International fees charged on domestically shipped item

[authentic*vintage]

Was alerted to this on a social media platform. Checked my recently sold items and found I was charged an international fee on a domestically shipped item. The buyer has a residential address outside of the US. The items shipped to Portland, Oregon.

I contacted ebay and was given a refund and told that this is a valid refund request and a refund will be issued in every instance, no matter how many times I call. 

I am posting because others have asked about this fee and been told by other community members to just deal with it. That's actually not the right answer. Examine your fee details and request a refund. 

[authentic*vintage]

I get to decide if I want to be surcharged for selling internationally and I decided in advance that I did not. Not even a penny.

[chapeau-noir · Accepted solution]

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@authentic*vintage wrote:

An unexpected fee that is not within my capability to avoid after choosing not to sell internationally to avoid additional fees? The definition of that is hidden. It is unseen and undetectable and therefore unavoidable. How much more plainly can I explain this? 🤔 

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Whether you agree with the fee or not, it is not hidden nor is it undetectable.  The fee is levied when someone purchases using another type of currency.  What IS evident is that one cannot avoid this fee because it's encurred when someone purchases with international currency for a sale going to a domestic freight forwarder, and the only way to avoid that is not to sell here.  Most of us are OK with it because the fee is dwarfed by the amount of sales some of us have to freight forwarders.

Your best bet is to complain to eBay admin with a compelling argument, because whether we agree with the fee or not, we can't do anything about it, we're just sellers ourselves. 

[authentic*vintage]

My statement of "that's not the right answer" was based on the information I was given when I contacted eBay this evening.  And - since starting this post, this feels more and more like a fee policy that is being blindly accepted. I should be given the information and opportunity to decide before accepting an offer if I want to be surcharged and that isn't happening.  

[chapeau-noir]

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@authentic*vintage wrote:

My statement of "that's not the right answer" was based on the information I was given when I contacted eBay this evening.  And - since starting this post, this feels more and more like a fee policy that is being blindly accepted. I should be given the information and opportunity to decide before accepting an offer if I want to be surcharged and that isn't happening.  

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Not blindly - we're not stupid.  Each seller has decided if they want to deal with that international fee or not, and those, like myself, who put up with it do so in the greater service of our pocketbooks.  Freight forwarders bring a lot of business in we might not ordinarily have AND generally accept liability, as well. I'm not crazy about the fee and find it misplaced, but I'm also a bit mercenary and will go for the money - I'd rather have say a $30 sale and pay the international fee. Others refuse to pay the fee and cancel the sales from freight forwarders citing "problem with address" for their own reasons.

[authentic*vintage]

The only problem for me is that this does not become evident until payment has been made and fees exposed. I appreciate your advice on this.

[elizabeth@ebay]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@authentic*vintage wrote:

An unexpected fee that is not within my capability to avoid after choosing not to sell internationally to avoid additional fees? The definition of that is hidden. It is unseen and undetectable and therefore unavoidable. How much more plainly can I explain this? 🤔 

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Whether you agree with the fee or not, it is not hidden nor is it undetectable.  The fee is levied when someone purchases using another type of currency.  What IS evident is that one cannot avoid this fee because it's encurred when someone purchases with international currency for a sale going to a domestic freight forwarder, and the only way to avoid that is not to sell here.  Most of us are OK with it because the fee is dwarfed by the amount of sales some of us have to freight forwarders.

Your best bet is to complain to eBay admin with a compelling argument, because whether we agree with the fee or not, we can't do anything about it, we're just sellers ourselves. 

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Good morning @chapeau-noir, @simply-the-best-for-you, and @wastingtime101. This is not the normal procedure for this scenario.

[petes_o-s_amplifier_hoarding_problem]

The argument is not about whether or not the fee policy itself is hidden. What is hidden the ability of the seller to ascertain whether or not this fee is going to be charged, and therefore be able to personally make the decision of whether or not to sell to a particular buyer,  at a time before the completion of the sale takes place. There’s no way of knowing until it’s too late presently, and I don’t care if it’s a penny on $100, it’s still not right. And why wouldn’t the buyer be the one imposed upon with such a fee? Since said fee is based upon the buyers individual circumstances, the nature of which being a matter having nothing to do with the seller whatsoever. If the buyer is the one that is “international”, then the buyer should be the one having  to pay the “international” fee.

[gotta-have-it-collectables]

Because a Refund was well deserved! Shipping to USA ONLY means just that. Period!

[gotta-have-it-collectables]

Then the Buyer or FF should be stuck paying the Fee if they want to buy. Certainly not the seller! Not cool at all!

[dbfolks166mt]

@authentic*vintage wrote:

An unexpected fee that is not within my capability to avoid after choosing not to sell internationally to avoid additional fees? The definition of that is hidden. It is unseen and undetectable and therefore unavoidable. How much more plainly can I explain this? 

Whether you agree with the fee or not, it is not hidden nor is it undetectable.  The fee is levied when someone purchases using another type of currency.  What IS evident is that one cannot avoid this fee because it's encurred when someone purchases with international currency for a sale going to a domestic freight forwarder, and the only way to avoid that is not to sell here.  Most of us are OK with it because the fee is dwarfed by the amount of sales some of us have to freight forwarders.  

Like you I generally ship when things go through a FF but I have canceled a few because there are countries that I will simply not sell to due to risk FF or no FF. However, this has nothing to do with the currency it is strictly based on the buyers registered address. Currency exchange rates/fees are paid by the buyer when the CC company processes the transaction.  

Your best bet is to complain to eBay admin with a compelling argument, because whether we agree with the fee or not, we can't do anything about it, we're just sellers ourselves. 

[eobard.thawne]

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@authentic*vintage wrote:

The only problem for me is that this does not become evident until payment has been made and fees exposed.

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Totally agree; OP is 100% right on this.

[chrisma830]

I just stumbled upon this myself, by accident. So whether you call it "hidden" or not, it is clearly NOT clear. Upon stumbling upon the fact that I was charged this international fee on an item- I re-checked the item, as I didnt recall it going international.  It hadnt been sent to an international address.  I contacted ebay via "chat," to inquire about the fee.  Throughout the very long "chat," I asked at least 5 different times what is the percentage fee  charged for these US, non US addresses.  At least 5 times the person I was chatting with completely ignored the question.  I spelled out the fact that I "specifically" needed to know the percentage, so that I could work around this fee- is it 50% is it a half a percent, it is a set fee?  Then, after refusing to provide an answer to that I was sent the transcript (and there was not transcript attached).  During this same chat I questioned whether it was legal to not clearly notify a seller that an item was being shipping out of the country, as what if a seller was unknowingly sending something to a county that prohibited the import of that item?  Whether you want to call it hidden or not, this issue is clearly not made clear to the seller.  I'm still researching to find the specific fee amount, so if anyone knows, please share.