how do I deal with this??

[mrsbounce]

I am a fairly new business seller on eBay - sold lots personally. My listing showed p&p to UK and in description, have put very clearly that p&p cost is for UK only and international buyers please contact me first before bidding so I can quote cost & also that payment must be made with 3 days of end of auction. A buyer in Oz won the item without requesting p&p cost on 21/04 & I sent invoice same day showing cost for int'l signed for which obviously added quite a bit more to the price. I am not making money from this. I never had any contact from them at all. An automatic purchase reminder was sent by eBay on 23/01 and I sent a polite message on 25/04 just to say package was ready once payment had been received. Still nothing so after no contact from them whatsoever since winning the item, i submitted an unpaid item dispute yesterday. Today she has paid and sent a message stating she has paid because she does not want a strike against her account & how unhappy she is with the postage cost as she has bought so many other items from UK (which I can see) which have been sent normal airmail. TBH, I haven't got a huge problem posting normal airmail, just wanted to cover myself but just frustrated with lack of response as didn't know the reason for no contact although suspected it could have been re postage. I really don't want to receive neg feedback- we both have 100% - and I don't mind refunding the "signed for" part of posting. Anyone got any advice on what I should do - really don't want neg feedback!!! Thanks x

eBay is so buyer biased nowadays it's very frustrating being a seller!! You have behaved very reasonably and she has been silly to ignore it until now.
I would refund the signed for bit and send her a message accordingly whilst gritting your teeth!!!!
If she leaves neg feedback which I would think unlikely if you do that you can at least put a comment on it.

I think if you do send it it has to be signed for - it is after all for your protection not theirs

i would ask the buyer if they don't want to proceed, and if they don't refund their money and cancel the transaction

You will also need to change your settings to prevent buyers from abroad from being able to bid.

I had a similar one with a buyer from Germany, she didn't tell me where she was from until she won the item. I told her how much the postage would be (the item was quite heavy) She opted for second class unsigned which was still £10. Now she is saying she hasn't recieved item, and wants full refund for postage and item. I am a bit dubious about her. I responded saying I would ask the post office to track the item as I have a receipt.( not sure if they can do that) Funny I have heard nothing back and that was 3 weeks ago! am leaving it, and not chasing it up, as have a sneaky feeling she was not genuine, and was just trying it on. It is so difficult being a seller now. My new rule is to NEVER sell to anyone overseas again. If they win the item, too bad. I will refund if they have paid, but just won't post abroad.

Thank you both for your replies. Was thinking along the same lines as Rachel but that's probably us being too nice! We obviously hate the thought of upsetting or annoying anyone which if course is the last thing any of us wants to do, however, if I was giving the advice, I'd probably be saying the same as Fergoose! Right - going to ponder for a an hour or so! Thanks guys x