EcommerceBytes Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor
Your emails to EcommerceBytes
For consideration, send your email to ina@auctionbytes.com with "Letters to the Editor Blog" in the subject line! Remember to include your name as you would like it to appear in the blog.
Sat Mar 12 2016 21:49:17

eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking International Orders

By: Reader

Sponsored Link

Dear Ina,
On February 26th you published an article titled eBay Sheds More Light on New Seller Standards. In that article eBay offered up some advice to sellers on how to manage unwanted international shipments. In this article, eBay is offering up some advice that is NOT completely correct or accurate (Oh SURPRISE!). The article quotes an eBay employee offering the following advice: 

"Please make sure to take the following actions to make sure buyers in countries you don't want to ship to don't purchase your items. You'll need to do all three actions listed below.

- Make sure your ship to policy in your listing is US only; 

- Buyer requirements - need to check box for block bidders or buyers who are registered in countries to which you don't ship; 

- Excluded shipping locations in the listing flow."

Bullet point # 2 is incorrect. That is NOT how that preference in Buyer Requirements reads. As you can see below it reads "Block Buyers with a primary shipping address in a location I don't ship to."

That is such a huge difference from what eBay stated to you (above). I frequently have buyers that are registered in other countries but have a US ship to address. I ship to them with ease and without issue.

Also their last bullet point is sheer busy work and serves no purpose at all if you have stated on your listing that you ship to the US only and have selected the proper Buyer Requirement to block international buyers that do NOT have a primary shipping address in the US. What eBay is saying (above) is that you'd have to list every single country that eBay has on the site as a country in which you do not ship to. Plain busy work and would do nothing to fix the concern of the seller. Only the Buyer Requirement will do that.

Here is exactly how the Buyer Requirements read on eBay. 


You can't block ALL international buyers. There is no such block in eBay. I don't care what eBay tells you, it does not exist. Now there is a block in PayPal that you can do this, but I really don't recommend it. You could open yourself up to some unnecessary issues with eBay if you do that. 

For example, let's say you have your buyer requirements set appropriately to block international buyers with a ship to address you do not ship to. You get a buyer that is from the UK that purchases an item from you. They have a ship to address in Charlotte, NC, so they meet the Buyer Requirements you have set on eBay.

The buyer goes to pay in PayPal and finds they can't because you have international members blocked from paying. Now you have a self inflicted dilemma. The buyer meets the requirements in eBay. The buyer has done nothing wrong. Yet you won't allow them to pay. 

Now what? Cancel the transaction because of the buyer's address. No, that isn't appropriate, there is nothing wrong with their ship to address. The only appropriate thing to do would be to cancel the transaction for seller reasons, which creates a defect for the seller. Keep in mind the buyer can leave feedback and that it may not be what you'd like.

While you may not like that outcome, it is correct. The buyer has done nothing wrong. It is the seller that has some preconceived idea or otherwise assumes that this type of transaction is a problem. 

It is also important for sellers to understand that there is no problem whatsoever to ship to an international buyer that has a US ship-to address. 

Some sellers are concerned that the buyer will take it to their out of the country, discovers a problem and then want to return the item or demands a refund. That is a non issue for seller as the eBay rules do have you protected on this. 

If a buyer re-ships the item from the original address shipped to, their buyer protection is null and void. Reshipping is just not using an actual carrier that may come to your mind. Putting it in their suitcase and taking it to the UK is the same. You didn't package it or have any control over how the buyer placed the item in the suitcase, you are not responsible for any damage or problems that may occur.

(Under "Not Covered" on this page, "Items shipped to another address after original delivery.")

Thank you, 
Marie

Note from the editor: Before publishing this letter, we sent numerous inquiries to eBay asking them for clarification. Those inquires went unanswered.



Share

Comments (7) | Permalink

Readers Comments

Perminate Link for eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern   eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern

by: expertbenefits This user has validated their user name.

Sun Mar 13 01:43:50 2016

Thanks Marie. Probably were not concerned about seller defects!

Perminate Link for eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern   eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern

This user has validated their user name. by: iBuyers

Mon Mar 14 09:09:23 2016

Use the PayPal Risk Controls. One must utilize ALL of them in great depth & structure. However it works virtually flawlessly.

Perminate Link for eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern   eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern

by: Marie This user has validated their user name.

Mon Mar 14 12:26:56 2016

@ibuyers

Yes, the PP block works in regards to blocking international accounts.  But it does nothing to help you or protect you in Ebay.  Buyers can still purchase in Ebay if they have a US ship to address.  You just aren't allowing them to pay for their purchase.  That can and will get you a defect if you want your FVF back.  And you risk a negative FB from the buyer.

What is it that you see as a problem shipping to a US address for an international buyer?

Perminate Link for eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern   eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern

by: gennut3 This user has validated their user name.

Tue Mar 15 01:36:30 2016

Hi thanks Marie for your article.  However, I have to add something that I was told directly by two different eBay personnel that answer the phones at eBay.  I had some expensive lenses up for sale.  An international buyer with a US shipping address purchased them.  eBay told me that I was responsible for the lenses right up until they arrived at the international forwarding address in I think it was Germany.  I was fully responsible if the US address repackaged the lenses to save on shipping and then sent them on and they were damaged in shipping.  I cancelled the sale and took the defect hit rather then risk getting held responsible for these items going to Germany.  International buyers get around sellers that do not ship internationally by having a warehouse or some other US address that resends the pkg on to them. eBay also told me they often repackage the item to save on shipping.

I would like to hear if other sellers have experienced this problem and how the sale turned out.  

Perminate Link for eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern   eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern

by: Oh Really? This user has validated their user name.

Tue Mar 15 02:33:39 2016

There is no "problem"!

I have shipped hundreds of orders, maybe thousands to foreign buyers. Some use mail forwarders but their own buying accounts, Some use US based agents to do the buying for them.

I have never had any issues of any sort with these orders. I'm sure there are tens of thousands of these transactions on eBay every day.

If you ship to Doral FL, Long Beach or anywhere around JFK you have probably sold via a forwarder. If you have ever had one of the fligh2**** or buyjapan user id's those are "agent" user id's buying for foreign buyers. Of course there are a whole bunch of mail drops and forwarders along the Canadian and Mexican border.

Perminate Link for eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern   eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern

by: Marie This user has validated their user name.

Tue Mar 15 02:41:36 2016

@gennut3

As happens far too often, the CSRs advising you were and are completely incorrect.  In the article is the link to the Ebay policy that states exactly the opposite.  

I'm sure others have done as you did in this case, but it was completely unnecessary.  You just simply got bad advice that you acted upon.  You did not need to cancel the order or get the defect.

Perminate Link for eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern   eBay Provides Inaccurate Advice on Blocking Intern

This user has validated their user name. by: Don Wagner

Tue Mar 15 11:31:47 2016

We all appreciate your efforts to carefully document this.



Login is required to post comments.
To sign in to leave a comment, fill in the form below. If you have not yet signed up for AB Verify, or if you'd like more information, go to the Registration Page.

Login for AB Verify
Be sure and use your email address and password to log in.
 
Email:
Password:
 
 Forgot Your Password?
 Even though you are signed in with the AuctionBytes Blog, you will have to sign in to the EcommerceBytes blog. But you can sign in with your existing AB Verify info.