Bad Ebay Experiences

[jfiori]

Here's something that really pisses me off more and more everyday. Why is it that a great number of Ebay sellers won't whip out of the USA? I've asked and never get an answer, that is if they haven't blocked all questions from being asked. The other night I watched a pair of brand new Echelon Jawbones not get a single bid, had the seller been willing to sell to Canadiens I would have bought them. The opening bid was $330, the last pair that seller sold went for $330 as well. So what does he do, he drops the opening price on the other auctions he has for them down to $320. So I sent him an email and asked if he would sell them to me for $350 using a best offer and I would pay the shipping on top of the selling price and that I accept that all taxes, duties and import fees are my responsibilities. His answer, Nope USA only. This seller actually chooses to not sell these, or sell them for less than I offer him rather than ship them to Canada. When asked why no answer. Does he realize he doesn't have to drive them to North Dakota himself to get USPS to accept a Canadian order? I even told him that I understand that shipping will cost me more and take longer and I'm fine with that, nothing. I don't understand the logic behind this type of seller and there is more and more of them, can anyone explain why sellers refuse to ship outside of the US?

This all came about again because I found another seller who says he will ship internationally but the buyer must ask for a shipping quote, so then when I go to ask him a question the seller has blocked questions. I guess it does say something about the level of service you will receive when the seller feels he can't be bothered to answer questions about items he is trying to sell. Oh well I guess the hunt continues for some items.

 

[FrogTastic]

I hear you on this one man. Eyewear is always double the price outside of the US, but not always easy to find seller willing to ship.

 

[Batwolf]

I am an occasional eBay seller and I can see the frustration from the buyer side but as a seller I recently had an issue with an international buyer.

I had a pair of Dalmatian Frogskins on eBay and the auction ended. A day later (literally) the winning bidder asks if I ship to Malaysia. Are you f**king kidding me?! This guy actually had the audacity to ask AFTER he won the item, and I ended up going back and forth with him for 2 days because he wouldn't send payment. I proceeded to give the glasses to the second highest bidder (who happened to be in the US).

So the eBay struggle really goes both ways. Sellers should state in their auction whether or not they will ship out of the US (I admit I didn't mention it in mine) or to contact if they are willing to work with you. Buyers should definitely ask before throwing a bid on an item because God forbid they actually win and the buyer screws the seller out of a sale.

 

[FrogTastic]

I sell alot of O stuff on crapbay. I tend to avoid buyers from
Malaysia as a rule. Always seem to give issues.

 

[EchelonHB]

I shipped two pair of Oakleys out to Brazil and Rome. Both buyers said they never received the packages and I was out the money. After many complaints from other sellers it was reported that Custom workers have been stealing the packages. EBay then sent out emails to sellers warning of the problem.

 

[jfiori]

I can understand not wanting the buyer to say he never received the package and having paypal reverse the charges, I'm willing to pay the extra for shipping so the buyer has tracking info and signature confirmation on the package so that doesn't happen. If used correctly ebay and paypal are very safe and protect the buyer and seller, it's when people try to cut corners and avoid the 4% fee on a $200 item. With any paypal purchase even outside of ebay I always insist on it being a sale for goods, if that's a hangup for the seller I'll pay the 4% to cover them. I've paid $30 to have sunglasses shipped to me from the US lots, if I'm buying from ebay they are either hard to find or I'm saving enough that I can accept the higher shipping charges.

 

[Deleted member 24]

As a person that sells on ebay, I can tell you, the reason I refuse to ship outside the US are three fold. First, the price to ship outside of the US with tracking is usually unreasonable. I was going to ship a pair of Oaks to a guy in Canada and found out that it was going to cost almost $60 USD through FEDEX just to ship to Canada. UPS was even higher. Secondly, Paypal has gotten to where they will not confirm most addresses outside the United States. Due to this, I am not covered by seller protection if the buyer claims they never receive the item because the address is not confirmed. Lastly, most buyers don't want to pay the price it costs to ship outside the US. I wish I could because it would help me out sometimes, but it just isn't worth the risk in most instances.

 

[jfiori]

Like I said I wouldn't expect the seller to ship the item to an unconfirmed address or that I would argue the price of shipping. Honestly no Canadian ever wants a package to be sent UPS, man do they hammer a brokerage fee down your throat. USPS is usually the most reasonably priced as well as the fastest. So why not do it as a foreign bidders must contact me first? Then say I wan't to bid on something of your's you could allow it as I have a confirmed address and agree to the price of shipping which you would provide based on my postal code. Part of the problem with the shipping cost coming to Canada is that American's are used to paying relatively little and getting the package in 2 days so they ask about that service, I can wait, I don't want to and don't like it but I understand that it is well beyond the sellers control.

BAPD77 I'll make you a deal, if you have a pair of Echelon Jawbones sell them to me and I'll give you a positive experience dealing with Canada, what do you say? Get a shipping quote to postal code S4P3Y6 thru USPS and lets make a deal.

PS that shouldn't read like some sort of challenge, I just really want a pair. If I don't get a pair soon I have a special deal I hope I can pull off I just won't say what until I'm in the position to make the trade for them. But to anybody who has a pair of Echelon Jawbones watch the sunglass exchange section.

 

[jonoyong]

likewise, being located overseas, i face the same problem as well. all i can do is offer to pay more for usps express with full tracking, and the paypal fees if it's a paypal transaction. other than that, it's all up to the seller. if they still say No, i normally just leave it as that. nothing more i can do. =)

 

[dcl10]

In addition to sunglasses I also collect and sell vintage watches. I've sold over 250 high end watches all over the world in the last 10 years, and can understand why many sellers will not ship outside the U.S. I will absolutely never ship to Italy, South America, or Malaysia again. If it's anything expensive, it's almost guaranteed to get stolen, and while I don't know about sunglasses, FedEx, UPS, and DHL will not insure most high value items, like watches jewelry etc. to these countries. You can buy it, but when you try to make a claim it will be denied. You have to get third party insurance for these items, which is very expensive, and you also generally need a merchant account verified by a federal tax ID. I will also say that, while I've never had anything going to Canada stolen, they have one of the absolute worst customs to deal with. They are slow as hell, and try their damnedest to make sure they get every penny out of you. They hold up parcels, open boxes, damage items, and never reimburse you for anything. Now with the U.K, Germany, Australia, Japan, France, very rarely do I ever have a problem. I can ship a package from Detroit and have it in an Australian buyers hands within a week, but shipping 10 miles across the river to Windsor takes 2 weeks.