I was trying to make an offer on an eBay item yesterday. Regular stuff, checked that all was well with shipment policies and so on.

From the ad:

Postage and packaging
Item location: Palm City, Florida, United States
Postage to: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Sweden, Belgium, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Ukraine, Croatia, Republic of, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica

************************************************************************************
As I have address both in the UK and Norway I felt sure, but this time no:

So I contacted eBay customer support for a chat....... I was AMAZED!


Anant Vijay

Welcome to eBay Live help, my name is Anant. How may I assist you today?

Anant Vijay

Hello [ME]!

[ME]

Hi! I am having trouble to make a bid for this item. Why?
My location is on the list of approved shipment destinations.

[ME]

This is the error I am getting: We are sorry but the item you selected may not be purchased due to Seller shipping restrictions, country specific import/export or other relevant restrictions.
{e45827-779732x}

[ME]

Please note: I have postal addresses in both Norway and in the UK. Tried to set either one.

Anant Vijay

I am sorry to learn that you are unable to bid on an item as you are getting as error.

[ME]

So what can I do or what is the problem?

Anant Vijay

Let me check it quickly for you to assist you further.

Anant Vijay

Let me check it once to provide you the possible resolution.

Anant Vijay

I appreciate your patience.

Anant Vijay

Thank you for waiting.

Anant Vijay

I have checked the item and due to some import restrictions you are not able to purchase the item from our UK site.

[ME]

Hi, I tried from eBay.com as well. Same result.

Anant Vijay

I would suggest you to go to our US site that is www.ebay.com and purchase the item from that site.

[ME]


We are sorry but the item you selected may not be purchased due to Seller shipping restrictions, country specific import/export or other relevant restrictions.
{e45827-779732x}

Anant Vijay

Thanks for the confirmation.

Anant Vijay

Thanks for the details.

Anant Vijay

I am sorry but you this item has certain import restrictions.

Anant Vijay

I would suggest you to contact your import and exprort department.

Anant Vijay

You can search for other similar items also.

[ME]

I am not taking that as an answer. There is certainly something wrong with your bidding system.

Anant Vijay

As you know restrictons can be on brand or other features.

[ME]

Please check my profile. I am a relatively active collector. There are no import ban on swiss watches to EEC countries. Believe me!

Anant Vijay

This is not due to biddng but it is due to bidding restrictions.

Anant Vijay

sorry import restrictions.

[ME]

Then please tell me what restrictions are applied for this item. It can not be brand, county or product.

[ME]

The seller should also be contacted as he is not getting the potential buyers he is hoping for!

Anant Vijay

And for the reason, you need to get in tocuh with the Norway Import/ Export Department for the details, as it is not allowed in Norway and they would be able to explain you the reason

[ME]

There are no import restrictions to Europe on Swiss made watches. Please do not play that card.

[ME]

I have also tried using my UK address. The same result.

Anant Vijay

[ME], you may try changing your address and purchasing an item.

[ME]

I am actually using my UK address as my normal "primary" address. That was the first time I saw the issue.

Anant Vijay

I have checked your account and can confirm that your primary shipping address is of Norway.

Anant Vijay

I would suggest you to change your primary postage address to UK.

Anant Vijay

Shall I guide you to change it to UK?

[ME]

Tried it. I changed it to my UK address. Then tried it from ebay.co.uk and ebay.com. It does not work! Same error!!

[ME]

eBay.de likewise

Anant Vijay

I can confirm that right now your registered address and primary postage address both is of Norway.

[ME]

Can I send you my screen shot?
Primary postage address:Your main postage address for purchases
[MY ADDRESS]
United Kingdom

Anant Vijay

I appreciate your efforts sending the screenshot.

Anant Vijay

Let me investigate more about the issue.

Anant Vijay

I appreciate your patience.

Anant Vijay

[ME], thank you for waiting.

Anant Vijay

I've consulted experts team for this issue, as per the team, the item is listed on US site using the Global Shipping Programme. That particular brand is suppose to be not allowed to post from US to your location due to certain Import/Exports Law. This brand is also not allowed to post in UK as well. Rest assured, there is no such issue with your eBay account. There is one solution available.

[ME]

So the Global Shipping Programme is not sending European made watches to Europe?
That is a good one! LOVL!

Anant Vijay

You may advice the seller to revise their listing and remove the Global Shipping Programme tick from the sell your item page and offer the postage for your country using the International shipping service.

Anant Vijay

I am sorry but due to certain import/exports law, it's not allowed (GSP).

[ME]

As the seller has listed it for shipment to loads of European countries, and then bidders in this region is not able to bid on it I think you in all honesty should inform the seller yourself?

Anant Vijay

If you wish then I can send out an email to the seller on behalf of you and aslo offer them an option.

[ME]

I hope it is ok that I post a transcript of this conversation in internet fora?
I am sure there will be some concerns.

Anant Vijay

We don't mind.

[ME]

I think you should contact the seller as he is not getting what he obviously thinks from eBay!

Anant Vijay

Global Shipping Programme is not mandatory for the seller, it's upto them whether they wish to opt in or opt out. If they opt it then they will have to handover the item at Local Logistic center with their country and Logistic Team (Pitney Bowes) will post an item at the Buyer's location. In this option, the seller needs not require to visit custom office and need not require to do any documentation, all would be done via Pitney Bowes.

Anant Vijay

And according to the country specific law, this item may not be allowed and not passing the Import/export laws hence our system not allowing you to order this item.

Anant Vijay

If you wish to know the details then you will contact your custom department for the same.

Anant Vijay

It's been awhile since I've heard from you, I'm just checking to see if we're still connected?

[ME]

Hi,
I have given up. Thanks for your effort. I am very much surprised by your obvious neglect in trying to aid your members in conducting their business.

Chat Session Ended, Goodbye. (5010)

 

Funny, I've had a customer service rep named Vijay answer my call when I had a question about my mortgage and I got the same thing - no help, just repetitive lip service with a whole bunch of polite "I'm sorry" and "Thank you for your patience" replies.

 

Had this problem too, but I thought it was because I am in Kuwait, I put the VPN on and got the same response. Not good if you're really after a particular watch is it.

 

Well that's frustrating! When will ebay make the global shipping program mandatory for all listings?

Did you try contacting the seller? Willing to bet a trusted member could help with a package redirection. I'd do so, though I'm in Canada which complicates things a bit.

 

I have just contacted the seller and informed him he is being had by eBay. I have means of ordering using a US account, but it really complicates stuff.... We will see what comes up!

 

I tried my UK and German shipping addresses as well. They are obviously just as strict.....
The seller specifically listed that he would like to ship to Europe. Not much help when eBay blocks all his bids.....
I am still following the item, and it is really low priced.

 

They sure are.

1) Apologize to the customer.

2) Thank them for their patience.

3) As politely as you can, tell them you aren't gonna do shit for them - then repeat steps 1 and 2.

Just another reason this NJ guy to retire from this game. As this hobby / business gets larger, more & more bullshit like this is going to happen. Scammers are coming out of the woodwork, red tape is starting to get stickier, etc.

 

Maybe it's just another hidden "Buy American" program...... Swiss watches? Yes! We have no bananas. How about a Hamilton Sir?

 

The seller normally sets the shipping restrictions at the time the ad is set-up. They may not wish to ship overseas due to potential loss and lack of tracking with some services like USPS. Unless you ship via USPS Priority Express tracking drops off after customs in the country it is shipping to. Its pretty expensive to ship and insure with USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc. If you go to www.USPS.com you can calculate the shipping cost w/insurance to see exactly what it would be.

I would contact the seller directly. If you are willing to pay the shipping(expedited)/tracking and insurance he may be willing to open his ad to ship internationally. Also, advise him that you are willing to pay for duties/fees associated with the shipment.

Good luck to you.

 

Please read first part of op. He specified shipment internationally as ok. The problem is that eBay GSP blocks bids from the same countries!!!

 

You should try again but with another CS rep. From experience some nationalities are more helpful than others.

 

What about having a friend in the U.S. buy for you? I've done that before for overseas friends when they wanted a watch or watch part that they could not get directly due to restrictions. They PayPal the funds (usually as a gift) to my account and the purchase is made. If you trust someone, its another alternative for you. They ship to you once they receive and ensure its in good condition.

 

Sad for those who are out of the country but good for those who want lower prices like me!

In all seriousness though that is pretty ridiculous

 

I'm actually sad on the sellers part. He thinks and perhaps even pay for an international listing.

 

I have that option already. Just more of a hassle.

 

I also encountered this issue in the past.

I ended up opening a US eBay account and have the item sent to a US Shipito (https://www.shipito.com/) address.

 

I think I might have found the issue.....
The seller is listing the watch band material as being "Crocodile". It is actually "Crocodile Calf" which is basically stamped cow hide.
It makes sense as trade in certain materials, such as crocodile products, are heavily restricted since crocs are on the endangered spices list.
So much for bragging in your original post.
The shit is that this eBay CS guy could not tell why it was blocked, just that it was.
Also interesting that eBay is (obviously) blocking export without informing the seller.