Seller said no.... should I bid anyway?

[daffodil101]

So, there's a rare pony on ebay... one that doesn't come up too often in good condition, that I've been searching for for a long time.  The seller's overseas and I asked if she offered international postage.  Here's what she said:

"Hi. Thank you for your interest. I'm afraid I am only posting to the UK. I looked at posting to Australia you are the second person to ask but if the pony sells for around £10 it costs just as much to send it. Thank you for your interest though."

It's worth a lot more than L10, imho, but the sole reason she's given for not posting is that the postage cost is similar to the cost of the pony.  What??  It's not as if she's paying the postage.  Plus if one more person bids, she'll get a better price.

So this is my dilemma.  (This is literally a very childish problem of 'should I ask mum who'll say no, or dad who'll say yes but then mum will be mad' situation!!)  I could ask her again and beg and say I really want the pony.  It's likely she'll say no again.  Or........  I could bring out my inner bratty teen, and just bid on it anyway, and see if I get away with it.  I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

Has anyone ever been in this slightly silly situation before?  Could she cancel the sale if I won, or give me bad feedback?  If you're a seller, has anyone done this to you?  I do have a slight penchant for practical jokes, but I certainly don't want to cause any actual trouble for anyone.  Moral guidance welcome!   

[Whippycorn]

If the seller doesn't want to post overseas, then I would not bid on it. But couldn't you ask an arena member in the UK to bid on it for you and post it on to you? Isn't there a special thread for such requests?

[Tap Dancer]

If you beg her to send it overseas after she said no, you'll only make her mad. Most likely she'll cancel the bid and block you. Whippycorn offered the best solution in getting a UK arena member to help you. I used to sell toys 10+ years ago and I only sold within the US. For some people, it's just easier to sell within your country.

[Ringlets]

Personally I have no problem posting top any country  regardless of the cost - the buyer is paying it anyways..but I know some people don't like to ship outside their own country so I wouldn't risk bidding on this one since she already said no.
You can still have a bid the pony though if you ask a UKer to bid for you then they post it on to you later (you just end up paying the extra postage but if its HTF/ worth it then there are lots of UK members here who could bid for you
I could do it myself but I only post using tracked/ delivery confirmation methods so it works out a bit more expensive. If you don't mind that then I'll do it for you (PM me.  I do need more than 24 hours notice though as I'm online at unusual times and not as much on the weekend )  or you can ask another UKer for help in the thread specifically for that or in this thread (just update the title to ask for UK help )

[daffodil101]

That is great advice!  I never thought of teaming up with another Arena member.  Thanks so much! 

[Ringlets]

  you're welcome 

[MiRaja]

Do keep in mind that if you get someone to 'help you out,' their address needs to be a confirmed address to whatever account is used to pay for the item.  Else the seller has no protections.  They *HAVE* to ship to the address that paypal lists on payment.  :/ 

This post just reminds me of what I've ran into the last few days.  I posted a large lot here, in an effort to clear a good chunk of my collection ( I'm hoping to move somewhere larger come spring ), and I stated very specifically that due to the size, and due to my time constraints that I would not be offering international shipping.  I posted very clearly that.

Within a couple hours I had several people, all international, trying to badger me into selling to them. . .!  It struck me as very rude, and I'm hardly saying you're doing that, but if you bid and the seller has told you no, then I think that would be a clear enough message.

I don't know the situation for that country, but here in the US, it's very difficult for me to ship international that is in a way safe to me as the seller.  I have had argumentative international buyers who refuse to pay the atrociously high insurance fees, and I have told them that I cannot sell to them in that case.  Many buyers want us sellers to take the onus of the safety of the package just so they can cheap out.  Not saying you are, just expressing my frustrations.  It's like having your cake and eating it too, with some buyers.  But please keep that in mind with sellers.  They're not telling you they don't ship international because they're mean and don't want you to have the item, but rather it's a major pain in the rear end, and not at all worth it most of the time with the risk to the seller and the situation of paypal and ebay often siding with the buyer no matter what.  Receipts or no receipt.  If the buyer doesn't get the package in hand, welp, the seller is out of money more often than not.

If you can find a person to help you, and get their address confirmed by your paypal, then fine, but express that to the seller.  They still might not want to sell to you, that's their choice.  Another pony will always pop up.  Even the rare ones.   

[Chaosette]

Also keep in mind that the higher the shipping fee is for a seller, the bigger a chunk of the profit ebay takes from the sale. Ebay takes ten percent of the entire transaction, so if a pony sells for 10$ plus 3-4$ shipping, they pay ebay 1.3 dollars. If it sells for 10$ with 12-14$ shipping , they pay ebay 2-2.50. So they actually make less money selling to you if you only big the item up a few dollars. Especially if you request a more expensive shipping method with insurance etc.

[Ember1]

I agree.. Teaming up with another arena member is definitely the way to go.
And its fun to get to know another member more closely. I have formed friendships
by working with other arena members for abroad auctions before. This would be the way to go

[Sarah-Bee]

I wouldn't bid if she's said no, if it were me I'd just cancel the sale and probably block the buyer for going against what my auctions stated. I don't see what the problem is with sending abroad though??

Anyways, happy to help if you want to ship her to me. I've done it a lot of times for people here and have feedback that reflects it Just PM me x

[daffodil101]

Thanks for your insights!    MiRaja that's a very good point...  I know as a seller if you have a negative experience with a sale, it can actually be rather traumatic to go through.  I knew someone who didn't use tracked shipping and their seller claimed they had never sent the parcel, forcing them to refund.  I totally respect that if you've had a negative experience like that, it's just not worth it to take that risk!

Everyone is different and has their own reasons so it's definitely important to respect that.

The pony's ended now (it was Thundercloud, to solve the mystery!)   Thanks to you lovelies for offering to bid for me, it's struck me again how amazing it is to have this pony community here on the Arena!