overseas shipping

[costabeera]

What are ebay's policies where the postage to an overseas location is clearly stated in the listing however upon purchasing the item the buyer sees that postage is not specified - please contact the seller?

What happens it the seller comes back with an inflated price that makes overall cost higher that you would originally have been prepared to pay (so therefore would not have bid on the item)? 

[repentatleisure1952]

Hi costa, please post the item number so that the members are able to have a look for you & provide an informed answer rather than speculation.

[curraone]

You could ask the seller for a postage quote before buying/bidding?

[cherry*135]

"where the postage to an overseas location is clearly stated in the listing"

Was the postage cost given in actual $ terms in the listing e.g. postage to Australia $19.00 OR did the listing just say seller posts to Australia?

[lyndal1838]

I know where the OP is coming from....it happened to me last weekend.

I bid on a DVD from the UK with postage clearly set at GBP4.99.  When the invoice came through it had GBP9.99 on it.  I went back to check the listing as I was very annoyed...the increased postage made the item more expensive than buying from a local seller.

The listing was now showing that the seller posts to Australia but no actual price.

I messaged the seller and he was very nice about it...he pointed out that all his DVD listings had GBP9.99 to Australia (which they did) but he would give me a GBP5.00 discount on the postage.

[costabeera]

Yeah my quesiton relates to somethign similar to Lyndal's experience. The postage price (USD$21) disappeared as soon as I bought the item so there is now n proof it was ever stated as beign that. Just wondered what would happen if the seller had come back and said postage was USD$40 or whatever. How would I have been able to dispute it?

I don't actualy have a problem with this as the seller didn't increase the cost. Just wondered how it would have panned out if he had.

[i-love-my-sheep]

There is currently a glitch that's been going on for a few weeks now. As soon as an item is sold, the postage amount disappears and is replaced with "will post to Australia". When you click on the postage tab, it tells you postage can't be calculated, please contact the seller. It has been a real pain for both sellers and buyers as buyer often aren't able to pay until an invoice is sent.

If you are ever concerned a seller might increase the postage cost due to this glitch, take a screenshot of the listing before buying it, if the postage cost is showing.

[lordlaidley]

I am in Australia (Down Under)  and buy a lot of goods from the US.  I just love to buy from the US, there are some really lovely things on eBay there.   Recently I messaged a seller prior to bidding on an item to see how much extra shipping would cost.   The seller quoted me a shipping price and so I bid on the item.  After receiving my bid, the seller messaged me and told me the shipping would be much more expensive. 

So I messaged seller back to say it would be ok if they cancelled my bid since the shipping was now waaayyyy to expensive.  The seller did not cancel my bid and instead got nasty and messaged me to say that they were going to send me an invoice for the sale including the new exagerated shippping costs and use a "drop shipper"...but in the mean time relisted the item again...without cancelling my bid.   

Unfortunately I had to open a case to end the sale.   What a mix up!!  Sure leaves a nasty taste for buying from anyone again.   Took all precautions to ensure that it would be okay but still ended up in a argument.  

Also in the last week or so, I have noticed that when first viewing an item it will have say US $13.95 shipping to Australia, so I put it on my "watch list."    Then if I look at the item again, the shipping will say....US $18.99  Priority, go back to the watch list and it is $13.95 again.    

When I message the seller they say, "I will send the item and then eBay will bill you."    Not a very good idea is it?     Sometimes the shipping is over US $40.00 on an item of under $10.00...it must make selling hard for you sellers.   You must lose a heck of a lot of sales.

There must be a way around this to increase your sales.  Happy selling!! 

[lordlaidley]

It has been my unfortunate experience to have had a seller come back to me with a MUCH higher shipping cost after I had placed a bid on an item despite messaging the seller prior to bidding.   After I had placed a bid on an item, the seller messaged me with a much HIGER cost of shipping.   Ughhhhh!! 

The seller would not cancel the bid when I contacted them and continued to sent me an invoice.  Not a happy situation.   And amazingly the seller was able to relist the same item without cancelling my bid.    I had to open a case to ask for the seller to cancel the sale and eventually the seller did so.   So I guess it depends on how honest the seller is.    

High shipping costs must kill lots of sales.      And it is not the seller making the money from the shipping.

 lordlaidley. 

[i-love-my-sheep]

If the item has more than 12 hours to go, you can cancel your own bid. Or did you only find out the exaggerated cost after the auction was finished?

It's possible that the seller initially gave you the price of shipping via USPS, then afterwards, may have given the cost via the GSP, which is MUCH higher on most items than USPS. The only exception is large, bulky items, which are cheaper via USPS.

Can you post the item number of the item you bought?