Being charged sellers fees for items cant be delivered

[officialm18]

Hi,

I have recently sold two items that I can’t deliver because of the buyers  mistakes. The first was a buyer from Hong Kong where deliveries are suspended to the second purchased item was marked as local pick only due to the weight and the buyer is interstate. Both these buyers have paid but and I’m happy to refund but when I try, I still get charged the final fee for the items sold. This doesn’t seem fair as neither of these problems were my doing. The other problem of course is that the funds these people paid are on hold, so I have to refund out of my own bank account. So basically, I have to pay the refund out of my private funds then wait for the buyer’s payment to clear which I then get paid minus eBay’s fess???Any suggestions on a work around?

[davewil1964]

1. It is up to the seller to be aware of Covid restrictions. Cancel with the reason 'Problem with Buyer's address;. Cost 30c.

2. Cancel with the reason 'Problem with Buyer's address'. Cost 30c.

If you refund, the refund should come out of your pending payments. That's how it works for me. Admittedly I don't get fund holds, because I've been around for a while, but that is how I read the current policies.

I assume you have also read them.

[countessalmirena]

@officialm18,

To prevent this sort of thing from occurring again, make sure that you set your buyer requirements to block bids / purchases from buyers who don't live locally.

Buyer management (set your buyer requirements). You should ensure that you've blocked buyers with unpaid item strikes, of course, as a general guard against buyers who have a habit of not paying for items, but specifically to prevent overseas buyers from bidding on local pickup items, see the rubricated block below:

Buyer requirements

☑️    Block buyers who caused       2     ▼     cancellation of unpaid purchases within       12     ▼      month(s).  ⓘ

☑️    Block buyers whose primary delivery address is in a location I don't post to.  ⓘ

☑️    Block buyers who are currently winning or have bought       3     ▼     of my items in the last 10 days.  ⓘ

        ▢ Only set this requirement to block buyers with a Feedback score:       5     ▼    

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◐  Don't allow blocked buyers to contact me

         Buyer won't see the "Contact seller" button on your Questions and Answers page.  ⓘ

◑  Apply above settings to active and future listings

         Existing bids will not be affected.

Buyer payment requirements

☑️    Block buyers whose primary delivery address is in a location I don't post to.  ⓘ

(Rubrication mine.)

You should also check that you've excluded international locations in your postage locations preferences.

Manage shipping settings › Exclude postage locations

Select the regions or countries you don't post to

Domestic

   ☐    Sydney Metro                      ☐    Brisbane Metro                ☐    Melbourne Metro

   ☐    NSW Regional                     ☐    QLD South East                ☐    VIC Regional

   ☐    Northern Territory              ☐    QLD Regional                   ☐    Perth Metro

   ☐    Adelaide Metro                   ☐    QLD Far North                   ☐    WA Regional

   ☐    SA Regional                          ☐    Tasmania                             ☐    WA Remote

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International

   ☑️    Africa (55)                              ☑️    Asia (21)                                ☑️    Central America and Caribbean (30)

              Show all countries                        Show all countries                      Show all countries

   ☑️    Europe (49)                            ☑️    Middle East (12)                 ☑️    North America (6)

              Show all countries                        Show all countries                      Show all countries

   ☑️    Oceania (20)                         ☑️    Southeast Asia (12)          ☑️    South America (14)

              Show all countries                        Show all countries                      Show all countries

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Additional locations

   ☐    PO Box

 

The above settings show excluding all international sales, for example.

One quick point: I've typed this rather than pasting a screenshot, so if you view this post on a small device such as a smart phone, the spacing will look rather messed up. If you prefer to see screenshots, I've included them in the spoiler below.

Hopefully that will help you in future.

Spoiler