Rob & Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper talk about their first eBay international shipping problem and how they navigated it.
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Our First International Shipping Problem And How We Navigated It
Rob: What's up, pro flippers? On today's episode, we are doing a recap back to the eBay's international shipping .
Melissa: We had our first experience using international shipping that an item didn't arrive, so we're gonna talk about it.
Rob: All right guys, so back to the international shipping. We did a podcast and a video not that long ago on this. But we had our first item that the buyer wanted to cancel or return two months after the sale.
So we want to dive in and tell you what exactly happened. And kind of how we handled it and how it went with eBay.
Melissa: Yeah. Did eBay hold up their end of the bargain with international shipping like they said they were going to do so?
Rob: And one thing we will add, this was not a $10 or $20 item, it was a $300 item.
This buyer paid $300 out of the state. I don't know, out of the country where, don't know where it was going. Yeah. No, I don't know. I didn't look, but it was out the country. And two months later came back and said the item was not received. They opened a case and eBay put the funds on hold inside our account just because of that's their normal procedure for this type of transaction.
Melissa: Yeah. I woke up to, just a notification that the funds were on hold and we're like, okay, what's going on? And we looked at the thing, and it was two months ago this item was supposed, was sold. We're like, yeah, I'd be upset too if I didn't get an item two months later.
It was a that computer board yeah thing. So we're like, all right, well let's call eBay. So then we go to call eBay. And this is another quick little side note point, side note. We go to call eBay and we have a couple different numbers for them. And all of them ended up not going straight to eBay. So they went to their automated system.
Rob: They, they said their one number that we had, that we've always used in the past was compromised. So they put automated systems on all of it. So you have to go through the computer right now, until you get the new system figured out. You have to go through the computer and have a rep call you, which is not the, the end of the world or it's not the worst thing ever either because we got them in the, pH on the phone with like minutes.
Melissa: Yeah. I went to the website and went in through, and we have a tutorial on, this will link it in below, but you just go in and you find the customer service and then it says they gives you the option to chat. And I did have to chat. I couldn't go straight to a button that said, call me. Now I had to start the chat.
And after the chat then it let me say, you know, do you wanna chat? Or do you want somebody to call you? So, or do you wanna call eBay or do you want us to call you? And it was a two minute wait. So, and then they called you right away.
Rob: So.
Got them on the phone, told them what was going on, and guess what? They closed it out immediately.
Told us that there, we were not responsible for the $300 that they were gonna refund the buyer as well as release the funds to us. No if, and or buts about it, it was done, and finished. They closed it out and they did exactly what they were supposed to do in this instance for. The difference between the global shipping and the international shipping was that eBay has your back no matter what happens, they're still gonna protect you through the transaction.
Melissa: Yep. And they held up their end of the bargain. They did. So it wasn't that big of a deal that you were on the phone only for a couple minutes and they took care of it and yeah. So I think that, I mean, that just shows that that's good.
Rob: Exactly. Great transaction. And I would be upset if I was the buyer as well.
Yeah. Not receiving an item for two months, but on our end of it. We still shipped it out in a timely manner. I think I even paid, two-day shipping because right now when you're doing some labels in eBay, sometimes it's only like a dollar or two cheaper or more expensive to do a two day shipping versus a ground, which is whatever, three to five days.
I paid extra for this one. Got it to the hub. And the buyer still hadn't received it. After two months, I would be upset too, but at the same part time, we did our part to do everything that we could to make this a good transaction. And somewhere along the line, I don't know if it was eBay, I don't know if it was, out of the country, some type of, postal service.
I don't know where, the, it got dropped, the ball got dropped, but the buyer should totally be refunded in this instance. Yeah.
Melissa: And I will add, it is awesome still that we can talk to eBay on the phone. I, we prefer to talk to them on the phone. When anything happens, you just get your point across a lot faster.
I mean, I'm not someone that loves the phone. I would rather chat and do texts and, but he gets so much more done on the phone, so I'm, we're glad that that's still an option, that like you can talk to somebody. So, and if you do have any issues with eBay or with a transaction or with something and that you're concerned about it, have them call you because you can get so much more done on the phone than you can
Rob: with a person
Melissa: over chat.
Especially if it's something like removing negative feedback or something like that where you really are there, you have to go back and forth and you can really talk to somebody because a person can hear your voice and hear like your side of things a lot better than just chatting back and forth. So.
Rob: Yeah, there's a lot lost in translation when you're doing, just think about a text message you can send a text message saying one thing.
Melissa: It means so many different things.
Rob: It can mean so many different things. And that's exactly what communication through a chat really does. Where the the, and the other thing is a lot of people, when you're dealing with eBay, it might be a, a rep from another country who already has a language barrier, that you're trying to deal with.
When you get them on the phone, you can explain a lot better. They can totally understand where you're coming from and then totally try to help you. It's a lot easier to getting them on the phone and doing that versus trying to chat through online texts or message, anything like that.
It's just way, way easier to get across what you're trying to do.
Melissa: Yep. So our experience so far, first experience with an item that didn't make it to where it was supposed to make it, and eBay held up their end of the bargain on international shipping. So, so far, so good.
Rob: Awesome.
Melissa: So we just wanted to give a little update. This is a short little episode, but, if you guys wanna learn more about this flipping gig, check out freeflippingcourse.com.
Rob: And we cannot wait to see you on the next episode.