Ebay Showing Different Prices For International Buyers

As someone who has only been selling on ebay for a few years and who does not sell outside the U.S., I am confused by an inquiry I have received from a potential buyer in the U.K. First, I thought that if I limited shipping to the U.S., that buyers outside the U.S. wouldn't see my listings. Is that incorrect? Secondly, the buyer emailed screenshots of the listings visible to him which show prices about 15% higher than what I listed plus shipping charges. Why would ebay have adjusted the prices - Is that how ebay pays for its international shipping program (which BTW I did not activate for any of these listings)? I would appreciate any illumination from more experienced sellers who sell internationally. Thanks in advance.

A lot of things happen when you use an ebay site foreign to that of the seller.

Prices are translated into local currency and that tends to be at a disadvantageous exchange rate. Also, ebay collects duties on cross-border transactions. I found that on orders from ebay UK, it collects 15% instead of the correct 9% rate.

How it is presented might have to do with the site someone uses.

I tend to use the seller's local site. Using the UK site from the Netherlands, it shows the surcharge. I have not paid attention to what the Dutch site does with the duties: include it in the price quoted or show the surcharge as it does on the local site.

I use the UK site when ordering from the UK, as ebay tends to charge the EUR equivalent of the GBP price at a disadvantageous exchange rate to my credit card when I use the Dutch site. My bank charges a better rate if I pay in GBP on the UK site. ebay Netherlands also shows the GBP price in small print. That may include the duties.

If the seller has not specified postage to the Netherlands, the UK site informs the seller may not ship to the Netherlands. I do not see that when I use the Dutch site. Probably, that filters out those sellers.

Your settings may not be as you assume. I think shipping programmes with ebay tend to be an opt-out rather than opt-in service. So, if you do not opt out, it may use a default postage setting. The default setting may not exclude you from the foreign site.

Yes - to the UK from the US, ebay will be adding VAT @20%. The old UK small purchases exemption no longer applies. Similarly, from the UK to the US, ebay will add the sales taxes most states have introduced on online purchases, even though the goods come from several thousand miles away.

A few months ago, ebay seems to have stealth changed the shipping procedure. Stuff that always showed shipping charges of $2-$5 now show " ebay shipping program" and charges in the $20 to $80 (the latter no joke!) for items that are offered in the $1 to $10 region.

You may think you didn't activate the ebay shipping option (a complete ripoff hence they force it on sellers), but somehow ebay managed to activate it anyways.

Of course no overseas buyers (like me) will buy a $5 item with $25 shipping charges added. Hence I now almost always have to ask the seller about the ridiculous shipping options showing up on an item I'm interested in.

That's for all the feedback. The complications of selling outside the U.S. are obviously the main reasons why I have tried to limit the listings to U.S. only. I don't have a lot of listings nor are they particularly valuable to warrant all the agita. However, I am still wondering about this UK buyer finding my listings - am I incorrect to think that if I limit my shipping to US only, that non-US folks will not see the listings or have I inadvertently opted in (or failed to opt out) to international shipping. I thought I had set all of the parameters correctly.

There aren't really too many complications about selling to foreign buyers. If I have a lot that I think will interest people overseas, I put in a price - there's a standard price of around £7 for a small letter tracked and signed <100 gms from the UK, and I compromise on £9 for a large letter <100 gms. The only complication is going to the post office rather than the pillar box.

Anyone from anywhere can see your stuffif they go into US ebay. Or ebay UK may well show additional overseas sellers.

I've talked about this in other threads, but if you are a U.S. seller, there is ZERO downside to opting into EIS ( ebay International Shipping).

Increased shipping costs to the buyer notwithstanding, being able to sell to international customers in any country but only having to ship domestically, thus avoidinig the minefield of international shipping, customs, and insurance is worth it alone. Not have to worry about returns for ANY reason, including buyer dissatisfaction, is just pure bonus.

...but if you are a U.S. seller, there is ZERO downside to opting into EIS ( ebay International Shipping).

Which part of Of course no overseas buyers (like me) will buy a $5 item with $25 shipping charges added. did you not understand?

Leaving aside the $5000 idiot lots of 1c items, the overall majority of ebay lots are in the $1..$5 range. No overseas buyer, absolutely no one, is going to pay $20-$40 shipping for this.
If you opt into the ebay ripoff, you instantly lose 99% of potential overseas customers.

Which part of "Increased shipping costs to the buyer notwithstanding,..." did you not understand?

Why all the snark? You've got a huge chip on your shoulder... my post wasn't directed AT YOU or addressing your comments, but rather the OP.

No, the shipping costs aren't going to be viable for every single item that everyone sells, but from a seller's perspective, the choice between opting into EIS vs. not selling internationally at all (which many U.S. sellers choose) is not as clear cut as it once was. For the first time there is an international selling option that protects sellers almost entirely.

P.S. Not everyone only sells nickel and dime items. I've made many many international sales since opting into EIS over a year ago.

The nastiness was completely unnecessary and is not appreciated in the least.

The reference to "increased shipping costs" was a rather minor part of a laudatory comment about the EIS, whereas, for most of us, unnecessarily high postage costs for low-cost items is a major issue.

OK, again I appreciate all your comments, but since I have never sold outside of the U.S. (and apparently being dumb), I am still a little confused. The screenshot that the UK buyer sent of the listing he sees shows shipping charges of 15 pounds per item for 3 items plus the VAT even though I'm offering free shipping to any US buyer. If I do the EIS shipping, it shows a charge of about $11 to ship to their US hub. The UK buyer is asking for a combined shipping fee. How do I do that and does the UK buyer still have to pay ebay what they're showing him, so anything I do doesn't help him? Any assistance you can provide would be very helpful, but please don't spend too much time on this. The total sale is only about $100 so frankly it's not worth going through a lot of gyrations.

Currently, I don't believe you can combine shipping charges if you are enrolled in EIS. If you're doing your own international shipping, I believe it operates the way it always has. ebay has acknowledged this shortcoming and promises (someday) to improve this. It's similar to the way you cannot combine shipping on multiple best offer items, the difference being that with the latter, you can refund overage after the fact. This isn't an option with EIS, since the additional shipping charges are being charged by ebay, not you, so any refund would come out of your pocket.

I've seen it mentioned where you can offer both EIS *and* your own additional international shipping options, which may be combinable, but I have not explored complicating things with offering both, since that makes things very messy, e.g., what if buyer purchases 1 EIS shipped item with 1 non-EIS and asks you to combine?

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Oracle - my guess is that the only solution for your buyer at this point in the sale is a messy one. I may be wrong, but from my experience you'd probably have to:

- end the sale
- check that you weren't inadvertently enrolled in an ebay shipping programme
- relist with specific postal charges
- get him to bid
- close the sale early
- send an invoice with a combined total.

It's a pain, and of ebay's making.

I would not be surprised if someone at ebay had the luminous idea to consider its inland address for the shipping service as an alternative for sellers who are excluding certain countries and implemented it. The seller may still perceive he is blocking a country and ebay is playing 're-shipper' without the seller knowing it.

Makes sense... and as long as the seller's obligation ends when ebay's domestic hub receives the merchandise (which is the case under EIS), I think this is perfectly fine.

The focus in this thread has been how EIS's inflated shipping charges impact prospective buyers, as the Global Shipping Program did before it. I understand and appreciate your frustration, as it limits who you can buy from... what I'm trying to convey is an understanding on how it is appealing to U.S. sellers and why it makes sense to use it. This is unfortunately a case where buyer and seller interests are pitted against one another.

One aspect that hasn't been touched upon in any of the EIS discussions is how it simplifies the life of the seller with respect to having to know the customs restrictions and limitations for every single country for different categories of items. As someone who has always done a lot of international shipping on ebay, and especially because I sell many different types of merchandise across different categories, this was a HUGE issue for me personally.

1. USPS insurance rates are not only extremely high, but the restrictions are draconian as well, i.e., 1st class international cannot be insured, meaning you have to uprate the shipment.

2. Certain types of merchandise cannot be shipped via USPS to certain countries, and the regulations are written so nebulously that depending on which USPS clerk or which USPS office you use, you can get different interpretations on different days... not good as a shipper.

3. Some countries have valuation limits for incoming parcels, and if a package value exceeds those limits, customs will kick the parcel back.

4. Certain buyers will reject parcels upon receipt (or receipt at customs) once they realize they have to pay VAT, despite the fact that they should have known this. Seller is on the hook for the shipping costs.

#1 can be mitigated somewhat by using a third-party insurer rather than carrier-based insurance, but each third-party insurer also has its own list of excluded countries, or countries where only nominal coverage is offered, e.g., Russian republics where the parcel is only covered to the point the plane touches down, no coverage beyond that.

What you end up with, especially if you sell multiple types of merchandise (as I do), not just stamps, is different policies for different item categories. Keeping track of which countries to enable for which listings in which categories, and which can be fully insured vs. not, is a very laborious requirement.

EIS solves all of this, as ebay controls which listings are shown to prospective bidders/buyers in other countries based upon customs limits, merchandise type, etc. The seller no longer has to keep up with an ever changing list of rules and restrictions. It's similar to if you as a seller had to calculate, collect, report, and remit state sales tax on your own vs. ebay doing it. The rates and regulations change almost daily, creating a ginormous administrative burden.

The insurance minefield is also greatly simplified, as you only have to insure to the domestic hub; there's no international component, either costwise or regulationwise. Once ebay receives the merchandise, their responsibility and policies take over.

For those saying "who cares about insurance" or "I don't want insurance", remember that insurance isn't there to protect the buyer. It's there to protect the seller. Buyers are 100% covered against loss or damage by ebay. Sellers are not. Any purchase of insurance is for the seller's benefit, and yes it's a big deal. Opting into EIS makes this component also more streamlined and less costly.

I get that many international buyers, especially of lower-priced items, won't like EIS. For those sellers who cater to that demographic, perhaps it's best for their business model to not utilize EIS.

Just my two cents as a semi-sporadic seller.

For international, I use the ebay's EIS. In the last two weeks(ish), I've had three experiences with international buyers or potential buyers.

Buyer 1: Item cost was $19.99. Buyer paid for purchase and I shipped to the ebay shipping center. Easy.
Buyer 2: Item cost $29.99, buyer offered $24.99 and I accepted the offer. Buyer paid for purchase and I shipped to the ebay shipping center. Easy.
Buyer 3: This was a potential buyer for a nice $29.99 item - piece of postal history tied to Ypres, Belgium. He messaged and asked me to ship directly rather than through EIS (he'd pay for shipping). I declined and offered $5 off the price. He then countered offering to pay $4 for the $30 item if he had to use EIS. I did not respond.

From my perspective, I made two sales I would not have otherwise made. Yes, it may have flubbed one potential sale, but that item will sell sooner than later.

I can certainly see the argument against EIS for lower price items, however, from my perspective, it sure makes international shipping very easy.