Is Ebay The Worst Run Company of all time?

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

can an international bidder even place a bid if you chose the correct options when building your listing?

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

can an international bidder even place a bid if you chose the correct options when building your listing?

Unfortunately, yes.

[Jeffrompa]

Yes they can bid and eBay knows there is a loop hole to allow them . However , if you do contact them when you notice it they will allow you to cancel without penalty if you had that Country blocked .

[slidekellyslide]

I use the global shipping program only for international and still get bidders from countries that are not part of the program. I have no idea how or why ebay allows them to bid on auctions like mine.

[PolarBear]

And, here's another trick international bidders use to get past ebay, particularly Latin American bidders. They register their international ebay account with a US shipping address. That address is a "friend" who forwards their packages to their foreign address.

You might think that wouldn't be a problem, but since the US address is not verified to their foreign paypal account, the seller is on the hook if anything goes wrong or if the buyer claims they didn't receive it.

Even if you have proof of delivery to the US address, ebay will rule in the buyers favor because it's not a verified address tied to their paypal account.

Again, the only real solution you have to avoid these unwanted bidders is to set your paypal account to only accept payment from US verified accounts.

[pbspelly]

Out of curiosity, what is the problem with international bidders if they pay via paypal and are willing to pay extra for shipping? Do they often claim non-delivery, and get refunds?

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by pbspelly

Out of curiosity, what is the problem with international bidders if they are pay via paypal and are willing to pay extra for shipping? Do they often claim non-delivery, and get refunds?

The tracking is not as reliable, and customs can disappear packages for weeks or even months sometimes.

It hasn't discouraged me from shipping Internationally, but the higher risks are obviously there.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by pbspelly

Out of curiosity, what is the problem with international bidders if they are pay via paypal and are willing to pay extra for shipping? Do they often claim non-delivery, and get refunds?

If ANYTHING goes wrong, the seller is on the hook.

The only 100% safe way to ship overseas would be to use something like FedEx international, and that would also need to go to a verified paypal address. Most international bidders would balk at $50 shipping fees though.

Not to mention, many countries have customs tax and will hold the package in customs until the buyer pays. But guess what, a package held in customs is a non-delivery as far as ebay is concerned.

If ebay would go back to the days where all you needed to do is prove you shipped it - no delivery confirmation or verified addressed needed - then I'm sure you'd see more people willing to ship internationally since the risk would be shifted to the buyer.

As it stands, it's not worth my time or the risk involved.