Selling overseas but making buyer contact FIRST

[pod]

Is there an effective way to do this?

I have shipping times extremely clear in posting. And I don't mean some pointless 4000 word essay some sellers have. Just a simple bright box in the middle with very clear times: US x days - UK/Australia x-days. But some of these buyers just go out of the way not to see this. How they miss it is beyond me! I can not fathom for a second how people can buy something for a few hundred dollars and not look at ad. But there are morons that do. I post 3 weeks and I still get grief 5 days later. Most of the time a quick message and all is well. But its the bad apples whose parents were cousins that cause all the trouble... I either get these clowns to contact me first or I simply stop selling to these two countries...

I have tried a follow up email reminder of delivery times, but they either don't see them or don't bother reading. And again, not some wordy mess, just very simple basic delivery times.

I received a neutral feedback a week after shipping when 3 weeks was advised...

If I remove all shipping prices in listing for UK and AUS will they still see listings and be forced to contact me for price first? And will this actually work or will it be worse as they will buy first, then ask, then get all pissy on times, leaving me open for more trouble?

Some people think they can get anything from anywhere in the world in a few days for $10 with gps tracking.. That much is unavoidable. But I need to somehow beat them over the head with it before they buy.

Is it even possible? I dont mind any extra work. These are items in the $300-$600 range. I cant have dim witted buyers ruin the account. If I have to block country and force them to get permission to buy I will. But this really kills impulse buying.

Any tips welcome

[jesseinkaron]

I have exactly the same problem ,

Customers do Not read the item description !

I had a buyer furious that it took 2 weeks for her item to arrive .

I pointed out that this was clearly outlined in the description ,

And she says " I could care less what is written in the fine print " !

The description is only 5 sentances , all in large bold letters !

[pod]

Originally Posted by jesseinkaron

" I could care less what is written in the fine print " !

I'm getting so tiered of the small loud obnoxious minority on eBay. 20 sales go as they should but then the 21st is some inbred hillbilly that thinks the world owes them a favor.

It seriously wouldn't bother me at all normally, its just human nature that some people are like that. But the way eBay is setup, that obnoxious minority has the keys to the car, and can run over whoever they want

I have no problem making a customer happy, that's my job. But in some cases you need to cure cancer for these people...

I do decent sales in the UK and AUS. But if I cant do something about the few that want overnight delivery for 32 cents I'm going to pull the plug.

I would LOVE to find out how where and why anyone buying anything from the other side of the planet thinks it will be there in 3 days. Where on earth did they get this retarded notion?

I cant even count how many times over the years I've seen "if I would have known it would be more then a couple days I wouldn't have bought..." Well, dont buy online for starters...

[holyhell]

This is really strange, because I never have problems with international buyers. But, I don't sell what you guys sell, so maybe if I was moving a 200 dollar item, they would act different.

All my buyers sort of assume that customs is the reason for the delay, which is usually true.

[jesseinkaron]

Ebay policy on feedback and DSR ratings is Ridiculous !
It is designed for sellers selling in the USA only.
If your customers are mostly from USA and you are outside USA ,
they will rate you in comparison to USA sellers.
So if your item takes 2 weeks to arrive ( as you advertise )
You can expect low DSR and sometimes negative feedback.

[Thankful]

Originally Posted by jesseinkaron

Ebay policy on feedback and DSR ratings is Ridiculous !
It is designed for sellers selling in the USA only.
If your customers are mostly from USA and you are outside USA ,
they will rate you in comparison to USA sellers.
So if your item takes 2 weeks to arrive ( as you advertise )
You can expect low DSR and sometimes negative feedback.

Totally agree, which is why I stopped selling some products which were selling well in the USA but often got lower rating FB for it, I felt it wasn't worth making more money selling to a particular place because in the long run I'll look like a bad seller due to ratings.

Now I just sell within the UK and I'm doing great I'd say 19 out of 20 people give me 5 stars time and time again.

Although I have thought about making a second account to sell internationally!

[pod]

Originally Posted by holyhell

But, I don't sell what you guys sell, so maybe if I was moving a 200 dollar item, they would act different.

I'm not selling knock offs if that's what you mean. I sell real products. But what type of product is meaningless. It still needs to be shipped from one side of the world to the other

90% of the buyers are fine. They are never the issue. Its the 5 or 10% that want stuff in unrealistic times and damage account and sales because you cant bend the physics of space and time.

All I want is to be able to do is have a buyer overseas contact me before they can buy so I can, in one sentence, tell them it will be 2 weeks. Period. There must be a way to do this.

[luna]

I know the problem. I had one buyer and after buying (I never got contacted before) she paid. I sent her an email and I said sorry but shipping is way higher and it may take very long. she insisted of sending the item. I explained and explained.after that I canceled the bid and got negative feedback of course! Now I am watching who is bidding and from where and then send a friendly email like this:

...Thank you for your interest in my item. I can only ship via air to your destination and it would be $........; if I would ship via surface I couldn’t guarantee a delivery time under 6 weeks. Sorry about that with Canada Post. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks again
....

[luna]

I mean we all know that canada post sucks. this is an email hat one of my BUYERS received after asking them via email:

Thank you for your message to Canada Post.

The "An order has been electronically submitted." simply states that the sender created a shipping label using the Canada Post website. This does not mean in any way that this item has been shipped. According to the information I have obtain on this shipping label, this item was shipped by USA Small Packet which does not provide the sender with a tracking option therefore we will not be able to provide you with any tracking information on this item.

A claim for a small packet sent by surface to a U.S. or to an international destination can be initiated by the sender once 75 days have passed after the date of mailing.

A claim for a small packet sent by air to a U.S. or to an International destination can be initiated by the sender once 45 days have passed after the date of mailing.

Regards,


Customer Service
Canada Post

[pod]

My items are all BIN so I can not contact bidders

It doesn't matter. Some buyers feel the world owes them a favor so mater what you do they wont care. I tried to contact buyer about times posted in description and polity asked if they could remove the neutral and just made them angry

This type of buyer seems to always fallow the same pattern. Like they belong to a club, its so consistent

*Cant be bothered to read description
*Cant be bothered to ask questions before just leaving feedback
*Cant be bothered to read messages or reply
*Dont care if ad says 2 weeks, they still expect it in a few days.
*They dont have to follow postal guideline. They want it now so no rational reason why they cant have it now.
*Can not rationalize that you are not actually delivering the package yourself. But different people in different cities and in different countries. So if it takes 9 days, you are somehow at fault

And most importantly, this type of buyer seems to always:
*Feel that their personal dealings are much more significant then any damage done to you or your business. They actually think that getting item 4 or 5 days longer then they want is perfect justification to hurt a business.

Its not that they dont think it will hurt you. Its because they know it will!

They are childish, spiteful and self absorbed.

Buyer gave me a real nasty email about my very polite explanation on shipping times and told me point blank "Don't care what it says" And if its not there in half the time advertised I will be getting a negative. followed by a "when your business slows to a crawl with negative maybe you will think twice about using such slow shipping"

I'm pissed off. But reality is not much I can do. It takes as long as it does to get to the other side of the world and that's that

I will likely stop shipping from ebay other then to USA. Not worth it with these people any more. They know they have all the power and they are using it.

[luna]

I know and you are right. I also normally do not put any shipping costs in the listing so most of them ask. but I think you in the US don't have that option? anyway I wish you good luck

[pod]

Originally Posted by luna

I also normally do not put any shipping costs in the listing so most of them ask.

Thats the dilemma. The ones that ask are not the problem buyers anyway. The buyer that thinks to ask questions before hand is rarely a problem. They would read and understand the shipping times.

The buyer that buys first and asks later is the same buyer to cause trouble.

By not listing prices and times and hoping they ask is probably asking for more trouble.

I think its a lost cause on these troublemakers to be honest. Only way to avoid them is not to sell. And that's not reasonable.

[luna]

you are so right and I understand you so well.