EBay’s Foreign Customers

* Re “EBay Sellers Try to Limit the World,” April 19: Six months ago I started sellinkcg on EBay. Previously I sold my items in a retail setting that was limited to walk-in traffic for customers. My items would sit on the shelf for up to a year and possibly sxtill not sell. My first item on EBay had a buyer within two hours and the final price was driven up by bidders not just from my hometown but from all over the world. My auctions, like most auctions, state that the buyer pays for shipping. I also require international bidders to use an international money order requiring no monetary conversion.

At the post office it only takes an additional 30 seconds to fill out a customs form. That is a small price to pay for the additional upward boost that a bigger international market can bring to the final selling price. The beauty of EBay is that it provides the store and the customer base that can make us all equal competitors. Those people who denounce foreign customers are not maximizing their market. They are still thinking as 19th century shopkeepers. The world market is at my fingertips. That’s empowerment.

KIRK BUCHANAN

Newbury Park

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I, too, am insulted and embarrassed by anti-foreigner language. Having lived overseas for many years, I cannot recall ever being the object of such abuse. It seems to me such sentiments are the product of small minds and hearts, and put to shame any claims to the vaunted superiority of “the American way of life.”

As for the monetary conversion/shipping cost problems, EBay could easily address these by integrating a currency converter with its site and adding links to FedEx, UPS, et al. so sellers and buyers could get online quotes on shipping costs.

KEN JOHNSON

Newbury Park