# Blocking international Buyers on E Bay



## Randy Rooster (Dec 14, 2004)

Is there a way to do it? 
athough my listing clearly states I only ship to the US I have had 2 buyers from other countries attempt to purchase from me. It is a huge time waste and getting frustrating. 
anyone have any suggestions? thank you


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## celina (Dec 29, 2005)

just beware , you'll be blocking the canadian buyers as well...but i am not sure..i think you used to be able to do it..


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## equinecpa (Mar 21, 2011)

When you list your item I believe under the shipping options it lets you restrict to shipping to the US. Are you doing that? I don't know if that actually blocks an international buyer from bidding..I doubt it.


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Why fight it? International sales can add nicely to your overall sales. Really not that much extra work. Set up listings with what sales you will allow outside the U.S. Demand payment by PayPal (no exceptions except maybe a Canadian Postal Money Order in USD). You can go to www.usps.com, calculate postage for shipping costs. When mailed, one of two different customs forms. Small green one for basically Int'l First Class and multi-page white one for larger packages.

On USPS be sure you use the cost for off-line shipments.

This week I have sent out packages to France, England, Ireland, Canada and Australia.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Some of my best customers are regulars in Australia and Canada.  I would venture to guess an easy 10-15% of my sales are from international customers.
It takes very little extra work to ship to them than in the States.

However, that said, when you list an item you're able to specify if you're willing to ship internationally and even which countries in that "international" definition. Ie, if you only want to sell to CND, but nowhere else...


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Last I looked you couldn't block a single country, say Nigeria, but could an entire region, such as Africa. Still, apparently a lot of Nigerian scam buying goes out of the UK, due to close relationship between the two countries.

Again, let PayPal be your safety device. If they accept a payment, seldom is it reversed to you if you can provide proof of shipment.

I find it interesting I have not had one sale to Mexico. Fewer to Latin America and still fewer to South America.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

> I find it interesting I have not had one sale to Mexico. Fewer to Latin America and still fewer to South America.


I think I've had a grand total of 2 to Brazil and 1, for sure, to Mexico. In about 13 years. I wonder why that is...?


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## happychick (Sep 20, 2010)

On the down side, sometimes international buyers are a pain. It can take a month for their package to arrive, with the time differences you only hear from them by email once a day, etc. 
On the up side, international buyers will sometimes be willing to pay much more for a item then someone in the US because of it's rarity in their country. MANY of my sale are international, Australia has been number 1 so far, though I've sold all over the world.

What you can do about it:
When you list an item you can click 'no international shipping', but they can still bid. On all my items I click that, as well as say IN BIG BOLD LETTERS that international bidders need to contact me before bidding to work out additional shipping charge. Most of the time it works, but some people just don't pay attention. On high price items, I click on the bidders profiles even before the auction has ended, and contact them letting them know they need to wait for an invoice for additional shipping charge - this usually gets their attention.

Hope this helps. If you click on my Toy & Hobby Supply eBay store link below in my signature link, might give you some ideas.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

Int'l can be good sales. Limit it to what fits in Flat Rate Boxes FRB & envelopes. FRE.

Price shipping accordingly.

Most postage can be purchased online, saving you extra time in the PO line.


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