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Selling risks on eba.com - how a buyer can scam you with the help of eBay outside the EU
Summary: bagsfashion-italy raises concerns about potential risks of selling on eba.com, specifically how a buyer might scam sellers with the assistance of eBay from outside the EU. sika700 did not provide additional commentary.
If you sell your items on ebay.com (which has a wider search network than eBay EU, there is a single access from the American ebay account and ebay EU so it is possible to manage sales on both with the same account) you need to know that you take a big risk, because American ebay (ebay.com) does not provide any seller protection tool. While ebay.it - they could help the seller, on American ebay there is no rule of common sense (the support on ebay.com has different rules for sellers, a different mentality - more robotic, no empathy, and no brain to think, they are like a "little robot without artificial intelligence").
I will tell what could happen based on my experience.
- A buyer from South America buys your item. You ship everything carefully.
- Customs in Latin America blocks all incoming packages and sends the buyer the duties to pay. 30 days pass, the buyer opens a dispute on ebay.
- American ebay does not accept any appeal, and does not understand the fact that the item is in transit, waiting for customs clearance, the only PROOF it accepts - is if the package has been delivered. If the package still has not been delivered, ebay refunds the buyer, and + KEEPS ITS SALES COMMISSIONS!
- the buyer, after receiving the refund from ebay, pays the duties to their customs, clears the package and receives it.
- and the seller is screwed by both: by American ebay (which has pocketed your money - that is 20% of the commissions), and by the buyer.
ADVICE TO ALL INTERNATIONAL EBAY SELLERS (PRIVATE AND BUSINESS):
1. Consider the possible risks and scams that can happen
2. EXCLUDE from the delivery locations list ALL COUNTRIES with HIGH RISK and with customs that work badly. For example, customs in the UK work fast, the duties to pay are due before delivery, and it says on tracking: "waiting for customs charges payment". But customs in Chile or Brazil - are terrible.
EXCLUDE all countries with long delivery: South America, Africa, Israel (! they ship by ship even EMS!), etc.
Fast delivery and customs (normally, except for individual cases) are in: Hong Kong, China, Russia, USA, UK.
3. If possible, use European Ebay, with Italian or EU customer service to sell items. Obviously, a common buyer from the United States or Hong Kong, or Japan, will not see your item without special parameters in the filters, which not everyone knows how to use, so you will have fewer chances of visibility. And if you decide to put an item on American ebay, then I advise you to follow point N.2!
Unfortunately I had a very bad experience and lost about 500 euros... For this reason I share with other colleagues all the risks of selling on ebay.
sika700
Mentore1 year agoLet’s just say you’ve discovered hot water...
Have a nice evening.