Ebay and foreign bidders

[Mikkel]

I've been buying via the uk ebay site for many years from Denmark. Often these auctions are stated as being for UK bidders only (probably a default setting), so I usually send the seller a message and ask if I can bid anyway. I normally get a positive answer and so place my bid.

 

However, recently the system has come up with a message saying I was not allowed to place my bid as the auction is for uk bidders only. Does anyone know how to solve this problem? Does the seller have to change the settings to allow for international bidders before I can bid?

[big jim]

i normally just put international postage on my listings which attracts bidders from all over the world without problems, however i've just listed an item which i want to get maximum exposure, when it came to the listing fee page it said "show item on ebay usa and canada" for 5p extra, first time i've seen that on any listing i've done so it may well have changed (certainly within the last week), probably another way for ebay to get more fees off you!!

[Mikkel]

Hmm, that does sound a bit worrying.

 

And an odd strategy too: 5p isn't the world, but surely ebay would ultimately benefit more from encouraging international trade on items (ie more bidders per item) rather than adding to the constraints for it.

[kandc_au]

When I have struck that I have emailed the seller and the majority change the parameters to allow me to bid.

A couple have still insisted on a UK postal address but the majority have been good.

I have found from contacting sellers that a lot have been caught with slow/non-payers as well. I also gather the "not received" item is probably an issue.

I must say to date I have not had a parcel go astray from an ebay seller.

That said I had 2 disappear that were private purchases.....when terminal 7 was introduced , and they were to be never seen again. Just after that they closed terminal 7 for a bit I believe....

 

Khris

[Harbottle]

I limit my ebay auctions to UK bidders because of problems I've encountered from some overseas buyers. I think other UK users do it for the same reason.

However, if you contact the seller and inform them that you are genuinely interested in the item(s) they're selling, they can put you on their list of permitted bidders.

[Mikkel]

Ok, thanks for this. I've always obtained permission before bidding on these types of auctions. But previously it doesn't seem to have been necessary for sellers to put me in on a list of permitted buyers - or maybe they've just done so without my realizing it.

 

Anyway, I'm relieved that there is still a way for me to bid, just need to ensure the seller white-lists me first.

[nebnoswal]

I limit my ebay auctions to UK bidders because of problems I've encountered from some overseas buyers. I think other UK users do it for the same reason.

However, if you contact the seller and inform them that you are genuinely interested in the item(s) they're selling, they can put you on their list of permitted bidders.

 

Surely looking at someone??™s feedback would assure you of the bidders genuineness. 90% of my eBay purchases are train related, and of that 85% are purchased in the UK and sent down under. I??™ve been using eBay since 2002, but wasn??™t until this year that I??™ve had items go missing in the post. This year alone I??™ve had 4 item go ???missing??™. Fortunately the PayPal dispute centre has rectified all of them and I??™ve received reimbursement and the seller has had their loss covered by Royal Mail. I??™m fortunate also in that I??™ve got relatives and friends in the UK, so I use their address if the seller is still unwilling to send overseas. May cost that little bit extra for the double-handling of mail, but is sometimes worth for those things you can??™t get down here.

 

 

[Bruciethefish]

Another thing you can try is go to Ebay whatever country you want to look at, & log in separately on that site;- you'll then be recognised as 'being there'... Don't forget to log out again, otherwise when you go to 'my ebay', all your amounts will be expressed in a foreign currency...... I've done this before, & haven't encountered any problems...(yet..)

['CHARD]

I have always 'checked' all the boxes relating to overseas postage, this seems to allow items to display internationally. I personally have never had a problem from any overseas buyer in approx 15% of 2000 transactions.

 

The 5p option to display in US and Canada listings came in back in the summer. I'm not clear either what advantages this confers, and as I mainly sell rail related stuff I haven't bothered with it. Few if any, sales of my rail stuff have been to US/ Canadian buyers, and interest from US and Canada has remained strong in my other sales, of rare vinyl, just by offering worldwide despatch; thus the 5p remains a mystery.

 

The postal strikes here have affected integrity of deliveries, it is fair to say. In terms of this, I try to avoid posting during and immediately after strike days, explaining the delays to affected buyers beforehand.

[Mikkel]

I've not previously had problems contacting the seller's of UK-only auctions to ask for permission to bid from Denmark. But as I said, recently the system won't allow me to bid even if I have gained their permission, so must remind them to tick whatever box. But will try some of the suggestions offered above - thanks

 

 

 

I have to say I find it a bit odd that some sellers seem to think that people are less reliable if they happen to be born in another country! Oh well, best not get into politics here .

 

 

[Oldddudders]

I have to say I find it a bit odd that some sellers seem to think that people are less reliable if they happen to be born in another country! Oh well, best not get into politics here .

I share your concern, being a Brit retired in another country. By and large, Mikkel, I don't think Danes come in the category of "dangerous foreigners" in the minds of the average English person, although you did invade us - but it was quite a few years ago, so you're probably forgiven. But certain other parts of the world do have a reputation for scamming ebayers. I think there is also a "trouble factor", real or imaginary, that people think will attach to sending a parcel abroad. More forms to fill in, that sort of thing. When the items are likely to be mainly of interest to UK modellers, "UK only" seems reasonable for the seller to maximise their return.

[hayfield]

The only problem I have encountered with overseas posting, is sometimes there seems to be an intermitant software problem regarding overseas postage (may be on sell similar), the only fix is to do UK postage only. Before I added overseas posting to my listings, I still had bids from abroad. No problem providing they pay the extra postage costs and via Paypal

[LSWR]

I, to those of you in the UK, am also a foreign bidder but have never had any problem with eBay. If a seller is reluctant to send stuff abroad I have them send whatever I won to my sister in Hampshire and pay them from my UK bank. This same situation occurs here in the US as well but I have used it to my advantage. Sellers tend to be more xenophobic than those in the UK. Even though a seller is offering a model of a non-US prototype they won't ship outside the US; even Canada is a problem for some of them. So I have won a few UK, French and Australian models for significantly less than what those models fetch on their respective countries' eBay sites.

[Mikkel]

By and large, Mikkel, I don't think Danes come in the category of "dangerous foreigners" in the minds of the average English person, although you did invade us - but it was quite a few years ago, so you're probably forgiven.

 

Don't you be too sure of that

 

But certain other parts of the world do have a reputation for scamming ebayers. I think there is also a "trouble factor", real or imaginary, that people think will attach to sending a parcel abroad. More forms to fill in, that sort of thing. When the items are likely to be mainly of interest to UK modellers, "UK only" seems reasonable for the seller to maximise their return.

 

Ok, fair enough, and I agree that it can be a bit more troublesome to send parcels overseas. But on the other hand, as a seller your market become quite a bit larger if you allow the rest of the world to bid, so you'd think it was worth the trouble/risk?

[steammad]

if you have problems, you could always open a uk based ebay account, but you would still need to tell the seller that you are bidding from outside of the united kingdom

[doctor quinn]

Strangely enough I've just had this problem with an item I was selling, I needed to to set "Accept bids from Countries I don't ship to" in "Buyer requirements" to enable a buyer in Germany to bid. It seems the default setting is no.

 

Nick

[Paul-H]

I never sell to buys from outside the UK, secure postage is too expensive to make it worth while and un-secure postage is too risky to use with paypals buyer protection giving an automatic refund to anyone claiming thay have note received there goods if you cannot give a tracking number that paypal can check on-line.

 

I have lost too much money to scammers on ebay in the past to do anything that cancels paypals seller protection.

[The Stationmaster]

 

Ok, fair enough, and I agree that it can be a bit more troublesome to send parcels overseas. But on the other hand, as a seller your market become quite a bit larger if you allow the rest of the world to bid, so you'd think it was worth the trouble/risk?

 

My wife used to do a lot of EBay selling (including a lot of old Hornby Dublo stuff in the later year or so of her selling - until I had no more to let her sell ) and she sold and shipped to just about everywhere in the world with almost no problems. The only thing she did have trouble with was a cast iron coffee grinder sent to Japan which eventually went as two parcels because the rates were incredibly high. But teh USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealnad were all regular destinations with no trouble.

 

I get the impression that the majority of problems which might exist with overseas postage and sales are only really there if you make them.

[Ohmisterporter]

I have sold to customers in France, Spain and Czech Republic with no problems. Only fly in the ointment was that I paid for International Signed For through the post office, and found out there is one that I couldn't actually see that the package had been signed for. If buyers leave feedback you know they have received the goods, unfortunately the one who has not left feedback is the one whose signature is not available to view. As two months have now passed I assume everything is OK.

 

That will not stop me selling abroad again.

 

Geoff.

[F-UnitMad]

(In the USA) Sellers tend to be more xenophobic than those in the UK. Even though a seller is offering a model of a non-US prototype they won't ship outside the US; even Canada is a problem for some of them.

For some of them it seems anything beyond the "Lower 48" is a problem!!! I've regularly bought stuff from the US Ebay, even with shipping and import duty added on items can still be got cheaper than here in the UK.

The only problem is if something arrives either "wrong item" (happened to me once- I just kept it) or damaged, since return postage (which may be relatively high) isn't covered by the seller, and the UK distributer of the model won't be interested in repairing it for you either. This hapened to someone else I know.

 

I once enquired of one US "business" Seller if he'd ship to the UK as a one-off, only to be refused. When the auction ended I emailed him again, telling him very politely that it was a pity he didn't consider my request, as I'd have willingly paid rather more for the Item than it eventually sold for... I never had a reply...

[Mikkel]

I do sometimes wonder whether the fear of high postage costs lies more with the seller than the buyer. As a UK outline modeller who lives in Denmark, I have long since accepted higher postage costs as a fact of life in my hobby, and I get the sense that many others in the same situation have too.

 

For sellers who are nevertheless concerned about high postage rates can I suggest that, rather than disallowing foreign bidders outright, you simply state that foreign bidders should contact the seller before bidding to ensure there is agreement on the cost of postage. Some sellers do this and it has always worked out fine for me.

 

For most sellers, I think this little bit of extra effort would pay off handsomely, given that you are expanding your market by millions of potential customers. I certainly can't count the number of times I've watched an item sell for much less than I would have bid for it, if I'd been allowed to do so!

[3737]

I fully agree with Mikkel and do not understand (although it's their good right of course) why sellers would refuse to send parcels to countries like Holland, Denmark and Germany.

Of course the buyer should be made aware that higher p&p is involved.

 

I have seen some posts in which some European countries were explicitly excluded, and probably not without reason. This is another possibility to lower the risk of timewasters.

 

In my opinion selling abroad creates the possibility of higher bids.

Sellers don't have to explain themselves in Danish, Dutch or whatever, because most European buyers, and certainly those on British Ebay, can make themselves clear in English.

 

Leen.

[F-UnitMad]

I do sometimes wonder whether the fear of high postage costs lies more with the seller than the buyer. As a UK outline modeller who lives in Denmark, I have long since accepted higher postage costs as a fact of life in my hobby, and I get the sense that many others in the same situation have too.

 

With you all the way, there, Mikkel.

I've just today received a Loco from the US that the Seller said he didn't mind shipping abroad, but asked me to consider that it would "cost a fortune" to ship to England. By some miracle it has avoided further Import Duty by HM Customs (I'm not complaining!!!) so I've let the Seller know just how much I've saved, even including the shipping (which was 16GBP) over the cost of buying an identical loco (both of them used) in my local model shop a few miles away...

[298]

I fully agree with Mikkel and do not understand (although it's their good right of course) why sellers would refuse to send parcels to countries like Holland, Denmark and Germany.

Of course the buyer should be made aware that higher p&p is involved.

 

I have seen some posts in which some European countries were explicitly excluded, and probably not without reason. This is another possibility to lower the risk of timewasters.

 

In my opinion selling abroad creates the possibility of higher bids.

Sellers don't have to explain themselves in Danish, Dutch or whatever, because most European buyers, and certainly those on British Ebay, can make themselves clear in English.

 

Leen.

 

I recently sold about 8 items on eBay, and two of them went to bidders in europe (despite being listed as UK only). Both sales went OK but there were communication issues, and one buyer sent a snotty e-mail asking why I didn't leave feedback for my customers (which I don't do until I know they're happy with their purchases, which hadn't been confirmed).

 

I've brought quite a few items from the US, some that were listed as US only accepted a bid once they knew I was interested, capable of communicating with them and willing to meet all postage costs using their preferred payment method. A few years ago there was the theory that the UK was a strong ally of the US and it would be good to help our "brothers" over other european countries, but now the main reason I think why they are unwilling to export is the USPS is a serious pain to deal with, and shipping charges are so high ($25 minimum for a small item) it won't be worthwhile opening to international bidders.

 

So the real resons why some sellers like to keep sales within their own countries...? Is it Jingoism?, Racism?, Risk of fraud?, or just a desire to help their fellow bretheren, a bit like using the RMweb classifieds....

[GoingUnderground]

When you buy or sell on ebay you do it on trust.

 

The buyer trusts the seller to tell the whole truth about the item's condition and to put up pictures of the real thing showing view from several sides so the buyer can be happy that it is what it's supposed to be and it is in the condition is as described.

 

The seller trusts the buyer to be honest and confirm that the item has indeed been received in good condition.

 

Both sides could rip off the other if they wanted, false pictures or description, or claiming that the item never arrived, or arrived smashed because of inadequate packaging.

 

It strikes me that the buyer is in a better position to rip off the seller by raising a dispute or claiming the item never arrived. They will get recompense from ebay and the seller is left with the hassle of claiming back their loss from the relevant postal authorities.

 

Perhaps experience has taught some sellers that this more likely to happen with overseas sales and also a greater chance of it happening if the buyer is in a specific country, hence their unwillingness to sell outside their home country. It is their choice as the seller.