International buyer issues... am I the only one?

[Varkolak]

I've luckily had no problem with international shipping yet. I ALWAYS try to get a tracking number on the item, but sometimes the tracking cost more than the item itself did. I take a picture of the receipt and email it to the buyer.
i did have a problem with a seller once, they refused to put tracking on an Nsync watch I bought a long time ago. it was about 4 weeks and still no watch in the mail, we got our money back from paypal, only to find it arrived the next day in the mail. it was odd at how long it took seeing as they were in the united states as well.
i wish there was another way to verify package shipment other than just tracking numbers.

[severedanomaly]

I've had issues shipping to England, but as a whole I haven't shipped internationally much. Luckily, the shipping issues I did have were simple gifts or trades with understanding people, but it's so frustrating. I hope your issues get resolved soon!

[IndigoSwirl]

The one item I sent to Italy was received 2 months later. He let me know and closed the case, I sent a scan of the receipt and an explanation. He was very nice and apologetic. I'm not sure that Papal would have resolved the issue in my favour had he not received the item even with the receipt forwarded. I filled out a survey and explained that if I have a receipt proving I sent the item then why should I be penalized for the buyer not receiving the item? we'll see.

The other buyer from France insisted on a refund and is totally unreasonable, I suspect fraudulent action from this buyer. I did not send her a scan of the receipt because the carbon did not copy through :( I have the itemized print out but that could be any international package I sent, so suck to be me.

Moral of the story, international buyers will have to pay for air mail, and possibly tracking if Paypal doesn't change their policies.

[Canazta]

I´m a so called international my little pony collector.... I live in Sweden, I have only had problem with south africa.... it was a trade and the package I sent never made it... I offered to send the pony I got back to the other part, but she was afraid it too would go missing.... she told me that the post there often stole things in the mail.... and that it wasn´t unusual....

I have also had a problem with my packages being late sometimes.... but they have all made it in the end, all except the one to africa....

I don´t use paypal(don´t know how, I know.... embaressing)... so I only do trades international.... and I hope that you don´t stop doing buisness international just because you have met a fraud....not all international buyers are frauds....

[QuestorStar]

Tikibirds-it really doesn't matter what you tell the buyers, if they want to file a claim with paypal or ebay, they can. I state in my ebay auctions that all sales are final and encourage people to ask questions-and still every now and then I get "item not as described" complaints from people who never asked any questions.

I once had that happen to me-where I sent over $150 of MOC ponies to someone in Germany from ebay. Supposedly the box "never arrived". They were really nice until the package was in the mail and they communicated very well-but after their ponies were shipped, economy, I didnt hear from her again except to say she "didnt get them". Ive never ever lost a package and Ive been selling online since the late 1990's. I tried contacting Paypal, but a rep on the phone told me that if there's no tracking number, Im SOL. A tracking number is the only, written in stone, the ONLY proof of shipment they will accept. No reipts, no customs forms, nothing but a tracking number. That was in 2009. I was so upset because I was unemployed and ONLY sold the ponies to pay the bills. Not like I was tired of looking at them and sold them on a whim. I lost the money and the ponies, and had my paypal account suspended for a negative balance-which I couldnt pay because-I was unemployed.
Since then, I only ship within the US with delivery confirmation and outside the country via a track-able method-usually registered-unless Ive dealt with the person before and feel like I can trust them-or unless its an item with a small value.


As far as tracking international packages with a customs number-that only works with some countries. From the US to Germany is not a place where that works, and even then, its not tracking like it is with registered or delivery confirmation. If I remember correctly, it just shows that its been mailed. :P

[Cloud Dreamer]

I am having a similar problem, but from a buyers perspective.

In Feb this year I won an auction on eBay for some HTF accessories including Magan's place pieces and baby acccessories. I paid (including postage) $250!

I was not given a postage option and I was advised the parcel went out on 13 Feb. It is now the end of June and still nothing

I contacted the seller a few times and she advised that shipping from Canada to UK can take up to 6 months. I contacted Paypal to ask about my options and they advised that claiming can only be done within 46 days. I never did this as the suggested delivery time is up to 8 weeks, which takes it past the 46 day cut off. This would not be fair on the seller.

I think the biggest issue here is with eBay/paypal and postal services. You can't blaim the seller for being annoyed that something they have posted out has been refunded back to the customer, but at the same time, the buyer is a customer who has the right to a refund for a no show (assuming they are all being honest!)

Paypal should extend their claim timeframe for items sent via surface mail (and the seller must keep proof of posting). The alternative is that eBay does not allow for surface mail to be used and/or should put a big note on the delivery tab of an auction stating that buyer bids at own risk and that claims cannot be made on surface mail. At least it would stop people using it.

Anyway, i'll stop ranting now, just gutted that the items haven't arrived and losing the optimism that they will ever turn up

[enolaalone]

I had a problem with selling internationally as well, it was just a dress on ebay but because it went missing and I had no tracking number I had to refund the money. It was only about the 4th thing I'd sold online so it has pretty much put me off. In retrospect, perhaps shipping to Brazil is not a good idea. I have no idea how many packages to there go missing but I wouldn't be surprised if it was quite a few. I've seen on ebay a lot of people won't sell to Russia either.

It's just the system really, it's a pain that it costs so much to ship with a tracking number, and it's frustrating from both sides. Plus what other people have said with timing and when you're allowed to open a dispute on ebay etc.

[heartland10]

I only started selling stuff online and i've started shipping worldwide. I don't ever have a problem with Canada, everthing goes through fine. None of my packages have ever been lost, but I do have a problem with customs. The UK customs and Australian customs keep sending my items back. Making the buyer pay shipping all over again although if I have to send it out again, I normally pay for half of the shipping the second time around. My post master has tried to encourage me to stop selling to those places, but I buy a lot from there too and would be really sad if they stopped selling to me. My post master is usually very nice and works with customs to solve the issue. Although the UK customs department gets in touch right away, the Australian customs takes forever to return a call or email to my post master. I had a package shipped back to me over a month ago and even though my buyer is being very nice about it, while my post master resolves the issue, the box is just sitting there staring at me as if begging to go to it's new home. I hope no one else has had any problems with customs like I have.

[moonwillow83]

Not MLP related, but... ebay "scammer" related.

In May I sold some playstation games - on auction.

I was very sure to fill out my exclusion list, thus naming countries I will not ship to.
Further more, making it USA only.
I even wrote in the ad itself - "I only ship to the lower 48 states, USA".

Well... lol.... The 1st bidder on my items was in flippin Brazil!
I was thinking if I filled out the exclusion list while making my ad.. AND stated in the ad that I only ship to the US.. Why and How is this guy in Brazil bidding on my items?
I thought by filling out that Exclusion list...
ebay would automatically block my ad from anyone outside of the US.

Convinced I had done something wrong, I went back to edit my ad.
Just to be sure I did in fact exclude all countries except the US.
I found that my exclusion list was just as I wanted it - all countries blocked except for the lower 48 states USA. After making sure I had set up my ad correctly... I promptly messaged the bidder, informing him that I do not ship to anywhere but the USA.
He replied: "I have a PO in the US".
At first.. I was relieved.
But as it got closer to auctions end.. I got leary.
I'm still a newbie on ebay - as far as selling.
And I got wind that some buyers in other countries will take advantage of new ebay sellers.
I wrote to the bidder about my concerns 5 days before auction ended... he wouldnt reply.

But.. thank my lucky stars.. a US bidder won my auction in the last few minutes.
Otherwise.. I would of cancelled the transaction with the guy in Brazil.
There was just.. something fishy about him.
I dont know how else to describe it.

I also talked with another ebay seller.
Actually found him on youtube.
He made a video about how he was being scammed by buyers.
Basically - ppl were buying vintage radios from him - in good condition.
The buyers would gut out the radios - ask for a refund.
Or... send back a radio of the same kind - but totally gutted/trashed.
Essentially keeping the good radio, demand a refund.. and send back a trashed radio.
lol- hope I'm making sense.

I didnt want to post this sellers' video here.

But you can find the video by going to Youtube -
Search: SELLERS BEWARE! Buyers using eBay Buyer Protection to steal items on eBay.

I realize this video is not MLP related.
But.. I thought it essential to share this seller's story.
You can check it out if ya want ~

MODS: Sorry my reply is not MLP related. If this is a problem.. just let me know.
I'll be happy to edit it.

IndigoSwirl:
So sooo sorry for your recent trouble with the international buyers.. :(

[PrincessLio]

Speaking as an international buyer, I never had any problems buying from the US. I did have trouble twice, but both of those times were like, 8 years ago - all the purchases I made during the last two years arrived like clockwork. ...Except for one that got opened by customs and thus delayed for 4 weeks, but I'll be honest, I can't blame the customs people for being suspicious. It was packed in a shoebox, for crying out loud!

But I do say one thing, I don't really trust surface mail for overseas purchases. If it was something from Continental Europe, maybe, but from the US or Canada? Nah. I usually go with air mail, tracked if possible. It's more expensive, sadly (I'm starting to understand we get things with higher prices in stores), but at least it's faster and cheaper, from what I can gather.