Expert: Marvinator - 3/21/2006

Question
I am fairly new to selling on eBay. I recently signed up with a dropshipping service and listed a sound card that they have that sells for $285.00 with a shipping cost of $6.99. The dropshipper will only ship within the United States and my listing states that in the shipping section.

Here's the problem: I got a question notice the other day from eBay. The person asked if this is a new unit and how much it will cost to ship it to Europe. I replied that it is a new unit, but the supplier I am using only ships within the United States. When I went to the listing for the item, I found that this person had already submited a bid for $285.00. I don't know what I should do if this person wins the auction and wants me to send it, but I can't. They are going to use PayPal to pay for it. Should I just refund the money and explain why? Any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you;
Ron Kuberski
roduku@yahoo.com

Answer
Ebay has ways of handling this. You can find all of these in the Site Map (there is a link at the top of most pages for the Site Map, plenty of good things for Sellers in there!)

First, Copy down the guy's Ebay ID and the Auction Number.  You will need both of these in the next two steps.  

Next, go to the Site Map and look for the Blocked Bidder Buyer list.  Use this to block the bidder from bidding again.  

Finally, you can cancel the guys bid yourself.  (The auction must have more than 12 hours left so do this asap when you get a foreign bid.)  On the site map is a link which says "Cancel Bids on YOur Listing".  You use the Auction number AND the Ebay ID in here.

Lastly, consider the following.  The Drop Shipper can ship the item to you.  YOU then can turn around and charge a foreign buyer a bit more for shipping.  Example: Shipping fom the Drop Shipper: 6.99.  Shipping from you to the Buyer: $20.  Total Shipping: 26.99.  BUT you don't have to tell the buyer this, you just tell them the price AND tell them it will take a long time due to YOUR location.  Just an extra thought to help you get started.  

Foreign buyers can be a pain and you've every right to NOT sell to them.  The main problem is that if they complain to Paypal about the deal, and Paypal refunds the money carte blanche, YOU are out the money with no recourse legally.  (Try calling the police in Filipsianaoso Italy and telling them your problem!) To start, and especially with Drop Shipping, you will really do best to just stick to the US.  

Good LUck and let me know if I can answer your questions further.