Today an International customer bought and paid for one of our eBay listings that we clearly stated "FOR SALE TO THE US ONLY" At first I though they just did not read it properly but they did. I looked at our listing again, somehow, it WAS offering International shipping!
When I looked at the paypal payment listing, it insisted I send the item to Kentucky to Pitney Bowes!
Weird. A little investigation showed what eBay were up to. To increase sales, they are trying to have you sell internationally regardless. What sellers and buyers don't know is that Pitney Bowes are UNPACKING, INSPECTING AND REPACKING (badly) your stuff. And the transit time can be really long too.
Who is responsible for the items condition after this? The buyer wants compensation, the seller did nothing wrong. eBay avoids the whole thing. Pitney Bowes does not care either. A nightmare.
As for the customer that brought this to our attention? We went ahead and shipped their order directly to them Internationally at our cost - they are NOT suffering from some crackpot scheme that eBay sneaked (snuck?) in.
So, today, now, OPT OUT on your MY eBay preferences. Then revise your listings immediately to remove this option. You'll regret it if you don't!
When I looked at the paypal payment listing, it insisted I send the item to Kentucky to Pitney Bowes!
Weird. A little investigation showed what eBay were up to. To increase sales, they are trying to have you sell internationally regardless. What sellers and buyers don't know is that Pitney Bowes are UNPACKING, INSPECTING AND REPACKING (badly) your stuff. And the transit time can be really long too.
Who is responsible for the items condition after this? The buyer wants compensation, the seller did nothing wrong. eBay avoids the whole thing. Pitney Bowes does not care either. A nightmare.
As for the customer that brought this to our attention? We went ahead and shipped their order directly to them Internationally at our cost - they are NOT suffering from some crackpot scheme that eBay sneaked (snuck?) in.
So, today, now, OPT OUT on your MY eBay preferences. Then revise your listings immediately to remove this option. You'll regret it if you don't!
