eBay dilemma--unconfirmed address

ddink

I have a dilemma: a guy just bought something from me for $900, but when using paypal paid with an unconfirmed address. However, he has 120 unique feedback and nearly 400 total feedback, with not a single negative. Does this sound safe to ya'll?

Neptune

yes - sounds safe. I would be sure to confirm with him that the address is correct, and get appropriate insurance, just in case. PP won't confirm me because it's a PO Box, and I don't want to give out my private address, because I want to keep it just that - private.

nOoBiEeE

Yes! If you want to, email him/her and verify the address prior to sending item out.

clevegreg

I'm assuming that he paid via PayPal. There should be an Accept or Deny button to the right of the transaction listing on your PayPal Account screen. If you click on Accept, it will show how many PayPal transactions they have had. If it is a good number, I always have shipped and have had no problems, especially if they also have good Ebay feedback.

Greg

4thStooge

Avoid the problem in the future by changing your preferences to deny payments from those with uncomfirmed addresses.

TWQG

You waive seller protections by shipping to an unconfirmed address. I wouldn't. Also, Paypal will confirm PO boxes.

ScarsdaleCoin

I agree...change your account not to accept unconfirmed address...and tell him that you can not accept his payment unless you ship to a confirmed address....you may have no problem here...but you are setting yourself up for a future problem down the line if you dont...

CarlWohlforth

I guess I've been lucky so far. I take payments from unconfirmed addresses. Has anybody lost a deal or gotten negative feedback by denying payments from unconfirmed addresses? I'm thinking I should switch my option to deny from unconfirmed addresses but am wondering if I will lose any business if I do?

I had my credit card change my billing address to my PO Box. That way I could have my own PayPal account confirmed. Up until I did that I was using an unconfirmed address myself!

mercurynut

Ya do it!

RYK

I had my first experience with this as a seller recently. Buyer preferred to receive his coin at work, and obviously, his credit card bill went to his home address. This rendered him "unconfirmed." My transaction went without any problems. I expect yours will be okay, too.

Colorfulcoins

I do it all the time. I have an unconfirmed PO box myself (didn't know one could confirm that address as I thought it had to be a billing address for a CC). If someone has A) good ebay feedback and 2) good paypal feedback interms of # of sellers paid, wouldn't bother me in the least......

Russ

It is a very bad idea to make a practice of shipping to unconfirmed addresses. Do it long enough and often enough and, sooner or later, you will get ripped off by an unscrupulous buyer. All they have to do is file a bogus chargeback and even if you have proof of delivery, you are out the money. Your only protection is to ship to the billing address for the credit card, (in PayPal lingo "confirmed" address).

Russ, NCNE

RYK

As always, I would defer to Russ in this matter. He has far more experience/wisdom than I do. My n=1 experience was okay, but sending to an unconfirmed address does open the seller up to being ripped.

NoGvmnt

Email the winning bidder to confirm what address he wants the item sent to, when he responds print and keep with the transaction records the Email he sends you confirming what address he wants the item sent to. Send the item priority insured with delivery confirmation (or signature confirmation).

Jim

relayer

You should configure your PayPal account to always ask before accepting a payment from an unconfirmed address. Then look at the buyers feedback and the amount and judge the risk you want to take.

I use a PO Box which is not confirmed and rarely get asked about it.

I usually don't accept PayPal for anything over $500 because of the high fees. I would probably accept the payment from your buyer with their feedback, but keep in mind you are at risk of losing $900 if the guy wants to challange it later and will have no recourse with PayPal if he does.

To be safe you should probably ask for a money order and offer free S/H/I in exchange - it would be cheaper than the $26 PayPal fee.

ddink

<<
It is a very bad idea to make a practice of shipping to unconfirmed addresses. Do it long enough and often enough and, sooner or later, you will get ripped off by an unscrupulous buyer. All they have to do is file a bogus chargeback and even if you have proof of delivery, you are out the money. Your only protection is to ship to the billing address for the credit card, (in PayPal lingo "confirmed" address).
>>

Good point Russ, unfortunately it's so easy for a buyer to manipulate PayPal and cheat the seller no matter what. Just one example: pay with credit card, then do credit card chargeback. No matter how PayPal rules, the cc company will process the chargeback. Then the poor seller has to take on Visa or MasterCard to get their money, even with proof of delivery =(

I figure he has almost 400 feedbacks with no negs, he's not going to blow his reputation on $900. Also realized that I never ship any of the "protected" ways either (i.e. FedEx or UPS or USPS with tracking--such as express mail) so I'm not really going out on the limb.

I know there are lots of good reasons people have unconfirmed addresses; when I was in college 200 miles away from "home" any time I bought something online I had to drive 4 hours to go pick it up since they would only ship to my billing address. It was beyond annoying, but people are just trying to protect themselves from fraud. Thanks for all the great advice!

P.S. My PayPal is set up to prompt me before accepting payments, so I can evaluate their feedback and stuff before deciding. Next time I'll use the "require instant payment" that someone else mentioned here.

Russ

<< <i>Good point Russ, unfortunately it's so easy for a buyer to manipulate PayPal and cheat the seller no matter what. Just one example: pay with credit card, then do credit card chargeback. No matter how PayPal rules, the cc company will process the chargeback. Then the poor seller has to take on Visa or MasterCard to get their money, even with proof of delivery >>



As long as you have proof of delivery to the billing address of the credit card, you'll be fine. I've been through it plenty of times. It's a hassle, yes, but if you follow the rules you're protected - in other words, you cannot be cheated by a buyer under those circumstances.

Russ, NCNE

ksteelheader

I had that happen twice with no problems. However, my auctions now have a highlighted portion stating I will not send to unconfirmed addresses....Ken

jasbucks

I have to check this out with P/Pal. I have an unconfirmed shipping address because I want my deliveries to come at work not at home. To many times, delivery @ the home address that required a signature "didn't get one" & the stuff was left sittin in the mailbox till I get home. BUT, I sure as hell don't want to be discriminated against because I want it delivered to me & signed for either by myself or someone in the office.

LALASD4

I do not know if the paypal rules had swing the other way or what, I was a buyer one time and Paypal and my cc company would not do a charge back. So I am not concern at all as a seller as long as I do not keep any money on my Paypal account. Once your money leaves your Paypal account there is nothing anyone can do to get it.

joecool

<Yes! If you want to, email him/her and verify the address prior to sending item out. >



I use my P.O. Box, which is unconfirmed, all the time to do my Ebay transactions........

Russ

<< <i>Once your money leaves your Paypal account there is nothing anyone can do to get it. >>



Except levy your checking account or charge your credit card.

Russ, NCNE

LALASD4

Except levy your checking account or charge your credit card.

Unless, Paypal changed there rules, they told me they can not do that and they did not do that for me. They told me that once their Paypal account is empty, they cannot recover the money anymore even if that person have a second Paypal account and have money in that account! I am speaking from a real life experience not just from reading their rules.

Also, if someone stays at different places throughout the year, they cannot confirm all their addresses.

BAJJERFAN

It is a very bad idea to make a practice of shipping to unconfirmed addresses. Do it long enough and often enough and, sooner or later, you will get ripped off by an unscrupulous buyer. All they have to do is file a bogus chargeback and even if you have proof of delivery, you are out the money. Your only protection is to ship to the billing address for the credit card, (in PayPal lingo "confirmed" address).


So basically you want the benefits of having a personal account, but you don't want to take money from someone else who has one. Not only do sellers want to take PayPal now they want to take only certain types of PayPal payments. A confirmed address is one to which your credit card billing statement is sent. Of course if you have a personal account then you can't have a confirmed address.

Russ

<< <i>Unless, Paypal changed there rules, they told me they can not do that. >>



You need to read the TOS. It gives them the right to attach a checking account or charge a credit card in an attempt to recover funds when said funds are not available as a PayPal balance.

Russ, NCNE

Russ

<< <i>Not only do sellers want to take PayPal now they want to take only certain types of PayPal payments. A confirmed address is one to which your credit card billing statement is sent. Of course if you have a personal account then you can't have a confirmed address. >>



Personal accounts can have a confirmed address just like any other account. Address confirmation has nothing to do with account type.

Russ, NCNE

LALASD4

You need to read the TOS. It gives them the right to attach a checking account or charge a credit card in an attempt to recover funds when said funds are not available as a PayPal balance.

TOS does not equal real life experience, try it, I have, the TOS only protect Paypal and they do not really care about either the buyer or the seller. Maybe I should have you represent me to get my money back.

Russ

<< <i>TOS does not equal real life experience, try it, I have. >>



So, you've had a chargeback filed against you when there was no money in your account and PayPal did nothing to recover the funds? Some CS rep telling you that doesn't mean squat, and certainly doesn't equal real life experience.

Russ, NCNE

LALASD4

No, I was the buyer trying to recover my money! Have you tried to recover money? Reading the TOS is like going into battle and saying, Oh the enemy did not do that in our battle training program. THE TOS ONLY PROCTECTS PAYPAL AND NOTHING MORE!

It is useless to argue, Paypal will do whatever it takes to protect itself and thats it.

Russ

<< <i>Have you tried to recover money? >>



Yes, and had no difficulty doing so. I filed the claim, and 10 days later $219 was back in my account.

Russ, NCNE

LALASD4

Small claims are easy, try a claim ten times that and it will be another story.

Russ

<< <i>Small claims are easy, try a claim ten times that and it will be another story. >>



Of course if one reads the TOS one would know that PayPal buyer protection only goes to $500.

In any event, that does not alter the fact - the original point - that PayPal can, and will, attach a checking account or credit card when necessary.

Russ, NCNE

dbldie55

If I go to paypal through the link at the end of an ebay auction, it claims I do not have a confirmed address. If I go directly through the paypal site, it says I do have a confirmed address (which I do). This is probably due to ebay buying paypal. They may actually have a confirmed address with paypal.

LALASD4

$250.00 by Paypal and $250.00- $50.00 FEE by ebay, and thats it. What I do not understand is the $50.00 Ebay FEE, Ebay actually makes more money if a deal goes bad!!!

BAJJERFAN

Well it looks like they want you to add a CC to your account in order to confirm your address. They also have a AAC process which looks like a pain in the A$$. For me its not worth the hassle. I stand corrected on the earlier statement.

Russ

dbldie55,

You are correct that the problem is related to the eBay/PayPal integration, but it's correctable. Go in to My Ebay/Preferences/Stored Information and make sure that the address listed as "primary" has the green "confirmed" next to it, and matches exactly the address PayPal has. Delete any duplicates.

Russ, NCNE

LALASD4

Just log on to Paypal directly and the problem is solved, or click on the Paypal e-mail that the seller sent you.

fishcooker

If it's shipped to a PO Box then it should be no big deal to get a signature confirmation of some sort.


Secondly, yesterday I called my credit card people and had an "alternate address" added to my account. The bill still comes to the house, but now the items I buy are shipped to the PO Box. Do alternate addresses count when getting confirmed in Paypal?

ddink

<< <i>No, I was the buyer trying to recover my money! Have you tried to recover money? Reading the TOS is like going into battle and saying, Oh the enemy did not do that in our battle training program. THE TOS ONLY PROCTECTS PAYPAL AND NOTHING MORE! >>



Yes I have tried to recover money--and it worked every time! Pay through PayPal with a credit card instead of funds from your bank account. I've been ripped off (as the buyer) for several thousand dollars in transactions in the past (when I bought/sold virtual items in online games) and all you have to do is call your credit card company (Visa for me) and tell them you didn't receive the item you were charged for. They will send you an affadavit to sign saying that you didn't receive the item, and a couple weeks later they will put the money back on your credit card.

Now if you paid with a bank balance, they will never be able to get the money back from an intelligent scammer. There are several ways for scammers (or legitimate sellers with fraudulent buyers) to get around this, such as instructing your bank, in writing, that no funds are ever to be withdrawn from your bank account by PayPal without your written consent. Then there is nothing PayPal can do besides send the matter to collections. Also, never pay an unverified seller: they can make a PayPal account in a fake name then transfer the funds to one or more legitimate, verified accounts (either by buying goods from legitimate sellers or sending the money directly to themselves).



<< <i>Secondly, yesterday I called my credit card people and had an "alternate address" added to my account. The bill still comes to the house, but now the items I buy are shipped to the PO Box. Do alternate addresses count when getting confirmed in Paypal? >>



Yes they do. Unfortunately my bank wouldn't let me put an alternate address on my debit card, but when I later got a credit card it wasn't a problem.