I won Lavender Dream Castle on ebay, but seller refuses to sell it to me. :'(

[tulagirl]

@tootie_tails

I have my auctions blocked so people can't do this.  I have every country except USA unchecked so they can't even bid on my auctions.

[NoDivision]

IT is sad that the seller won't work with you - if it were me I certainly would - but unfortunately the others are right that the seller is under no obligation to ship to you or ro try to work it out.

[HoustonCollector72]

It sucks when the sellers won't ship from other countries, but it does take forever for items to get here sometimes, versus something shipped within usa, is peace of mind for both seller and buyer at the end, but with some special items you can't avoid the international action, Waiting on some items from canada,poland and from italy.

[medleysong]

That is disappointing, I am so sorry hun. I agree with everyone else in that the buyer is within his rights to not ship. However, I don't see what the problem would be if you were either able to change your confirmed address or used your aunt's paypal account to pay for it. That should be completely fine. I think many people are no longer comfortable sending overseas because with all of the new requirements placed on sellers to perform lightening fast with a smile it can just add to problems. When packages start to take a while then sellers get nervous about feedback and star reports. I know I won't sell overseas most of the time with a few exceptions here or there. I would seriously rather get slightly less for my item then deal with the headache of the star system. That is just me though...

[nhal039]

I personally don't see why he wont ship to the aunts address. I live in nz but have a friends address in the uk as my primary address on paypal (using ebayuk).. I haven't ever had a problem with anyone refusing to ship to her

All Norrskensljus usps has been making a lot of errors as of late, I will not buy from the us anymore due to lost/ damaged items so maybe its for the best that the transaction isn't working out

[GoldenLambPony]

Woah! I pay with a US gift address through eBay all the time, I thought it was the same for people who live out of the country as well. I didn't think you had to have it linked to your paypal in order to send it to a gift address. Which, this is pretty much the same thing. He said he ships to the US, and you provided him with a US address, so as long as you use that address when you pay, then I don't understand how this can be? Maybe send a request for the total of the item with your US address, that way eBay can see that you did in fact provide him with a US address.

I looked through the eBay rules and found these:

Seller: "As long as you ship to the address found on the eBay Order details page or the PayPal Transaction Details page, you are eligible for certain protections under the eBay Buyer Protection policy.
While you're not required to ship to a confirmed address, address confirmation is useful because it provides a way for a seller to verify a buyer's identity.
We recommend against stating in your listing that you'll only ship to confirmed addresses. Since a confirmed address isn't a requirement for PayPal Seller Protection, this is an unnecessary restriction and might discourage a potential buyer."

Buyer:" Many of the problems buyers and sellers encounter start with a simple misunderstanding about what is for sale and the terms of the sale. For example, some sellers only want to sell to bidders who live in a certain country, or who will pay using PayPal. You should only bid on or buy an item if meet the seller's requirements. These are described in the item listing. If you bid on an item and you don't meet the seller's requirements, we consider that unwelcome and malicious buying."

So while you didn't meet the requirements for bidding with your home address, if you pay using an unconfirmed US address, the seller is still protected as long as that is the address you use when you pay. I couldn't find a section on using alternate addresses though.

[Ringlets]

I'm sorry to hear this , it must be really disappointing for you   Unfortunately if he doesnt want to work things out with you, there is no way of making him send you the item.  Maybe its due to the fragile nature of the item that he doesnt want to risk international shipping?   I think if it was me I wouldnt not have any problem sending to you aunts address though.
 Usually when I want to buy something from a seller that wont ship to my country, I'll check with the seller first incase they will make an exception, but if not (or if they do not reply in time)  I ask a friend who lives in that country/countries that the seller ships to, to buy it/bid for me and have it sent to them, then to me. It can cost a bit extra because of having to pay two lots of shipping, but sometimes its worth it    You can always make a thread here in future if you need international help

[RockinPrettyBeats]

I really don't get why people don't ship worldwide anyways. I mean the buyer of course pays for the shipping so what's the problem? I always see stuff I want going for bargain prices because they don't ship outside of their own country and it annoys me to no end.

I can't speak for people who don't like shipping overseas but there are a lot of them. I can guess some reasons. I'm only thinking about USA sellers since that's where I'm from:

1. Communication Problems - Not everyone speaks English well
2. Shipping - 75% of the shipping options do not have insurance. The ones that do are expensive and even though you are covered, making a claim is very hard with USPS. It's such a pain that I have heard stories on the Ebay forum where people just give up and refund without getting their money from the postal office.
3. Fees - Fees are higher when you accept money from overseas
4. Stress - Waiting a long time for something to get delivered stresses some people out.
5. Forceful Attitudes - If a seller keeps getting out of country buyers that bid on their items (even though they clearly say they don't ship worldwide) they start to get suspicious. It's human nature to get turned off by someone begging, prodding or pushing.
6. Packaging - You should package everything safely but when I ship out of country I use more packaging, sturdier boxes and am just generally more careful. You have to expect it to be in transit for longer. When people have a large breakable item they look at it and think that it will never make it overseas.
7. Bad Experience - It may not be fair but one bad apple spoils the batch. They may have shipped to someone overseas and a lot of drama ensued. It could have soured shipping out of their country. If this experience was one of their first sales they will probably never ship overseas again.

I just think buyers should stick to asking the seller if they ship overseas (obviously you don't need to ask if it says they ship worldwide). I don't see anything wrong with asking even if it says "USA only" or "UK only" or whatever. Many change their mind once you start a rapport with them.

Also, I know the middleman thing seems like a solution but it's a really iffy thing to put together. I think it's great when people do it. I've also offered to be the middleman. But try to understand that it's hard for the seller to agree to it if they don't know who the buyer/middleman is personally.

For instance, what happens once the middleman receives the package? Is the buyer going to leave feedback as soon as that happens? Then if the middleman ships it to the real buyer  and it breaks the seller will be the one that gets the claim.

I know many buyers will swear up and down everything will be fine but if they get a broken item all that will go down the drain. They will most likely do anything they can to get their money back even if there is no way to know for sure when it actually got broken.

[tulagirl]

These are described in the item listing. If you bid on an item and you don't meet the seller's requirements, we consider that unwelcome and malicious buying."

Wow unwelcome and malicious buying? Thats harsh.  I just wonder how many times people bid and don't realize yet ebay considers it "malicious."  Thats just plain silly.  I mean yea...there are crazy folks out there that spend their whole day causing trouble but I find this word extreme for sure.

[Oneleo1]

Maybe if he relists it, you can use your aunts e-bay account to win it again?

I donno, just thinking outside the box. I hope you can get your hands on one!

[dippindot]

Maybe if he relists it, you can use your aunts e-bay account to win it again?

I donno, just thinking outside the box. I hope you can get your hands on one!

That sounds like a good way to resolve the problem to me, if the castle is important to you.  Apologize for any trouble you may have caused the seller (even if you don't feel like you caused any), agree to cancel the transaction, and let him know that you would like to bid again with proper, confirmed, (whatever reassuring adjective is required) eBay and PayPal accounts with addresses in the US. 

If he is a jerk enough to block your account after that, you didn't have a chance at getting the castle anyways.   

[Taxel]

I don't even see how there's a problem if OP is willing to change their official eBay and Paypal addresses so the seller is protected. That's what I understood they were very willing to do from their posts. How is that like bad or whatever? If they use a US address officially, why does it matter where they actually live? I really don't get how OP is completely in the wrong here if they're willing to do that. :/

[Like A Tea Spoon]

 " Please contact me about the actual shipping cost before bidding since cost is dependent on the area it would be going to North America. Will consider offers from bidders outside of North America if contacted first. "

Sounds like the seller gave an option for non US/CAN bidders. Unfortunately, it's not likely seller was watching and constantly checking bidder email/messages to make this even a option. 

[ClosetAvalanche]

Maybe if he relists it, you can use your aunts e-bay account to win it again?

I donno, just thinking outside the box. I hope you can get your hands on one!

Not a good idea.

[Oneleo1]

Maybe if he relists it, you can use your aunts e-bay account to win it again?

I donno, just thinking outside the box. I hope you can get your hands on one!

Not a good idea.

It may not be the best idea in the book, but it's worst case scenario. Do you have another suggestion that might be better that would help the OP get the seller to sell the castle?