International buyer weirdness

[octocorn]

Ok, I have a pony listed on eBay, and I'm asking quite a bit for it, because honestly if I can't get that much out of it I'll just hang on to it. One bid has been placed on it, and it's a buyer in France. I am in the US. My starting bid price is $65, she sent me this message:

Hello i m very interisting for this pony for my little girl but im in France can you say me if you do a global price for this item and shipping say me how many you can do thank you very much my little Carla like really this pony 1

I don't even know what global price is.  I looked up shipping to France, and with insurance and tracking on the pony shipping was going to be like $79.99, unless I looked in the wrong place, so I sent that information back to her, and received this

Thavk you for your answer for 79.99 i have the pony and shipping can you do a buy it now ? The pony do 6 inches? He s a good condition? Thank you i wait your answer

I understand there's a language barrier, but am I wrong, or is she asking me to close the auction early and sell her this pony WITH shipping for $79.99?  I feel weird about the whole thing, and I feel like I'm being scammed.  If I didn't need the cash, I wouldn't be selling the pony, and I really don't want to be without either one because I didn't listen to my gut feeling.  I'm going to call eBay when their customer service line opens and see what they say too, but does anyone have any advice about what I can do?  Can I cancel her bid? At this point I'm ready to chuck the pony back on my shelf and forget about it.

[WildBlue]

To me it does look like she is asking you to end the auction early and set it up for her to BIN.
I am a bit confused also though.... is the 79.99 only the shipping OR price of pony($65) plus 14.99 shipping?
If you do not want to end the auction early, I would just tell her the auction stands as it is and if she wants to bid she is more than welcome to do so.

[ponylady]

It sounds to me like a language barrier also and she thinks you are offering the pony to her for $79 plus shipping.

I would send her another email explaining that the pony is whatever the highest bid is and then an additional amount for shipping.

Although it makes me wonder why one would be purchasing such a higher dollar pony for a "little" girl??

[WildBlue]

It sounds to me like a language barrier also and she thinks you are offering the pony to her for $79 plus shipping.

I would send her another email explaining that the pony is whatever the highest bid is and then an additional amount for shipping.

Although it makes me wonder why one would be purchasing such a higher dollar pony for a "little" girl??

Now that you mention that, it is seeming a bit odd.

[octocorn]

To me it does look like she is asking you to end the auction early and set it up for her to BIN.
I am a bit confused also though.... is the 79.99 only the shipping OR price of pony($65) plus 14.99 shipping?
If you do not want to end the auction early, I would just tell her the auction stands as it is and if she wants to bid she is more than welcome to do so.

As far as I can tell, to get tracking I have to send usps express international, and it said 79.99 was the shipping price for that service, which seems insanely high to me, but I'm unwilling to send without tracking. An arena member would be a different story. I've seen too many ebay horror stories!

[WildBlue]

To me it does look like she is asking you to end the auction early and set it up for her to BIN.
I am a bit confused also though.... is the 79.99 only the shipping OR price of pony($65) plus 14.99 shipping?
If you do not want to end the auction early, I would just tell her the auction stands as it is and if she wants to bid she is more than welcome to do so.

As far as I can tell, to get tracking I have to send usps express international, and it said 79.99 was the shipping price for that service, which seems insanely high to me, but I'm unwilling to send without tracking. An arena member would be a different story. I've seen too many ebay horror stories!

Whoa!  That is insanely high for just shipping!!

[babylofty]

My kindness toward her stops the moment she mentions closing down the auction and turning it into a BIN for her.  That's a huge no-no for me personally, as well as Ebay's rules.

There's also the factor that she is several hours ahead of the US.  So you could do all that, get it going for her, and then she'd be in bed. What then? Hopefully someone else doesn't win it in the meantime. Hopefully Ebay doesn't get wind of what you're doing. What if she decides to abandon the plan? Then you're stuck with getting another ebay auction up on the site again.

Also, you have to factor in the difference between $80 US dollars and 79.99 Euros. $80 right now is only 59€ Euros. 

Ponylady brought up a good point. No parent in their right mind would buy an 60€ toy from ebay for their kid.  Europe is facing their own financial crisis right now, so I really doubt this is for a little girl.

Shady all around. I'd block her now and just move on.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Nahhhh not so much.  It cost me $80 to send a small parcel trackable to the UK so this sounds about right. 

But it's a HUGE no-no to ask to end the auction early! 

But as it's a high-value pony, you are likely not dealing with a great situation.  I would post her questions on the auction, and block her from bidding.  Best of luck!

[octocorn]

Thank you for your help everyone! I really appreciate it.  I cancelled her bid, and opted to go ahead and pull the auction.  It sucks because I had 19 watchers, but I'll relist later with restrictions regarding international buyers.  I feel like I dodged a major bullet here!

[Thunderwing]

Yep, you did the right thing. Never sell something expensive without shipping with full tracking!  I only ship cheap things internationally without tracking. My international shipping for one pony with tracking runs around $50 (from Canada), so it's entirely possible that you got the right shipping quote.