I sell internationally all the time.

Bottom line: every online 'customer' we have had from Indonesia and Nigeria has been a scam. Haven't had one problem anywhere else in the world. But, ALL users from these areas, that have contacted us (at least a few thousand), have all been money order/credit card scams. Please be advised. Also, now some folks from Indonesia are moving around to Singapore/Malaysia to try scamming from that area, perhaps to obfuscate their identity. I know this because I have tracked the same compromised SMTP boxes. Also, it is the same "send before you receive the money" or "use my friend's credit card" scams. I feel sorry for those that fall victim. Be smart when you trade internationally. Require insurance for "larger" priced items.

"Laurie, I like that idea with the global shipping icon. Only problem is what if a seller choses only Canada or only Europe ... would this count as global too?"

I hadn't thought about that, Peter. Ummm, maybe half a globe for them?

Good ideas. Another change that would be nice for sellers who clearly state in their listing that they don't accept Paypal from certain countries would be for ebay to get rid of the Paypal logos if the seller sends an invoice from ebay. It's confusing for the buyer and the seller can't turn them off if they decide to use ebay's send an invoice feature.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. i am in constant contact with the paypal team so i will provide them with the PP specific suggestions. keep 'em coming!

Remove the 1% paypal surcharge and offer some protection so that we can accept PayPal for international transactions.

Good thread

OK even though i'm usually NOT in favor for any more icons I find the idea of a little globe or something for international sellers VERY helpful. As a seller AND a buyer.

And I second the complaint about the search box - that was yet another SO NOT USEFUL "improvement" . Heck, at first I thought someone stole my search box until I found it hiding in a corner, small and insignificant.

I don't know if my latest decline in international bids has to do with some other eBay search "improvements" but I noticed my international sales have gone from 30-40% per week to barely 15%
I might add that during this time of the year I usually experience MORE international business than let's say June to August.
Might be coincidence but then again it might not.


I also like the idea of being able to choose different payment methods for international buyers and I think I have brought this up on some other threads in the past. eBay will for example automatically list "personal check" as an accepted payment method for international buyers.

Hello Tim

The greatest issue that affects US and Canada trading through ebay is the sellers being told that they are not protected due to the sellers protection program. Most sellers have chosen to not trade Internationally because of this issue. It really sends a negative to foreign buyers when they are told that they can not pay by a payment that ebay itself promotes.

Until paypal figures out that sellers are not accepting Paypal payments from foreigners I am afraid that eBay is heading for more of a regional market place rather than the International community that it chooses to be.

I hear the arguments on these boards dealing with issues of fraud and other issues however by percentage of transactions globally most of the ebay users are worried about a low percentage of online payment fraud. I use a credit card in my purchases that way I am protected as a buyer however I have only had one bad occasion when an unscrupulous seller was selling QUESTIONABLE merchandise and I thought that it was best to do a chargeback. This seller is no longer a registered user of ebay for his tactics

However out of so many fine sellers on ebay how much is the actual percentage of Chargebacks and Fraudulent activity?

And how many these transactions involve Canadian Buyers?

For something that eBay promotes to use (PAYPAL) a lot of sellers are not using it to offer sales to foreign customers. I find since eBay has taken over Paypal sellers have been listing less items that are available to foreign customers and if that trend continues you will find that a lot of ebay will become a regional market place.

Another recent development has occurred on Wednesday October 6th 2004, it was announced on several radio stations that the Canadian Customs workers have announced a work to rule campaign to get their contract concerns looked after until further notice therefore packages arriving from foreign countries may be delayed.

BTW, I have sold Internationally since day one last year & have done so to quite a few countries. However, printing International postage on-line is new to me. =)