eBay

delvyn45 · ‎26-04-2025

Good Bye eBay. After over 20 years on eBay with a 100% buying and selling feedback I am leaving eBay. The final straw for me was a recent encounter with a buyer who bought an expensive item from me and it was disclosed after I had accepted their offer and closing the deal that they did not live in the UK but in Gibraltar. I don't sell to eBayers overseas and never have and it says so on my eBay countries I don't post to. This buyer left me an inaccurate negative feedback within 5 minutes of me returning their money and a message saying the reason why I was doing this return. I complained to eBay and asked for this negative feedback to be removed because the buyer had mislead me into thinking that, as stated in their eBay profile details, that the UK was their home address. But of course as per usual eBay sided with the buyer and refused to remove the negative feedback. If this is their attitude to a private seller who has been totally misled by a buyer then I pity the business seller. There are plenty of other websites for the private seller that don't have to suffer eBay rules which make no sense when a perfectly logical claim of buyer abuse by a seller is highlighted. Anyone else care to comment on my experience?

ile136yz · ‎26-04-2025

The Buyer should of asked if you would post to a UK Freight Company before they purchased.

I have sent many items via different UK Freight Companies that the Buyers had arranged which I was only responsible to deliver to the UK Address. The Buyer & Freight Company were then responsible for the UK to their Country delivery. As the item went to an UK address I only paid fees at the UK rate.

Your Feedback reply explained what happened.

*vyolla* · ‎26-04-2025

There isn't a way to block international buyers who use a UK based freight forwarding service, but your buyer would not have been covered by eBay's Buyer protection/Money Back Guarantee against their item not being as described, all you had to do was get it to the UK address by a trackable method, you'd then have been covered against a not received claim.

To be honest, you've a bit more protection there than shipping direct to a UK address.

superchallenge · ‎26-04-2025

My comment would be that you should have shipped the item as normal because there was no reason not to.

The company the buyer used for freight forwarding would have been liable for any damages that occurred from the time they received it to the time it arrived in Gibraltar. A lot of freight forwarding services open and repackage items suitably in order to ensure they arrive undamaged, for the very reason that they don't want to be held liable for damage. So your fragile item would have been just fine. That's part of the price the buyer pays them for the service.

As for "I don't ship internationally" - you weren't being asked to. You were being asked to ship to an address in the UK. What happens after it arrives at the requested address is entirely the buyer's issue.

As for leaving eBay over it...that's just ridiculous.

superchallenge · ‎26-04-2025

@ile136yz wrote:
The Buyer should of asked if you would post to a UK Freight Company before they purchased.

Can't say that I agree with that. There's no difference between shipping to "John Smith, 22 Red Lane, Anytown" and "John Smith Freight Forwarders Ltd, 22 Red Lane, Anytown."

Just ship to the address provided.