Need some quick advice...

Sugarflower · Post by **Sugarflower** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:02 pm

I have an auction ending in 6 hours that plainly states I can not ship internationally due to the weight of the items. This afternoon I received an email from an international bidder asking about the cost of shipping to their country. I was just about to reply stating that I am not able to ship internationally for this particular auction BUT I checked on my auctions beforehand and apparently they decided not to wait on my reply and have already placed a bid!

I'm a little miffed that they couldn't just wait until my reply. Their feedback is high and they seem to have only one neg within the past 12 months. So right now I'm 50/50 on letting them slide but I'm not sure how cheap the shipping is gonna be for this package, it weighs about 8 or 9 lbs.

So if they win, I send an invoice with shipping cost, and they don't agree to pay the amount asking, I may be stuck with a neg.

Does anyone have suggestions on shipping through USPS for a heavy package? eBay was giving me some grief when I was calculating international postage and this was another reason I decided to make the auction USA only.

I've come down with an illness overnight and just don't have the strength to fight over the issue.

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Belldandy16 · Post by **Belldandy16** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:12 pm

perhaps you could go to ebay and tell them that this person violated the terms of the auction (he bid but since he is from another country his bid is invalid since it clearly states in your auction "no international bidders"? so they can retract that bid for you.

good luck with whatever you decide and i hope you feel better Christina!

take care of yourself!

~ amy

Nene · Post by **Nene** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:14 pm

No idea about the shipping price but speaking from experience, when a buyer bids on something from overseas they tend to expect the shipping to not be dirt cheap. With their relatively high feedback rating they've probably purchased from overseas before and so have an idea of how much the shipping might be, or what to expect in any case. ^_^ I wouldn't worry too much about getting a neg if they don't like the shipping price since chances are if they really want the item, they'll pay it.

Hopefully someone has advice on shipping methods.

kathpatty · Post by **kathpatty** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:18 pm

Will a flat rate box do...

Priority Mail® International
Reliable, priority service for merchandise up to 70 pounds to destinations worldwide. Prices start at just $17.00. Flat rate envelope starting at $9.95 and Flat rate box starting at $23.95 to Canada and Mexico.

zerospace · Post by **zerospace** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:26 pm

This is going to sound harsh, but as I've had this done to me before... I would cancel their bid and send them a message stating why. As the seller, you have this ability - you do not need eBay to do it for you. They've clearly violated your listing rules, and someone who does that (and obviously did not read your listing), poses the potential for other problems. I've let people like this slide in the past, and almost every one of them caused me some kind of headache later on (saying the item arrived damaged, but did not pay for shipping insurance, etc etc).

You can, when you list your items, tell eBay not to allow bids from anyone in countries to which you do not ship. If you list an item like this in the future, I would use this option to avoid problems like this again

As for shipping rates -- have you visited the international shipping calculator on the USPS site? The USPS also has rate charts for different shipping methods in their informational areas of the site. I don't have a link offhand, but if you do a quick search over there, I'm sure you'll turn it up. Those charts will give you the starting rate (by weight) for each zone of the world--just find what zone the buyer's country is in, and you'll get a general idea of what the costs are and what shipping methods are available there.

Kata · Post by **Kata** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:33 pm

You can check the rate here:
http://www.usps.com/
You can send them a estimated shipping amount. Some people do still not expect to pay high rates. I had it happend several times in the last few month. So I would contact them with a estimate shipping rate. Good luck!

Sugarflower · Post by **Sugarflower** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:47 pm

Thank you everyone for the speedy replies. I do appreciate all the help.

Zerospace and Kata, that is one thing I didn't do with this particular auction, lol. I normally do check with the USPS site when selling on eBay but this one instance I didn't.

I also completely forgot that I could have blocked all international bids as I posted the auction. double -->

I'll definitely remember this in the future.

Below is a screenshot I took of the postage quotes I just got from www.usps.com for an 8lb. package. Sorry for the large size of it.

So... it seems it's gonna cost roughly $30 to $40USD to ship the books.

I'm going to reply to the bidder to let them know and let them make the decision as to what they would like to do.

Nene · Post by **Nene** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:01 pm

Kris, you could always cancel the bid and explain in a reply to the bidder that if they agree to the shipping cost, they can re-bid. That might safe guard you a little more. ^_^

RoboFlonne · Post by **RoboFlonne** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 12:49 pm

You won't be able to track those priority mail options.

So if you ship using the International Priority mail you may have problems.

They should pay for expressmail or you may have alot of headaches!

Like you had before...

pixie_princess · Post by **pixie_princess** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:21 pm

She can add a registered mail option to priority mail for around $5.96/$6.96 starting. This will track the package, and still allow it to be affordable to ship.

cutiebunny · Post by **cutiebunny** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:32 pm

However, be careful with registered shipping because it will only cover up to $40 of damage. So, if the buyer wants to insure the full value, go with EMS. EMS is insured for all locations up to $100, but you can purchase more insurance(very pricey) for up to, I believe, $500.

Registered shipping is slow because the item is supposed to always be secured via lock/key, so there is no point in buying international priority mail services. The last time I sent with registered internationally, it was $12 for the registered service alone. I believe it varies by insurance coverage and location(high risk countries are more expensive). For locations such as Italy, I would strongly recommend some sort of tracking option. With Italy, if you don't pay for tracking, the chances of the person receiving that item are slim to none.

Sugarflower · Post by **Sugarflower** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:33 pm

Thankfully when I checked the auctions this morning a US bidder was the winner. I went to bed early since this illness became worse and I started getting fevered. So it looks like I got off lucky this time.

I want to thank everyone again for the great advice and comments.

star-phoenix · Post by **star-phoenix** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:33 pm

Just a FYI, buyers don't have any negative feedback because Ebay removed that option for sellers to leave buyers neg. So, don't even bother looking at their feedback any more.