eBay help regarding an international buyer

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Swift900

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Hi guys. I recently listed an item on ebay, offering domestic shipping only (within the United States). An international bidder won my auction even after I answered a question, expressing my unwillingness to ship internationally.

Now the winning bidder has a 700+ 100% feedback rating and has contacted me, asking for the correct invoice amount including international shipping fees (to Italy). He has also provided a relative's address within the United States if I will not ship to Italy.

Right now I am not sure if I want to go through with it and ship the item internationally, send it to his relative, or just cancel it altogether.

Just curious if anyone else has run into this situation, and if so, how you have handled it. With the individual's feedback rating, I am not too worried, but I'd greatly appreciate any insight/advice. Thanks in advance!
 
Sounds like a scam.

Shipping to Italy is extremely bad. How much is the item?

The customs in Italy are famous for holding stuff, so if you want to ship it there, go for priority mail (non-flat rate box), or express mail so you can track the item.

Don't ship to his relative unless the paypal address is the relative's address. If you ship to a new address that is not the same as in the paypal payment, you be screwed if he files item not received claim.

Hope this helps. Good luck!
 
If you ship with International Priority Mail (not the cheap flat rate small box, but any other box--inlcuding your own), you get surprisingly good tracking info that can be checked online and a minimal amount of insurance included free. You can also buy more insurance. I have no idea how easy it is to collect on the insurance (generally the Post Office does make it difficult), but I had someone claim that an international package got lost (I ship overseas alot) and Paypal sided with me because of the tracking info I provided.

EDIT: Customs does hold packages for awhile in many countries, so make sure he is okay with that also (and at least you have more ammo with Paypal in a dispute).
 
Pretty sure paypal will not cover you if you ship it to an address not listed on the account. While the user's feedback seems beyond repute, if something does happen to go wrong you would be out that money.

I think it'd be easiest to get a shipping quote from the post office or whichever service you're going to use. I don't know eBay's policy for canceling auctions like this (like will you get your fees back). For the future, you should make sure you select the option that blocks international users from bidding on your listings.
 
I stopped selling things internationally a couple years ago. The amount I gained in bids wasn't worth the headache of custom forms and buyers blaming me for their country's tariffs and duties.
 
I heard there was a lot fraud in Italy, but never shipped anything there myself. Follow your gut feeling and just cancel it.
 
I got someone from italy trying to buy my stuff as well, could you send me a pm with the buyers info? The same thing happened to me with 2 transactions where I put no international shipping. I couldn't get out of it because the buyer cancelled my item case.
 
I've had this happen a LOT in eBay auctions. No amount of me blocking international accounts keeps users who have created US accounts but live overseas from bidding on my auctions. Even when those auctions state in large, bold, underlined text that I refuse to ship internationally. It's the most freakishly annoying part of eBay and it drives me up the wall.

In this situation though I've had a similar experience from an annoying UK chap. He wanted me to ship to another address. It was verified through PayPal and I sent it no problem. It was 100% ok. As a note though you can refund and tell the guy that you're not going to do it and the PayPal fees will come off so it's no real financial loss. You can also report the eBay auction for miscommunication and get those fees taken off as well. It's just annoying that you've wasted your time. If you don't mind losing a few bucks give a second chance offer to the next guy in line AND relist your auction without any sort of Buy-It-Now. That way, if the second chance offer doesn't go through you're already in the process of relisting and if it does go through you can cancel the relist instantly without paying any fees.

It sucks, I feel your pain. I live in a small town and my local post office doesn't do international shipping, it's just a contracted office. I would have to drive 30+ minutes and I doubt the winner would pay expensive international shipping rates and my gas mileage. Not worth it, but they still refuse to stop bidding. It made me stop using eBay recently. D:
 
At least if you have international bidders blocked, though, you'll keep most of the people away. I still get about a dozen "how much is shipping to x" questions every auction.
 
I've shipped a few games overseas and never had a problem. One package went to Italy, once to France, and a few to the UK I believe. I never mind shipping overseas, I just tell them that they will have to pay the extra fees to cover the shipping. It will probably be fine, especially with the user's feedback. The annoying part is that you told them you would not ship internationally. I guess you should have also thrown in there that the address must be confirmed by paypal.

If you are uncomfortable with shipping the package, I wouldn't chance it. Just cancel the action and move on. I've had many good experiences shipping overseas though, I can't say anything against it.
 
I had this happen once, I clearly stated United States only in the auction, yet someone from France won. After informing them that it clearly stated that I only ship within the US they asked how much it would cost for me to ship it to them. I think I ended up making an extra $10-15 on the deal because I had no idea what to charge them for shipping and wound up ahead.
 
I don't see the problem; if he is offering you an address in the US then use it. I have done this both as seller, and also acting as the US location for a friend (buyer) in Europe. If your buyer is not experienced this is what he needs to do:

1) add the US shipping address to his Paypal
2) when he makes the payment, choose the US address as the shipping address

That simple.
 
As far as I know, you can't block International bidders that makes accounts at ebay.com. I'm pretty sure they can easily say they are from the US so they bid on your items and then pay you with a paypal address that goes to someplace totally different.

As far as Italy goes, it's a risk. I shipped 2 things there (worth about $50 each) about 3 months ago and I didn't have any problems. I've heard shipping to Italy is extremely risky because of all the packages getting lost. Italy's postal system just sucks badly.
 
Cancel the auction and refund the buyer. Not worth the headache selling overseas. You can lose both your money and items. I've been burned many times. Good luck!
 
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