What is it with these buyers?!

[Kitsune Sniper]

Remember that thread that was around here with people having problems shipping to Canada? Well, this is related.

I recently posted a bunch of auction on eBay. Not everything is selling, but after one prospective buyer told me that shipping to the UK wasn't as expensive or troublesome as I thought, I decided to change some of my auctions and include the possibility of shipping to the UK. I also reduced the shipping costs on many of my items No biggie, right?

Wrong.

For some reason bidders can't read. One guy bought one of my games. The problem? He's in Germany. Another guy is the high bidder on another item, and he's in Canada. And they're bidding even though I said, on the item and on the shipping details, that I would only ship to the US and UK. I can't cancel the bid of that last guy because the auction is about to end in a few hours, and I seem to be working out a deal with the German guy.

But can't people read?

I don't want to ship to Canada or most of Europe because shipping costs are too high and it would be unfair for the buyer, or the items may take too long to arrive. And it makes me angry that people just won't read the conditions of the auction. >_<

What can I do in these cases?

[WanganRunner]

Hell, I've actually found that shipping to the UK is CHEAPER than to many other European countries.

I'd say about 75% of my ebay business is from international buyers, and I've found that for identical packages (Portable CD-I units packed in the same box, the same way), Italy and the Netherlands were both cheaper than the UK.

Dunno about Germany.

I could honestly care less about shipping costs as a seller, I'm not paying for it, what do I care?

[Kitsune Sniper]

I could honestly care less about shipping costs as a seller, I'm not paying for it, what do I care?

Admittedly, that isn't a problem.

My problem lies with the fact that, unfortunately, the package may get lost in the mail and the buyer might try to pin that on me. I prefer to ship to the US only because I can get delivery confirmation and make sure the item gets there. I can't do that (cheaply) with international packages.

[Mayhem]

UK Paypal users can have confirmed addresses (I know mine is). I don't know about other European countries. At least with a confirmed address, if something happens, you can be covered in Paypal.

[Jed]

I recently sent one NES game to Germany. Same situation, I ship to US only (I make exceptions for DPers), and it says that. He wins, and contacts me like a week later saying he's from Germany. After another period of waiting we work out a deal, and he ended up paying $17 to ship a $7 game.. He wanted it insured, so I had to put it in a box, send it a certain way, etc. I really prefer not to ship to other countries unless it's something worthwhile.

[scooby105]

make out of country buyers pay for ems shipping if you use paypal. period.
you need to be able to not only track the package but make sure it can get there in under 30 days.
if you dont, they can file a chargeback and there is nothing you can do.
ems is the only thing thatll assure you of both.

[jajaja]

If the buyer wins the auction he will probly pay for the shipping price. Unless its some Ebay newbie who think the shipping price that are stated in the auctions are the same worldwide.

I bought alot from both US/UK/Germany. Even if it doesnt say how much it will cost to ship to my country, I do trust that they will give me the correct shipping costs, which they usualy do.

So I wouldnt worry too much yet. Worry if the buyer dont want to pay.

[Griking]

In your ebay preferences you can set it so that certain people simply cannot bid on your auctions. Some of the filters are for people who;

Are registered in countries to which you don't ship (Bingo!)
Have a feedback score of -1 or lower
Have received 2 Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days

[esquire]

What can I do in these cases?

When the auction ends, go to your items sold section. Then, from the drop down menu for that item, select "Report an Unpaid Item." It should automatically populate the field on the next screen with the item number, if not you'll have to enter it manually. Select continue. On the the next screen there will be two drop down menus. For "Why are you reporting this Unpaid Item dispute?", select "The buyer has not paid for the item." For "What has happened so far in the dispute?" select "The buyer wants shipment to a country I don't ship to". Voila, you are done. Now select the settings recommended by Griking above and you won't have this problem again.

[peeingas]

In your ebay preferences you can set it so that certain people simply cannot bid on your auctions. Some of the filters are for people who;

Are registered in countries to which you don't ship (Bingo!)
Have a feedback score of -1 or lower
Have received 2 Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days

I definately recommend using this feature, it can become your best friend