Whether you use basic or advanced international selling tools, when you sell internationally, you’ll inevitably receive requests from buyers in your target markets, and you might not always be able to communicate with them in their language. While some sellers might be able to communicate with their buyers in English, we know this might not always be possible in all situations.

When sellers don’t speak the language of the target markets, and they’d rather not communicate in English, they may be able to translate their messages. It’s important to keep in mind that if you sell expensive, handmade or personalized items, the quality of your communication might need to be higher than if you sell lower-quality, inexpensive items. We’ve provided two options below to help sellers communicate and provide customer service in their buyer’s language. Choosing the best option for your activity will often depend on the type of items you sell and the kind of questions and requests you need to manage.

1. Use a free, online translation tool
   1. Google Translate
   2. DeepL
2. Get support from a native speaker

When you use European Sales Booster (ESB) powered by Webinterpret or eBay’s Global Shipping Program (GSP) to sell internationally, your communications are not translated. It’s up to you to translate your messages.

Visit the pages below to get useful information on communicating with buyers.

General communications tips

Best practices to avoid issues

Helping buyers when they don’t receive an item

Handling return requests as a seller

Sellers can get support from eBay by visiting our online Help articles and contacting our dedicated customer service teams. Customer service is provided in the following European languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, and Spanish.

The language used for online Help articles and customer service support is site-specific. For example, if you’re looking for help on ebay.co.uk, support will be in English. On ebay.de, it’ll be in German and on ebay.es, it’ll be in Spanish. To change the language of an eBay site, scroll to the bottom of any eBay home page and select the flag of the country you’d like to visit.

As a CBT seller, in addition to registering on your home country site, you may have registered accounts on several country-specific eBay sites. When you need help, we recommend using the site where you registered your primary selling account because this site usually corresponds to your preferred language and/or your primary selling location. In this case, online help and customer support will be in that language, and information will be specific to the site where you sell the most. When you need help with cross-border trade and transactions on a different eBay site, our customer service team for your primary registration site will be able to get you the help you need.

To access online Help pages, select Help & Contact at the bottom of the home page of your chosen eBay site. You can then search by keyword or browse Help articles by topic. When visiting Help pages, to improve your experience, it’s always best to be signed in to your account so you’re sure to receive personalized support.

If you can't find the information you need in our Help articles, you can contact eBay Customer Service.

• Sign in to your account
• From the top of the eBay home page, select Help
• From the Customer Service page, scroll to the bottom and select Contact us
• Choose the topic you need help with so we can provide you with the appropriate support
• On the left side of the page, you’ll see how to contact us

If you’re registered on ebay.co.uk or ebay.de, you can use Seller Help to manage issues with transactions on these particular sites. You can get help with returns, items not received, refunds, feedback and defect removals, reporting issues with buyers and any policy notifications we've sent you. Visit these pages for specific help with issues involving eBay’s UK and Germany sites:

• Ebay.co.uk: Seller Help | eBay
• Ebay.de: Seller Inquiries Portal | eBay

Sellers must comply with all international trade regulations in the buyer’s local market. This seller requirement applies to returns, including when a buyer changes their mind (buyer remorse) or claims the article they received didn’t match the description in the listing (we call this “significantly not as described”, SNAD). Although eBay doesn’t provide shipping labels for returns, sellers can check the shipping information section of this handbook to see carriers available in the local market. It’s up to sellers to work with their buyers to agree on how to ship the item back to the original location.

The table below provides links to the pages on our international eBay sites where you can find information on returns by market.