the buyer's address on file with eBay. It could change when/if they pay and the paypal address becomes primary. Note: you can see this without actually purchasing a label.

As another poster said, you can google an address to see if it's a forwarder.

hafoster · ‎05-02-2017

@megadestroyers wrote:
Bidder most likely using a US address as a forwarding shipper. Thus, this would be his "primary address". Good that you have your Paypal blocked; bidder will likely be unable to make payment as the account likely off-shore. In fact, you may get an email saying can't pay, why.

This is the most fragrant display of nepotism I've ever seen!

But back to my question: In the future, if by some glitch OP is opted into GSP --

would blocking non-US payments at PayPal prevent a GSP sale?

Anyone get a GSP buyer email saying can't pay, why.

afineview · ‎05-02-2017

@hafoster wrote:
@megadestroyers wrote:
Bidder most likely using a US address as a forwarding shipper. Thus, this would be his "primary address". Good that you have your Paypal blocked; bidder will likely be unable to make payment as the account likely off-shore. In fact, you may get an email saying can't pay, why.
This is the most fragrant display of nepotism I've ever seen!

But back to my question: In the future, if by some glitch OP is opted into GSP --
would blocking non-US payments at PayPal prevent a GSP sale?

Anyone get a GSP buyer email saying can't pay, why.

Nope. Not opted in to GSP. Thus I'm wondering why an international buyer was able to bid on the item at all.

But - nepotism (in the prior quote)? I think not.
As sellers, we need to be able to clearly specify what orders we can fulfill, and what we can't. For me, this allows me to provide excellent customer service to those who fall within those parameters. My understanding is this is what megadestroyers was referring to. Not nepotism by a long shot.

7606dennis · ‎05-03-2017

Actually, if the buyer has a US shipping address, you cannot really block them from bidding and winning. Sellers on the US eBay site cannot not ship to the continental US (lower 48 states).

However, by blocking PayPal payments in currency you do not hold and from PayPal accounts not registered in the US, you should have effectively made it that the buyer cannot pay unless you have your own merchant agreement to accept credit cards. Ordinarily, I suggest mentioning this block in the listing, as to avoid giving the buyer an unpaid item strike when they can't pay and you have to open a UID to get your FVF back. After all, the buyer has no way of knowing of the block before bidding and has actually not done anything wrong in bidding if he has a US shipping address.

With regard to the GSP scheme, the PayPal block should effectively keep the buyer from paying so GSP would be a mute issue. After all, you can't be forced to ship anything to a non-paying bidder.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

gracieallen01 · ‎05-03-2017

@afineview wrote:
I don't ship internationally and have blocked bidders whose primary address is not in a location I ship to.

I've selected excluded locations and display that on my auctions.

And, I've blocked payments from buyers without a U.S. Paypal account, as well as blocked payments in foreign currencies.

So, how on earth was a buyer in Vietnam able to bid on and win one of my auctions?

I've attached a screenshot from the auction this bidder just won - showing that I have excluded all but U.S. locations.

Ooooh, ooooh, I know, I know! I know the answer!

That's an easy one!

This is ebay and ebay just loves buyers - any buyers - whether they pay or not.

Not saying 'NO' doesn't mean 'YES'.

The foolishness of one's actions or words is determined by the number of witnesses.

Perhaps if Brains were described as an APP, many people would use them more often.

Respect, like money, is only of 'worth' when it is earned - with all due respect, it can not be ordained, legislated or coerced. Anonymous

retrose1 · ‎05-03-2017

So, how on earth was a buyer in Vietnam able to bid on and win one of my auctions?

How about that ebay is so desperate for sales and fees that they are having 'glitches' that will allow that to happen now.

(*Bleep*)

ersatz_sobriquet · ‎05-03-2017

@hafoster wrote:
@megadestroyers wrote:
Bidder most likely using a US address as a forwarding shipper. Thus, this would be his "primary address". Good that you have your Paypal blocked; bidder will likely be unable to make payment as the account likely off-shore. In fact, you may get an email saying can't pay, why.
This is the most fragrant display of nepotism I've ever seen!

But back to my question: In the future, if by some glitch OP is opted into GSP --
would blocking non-US payments at PayPal prevent a GSP sale?

Anyone get a GSP buyer email saying can't pay, why.

It's no "glitch" when a seller is opted into GSP. It's just ebay forcing itself on sellers. This so called "glitch" is cured by blocking foreign currencies and primary accounts not in the US, in Paypal. I know, I was opted into GSP before I blocked in Paypal. Suddenly no more GSP glitches.

For two companies that are supposedly separate ebay sure knows how to check for Paypal blocks and never opt a seller using the "glitch" method into GSP if they have the right Paypal blocks in place.

megadestroyers · ‎05-03-2017

"This is the most fragrant display of.........."

It does have a rather pleasant odor.

If a buyers Paypal account is NOT in the US, yes, payment will be blocked, regardless of the US forwarding shipper address. Bidder may or may not inquire as to why they can not make payment. Sellers should make note of not accepting off-shore Paypal account payments in the description, but this isn't enough to keep them from bidding anyway.

afineview · ‎05-03-2017

@retrose1 wrote:

So, how on earth was a buyer in Vietnam able to bid on and win one of my auctions?

How about that ebay is so desperate for sales and fees that they are having 'glitches' that will allow that to happen now.

Ebay ought to throw some love to its sellers. Without sellers, there would not be any buyers. 😞

They sure do make it challenging to do business here.