Friday, June 26, 2009

Huh?

I've mentioned on here before that I sell a lot of stuff on ebay. I've always had my listings set up to indicate to potential buyers that I do not ship outside the US. Its just a hassle, between customs forms and unfamiliar shipping rates, and I choose not to bother with it all. A while ago, a buyer bid on and won one of my auctions. Then I found out she lived in another country so I asked her not to send payment and I relisted the item.

I wised up and added a note within all of my item descriptions that specifically says I don't ship outside the US. That didn't stop a buyer last week who lives in Finland. Last time I checked, that wasn't local! He sent his payment right away, and it was a hop in the arse to reverse it. I'm still trying to figure out how to have the ebay fees reversed.

After this, I did some research on ebay and found out I can block folks from bidding on my items if they don't live in the US. Perfect! Problem solved me thinks. Then I get this email last night:

Hi I am from South Africa and would like to buy this item, Would you please quote me on shipping costs to South Africa? Why would some ppl not ship to Africa? Thank you

Sigh. What part about "I do not ship outside the US" was not clear here? I love how he didn't ask if I'd consider shipping to him, or whether I'd make an exception to my shipping practices. Nope. He just wants to know how much the shipping would cost! Well sir, I don't really know since I don't ship outside the US! lol And did you like his question about why people wouldn't ship to Africa? Again, not quite sure. Its not like I said I would ship anywhere but Africa. I said I wouldn't ship outside the US and wouldn't you know it, Africa just happens to fall outside those lines. I guess he thinks he's special and I'd say to him, well allrighty then, just cause you asked so nice, I'll ship to you. Some people. ;)

22 comments:

Sam said...

What do you sell on eBay? Do you sell your excess stockpile items?

frugalsuz said...

I sell a lot of stuff, but the bulk of it is stockpile items. I've sold air fresheners, Tena underwear, makeup and lots of other stuff. Its a great way to make some extra money.

Blakely said...

I have never sold anything on ebay mostly because of stuff like this. I don't think I could deal with it.

American Dreamer said...

Some people can't read or comprehend! UGH!

Laurie said...

I've had the non-US buyers do that to me too. And my mother has a horror story...She had an old pair of my dad's jeans listed (white Levis...YIKES!) and someone from France bid and won even though she specified she didn't ship outside of the US for the exact same reasons you listed. She ended up making an exception & the guy agreed to pay around $30 for shipping. They ended up getting sent back to my mom because they made three delivery attempts and he wasn't there to sign for them or whatever. Then he expected her to re-ship them. She told him he'd have to pay again since it wasn't her fault. && He agreed but what a nightmare.

frugalsuz said...

Blakely,
95% of the time, the transaction goes smoothly. Its these wackadoos that drive me nuts.

Precious,
I've found a lot of people just don't read or think that the "rules" don't apply to them. It is frustrating.

Laurie,
Oh jeez, deja vu for me! I'm going through the same situation right now, minus the France part. I shipped an item to a guy and he never bothered to pick it up. The Post office gave him 10 days and he never went. Now I have no idea where the package is. The guy filed a dispute against me in ebay AND paypal, so I haven't been paid for the item. He wants me to reship it to him, but I'm not sure if I'll ever even get it back! Grr

Queen said...

I think S. Africa has really strict customs & import rules? I know they charge 15% duties taxes on almost everything that comes into the country

Queenbuv3 said...

I've been buying and selling on ebay for 5 years and put a block on my listings for bidders outside the U.S. a couple years ago. If I get e-mails from non-U.S. bidders I just ignore them.

frugalsuz said...

Queen,
lol, really? Well there you go dude, a perfect reason why folks don't jump at the thought of shipping to Africa.

Queenbuv3,
That's a good idea, maybe I'll just ignore emails like this going forward.

Stephanie said...

I have a TON of those renuzits and air wick imotion kits, is this something you have sold on ebay? Do you sell them in bunches? I'm curious!

frugalsuz said...

Stephanie,
Oh yes! I usually sell them three or four at a time, depending on how many I have. You just have to watch out for any type of aerosol containers - those can't be shipped b/c they are pressurized. Same goes for shaving cream cans.

Pjay said...

I got the same email from some Dr Scholls I am selling. I do not ship outside the US also. I enjoy just printing my label on my computer and putting it in the mail box.

I also want to thank you for posting your Dr Scholl's deal we ended up buying 400 of these. No one in my area received the coupons and every store I went to had a ton.

Unknown said...

I have them same thing on my auctions along with a time frame that I need to be paid and if I combine shipping on items (some yes some no) and I still get tons of questions. I asked once if they were having trouble viewing my listing since all the answers were there. LOL

Pubbler said...

Queen, this is not true. I'm originally from South Africa & ship things there all the time. The strict import rules mainly apply to companies/businesses.
Individuals pay R25 (approx $3.13) duty on all packages.
South Africa is the only African country that has Ebay.

frugalsuz said...

Cutie,
Funny, that email came on one of my Dr. Scholl's auctions as well. Guess this guy's getting desperate! lol

400 Dr. Scholls?!? Holy macaroni! Go you - that's what, hmm...$2,000 profit, right?? Damn!

Tiffany,
Some people just really do not read. They can't be bothered. I think its more work to email someone than to just read the info that's there, but that's just me.

pubbler,
Thanks for the clarification.

slugmama said...

Frugalsuz wrote...."I guess he thinks he's special and I'd say to him, well allrighty then, just cause you asked so nice, I'll ship to you. Some people. ;)"

After selling on eBay for over 8 yrs. I can safely tell you that 99% of the buyers on eBay thinks they are special!LOLOL

Oh, the joys of dealing with those "special" eBay folks.....I could talk about the ones I've met there for hours....

frugalsuz said...

slugmama,
LOL, very true! Some of these people really are amazing.

Oh, and for anyone who read my previous comment, I found out last night that the package was delivered to that dude on 6/24. Did I hear from him? Nope. The dispute was closed on paypal this morning and I got my money back. Off to block that buyer from my future auctions...(hehe)

Pjay said...

Yep $2k plus the profit of selling them on ebay. We let the kids get what ever they wanted in the store. We had fun spending the $2k on mp3 players for everyone, stereos, we even downloaded our pictures online and paid for them at wags with our RR.

We have 8 wags in the area. I did like 5 transactions at a time. My hubby would do the transaction and I would try to spend $50-100 in every store we went. My van was full on more than one trip. I still have $200 from the Dr Scholls deal from the 3rd week of June. If you look for who selling the most Dr Scholls on ebay I would not be hard to find. ;)

Thanks again I love your blog!

frugalsuz said...

Cutie,
Wow, that's amazing! That really must have been a lot of work spending all those RR's. Thank you for your nice words!

Stephanie said...

Wow! I'm getting a headache just thinking of all that foot work!!

Sam said...

I am so intrigued! So you cant sell aerosol things - but can you ship other liquids easily?

frugalsuz said...

Sarah,
Right, aerosol stuff can explode under high temps or pressure, so you can't ship those. But I've shipped shampoo, soap, etc. without a problem. I usually put the items in a ziploc bag just in case they leak.