Caution when biding in foreign auctions

They should fix that, I'm glad you said something, otherwise I wouldn't have known.

Bidding on foreign auctions in a different currency is not a problem that has to be fixed. The seller clearly states what currency he/she is accepting bids in. Neither eBay nor AS ever promised to provide a bid conversion service. For one thing, the rates of currency exchange change on a daily basis. These websites are NOT in the global money rates and exchange/banking business.

The buyer has to take responsibility for educating themselves as to what to expect when deciding to participating in a foreign auction -- such as exchange rates, shipping delays, etc.


Under the the help tab for setting up snipes AS states:

"Can I place a snipe for non-US auctions? If so, how?
Yes. Auction Sniper supports all of eBay's worldwide sites. The most common question asked about foreign auctions is what to enter for the maximum bid. Rather than converting from one currency to another, simply enter your maximum bid in the currency that is being accepted by the seller. For example, if the seller is accepting German Marks, then a maximum bid of 150 will be for 150 German Marks, and not $150 US Dollars. For more information, please view our My Snipes FAQ."

eBay has similar information in their help section as well.

I've noticed that eBay does provide a currency conversion, at least where British currency is concerned. The pounds are converted to approximate dollars and cents and appear directly beneath the opening bid price. eBay adjusts the amount to conform with fluctuations in exchange rates, too. I don't know whether they do this for other currencies as well, like converting Japanese yen to US dollars. It's possible that eBay does that when you search in a specific country's listings.

They do list an approximate amount in US dollars (as a courtesy) to give the buyer an idea of how much he may be spending. However, the bid itself MUST still place in the currency being accepted by the seller.

I didn't mean to offend anyone, I should have phrased that better. Sorry if I did!