posted on September 9, 2001 06:49:27 PM
I recently won an auction in which the seller would only ship to the US. I'm based in the UK but paid and gave the address of a friend in the US. As yet, no problems (and don't expect any)...
Just curious as to what your position on this is? Have sellers who do not ship internationally experienced any problems with this? When listing an auction in such circumstances do you expect only to get bids from your region? How would/do you deal with this situation?
Does it matter as long as you are paid and you ship "locally"?
posted on September 9, 2001 07:02:39 PM
With very few exceptions, I will ship anything anywhere, so I'm probably not the one to ask
I do sell software once in a while that has a USA/Canada only license restriction, and in this case I will ship only to Canada or US addresses, and if I knew it was going to be forwarded, I would not want to be a party in it leaving the country. Other than cases like this, I don't care.
posted on September 9, 2001 07:09:19 PM
I would only have a problem in this case if you paid with a credit card I would write and require a billing address verification.
if the billing address matched what was sent to me from billpoint or paypal no problem shipping to your friend in the US .
posted on September 9, 2001 07:37:19 PM
I am a US only shipper, and have had overseas bidders give me a US address to ship to. I treat them the same as I would treat someone purchasing one of my items as a gift.
I ship to whatever address the bidder tells me to. As long as it is in the US.
No offense to you overseas folks. I just don't want the aggrivation of overseas shipping (which I had a lot of in the past).
posted on September 9, 2001 07:49:38 PM
I ship small (envelope) items overseas, but state in my auctions for larger items that they are for U.S. shipping only.
The reason - to avoid a trip to the Post Office. If I have to do this, it takes at least an hour from my day, and an hour is a lot to spare, certianly not worth it for a <$10 item. Not to mention dealing with Post Office clerks who seem to know a lot less about overseas shipping than I do these days.
If an overseas buyers gives me a U.S. address, I have no problem with it at all.
But just recently I had an overseas buyer win one of my auctions, despite the US only clause. He proceeded to send me a detailed email about how easy it really is to ship overseas, but there was nothing in it I didn't already know and he doesn't understand my position at all.
So rather than explain to him how much money I will loose in shipping his item, I'll head to the PO when his payment arrives. Damn.
posted on September 10, 2001 12:04:49 AM
I personally sell internationally. I have heard many stories here at AW and elsewhere that sellers state in their tos they will not ship outside the US and yet people abroad will bid. I can see where this is aggravating for the seller.
In your case you had the item shipped in the US. From reading and "hearing" the above mentioned US Only sellers' stories I would suggest to you and anyone else who may be lurking, email first to explain the situation (the shipping address is US) and "ask" if you can bid on the widget.
Or you may want to bid and then email the seller to reassure that yes you live abroad but the shipping address is US.
You also may want to mention you will be making a payment according to their tos in US $$.
This is because some sellers check out the bidders and in the process they discover bidders abroad and push the panic button.
I think this would save you and the seller any unnecessary heartburn due to any panic buttons
