Why limit yourself to UK delivery?

[muchty2]

Why, oh why do so many UK sellers have the dreaded words 'UK Only' on their listing?

You have to take the item to the Post Office anyway, right?

You can use eBay's own pricing model to work out the numbers, right?

So why loose business by not delivering into the rest of Europe? For an ex-pat living over here it is particularly frustrating - and, it seems to me, quite unnecessary. 

Can you lot at eBay not find a way to encourage/help sellers deal with this apparently scary idea of international postage?

[023mjc]

Why ?  It's entirely the sellers choice if he wants to limit his sales to the UK.   I myself only post to the UK. So, I get less sales, but I have my reasons and it's my choice. I'm not "scared" of international postage - I just prefer not to.

By the way, ebays postage model is often so far off the mark, it's probably put a lot of people off. There are loads of posts on the help boards where people have used ebays recommended postal rates and ended up well out of pocket.

[geosacha007]

I don't sell outsde the UK so that  I can't end up out of pocket by the outward postage (and now the return as well) if a buyer claims SNAD.

It's bad enough losing the UK postage if this happens, but overseas postage can be more than the value of the item.

I am in no hurry to sell so prefer just to wait for a UK buyer. 

[al**bear]

I think a lot of UK sellers would be happy to post items to an expat, but you'd need to ask them first

or a family member, still here, could post items on

[evoman3957]

Personally, I'm just a buyer ( collector mainly ) and have purchased the items, I collect, from all over the World. From the years I've been doing it, I've gleaned this much from sellers; wanting to keep their sales to UK only.  Firstly, some other Countries have postal services and levels of corruption, in those postal services, that are less than desirable.  Italy has been quoted a fair bit over the years ( although I've never personally had a problem and have received a great deal of items from there ). Russia and most of Africa are high on the list of no go areas ( unsurprisingly I think ) and trade with the USA is pointless, because import duties and taxes etc. etc. negate any original conception that a trasaction seemed like a good deal. So, for an easy life, it's UK only for many sellers.

[Anonymous]

We used to sell worldwide and now only UK.

We had problems in the past with America, Italy and France. It's just not worth the hassle anymore.

I so now and then make an exception, it depends. Recently for a Dutch person, and only because ebay messed up something in my listing regarding posting outside the UK and the buyer was obviously not aware they could not bid on my stuff.

[muchty2]

It has been interesting to read the replies - and thanks for taking the time to do so.

Having spent may years buying and selling on eBay, it still surprises me the number of UK sellers who limit their sales to the UK. "I'm in no hurry' or 'I can't be bothered' are poor excuses - do you want to sell it or not?

Ok, I know the eBay postage pricing model needs some work, and, yes, there are some countries best avoided, but these are well known and can be excluded.  I get the overall impression from the comments of a 'UK against the rest of the world'  attitude, but posting within the EU is simple and straight forward and it's time I think to get over this island mentality that still persists in the UK. When you live over here, crossing borders is just a normal part of daily life and not seen as anything special.

And since most items are now delivered by 'internationl signed for', there really is little risk (assuming you avoid the bad boys).

[*vyolla*]

Here's the reason why I no longer ship out of UK, it's got nothing to do with shipping prices:

If a buyer opens an item not as described dispute (let's say that they're in the US), or the seller agrees to accept a return, the seller is required to provide the buyer with a returns label.

The seller cannot provide the buyer with a returns label as there is no facility within eBay to provide a label covering pre-paid shipping from the US to the UK.

If the buyer escalates the dispute to eBay, and no returns label has been provided, the buyer gets a refund and gets to keep the item.

If the seller makes a partial refund to cover the return postage, they are reliant on the buyer being trustworthy and using the money to nip down to their local mail depot and send the item back.

[Anonymous]

"I'm in no hurry' or 'I can't be bothered' are poor excuses - do you want to sell it or not?

I'm sorry, but what is your issue? Why do you care if others limit their sales?

I've spend many years buying and selling as well, like many others on here, and I prefer to have a hassle free life.  I don't see anything wrong with that.