Help - problem with buyer!

[OwlCat]

I put nine Boden childrens' tops for sale on eBay, stating UK postage only for all of them. All nine tops sold, six of the buyers paid immediately, I posted them the next day and have now received great feedback for all.

The remaining three were won by a woman in Germany, I heard nothing from her for a couple of days, then received a message for one of them asking if I posted to Germany and how much would it be. I replied that I had stated UK postage only but as she had already won them I would and the combined UK postage stated for the three should cover the cost, and that I would despatch them as soon as I received payment. I heard nothing back so after a couple of days, so sent another message saying please could she let me know when she intended to pay so I could be ready to despatch immediately. I heard nothing back so a week after the sale had ended, I opened unpaid item cases for all three. A day later I received a message from her saying that she did not know why I had done it as she had not been told by me how much she needed to pay until then and could I now tell her how much she needs to pay including postage and she would transfer the money immediately.

So do I just tell her an amount to pay and then presuming she pays, send the items? Does that then mean that she then has the opportunity to leave me awful feedback even though I have tried to be as accommodating as possible? Have I done something wrong?

I currently have 100% perfect feedback on 73 items (buying and selling), which I don't want to lose. Interestingly, she has 100% feedback on a fairly large number of itemd but sll in German..

[OwlCat]

Sorry, typo... items but all in German.

[LilyBossom]

have you sent her a revised invoice?

If it was me I would send the invoice, and then if she doesn't pay open non payer bidder disputes, close 4 days later, then she won't be able to leave feedback.

And if you want to stop foreign buyers you need to change your settings, writing it in the auction is not sufficient.

[LilyBossom]

actually scrub that - I see you have opened the cases. if it was 4 days ago I would close the cases now, and then add her to blocked bidder list and relist. Then she can't leave any feedback.

And make sure you change your settings to stop buyers from abroad.

[GoofyIsACow]

Another thing to bear in mind is a lot of German people don't use paypal, I use ebay.de quite a bit to buy items which are made (and are therefore cheaper) in germany.
A few times I have had to pay by bank transfer which the first time my bank charged me £15 for
I would send her the revised invoice and see what happens, i just wanted you to be aware in case she asks for bank details.

[GoofyIsACow]

Oh and in which case you could refuse and cancel the sale of course.

[LilyBossom]

you can't cancel the sales now - you have already opened npb cases. You either do one or the other, not both.

[OwlCat]

Thanks for all of your replies. In terms of UK only, it was stated in the "Post to" not just written in the item description - is that what's meant by my settings? I have also only put Paypal in the "Payments" field as I don't want payment by bank transfer.

So I really can't just cancel the sale? Just want a quiet life and can't believe selling three t-shirts for a couple of pounds each is causing me so much hassle!

[LilyBossom]

yes, but you need to change your actual settings in your account to stop foreign bidders, just writing it in doesn't stop them bidding.

Bank transfer is perfectly safe as a seller btw, no risk of chargeback and it is free too.

You are cancelling the sale in a way by opening npb cases, but you are also stopping them leaving feedback once closed plus issuing the buyer with a strike too, much better than a cancellation which they can refuse and still be able to leave feedback, plus you need your fees refunded too.

[OwlCat]

Okay, thanks, I will definitely look at my settings for the future.

So, the buyer now won't be able to leave feedback now that I have opened the cases even if the sale proceeds? In which case I will invoice her and try to get this sorted asap.

[LilyBossom]

no, she can't leave feedback after the cases have been closed. When did you open them?

[OwlCat]

The day before yesterday and her response was as described in my OP, I.e. to ask me to let her know how much to transfer, so I was wondering if I did that (which I'm more than happy to), she would then be able to leave negative feedback when she receives the items

[LilyBossom]

yes - if she pays then she can leave 3 neg feedbacks for you.

[OwlCat]

Okay, thanks