International Fees charged to sellers

[nancyc5581]

I am fed up with being charged international fees because someone from another country bought something from me. I clearly state that I do not sell outside of the USA but eBay now has US hubs all over that buyers from other countries can have things shipped to so they think it's okay to buy.  It is not good enough, you have to be BASED in this country to not have the fees charged to the seller so maybe getting an additional account to buy in the US is an answer for the buyers to not upset the sellers or get their orders cancelled.

Sellers get charged an international currency conversion fee because someone is based in another country.

Just today I tried to get the $15.18 Int. fee refunded to me but I was told that I had it refunded on 4 other items on items that were sold to foreign buyers in the past and they cannot refund this amount. So I guess 4 refunded fees is the limit before they say tough luck to you. That would have been good to know so I wouldn't have wasted a call for a 38 cent refund on one of those times.

I am so upset.

If any fee has to be charged make the buyer pay for it not the seller especially since I clearly state I don't sell outside my country.

eBay said they cannot do anything about this. They cannot block people based  from other countries from buying. They cannot charge the buyers this fee either evidently.... why the heck not?

Totally not fair to the sellers at all.

[dbfolks166mt]

All these fees should be charged to the buyer not the seller.

     There is at least one site that does exactly that. 

[monroe67]

"All these fees should be charged to the buyer not the seller."

Quite a few eBay sellers who post regularly here in the Selling Community take the position that their buyers do pay their eBay selling fees, possibly even their Promoted Listings fees.  I'm one of them. 

I am happy to have all sales, regardless of where the Things end up, whether that is Moscow, Idaho, or Moscow in the Russian Federation.  Too bad I don't sell in the same categories that you do; I'd love to take your customer base after you leave.  

[annies-attick]

Can't you exclude these countries? I can on my end. 

[monroe67]

"Can't you exclude these countries? I can on my end."

Yes, sellers are allowed to exclude specific countries from eBay's International Shipping program (EIS).

Some buyers  in Asian nations and Eastern Europe, however, choose to contract with freight forwarding companies that are based here in the United States.  This process allows those buyers to bypass the EIS and not participate in it.  Those freight forwarding companies are often located in states without sales taxes, such as Delaware and Oregon.  The eBay sellers -- from whom those buyers buy -- are given a shipping address in, for example, New Castle, Delaware. 

The sellers, therefore, may never realize their Item might actually end up in China or Ukraine or Italy until those sellers see an International Fee in that item's Transaction Details.  

eBay's International Fee for US-based sellers, selling on eBay.com, is 1.65% of the total paid by the buyer.  Therefore it is not generally a huge amount of money.  

BTW, that International Fee has nothing to do with currency conversion.  It is based solely on the registered address of the seller (probably in the USA) and the both the registered and delivery addresses of the buyers.   (It also has nothing to do with the use of a credit card or an account from an international bank.)  

[reallynicestamps]

Is the International fee greater or smaller than your profit?
Was it worth making that profit even if it was smaller than you had hoped?

How long did it take to get a 38c refund? If you were paying minimum wage for those minutes did you profit from going after the refund?

[luckythewinner]

eBay said they cannot do anything about this.

It is not eBay who cannot do anything about it. it is eBay's customer support representatives who cannot do anything about it. 

eBay has 132 million active users. eBay are not going to change their site because one of them does not like a fee. 

eBay knows that if you decide to leave, buyers will generally buy a similar item from a similar seller at a similar price.

[luckythewinner]

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@nancyc5581 wrote:

I'm looking for other platforms to sell at that is better at protecting seller rights.

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You do not have any "rights" that allow you to dictate the fee structure on someone else's ecommerce platform. 

[dbfolks166mt]

I've never had a buyer pay that conversion fee but luckily I've only sold to foreign buyers around 5 times now.

I am going to eliminate the items that the foreign people look for and just go back to the other items they don't care about to avoid all this crap. I have had enough frustration with this topic and it's just a hobby with me so I am going to make life easier for myself and delete the stuff the foreigners like, problem solved.

Plus I didn't appreciate the attitude of the little squirrel of a guy that was a supposed supervisor at eBay I talked to today.

     You would never actually know if a buyer paid a currency conversion fee that would show up on their CC statement. I have had several of those show up on my CC from making international purchases. Like you I don't have a lot of international sales but the EIS program is the best thing eBay has done for sellers in a LONG time. I have shipped a few things through freight forwarders and only had one problem and that was quickly resolved. 

     You can of course elect to ignore the international market but based on the last data I saw from eBay about 50% of their GMV is based on international sales. Of course not all of those are shipping out or into the US. 

[mam98031]

It is a 1.65% fee, which is far less than what a seller might do as a promotional fee.  It is also the sellers responsibility to know and understand the fee structure on Ebay.

This is not a new fee.  We have paid it to Ebay every since they became our Money Processor back in 2020.  Before that we paid it to PayPal.  It has been around for many years.

If the buyer's account is registered in another country but they have a primary ship to address in the USA, then seller's can't block them as most know.

"Sellers get charged an international currency conversion fee..."  This statement is absolutely incorrect.  We do NOT nor have we ever paid conversion fees, that is the sole responsibility of the buyer that might be trying to pay you in a difference currency.  ALL listings posted on the US website REQUIRE payment to be in US funds.  Same is true for other international sites that Ebay has.  The currency a buyer has to pay with follows the site that the item is posted on.  On the UK site it is Pounds Sterling.  

You just need a better understanding of the fees and what they actually represent.  Because you don't know the facts, you have worked yourself up into being very upset by this subject.  It really isn't necessary.

Your misunderstandings about this fee is really getting you worked up.

[mam98031]

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@nancyc5581 wrote:

I'm working on it now. I see no eBay in my future sadly. Luckily I haven't had too many international sales but lately it has increased so I'm looking for other platforms to sell at that is better at protecting seller rights.

If I don't want to deal with international sales and the fees that come with it I should have that right as a seller.

Once again, it is the principle of the thing and if a fee has to be charged let the buyer pay for it not the seller.

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All that because of a 1.65% fee on a occasional sale????  Isn't that a bit of an over reaction?  You are going to "stand on principle" because you disagree with a fee that every seller pays on transactions like this since late 2002????  

[mam98031]

Sale of $1000 with $100 sales tax = $1,100 x 1.65% = $18.15

Sale for $1,000 with zero sales tax x 1.65% = $16.50

The difference between the two is $1.65

[mam98031]

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@nancyc5581 wrote:

I've never had a buyer pay that conversion fee but luckily I've only sold to foreign buyers around 5 times now.

I am going to eliminate the items that the foreign people look for and just go back to the other items they don't care about to avoid all this crap. I have had enough frustration with this topic and it's just a hobby with me so I am going to make life easier for myself and delete the stuff the foreigners like, problem solved.

Plus I didn't appreciate the attitude of the little squirrel of a guy that was a supposed supervisor at eBay I talked to today.

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Then you aren't paying attention to what your fees actually are.  First you might want to get a better handle on what a Conversion Fee is.  It will vary by what country the currency the buyer is paying with is from, but each and EVERY time there is a Conversion Fee, the BUYER PAYS IT.

Sellers on the other hand pay a 1.65% processing fee to their Money Processor.  Maybe if you took a look at what rates some Conversion fees run it would help you to better understand as they are typically much higher than a 1.65% fee, OH and by the way, Ebay would NEVER be able to charge a FIXED fee as a Conversion Rate as Conversion Rates are constantly changing as the world economy changes.

https://www.oanda.com/currency-converter/en/?from=BRL&to=USD&amount=1

You can do an internet search and find others if you desire.  You are all worked up over something Ebay does NOT EVEN DO.  

[mam98031]

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@annies-attick wrote:

Can't you exclude these countries? I can on my end. 

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No you can't.  Not in the way that is being talked about on this thread.  If you get an International buyer that purchases something from you and has it shipped to a US address, you have NO WAY to block them.  None of us do.  What you are doing is blocking certain countries.  Those blocks do NOT apply when your ship to address is NOT one of those countries.  It is a US address.

Notice how the second option below is worded.

[nancyc5581]

Any **bleep** fee that I am charged beyond the normal fees charged especially due to selling to someone based in another country is not right. The seller should not have to pay those international fees and it should go to the buyer.

[nancyc5581]

It is all about principle with me. Yes, it might be an over reaction to you but to me it isn't.