Send invoice for international shipping?

[stm858]

Just sold an item on eBay to someone in the US, but had to relist it as it did not include International Shipping. Relisted with that included but the buyer has sent an invoice and I don't know how to charge for that or if the parcel will still go to the usual eBay sorting centre in Derby.

There's no real indication whether I'm supposed to send the parcel to the US address or to Derby for sorting and I'd rather know before sending the postage invoice.

[m25jet · Accepted solution]

If you're selling internationally via the Global Shipping Programme then you post the item to the Global Shipping Programme's hub, making sure that you include the code on the address label.  The code will be needed by the Global Shipping Programme to determine the name and address of the recipient of the parcel so that they can post it on to the correct address.

If you are not selling via the Global Shipping Programme then you will need to list the item with an overseas postage option, otherwise the buyer will not be able to make payment.  If you list an item without international postage and an overseas buyer purchases the item then you'll have to send the buyer an invoice, making sure that you include the amount for postage and packaging on the invoice so that the buyer can pay you the correct total for the item, inclusive of your postage and packaging costs.  If, on the other hand, you relisted the item, included an international postage option and the buyer made payment for the item then so long as the £ symbol is showing up in black on the Sold Items section of your All Selling page and the payment is showing up in your PayPal account as having been received then you can post the item to the buyer.

Should the £ icon be greyed out then the buyer hasn't paid.  In that case if you have provided the buyer with a means by which he can make payment then you will either have to decide whether to allow him some more time during which to pay for the item, or if you feel that he's already had long enough to pay and he still hasn't paid you then open an Unpaid Item Dispute.  If you still don't receive payment by the time eBay give you the chance to close the case then close down the Unpaid Item Dispute to get your eBay Final Value Fees refunded, making sure that you tick the "No" box next to the sentence that says "Did this buyer pay for the item?"  That way you'd get your Final Value Fees refunded.  If, however, you did have to do that then the buyer's account would end up being hit with an Unpaid Item Strike, so in that instance the best option would be to add his User ID to your Blocked Bidders List in order to prevent him from successfully purchasing anything else from you in the future.

[stm858 · Accepted solution]

My problem is that I'm not getting the Global Shipping Programme's hub's address as a shipping option, only the US address. I have sold via the Global Shipping Programme before and have always been supplied this address but this is the first time I've just been given the buyer's direct address.

I charged the amount it would cost to send the parcel to the sorting address and the buyer has paid, but I still don't have the sorting hub as a shipment option.

[stm858 · Accepted solution]

After a brief chat with eBay's customer service, I could not post it to the GSP's UK hub because the item's condition was listed as "used" despite them being books. Thanks for your help anyway.

[m25jet · Accepted solution]

If you opt out of the Global Shipping Programme and relist the books for sale you should be able to sell them to the buyer in question, so long as you include an overseas postage option on the listing. However, flights in and out of the UK are being affected at the moment, so it may be better to hold off for a while until things start to return to some degree of normality.

[rusticrye]

Oh dear. You've made a right mess of this. You're enrolled in the Global Shipping Programme, so you ship to the global shipper in the UK, as clearly shown to you in the payment confirmation email.  That is what an international buyer pays you to do.  The buyer pays the global shipper separately for the international leg of the journey, plus any taxes that may be due to his government, plus the global shipper's operating fees.

Everything you need to know about selling here, including what the GSP is and how it works, is in the Seller Centre.  There is no point at all in using the tools and options that Ebay supplies unless you understand how they work.  So I would advise you to stop using the GSP (and, under the current circumstances, stop shipping internationally at all if you value your account...!) until you've done your homework.

You also say you relisted the item.  Did you relist with or without the GSP option...? If with the GSP again, you have to ship to the global shipper in the UK.  You cannot override that and ship internationally direct.

And what did you do with the first transaction...?

@stm858 

[stm858]

I think out of all the replies to my question, yours has been the least helpful, and that's including the first one that just replies with "great".

I have sold internationally through eBay before, always with the Global Shipping Programme, and not once have I received an invoice from the buyer whilst not being supplied the shipping address to the Derby sorting centre.

Please don't bother responding to this any further since your condescending attitude isn't actually providing me with any answers I need or want.

[olssen_spedition_limited]

great