posted on February 24, 2002 07:17:34 AM new
Thanks in advance!!!
I've been selling for 3 years and I have never had this situation develop before. I put on my auctions that I ship to US only. I sold a smaller item under $20.00 and the high bidder contacted me and stated that they were signing up with Paypal and needed to wait a few days until they received their confirmation code in the mail. I know how this works and didn't mind waiting. This person is a newby with 1 fb and I always try to be very patient with newbies. Four days later I received an email from her stating that her Paypal account was up and ready to go. She would pay me as soon as I quoted her shipping rates to FRANCE!!!!! This was the first I had heard about France so needless to say I was bent but I retained my composure and emailed her back aand stated that per my auctions I did not ship internationally. I asked her if there was a US address she would like me to ship to. That was 3 days ago and no answer is forthcoming.
I feel a bit dumb asking for advice because I've been selling for quite a while and I'm usually the one giving advice but I'm stumped on this one. How would you guys handle it?
posted on February 24, 2002 07:25:29 AM new
If you think you want to salvage the sale and figure what it would cost to ship to France, fine. Otherwise this is a wash and get a credit-I definitely would not give this person any feedback if you go this route as this falls under the dumb beginner category.
Most foreign bidders seem to be fine, a few don't. It does take them a bit longer to respond sometimes because it's often more expensive for their web access.
posted on February 24, 2002 08:23:29 AM new
Most of my auctions state that I only ship to the US ONLY IN RED CAPS!
I received an email from a character from Spain, stating :
Why cant you ship internationally? You not want my busyness. I do not understood.
Bidder
***********
My response:
Dear Bidder,
The reason I don't ship internationally is because I am unfortunately incarcerated in prison and my international shipping privileges have been revoked by the warden.
Regards,
Seller
***********
Bidders reply:
Me so sorry .. I understood now.
thank you
bidder
Note : This bidder had a feedback rating over 200 +
posted on February 24, 2002 08:48:18 AM new
Hi Capolady, I use to have the same in my auction TOS,then once I put up a neat Pan American Airlines item and I received a very nice email from someone in Japan asking if I would make an exception if he bid, this was something he was wanting since the 60's. I did, he won, paid by paypal, about 3 months later while reading these threads during the summer someone did write in that they started selling Internationally and it did pick up quite a bit of the summer slack. I too followed that advise and route. I do not sell large items, nor are they very, very expensisve, and I now ship quite a bit Internationally, Most do not request insurance, and I do fill out a short form. I have never experienced an International bidder that has asked me to lie on a form, which I do read quite a bit on herethat it does happen. I find they are most gracious and appreciative. What I do is package the item and bring it to the post office(you can not use priority packing) give them just the country and they write down the different shipping and pricing options, I then email my buyer with these rates, and they decide, which shipping method they prefer and pay me accordingly. It has worked for me. Hope this helps. However, I do agree the buyer should have told you first.
Reenie
posted on February 24, 2002 08:59:16 AM new
I have shipped internationally and never had a problem.
I do not advertise international sales in my auctions, but if emailed with the request, I have always said yes. I let them know it is totally at their risk though. NO problems so far.
posted on February 24, 2002 09:18:13 AM new
Hi:
I just had some what of the same thing happen. Customer never contacted me after the sale. I filed a NPB and then they sent a M.O. Well guess what it turns out they are from Canada. I have no problem except they more than likely did not send enough to cover postage. If they are short they will need to make up the diff. before I'll ship! I never advertise International, but I always do ship as long as they are willing to pay the postage! Never have had any trouble as of yet. I'd advise you to ship as long as they are willing to pay all shipping costs. If the shipping is too much they will turn it down and nothing is lost. It's kind of fun shipping International I like saying I sent something here there and everywhere. The only down fall is figuring out the cost.
posted on February 24, 2002 10:33:23 AM new
International customers are generally terrific...polite, courteous and knowledgeable about high shipping costs. You can check postage rates on line at the USPS site (usps.com) which makes it much easier. You can then e-mail the buyer and let him/her know the different rates and they can decide. Beats lugging a package to the post office and then back (which I used to do before discovering the USPS site). It can be upsetting when you've said no international sales and one goes ahead and wins an auction...but my philosophy is "The more bidders, the better!"
