Downfalls of selling (or buying) knives internationally on eBay

Heirphoto

Heirphoto

Feedback: +65 / =0 / -0
Joined
Jun 13, 2007
Messages
1,430
Normally Bladeforums is my first stop when either buying or selling a knife. if I get no interest here I move to any dedicated Facebook groups for that brand and finially eBay.

To make a long story short I listed a Jacklore Classic bushcraft knife on eBay and gave all the usual "be sure you can legally purchase this in your country", "be sure you are old enough to purchase", etc.... Listed as an auction with a Buy It Now. A Japanese collector quickly jumped on the Buy It Now, paid promptly and I mailed the knife off via the eBay Global Shipping Program. Today I get a message from eBay that the item is "restricted" and cannot be sent via the Global Shipping Program and has been confiscated. I get to keep the sale money, buyer gets refunded by eBay insurance and they dispose of the knife. While the buyer is covered as well as myself as the seller it is a real shame the knife is basically "gone". (does eBay resell this stuff at an outlet somewhere?)

Anyway, just a heads up to anyone thinking of selling (or buying) a knife internationally on eBay. Note that I have also found out if eBay feels you are intentionally selling restricted items they may not let you keep the funds from the sale.

BTW, tried selling it here for a month and only had one international offer I was unwilling to take a risk with (good thing I didn't in hindsight), put it on two dedicated Facebook groups and got multiple offers but not one buyer actually followed through with payment even though I accepted their offers hence me finally going to eBay with it.
 
Last edited:
Would that be eBay restricted or Japan restricted ? Sound like the former given how many knives legally navigate the world every day !
 
Such a bummer. Japan is knife country galore so I'm guessing it was an ebay liability issue via their specific global shipping program.

Still sounds so very dumb.. hate to hear it.
 
Yep, it seems eBay's Global Shipping is where it hit th snag and they simply said restricted with no further explanation. eBay does give a list of restricted knives....switch blades, etc.... and certain countries (Ireland & the UK) but nothing about a fixed blade bushcraft knife.

I did even put all the disclaimers in case I had international or under age prospective buyers watching it and they needed to be sure it was legal to buy and own in their country or that they were old enough.

While we were both made whole it is a shame the knife is seemingly gone.

My buyer was very disappointed and really had wanted this knife as they are very hard to get.
 
Heirphoto said:
Yep, it seems eBay's Global Shipping is where it hit th snag and they simply said restricted with no further explanation. eBay does give a list of restricted knives....switch blades, etc.... and certain countries (Ireland & the UK) but nothing about a fixed blade bushcraft knife.

I did even put all the disclaimers in case I had international or under age prospective buyers watching it and they needed to be sure it was legal to buy and own in their country or that they were old enough.

While we were both made whole it is a shame the knife is seemingly gone.

My buyer was very disappointed and really had wanted this knife as they are very hard to get.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Sandy is the man.

Shame all around.
 
Quiet said:
I don't sell internationaly for any reason, specifically so I don't run into situations exactly like this. I'm glad you were made whole.
Click to expand...
Yeah, other than for my home business I will not be shipping internationally again either. At least with my home business the transactions are smaller and my cost of goods is not a deal breaker if something goes wrong......for now.
 
Just an update. The Jacklore knife that was confiscated by eBay's Global Shipping Program was resold to one of their liquidators and is now listed on ebay by the reseller 8ten1944.

I wonder what happens if another Japanese buyer does the Buy It Now on this one.

Oh, and they changed the actual O1 steel in the title to CPM 3V in their description making this an even more awesome knife than it was LOL They reused my pics too.

Update: It has already sold, $500.95 Buy It Now
 
Last edited:
So, did fleebay and the reseller make money on this?
It does not seem right, in any way, to confiscate something and not tell you specifically what the violation was. How can you correct behavior if you don't know what the error is?
The world seems to be full of this kind of behavior lately.

Weren't those photos "your artistic property"? :oops:
 
Looks like they lost a little bit. They refunded the buyer the items cost $455 he paid plus whatever the Global Shipping postage cost was (lots$$$). The re-seller sold it for $500.95 but had to pay fees and taxes so he got less that the $455 but probably paid way less than that buying it from eBay Global Shipping.

No idea what the violation was. Scales were walnut so no exotic wood rules in jeopardy
 
Did you let the original buyer know about it? Hopefully get snagged it.

What a ridiculous happening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top