Buyer won't accept Paypal but advertises it as only method of payment?

[mothergoose572012]

I won an auction within the last few hours.  The listing indicates that the US seller will ship to Australia.  Paypal is listed as the only method of payment.  However, when I went to pay with Paypal, I got a message saying payment could not be completed because the seller won't accept Paypal from non-US customers.  The listing does NOT mention this condition of sale - if it had, I would not have bid as I only use Paypal.  Since Paypal is Paypal no matter where you are located, and since it is a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay, I do not understand the reasoning behind this condition.  I have written to the seller but have not received a reply yet.  Other than phoning, is there any way to contact eBay to complain about the listing being misleading, and to inquire as to whether a seller can put conditions on Paypal.  I would have thought that they either accept Paypal or they don't. 

[digital*ghost]

There is apparently a setting within US PayPal accounts that seller's can check to prevent payments from non-US accounts. It may be that it was done long ago and the seller forgot to update their settings. Best bet is to wait for the seller to respond and see what they say - if they don't know how to fix the issue, tell them that they need to log into their PayPal account to change the setting.

(Source for info: PayPal forum topic).

[mothergoose572012]

Dear Digital Ghost - thank you for your reply which was very helpful and I am very grateful.  I still have not heard from the seller and it has been over 48 hours.  I received an email from eBay reminding me to pay for my item, so I tried once again to pay for it, however, I had the same rejection of payment as before.  Not sure what to do.  Is there a prescribed amount of time that should I wait before contacting eBay about this?  I don't want to have my perfect customer rating affected by an apparent non-payment. 

[foxette-in-sox]

Mothergoose,if the seller were silly enough to open a non payer dispute against you,all you have to do is respond to the dispute with proof of having attempted to pay using Paypal.

JMO but I'd move on & forget it.

[mothergoose572012]

Thanks for your reply.  I have since heard from the seller but he/she refuses to honour the transaction stating that, as a non-US citizen I should not have been able to bid.  Not worth pursuing but I will be leaving feedback accordingly. 

[digital*ghost]

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@mothergoose572012 wrote:

Thanks for your reply.  I have since heard from the seller but he/she refuses to honour the transaction stating that, as a non-US citizen I should not have been able to bid.  Not worth pursuing but I will be leaving feedback accordingly. 

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I took a look at a US listing when you first posted, and if it's the auction I saw (a Sizzix item), postage was definitely stated for Australia, but using the Global Shipping Program. I have seen a couple of threads on the US boards where sellers were not even aware that they have opted into this program, and because it calculates and charges all P&H costs on behalf of the seller, there's a small chance they didn't even realise they were offering postage outside of the US.

Personally, if I was in the same circumstances as the seller, I would have honoured the sale (based on the fact that A) I have a buyer who is obviously willing to pay, and B) it's my responsibility to ensure my listing only offers options I'm prepared to honour), but unfortunately if they are not willing to honour the sale, there's not a lot that can be done.