posted on October 29, 2006 06:36:19 AM new
A buyer in Ireland does a BIN on an item we list that is specifically listed as only being available for shipping to US and Canadian buyers, this due to the item length (6 feet long or 72 inches) and the max. package length to (certain) countries other than US & Canada is 60 inches (5 feet) for Parcel Post Airmail.
Assuming that the buyer has to be signed into Ebay to do the BIN and checkout (DUH!) the Ebay system allows him the buy and checkout, even though we checked off the appropriate boxes in the "seller will ship to" section, indication US and Canada only.
I know, dumb question coming here, but why in the world would the Ebay system allow this? Recently I noticed that when you are signed into Ebay and do searches, pages of item listings have shipping costs shown, if the seller is using calculated shipping, as the system is reading your location. Why doesn't this apply to the more important (IMO) buying and checkout processes?
Below is a copy of the email on this I have sent to Ebay and I expect the usual canned response, but comments here are welcome and appreciated.
Sword013(Joe)
>>>>>>>>>>>
RE: Ebay item # 320042208919.
Subject: Item listed as only available to bidder in the US and Canada, parameters not being followed in ebay checkout.
Even though we SPECIFICALLY listed this item as being only available to buyers in the US and Canada, a buyer located in Ireland was allowed to buy this item and to calculate a shipping rate in the Ebay checkout process. WHY? Assuming that Ebay members must be signed into the system to complete "buy it now" sales and complete the checkout process, why does the system allow this? Why does the system not recognize the buyer's location and then PREVENT them from buying an item that is not offered for sale or shipment to their country?
I would think that this concept would be fundamental, especially given that we specified where we would ship to when the item was listed. This deficiency in the system needs to be addressed and a solution implimented to prevent situations like this. I have been in contact with the buyer and he understands the problem, but now I have to wait for 10 days to file for recovery of fees, and possibly 7 more days for the buyer to confirm the mutual agreement to not complete the sale. This is at least 10 days of administrative time which is not only cumbersome but costly to our business. Ebay needs to look into this and impliment an improvement to the system to prevent this situation.
posted on October 29, 2006 07:03:16 AM new
No freak out on his wanting it shipped to Ireland, because it just isn't possible, at least financially (lowest cost is UPS at $93.00!)
His contact info is Ireland, not a US address. He had already paid through Paypal so I was able to view the name and address in checkout on Ebay, and also on Paypal, they match and both are Ireland ship to address. I don't think he was trying to "pull a fast one" or anything like that, and that he is as much a "victim" on this as I am.
posted on October 29, 2006 08:32:13 AM new
Do your eBay preferences (not the auction shipping to) indicate that eBay should block bidders from a location that you do not ship to?
posted on October 29, 2006 08:32:39 AM new
There's no understanding eBay -- it giveth and taketh away. Until they fire the 12-year-olds working at "enhancements" to justify their salaries, things won't change.
posted on October 29, 2006 09:08:46 AM new
sword013 writes:
I don't think he was trying to "pull a fast one" or anything like that, and that he is as much a "victim" on this as I am.
Would this be the same sword013 who previously wrote:
an item we list that is specifically listed as only being available for shipping to US and Canadian buyers
What, your "victim" can't read English?
I find it hilarious that people are so quick to get angry at eBay when something goes wonky. Kind of relieves you of the responsibility of trying to figure out what *you* did wrong.
I'm with cash.
fLufF
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posted on October 29, 2006 06:23:21 PM new
sword013,
I take it by your silence that you did not check the eBay preferences to disallow bids from people registered in countries that you do not include in your "ships to." Do it now, and you won't have this problem again.
I will agree that eBay could make this more obvious, but I kind of like it that "out of shipping area bidders" aren't allowed to bid unless I put them in an exemptions list. Most of my US only stay that way, but I will sometimes grant someone an exemption if they seem reasonable and agree to my shipping terms outside of the US (mostly having to do with NO PAYPAL!).
posted on October 29, 2006 09:56:05 PM new
Interesting discussion. I sold an item a few weeks ago that was large enough to be a major pain to pack and heavy enough that I thought international shipping fees would discourage foreign bidders. I listed the auction US only.
I used an ebay account that is not very active because I was selling the item for my SIL in Buffalo.
Too late to make my long story short, but of course, the winner turned out to be in Western Canada. I had assumed that he had logged in on the US site and bid. I checked the auction, it said I shipped to US only.
In trying to deduce how this wonderful person had managed to buy the item, I was surprised to find that somewhere in one of eBay's many upgrades, they had reset my Buyer's requirements and I was no longer blocking bids from countries to which I do not ship.
I tried to discourage his completing the transaction. Especially when he started the "can you mark it as a gift" nonsense (final price was $150). A dozen emails and 7 days later we are finally completing the transaction.
Major PITA.
Thanks all for this thread. You have to wonder why the default on Buyer's Requirements ALLOWs foreign bidders to bid on US only auctions. Would it not make more sense to make the default "block" foreign bidders ?
Gee, sorry I was not monitoring the thread every second to give you an immediate reply. Your suggestion is a moot point in this case and I thought that the info I provided would have made this obvious, but I guess not. The whole point was about selecting the "will ship to" locations on individual listings and how Ebay allows those outside of those parameters to bid on or BIN the item anyway. We sell worldwide in general and have many items that can be shipped worldwide. Changing the Ebay seller preferences to US and Canada only just to address the problem on this one type of item (overlength item) would "chase away" those buyers that did bother to read the terms in the description. It would also block buyers in other countries that we would ordinarily ship to, so this is no solution.
Maybe that option works for you beause you have a general policy of where you will ship any item you happen to sell? It won't work in this case for us.
-fluff
Yes, victim. If you had read the original info a little more carefully, I said that he was allowed to calculate a shipping rate to Ireland, even though the "will ship to" states US and Canada only. Now perhaps I am being unreasonable here in expecting some common sense, but I would think that if an item was listed as US and Canada only, and if someone registered from somewhere other than those locations tried to calculate shipping, the system SHOULD tell them that there is no shipping available? Yes? I pointed out that Ebay HAS been able to show ship rates on items that you are looking at, as long as you are signed in. My question was why doesn't this apply to the "will ship to" parameters?
Yes I agree, he did not read the description very well before buying, and assumed that the item could be shipped to him, considering that he was able to obtain a shipping rate to Ireland from the shipping calculator on the item page. I say we both were "victims" beause Ebay has not bothered to apply a short line of code to change this, and I know this is not an uncommon problem. I don't see where we have done anything wrong, as the system as currently set up will not allow us to do things correctly for specific applications, and Ebay could easily correct this. I've done all I can in setting up the item to try an avoid this problem but unless I am given the correct tools (i.e., programming) it will continue to happen, and that is out of my immediate control. Only Ebay can fix this; it's THEIR programming, not mine.
-LtRay,
"Thanks all for this thread. You have to wonder why the default on Buyer's Requirements ALLOWs foreign bidders to bid on US only auctions. Would it not make more sense to make the default "block" foreign bidders ?"
My point exactly. What's so difficult in Ebay making the preferences item (listing) specific, instead of across the board for all items we list? Again, maybe I am expecting too much, but the idea seems reasonable (at least to me) and I don't think it would be all that hard to apply.
Rather than getting snide, you might have looked into what you're talking about, as you're obviously working under a misconception.
The eBay preferences doesn't set what countries you'll ship to, it asks whether eBay should block bidders from countries that EACH INDIVIDUAL AUCTION does not mark as being shipped to. So, it would fit your business model perfectly, as it does ours. Exceptions, on a per-bidder basis, can be made using a "Buyer Requirements Exemption" list.
I will grant that defaulting it to allow rather than disallow is bass-ackwards, but it is what it is. You can get pissed off, or just figure out how it works and quit wasting your time.
PS I lose track of time on weekends. I didn't realize that I had just recently posted my reply. You are not under any obligation to watch your posts for replies.
[ edited by cashinyourcloset on Oct 30, 2006 07:21 AM ]
"I will grant that defaulting it to allow rather than disallow is bass-ackwards, but it is what it is. You can get pissed off, or just figure out how it works and quit wasting your time."
I'M being snide? I am very amused that you are so sure of my emotional state(s) of mind, from a text post. Interesting, but barely. I only posted this in the hope of getting some direct and useful opinions, not to get into any "shouting matches".
I think the misconception is yours. You say:
"The eBay preferences doesn't set what countries you'll ship to, it asks whether eBay should block bidders from countries that EACH INDIVIDUAL AUCTION does not mark as being shipped to."
This is not correct according to Ebay. Also, this is not said on the preference page or the Ebay "help" page on the subject, at all, so I have no idea where you get this idea from. Lacking further verifiable info on this, I have to go with what Ebay has told me.
Whoever you spoke to at eBay doesn't understand your question, or was confused, neither of which would be a surprise.
Here is what my particular eBay preferences are marked as:
Block buyers who:
Are registered in countries to which I don't ship
Have a feedback score of -1 or lower
Are currently winning or have bought 10 of my items in the last 10 days and have a feedback score of 5 or lower
Have received 2 Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days
The "Don't ship" is marked in each individual auction. I've made case by case decisions on auctions for well over a year this way, and it works. You can believe what an eBay person tells you if it makes you feel better, or you can solve your problem by simply using eBay's Preferences to provide you with what you want... and yes, I'm being snide now.
posted on November 1, 2006 10:27:34 AM new
In case anyone is interested or cares, Ebay responded to my questions today (see original post above), but utterly failed to answer my questions. Instead, the response was all about how idea submissions are "non-confidential and non-proprietary" which I take to mean if they use the idea they pay me nothing.
No mention of anything to do with my original questions at all, nothing. Anyone care to rethink their take on my using the term "victim" earlier, or saying the mistakes are mine? I think this proves my point. Full response for Ebay shown below, unedited. And no, I DID NOT use the "submit a suggestion" subject line on the contact form.
>>>>
Dear eBay Member,
Thank for writing eBay in regard to making a suggestion for the eBay site about being able to specify the shipping location while listing an item.
eBay is always pleased to hear from members of the eBay community and welcomes their comments regarding eBay's products and services. However, eBay's long-standing company policy does not allow eBay to
accept or consider ideas, suggestions, proposals or materials other than those eBay has specifically requested.
eBay hopes members will understand that this policy is intended to help eBay avoid future misunderstandings when new products, services and features developed internally by eBay employees might be similar or even
identical to a member's idea.
Important Note:
If a member sends us an unsolicited suggestion, idea, proposal or other
material (collectively, the "Submission", eBay will consider the Submission to be non-confidential and non-proprietary.
eBay shall have no obligations concerning the Submission, contractual or otherwise (including but not limited to an obligation to keep the Submission confidential), and shall not be liable for any use or
disclosure of any Submission. eBay shall be entitled to unrestricted use of the Submission for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to the member.
If a member sends us, at our request, a comment or suggestion to improve the eBay site or add a new category or feature (for example, through our suggestion box, customer support web forms, discussion boards, or otherwise) (collectively, the "Submission", eBay will consider the
Submission to be non-confidential and non-proprietary.
eBay shall have no obligations concerning the Submission, contractual or otherwise (including but not limited to an obligation to keep the Submission confidential), and shall not be liable for any use or
disclosure of any Submission. eBay shall be entitled to unrestricted use of the Submission for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to the member.
If after reading this a member still wants to send us a suggestion, please visit our Help page on sending suggestions to eBay:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/newtoebay/suggest.html
We are committed to making your eBay experiences pleasant and fulfilling.
posted on November 1, 2006 02:31:39 PM new
Joe, it seems that lately the only people at eBay with any smarts are the lawyers. The technologists are sub-par; the phone people are worse than that. But the lawyers will make sure that you can't show up with an email suggesting something that they later implement and ask for royalties.
Anyway, our acrimony aside, please do set your preferences the way that I recommend; I promise that it will work the way it should (and it should be the default, in which case you would have saved yourself a week or so in getting your fees back (although you're still out listing fees)).
, eBay will consider the Submission to be non-confidential and non-proprietary.