In need of eBay help!

[Moo-Shoo Mom]

Okay, so I just sold my first item ever on eBay... a purse. The auction just ended about an hour ago. When I placed the item up for sale, I for some reason was under the impression that I could pick up free boxes at the post office, as I just needed a box that was at least 7" X 7" X 7" and the item weighs less than a pound. So I decided to provide "free shipping" since it looked that I could mail it USPS Priority for about $7. I pretty much left the defaults for shipping information:

Shipping and Handling: Free Shipping
To: United States
Service: US Postal Service Priority Mail
Insurance: None

Well, now that my auction sold, the buyer's postal code is listed as "Italy." Is it safe for me to assume that the buyer is then responsible for paying for shipping?

Additionally, does anyone have a good idea for where to find at least a 7" X 7" X 7" box to ship the purse in?

I'm sorry if these questions should be common knowledge! I'm just new at this. =) Thanks in advance.

 

[alli713]

They aren't a APO are they? Then they could purchase the item since APO is like sending to the US but they're stationed in another country.

Otherwise I'm not sure how they could buy it for free if you only had the free shipping marked to the US?

If you do just want to mail it in a box anyways, you can get boxes at Walmart in the aisle with envelopes and things. They're about $1. Or you can buy packing supplies at the PO too but those are more expensive.

 

[Moo-Shoo Mom]

Nope, not an APO. I'll check out Walmart for boxes... thanks for that tip!

 

[Riven]

The post office supplies free boxes for shipping Priority.

That's a tough one on the shipping. If it was me, and I didn't put "in the US" then I would pay the shipping (unless I was doing so at a loss) because it was my fault I did not take international buyers into consideration. That's just me.

If the auction specifically says "shipping to US" then they would need to pay the extra fee. I would verify it's correct on the listing because they probably will ask.

 

[Moo-Shoo Mom]

I dumbly put "shipping included" in the item description. However, the default shipping and handling description states "Ships to United States." I didn't even think about international shipping... so I'm kind of torn as to whether I'm responsible for the shipping since the S&H description states that free shipping is only within the United States. I didn't realize shipping would be, as it looks, over $30...

Are there any other priority boxes available at the post office aside from the flat rate ones? Because of the 7"x7"x7" size, it won't fit in even the large flat rate box.

 

[Sugarmama]

Is the purse leather? Italy does not allow any leather goods to be imported. If you ship, it will be confiscated in customs. You will lose your purse, and the buyer will get their money back from Paypal. If it's leather, let your buyer know this, and cancel the transaction.

If you only have ship to the US in your auction, you are not obligated to complete the transaction.

Seller Central on Ebay is a great resource, and can help you with Seller Headaches! It's in the "community" section.

Also, one thing to bear in mind with international shipping, is that you do not have tracking through the Post Office outside of the country. Once it leaves our borders, you do not have a tracking number to provide proof of delivery in most countries.

If your customer files a "not received" claim with Paypal, you will lose because you will not be able to prove delivery.

 

[TillyChinchilla]

Have you contacted the buyer?

If your item says Ships to: United States, and nothing else- then you are not obligated to pay shipping. Next time be very clear on where you will ship. If I sell a well priced item it is always free shipping to the lower 48, no international buyers.

 

[Moo-Shoo Mom]

Is the purse leather? Italy does not allow any leather goods to be imported. If you ship, it will be confiscated in customs. You will lose your purse, and the buyer will get their money back from Paypal. If it's leather, let your buyer know this, and cancel the transaction.

To be honest, I'm not sure if it has leather. The lining on it has some leather-like qualities, but I'm not sure if it's real leather. It is a designer Bvlgari handbag -- I received it as a gift a couple years ago, but I never used it, and decided to sell it instead of letting it sit in my closet.

I have not contacted the buyer yet, as the auction just expired an hour and a half ago, and I'm just kind of sitting here dumbfounded with this shipping dilemma deciding what to do next.

Thanks for the tip for Seller Central... I'll check that out right now.

 

[alli713]

I was going to say, Italy is notoriously hard on items being shipped in. There is a whole list of items they don't allowed to be sent to Italy.

http://pe.usps.com/text/Imm/il_008.htm

Is it heavy? Can it not go first class? I assume it must be heavy if you think shipping will be $30.
I guess I don't know much about Ebay as I sell on Etsy, but did you not have to specify if you allowed international shipping?

 

[Moo-Shoo Mom]

I don't remember stating anything specifying whether I would allow or exclude international shipping. The default provided only specifies shipping to the United States though. I attached a cropped portion of my screen shot of the page for shipping details.

The purse is actually only about one pound... I was just as surprised to find how expensive the shipping was from Nebraska to Italy, according to on-line calculators.

 

[Sugarmama]

Yeah, Italy's customs--it's a nightmare to deal with. Seriously? This is a headache you probably don't want to deal with. You're probably better off cancelling the auction and relisting. You can get your final value fees charged by Ebay back, but not your original listing fees.

If you want to follow through with this sale? Find out for sure if it's leather. Take it to a leather goods store, or if you can a Bvlgari shop to get it evaluated. Maybe you can find an identical one online on their website, or even on ebay, that can let you know if it's leather or not.

 

[alli713]

If it's about a pound, you can ship it first class for about $15. Because you didn't state that you're shipping it to other countries for free, I would send it first class. That way you're not loosing out a bunch of money. Then I would just tell the buyer that.

 

[Moo-Shoo Mom]

I did find out that actually there is leather in this purse via the Bulgari website. Thank you SO much for catching that with Italy customs. I really appreciate it. How do I cancel the transaction after the item is already technically deemed sold to him (the highest bidder)?

 

[Sugarmama]

Do you have a second highest bidder, in the US? you can send them a second chance offer.

You will need to contact your bidder, and let them know that leather is a restricted good in Italy, and cannot be shipped, and you had US shipping anyway. You can offer to do a mutual withdrawal, that way he does not get a strike. However, if he/she is angry and doesn't cooperate, you won't get a refund from Ebay on your final value fees. So, if that's the case, I wouldn't file that way--it depends on your buyer's attitude.

If he's uncooperative, you can file whether he agrees or not--it's been awhile since I had to do it, but you will have to go into "my ebay" section, to the dispute console. It will walk you through filing. Ebay probably won't give them a strike.

However--you can only file one dispute, so if you file a mutual and they disagree, you won't get your final value fees back.

Sorry about the leather thing--been there, done that. Fortunately, I remembered hearing about it on Seller Central, and I was able to ask there, and cancel the transaction before I was out anything.

 

[Moo-Shoo Mom]

Thank you VERY much for your advice! I'll get started on that and send the buyer a message. Having a buyer outside of the United States just caught me completely off guard. Lesson learned, I suppose. =)

There was no second highest bidder... I'll go ahead and try this method and hope he is willing to do a mutual withdrawal. I'll let you know how it goes. Cross your fingers!

 

[Sugarmama]

One more thing I thought of--you can go into your preferences, and restrict bidders. When you have an item you are listing for US only, or US and Canada, it will prevent international bidders from bidding on your item. It will save you a headache, but I'm not sure how it works for multiple auctions, if you are selling some thing that can be sold internationally at the same time you have an item that is US only.

You can also set your Paypal preferences, to refuse payments from specific countries or continents.