My international buyers are driving me nuts!

[wjcwjc910]

Hello everybody,

This is more of a vent post, but if anybody has suggestions, I am all ears.

I love the international shipping program because I do not have to worry about returns. I have generally had good experiences with my international buyers. Lately they have become flaky, and entitled, and demanding, and I am beyond frustrated. 

I had one buyer make an offer, which I accepted. When he had not paid, I sent him a message letting him know that I wanted to ship his package. (He had previously bought from me, which is why I did not instantly cancel.) He let me know he was still "thinking about it." At the same time, I had another buyer make an offer but then he backed out when he found out there was a shipping charge. I guess he thought the ebay shipping fairy would deliver his package like a stork or something. 

I have international buyers demanding discounts. (That is true for domestic buyers as well but in the past it was mostly domestic buyers.) I have buyers who want a set put together and then they disappear. I have had international buyers send me a question mark when I don't respond after 3 hours. (One guy loves to email me while I am asleep and then he sends me a question mark when I do not respond. It's like he does not realize there is a time difference.) 

Today I sold three items and it was a good sale. Then, several hours later, I got a cancellation request. The buyer claimed her address was incorrect (that was the reason for cancellation) but then she told me I should make the items available for other buyers. 

It just seems that lately my international buyers have become as problematic as everyone else, and this all started just after Christmas. All of a sudden, right around the end of December, I just started getting hammered with nonsense! I am trying to get out of town so I think I am just going to put my store on vacation settings a few days early!

PS I added everybody to my blocked list except for the last person who cancelled the order. Do you always block when someone cancels?

[slippinjimmy]

I'll answer the last question first, I have VERY few buyer issues, I hardly block anyone, I have added one user to my BBL in the last 16 years. Used to add all non-payers back in the early days, gave up on that in 2008 when eBay let us auto-block users with 2 non-payment strikes.

A few comments....

International buyers get a real shock when they find out the charges when using EIS.

Ask the average American what the time difference is between Omaha and Poland, how many do you think would know?

Demanding discounts or just asking for discount?

"difficult" buyers are like late USPS deliveries in the big picture there are not really that many and they seem to come in waves.

[loose_goose_garage]

I use my block list quite frequently. If I get a message from someone with nothing other than; "$xx", basically telling me that they want the price to be discounted to '$xx', and not typing anything else, I ignore the first time, but the 2nd time I add them to the blocked list.

Cancelled transaction? Blocked. It wastes time and I lose out on all the potential buyers that had the item in their Watchlist.

If I get a message of someone trying to point out flaws in an item listed (If it is already very clearly shown and stated in listing), or trying to come up with a reason they should get a discount? Blocked.

Sometimes even just the way a message is worded, if it sounds condescending, Blocked. 

To me it's worth the peace of mind to try and minimize potential problems in the future, since it is the only time you get a chance to take action prior to a sale with a possible buyer.

[gemarakop_trading]

When a buyer goves me an offer I would accept I lower the price on Ebay to that temporarily….. if the buyer is serious they actually buy it and you don’t have to deal with non-payment.

[chevymontecarlo88]

Will enrolling in immediate payments also apply to international sales?

[monroe67]

"I guess he thought the ebay shipping fairy would deliver his package like a stork or something."

But, but -- isn't that what "free shipping" means ?!?!?  (irony font implied)   

[sextons-sweet-deals]

Any buyer who demands, makes odd requests, or anything else, just needs to be blocked and maybe reported.