When an overseas buyer bids on an Australia only item.. what to do

[springyzone]

My sister just sold a glomesh bag. When you click on postage and handling details, it clearly says Posts to: Australia.

The postage cost for the boxed bag is pretty much only Aust post price ($13), maybe even a fraction less and her dilemma is the winner of the auction is someone from NZ.

I just looked up the postage to NZ and for this item it would be $28.15 (for one with a signature required).

My sister isn't a professional seller, just we are trying to clear a few bits and pieces lately from an estate.

What would you suggest she do?

I suggested she write to the buyer and explain she sells only to Australia, as outlined in the ad, because postage to NZ would be too dear.

But should she ask for a cancellation and if she does and the buyer ignores it, can she later open an unpaid item dispute?

But what if the buyer pays? I have said if that happens to refund it.

If my sister does that and asks for a cancellation, will she get a defect?

We are having a bad run lately.

First she sells a bedroom suite and the buyer messages next day to say sorry, no transport not buying, have a nice day, then this!

What is wrong with some buyers lately??

[phorum_junkie*]

It is not enough to just say you only post to Australia, you have to use your buyer blacks to exclude any member with a primary delivery address you do not post to.

In this instance I would just invoice the buyer with the international delivery charge added and then post if off when they have made payment.

[mccrae2007]

I would message that the postage was for Australia only & tell them how much it is to post to NZ

Then send the invoice which should allow you to change it to it to International post & add the price it will cost.

Try that first before you worry about the rest. 

(I think a lot of buyers see what they want but don't read the details.)

[springyzone]

Thank you both for the replies.

I was just taken aback as the first thing I would look at with an overseas seller is whether they post internationally and for how much, that would be a pivotal question in my mind.

I guess everyone is different.

[chameleon54]

I understood the item would not show the postage cost in listing if viewed from an overseas site, unless the seller had included a fixed price for International postage or added the weight and size dimensions in the international postage section. ( after the seller clicks on the International postage option when listing. ) Postage cost is generally pretty reasonable to NZ so perhaps the buyer is aware of this and happy to pay. When an overseas buyer buys an item, the seller must send an invoice with revised postage cost. If the buyer gets a shock, it is best to encourage them to message you through ebay messages requesting a cancellation. Then select " buyer purchased by mistake or changed their mind" as the reason for cancellation. This should ensure you do not recieve a defect.

[springyzone]

Oh dear, I can sense this is not going to end well, the buyer will give my sister a low rating and one star etc I am sure of it.

My sister messaged the woman to say that international postage to NZ would be $28.15 ( this is for registered post international, which requires a signature. I assume this is the postage sellers need to have to cover themselves).

The woman responded by saying that is ridiculously expensive and she recently had a glomesh bag posted to her for $10.55. My sister replied that over here, the postage even interstate would be $13 for the weight it is (between 500g-1kg)

Then the woman was going to get it sent to an Australian address, but not for 7 weeks (my sister said she could do that, but it would need to be paid for within one week).

So now she is grumbling but says she wants to go ahead and buy the bag, & will pay for it to go to NZ.

I just don't understand why a person would bid on an overseas item without once asking about the international postage cost or even asking the seller. She would be as capable as i am of looking up Aust post website to get an estimate. Logic would tell you a boxed bag of the dimensions in the ad was likely to come in at over 500g, surely.

To add insult to injury, if my sister wraps the parcel and pays commission on postage, it is not as if she is making any profit at all on the postage cost, quite the opposite.

[i-love-my-sheep]

I would have sent an invoice with a postage cost of $100. Then after 4 days open an UPI dispute, then close it 4 days later. It would be unlikely she would pay that kind of postage. At least by doing that, she can't then turn aorund and trash your sisters feedback or stars.

[springyzone]

The saga continues.

The woman sent a message that she received another glomesh bag from Australia and postage was only $10.55, so $28.15 was ridiculously high. When my sister wrote that that was the exact post office cost, the woman countered with she had looked up australia post and there was a postal rate of only $21 that could be used and she saw no reason why it should be sent registered post as it was inconvenient to have anyone home to sign for it anyway and she had not had a problem with postage going astray.

I told my sister that the buyer is not in charge and to just tell her ebay regulations require proof of delivery and in fact she (my sister) was willing to take a loss on postage costs as she would have to pay ebay fees on the $28.15. My sister also added that she quite understood if the postage costs were too high andif  the buyer did not wish to go ahead, that was okay, what my sis would do is leave it 4 days and just open an unpaid items case which the buyer did not need to respond to, it was only a formality to get the ebay selling fees back.

I advised my sister to send the adjusted invoice before the buyer could go in and change addresses to Sydney (as it would mean a 7 week wait). Apparently the buyer was very angry at the mention of an unpaid item case.

The buyer has paid but I don't like the chances of a good star rating & now my sister will probably get neg feedback as well. If she does, we will work on a factual reply to it, i think.

What gets me is this. The woman bid without asking about postage, she then told my sister it could be done for $10.55 "Other sellers do it', but when told it was $28.15 she was pretty quick off the mark to jump in and say there was  cheaper rate of $21.

She obviously knows how to google Australia post so why do it after a sale? It puzzles me.

[springyzone]

LOL

We never thought of that.

My sister is a bit over the whole transaction. She is a polite person but can be blunt. She told one other non paying bidder (with only 3 feedback) not to waste people's time in future by bidding if he didn't intend to buy. I said if you get stroppy they can get nasty and she said she doesn't care, she'll say it like it is.

I have been doing cut and pastes of the replies in here and emailing them to her. I think I will do that to sheep's reply too, even though the saga is sort of over.

It might give my sister a smile.

On the positive side, it has been a learning experience. She now has international bidders completely blocked so that is one good thing.

[i-love-my-sheep]

Has she been in here and ticked all the boxes as well as excluding from locations she doesn't post to? http://cgi5.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ExcludeShippingList&guest=1

I know some will say ticking these boxes isn't necessary, but I figure, to be sure, to be sure. You only have to tick the top box for each location to fill them all in. Then tick the apply to all current live listings befor clicking apply.