Mark Erickson wrote:
Tim,
Technically, it does make you a bad Ebayer because, unless you get
permission from the seller, you're violating the conditions of the
auction if you ask for shipping to somewhere excluded in the listing.
From a seller's point of view, shipping to a third party is risky
as well, since fraud perpetrators may play games of this sort with
third party payments and/or shipping and either pay via a fraudulent
account, forged cashier's check, or hacked Paypal account.
I'm not saying by any means that you're intending to perpetrate a fraud,
but it can be very hard for a seller to detect the difference between
a legitimate buyer and a fraudulent person.
Finally, if the seller doesn't respond, I think you should assume that
he/she does not want you to bid. If you're really desperate for
the item, maybe you can arrange with a friend in the U.S. to actually
bid and receive the item, then ship it to you.
Things used to be a lot more relaxed, say, 6 or 7 years ago, but too
many cheaters have figured out that they can get things for free
from sellers who aren't defensive enough.
--Mark
I think we're all getting a little carried away here. Let's take stock.
The seller says he will not sell to anywhere outside the U.S. which, I
might assume, is to avoid the hassles and expenses of a transaction in
non-U.S. money and international shipping difficulties that the seller
doesn't care to learn about.
His privilege, I'm sure...
I don't know, but I wouldn't think he specifically has an aversion to
selling to Norwegians, or Germans or Chileans, just doesn't want the
hassle of dealing with money exchanges and shipping problems.
*If* that's the case, the sellers selling to a U.S. citizen is okay for
everyone. The seller doesn't get involved with the sales hassle, and the
straw man and the eventual buyer take care of any problems between them.
Who does that hurt?
I say, "nobody." If the potential buyer explains he wants to insert a
U.S. resident as a "straw man", to whom the seller can ship, does the
seller have any problem with that?
Absent an answer, the potential buyer should just calmly go away.
In any case, being honest and up front with everything is absolutely the
best policy, and doing it that way you're not running up against any
eBay rules.
Just my thoughts...
On reflection...eBay would have to be held blameless and harmless in the
case where the eventual buyer is dissatisfied with his purchase.
Once the seller agrees to the straw man purchase, and sends the item in
question to the U.S. receiver, the *seller* is totally off the hook!
Yeah, I can see potential complications & problems there...
I think that if *I* was the seller, I'd say, "No thanks. No deal."
The above has turned out to be a little exercise in thinking out loud!
Thanks for your kind attention, one and all! ;-)
keith whaley
Tim Øsleby wrote:
I want to bid at a shipment only in US item. I have sent
the buyer a message asking if he can send it to Europe despite
what he has sayd. I have also suggested a send to a US citizen
and he will ship it on to me solution. No reply so far.
If I bid, despite this, will that make me a bad ebayer?
Tim
Mostly harmless (just plain Norwegian)
