eIS dollar limit?

[argus_museum]

Experts,

I see that items up to $2500 qualify for the eBay International shipping:

The following requirements apply to items shipped through eBay International Shipping:

• Items are physically located in the US and listed on eBay.com
• Items are eligible for export
• The cost of the order doesn't exceed $2500 USD, including shipping

What happens if an item in an auction goes over $2500?

Mike

[1786davycrockett]

@argus_museum 

If the price of an auction item exceeds $2500.00, you will not be able to ship it by eBay International Shipping (EIS).

There are other international shipping services available, however.

[wastingtime101]

Hey Mike. If you offer direct international shipping buyers will be able to keep bidding.

If eIS is the only shipping option for that country, those buyers will not be able to bid past the eIS limit unless perhaps they are using a US freight forwarder. Domestic buyers can keep bidding.

[argus_museum]

@1786davycrockett  and @wastingtime101 

Thank you both for replying on this!

Here's the full situation: The item started at $9.99 and was bid up over $5K on the first day, with numerous bids over the $2,500 limit.  All the bids are from outside the USA. I don't have any international shipping specified (but I qualify for eIS), and the shipping option is greyed out on the listing input page.

I would happily add an alternate method if it was not greyed out. If I can't, I am effectively excluding bids above $2500 from bidders who don't have freight forwarders. It would better if eBay informed the seller that bids were being rejected due to the dollar limit and enabled the seller to edit the listing to add an alternate shipping method.

Also, I'm not confident that eBay enforces all their policies "in real time." As @wastingtime101 knows, I've experienced shipping exclusions being applied after the end of the listing. What if the same thing happens for this listing, and eBay goes through and tosses out bids from buyers without freight forwarders after the auction ends? 

Mike

[wastingtime101]

They won’t toss out bids after the auction.

I’d have to look at your listings to confirm, but my guess as to what’s happening is:

You don’t exclude international locations. Because of that buyers can bid but won’t be able to pay after the auction unless you send an invoice with a specified direct international ship cost OR if the buyer has a US address and chooses the domestic ship option.

Sellers that wish to use eIS exclusively will sometimes exclude all international locations. That way buyers can’t bid or buy without either eIS or a US address. By default, eIS overrides a seller’s exclusions list unless the seller disables the override setting.

Let me know if you have more questions on that.

[wastingtime101]

OK I found a minute to look at your listing. It's showing shipping to US exclusively. The eIS block is working as it should. That tells me if international buyers are currently bidding, they have a US address on their account.

If the buyer tries to get you to ship direct post-auction, just tell them it's US only so they should use their freight forwarder. Some buyers try to get you to ship direct to save $$ paying their forwarder, but you don't have to agree. The fact they can place bids indicates they have a US address.

[argus_museum]

@wastingtime101 

Thank you (and @1786davycrockett ) for your—as always—diligent and expert advice.

The bottom-line conclusion is that the eIS dollar limit exclusion is working, such bids have been pre-empted by eBay, and when the listing ends I'll find that the high bidder has a freight forwarder. I'm OK with this (almost). But from previous experience I'm concerned as to whether the eBay process is being implemented as advertised.

Another suggestion (I assume no longer applicable) was that  at the end of the listing I should be able to send an invoice with an international shipping service designated. I would be happier with that possibility, as it would mean that the Argus Museum would benefit from all of the international bids, not just those from buyers with freight forwarders.

The simplest, best alternative would be that sellers be allowed to add a shipping service after the listing is active (just as you can add description text or photos). I don't see why eBay would not consider this in their interest.

Mike

[wastingtime101]

You can't alter the listing once it has bids; that's always been the case. If you anticipate the value exceeding eIS limits, you can add a direct international shipping option at the time you create the listing for a smoother process with a more accessible auction.

[argus_museum]

Thanks @wastingtime101 for such a quick response.

I figured it would go in the $200-500 range, but wasn't sure, so I started it with a very low starting bid to attract attention. Within half an hour it was over $2,000 and I was getting messages to specify a BIN price, etc. Apparently this item is more rare and sought after than I imagined. I doubt I will be able to take advantage of this knowledge ever again.

I looked at the "edit" options for the listing. Even though it has bids you can still add photos and supplemental description. The initial description box cannot be altered. So things can be added that don't undo key features of the initial listing. I don't see why adding a shipping service would be different.

Mike

[wastingtime101]

Yeah, it would be nice if you could add a shipping service option as long as the original was locked (so you wouldn't be altering the price buyer agreed to pay). It's never worked that way though.

That's crazy about the price and will hopefully be a nice sale for the museum in the end.

[argus_museum]

@wastingtime101 , @1786davycrockett 

I will make sure to send an update after it ends!

Mike

[argus_museum]

@wastingtime101 @1786davycrockett 

It came out as @wastingtime101 suggested: the high bidder has a USA forwarding address. My wife (who pays particular attention to our shipping) also noticed that at some time the destinations listed on the shipping tab became limited to USA-only (likely at the time that the bids exceeded $2500).

The item ended over $25K, so now I am looking for advice on how to insure the shipment (in another post).

Thanks to both of you for such good inputs (and to eBay for handling an outlier case as advertised). 

Mike