No way I want to ship to this bidder!

laurentyvan · January 30, 2007 2:56AM

Every fibre of my being (sophomoric hyperbole) screams don't ship.

Every warning flag is up, didn't pay or communicate in 3 days with zero feedback as a new buyer and from a part of the world notorious for scams.

This is the response to my e-mail to him after almost 3 days of non-payment or communication. Bear in mind I wouldn't have sent an inquiry out this soon (will usually wait a week or two) for a buyer with any kind of decent feedback, and my initial e-mail to him was a welcome to eBay, combined with a little advice about prompt communication to sellers if payment was going to be postal MO or check, etc. instead of paypal.

Hi Iaurentyvan6, I'm very glad to buy your items. I've already bought the money in South Korea for a long time and then I've just stareted buying the money from ebay as a currency collecter of South Korea. I wanna introduce good items that is in the ebay to korea. so i want you to send it to South Korea. ( South Korea is located between China and Japan and it's very near.)If it can, how much will the shipping cost? I hope that we make a best deal for a long time from this first deal. I look forward to hearing from you soon.Thank you. Matilda-86

I have a bidder in the US with great feedback who was .15 less than the winning bidder. Can I shut off the Korean bidder arbitrarily and offer the coin to the runner-up? What process do I have to follow? Yes, this is a first for me and I'm being awkward about it.

By the way, item is not real expensive, $26 + shipping...

ajaan · January 30, 2007 3:29AM

How is he paying? If PayPal, make sure he has a confirmed address, most likely he doesn't. This gives you a reason not to send the item to him. If he pays by money order or cash it is a different story. I'd wait for a money order to clear before shipping the item.

Personally, I would sell to him. But that's me. I once had zero feedback and someone sold to me.

TwoKopeiki · January 30, 2007 3:48AM

I agree with mushroom-man. Sell it to him, but make sure you're covered. You might want to insure and add tracking at your own cost, just to be on the safe side.

laurentyvan · January 30, 2007 3:59AM

Well, I've sold to any number of zero feedback buyers in the past with no problem, but I've also received coherent answers to my inquiries:

will pay by,
sorry, sending you a check,
or, arranging for paypal, etc.

I'll keep you updated.

ajaan · January 30, 2007 4:15AM

I think there may be a language issue here also.

satootoko · January 30, 2007 4:58AM

<< <i>You might want to insure and add tracking at your own cost, just to be on the safe side. >>

I don't think you can on a shipment to Korea.

LouisCamp · January 30, 2007 7:37AM

Just because he pays with paypal doesn't protect you. I have had paypal reverse the payment 10 days after being told the funds were good.

Lou

Goober · January 30, 2007 7:58AM

PayPal only protects you for U.S. shipments. I'm sorry to be a dissenter but I say don't ship. I lived in South Korea and have never seen anyone named Matilda

SYRACUSIAN · January 30, 2007 8:34AM

wybrit · January 30, 2007 1:38PM

The other thing that stinks is that you'd actually net more money if you sold to the underbidder, due to PayPal's higher fees for foreign transactions.

newbiecollector · January 30, 2007 5:13PM

At the risk of sounding foolish I must ask.

Isn't there some obligation to ship to the winning bidder if they were not blocked or the auction specifically stated their country was not accepted?

I mean this as a real question, not as a smart azz reply.

laurentyvan · January 30, 2007 9:13PM

Isn't there some obligation to ship to the winning bidder

Yes there certainly is.

Having said that, what would you do with a zero feedback bidder who lists a US mailing address, doesn't pay or communicate for several days then wants the item shipped to South Korea?

Ed to add: ... and still hasn't paid!

secondrepublic · January 30, 2007 10:46PM

Tell him to send you cash in a registered envelope, and send him the item the same way to Korea. It's no problem.

newbiecollector · January 30, 2007 11:57PM

<< <i>Isn't there some obligation to ship to the winning bidder

Yes there certainly is.

Having said that, what would you do with a zero feedback bidder who lists a US mailing address, doesn't pay or communicate for several days then wants the item shipped to South Korea?

Ed to add: ... and still hasn't paid! >>

I believe I understand the problem and honest, I wasn't trying to be a wise guy. I am a small time buyer on eBay, and a lot of auctions I look at say where they will not, or only will ship to. I certainly don't bid on them.
I have sent a mail asking if I could, but not often.

Actually, I just meant it as a question, and one more thing..............I can't imagine ANY seller should send before payment. I am pretty sure I am right in my thinking there.

I would say pay or you get a no pay notice, and relist it

danglen · January 31, 2007 12:31AM

If you haven't recived payment in ten days, as far as eBay is concerned, you are off the hook and can sell the item to anyone you want.

laurentyvan · January 31, 2007 1:23AM

Folks, please read responses to the thread.

I have no problem sending anything anywhere. I don't prejudge anyone. But once a successful and non-paying zero feedback bidder wants to change the shipping address (and is communicating poorly) to an area of the world we are suspicious of, I have a tendency to pull backwards on the reins.

Ed to add: This seems to have all the makings of "never received"-am I that paranoid?

RareBronzeCollector · January 31, 2007 1:27AM

Whether this is pertinent to the thread, I don't know, but....

I was under the impression that paypal requires the seller to ship to the address that the buyer has registered with paypal (not necessarily the same one that is registered with ebay)....

laurentyvan · January 31, 2007 1:32AM

I'm not sure... a USA shipping address was initially listed on eBay by the bidder and then the request to ship to South Korea followed. No mention of how payment (or any method of payment) was going to occur.

RareBronzeCollector · January 31, 2007 1:38AM

<< <i>I'm not sure... a USA shipping address was initially listed on eBay by the bidder and then the request to ship to South Korea followed. No mention of how payment (or any method of payment) was going to occur. >>

I'm not sure if ebay has any requirements for shipping addresses..... especially now that they have lessened their protection and are relying upon paypal to provide it..... Have to research that one for future reference....

RareBronzeCollector · January 31, 2007 1:43AM

a non-answer, especially if they are not paying with paypal.....
bottom line... if they pay with paypal, require a confirmed shipping address.... if not, ship to their ebay address... eitherway, payment prior to shipping....

The seller may ask you to use a "confirmed" shipping address.

The seller may ask you to use a "confirmed" shipping address. This means that any items you pay for with PayPal must be shipped to a credit card billing address that you've registered at PayPal. If you've already done this, verify that this address is linked to your eBay address book.

To register a credit card billing address at PayPal and link it to your eBay address book:
Go to PayPal (www.paypal.com) and log in to your account. Access your Profile and update your Street Address, or add a new address, so that it matches the one on your credit card statement.

Return to your address book at eBay by going to the "Addresses" section under "My Account" in My eBay. Click the "View all shipping addresses" link.

Make sure that you have linked your address book to your PayPal account. If you see a button to Add PayPal Addresses, your address book is not linked. Click this button to link your address book to your PayPal account.

Once the accounts are linked, you will be able to select your PayPal registered credit card billing address as your shipping address. You may also choose to click the "Make primary" link beside the address to ensure that it will be selected automatically each time you checkout on eBay, unless you specify a different address.

If you don't want to pay with PayPal, you don't need to confirm your shipping address.

Goober · January 31, 2007 2:05AM

I hate to say it, it REEKS of a hijacked account big time. You do not have to sell to an individual who lists a US address and then demands shipment to another country. I guarantee you will lose out. As said, Pay Pal will only guarantee you protection IF you ship to a confirmed address with a registered user. Basically everything RBC said. Pay Pal doesn't offer protection OUTSIDE of CONUS.

I've completed well over 600 auctions, which, to some standards may not be many since '97. I don't play games with buyers, I state it in the auction and if they divert I file a NPB with Ebay listing they didn't follow the auction. If they try diverting shipments, or otherwise I do the same. I've never had a negative as of yet, but who knows.

laurentyvan · January 31, 2007 2:15AM

a non-answer, especially if they are not paying with paypal.....

My visceral reaction exactly!

When I send an invoice, review it twice, annotate any message, I'm fairly certain I have it right.

When an answer comes back vague, requiring a "dangerous" and different shipping address from that initially listed with no answers to my initial questions, I sense obfuscation. Ajaan has mentioned the possibility of a language barrier or problem- I keep this in the back of my mind.

It didn't help that I had to discover his initial e-mail to me in my junk mailbox instead of in my eBay messages folder...

Look, never had a problem with any buyer until now. My vibes may be wrong and yes, it may be language. In all fairness, his e-mail had a popup window which encouraged the downloading of a Korean language program.

I chose not to download it for obvious reasons. His e-mail, after all, was in English.

I don't pretend to be prescient, but I place a great deal of value on words, even in a forum or e-mail context and his reponses don't seem to add up, almost formulaic in nature.
My grandchild loves the Movie "Over the Hedge" and the turtle who describes his tail as "tingling" when he doesn't feel something is right best describes my feelings- something of mine is tingling.

ed for spl

laurentyvan · January 31, 2007 2:19AM

You do not have to sell to an individual who lists a US address and then demands shipment to another country

Honestly, this was the first question that popped into my mind when I found his e-mail.

satootoko · January 31, 2007 2:22AM

You don't have much longer to wait before you can simply file a non-paying bidder report since he has neither paid nor informed you that payment is en route. When you file that report, send the back bidder a second chance. With all the fake second chances going around, I would also send him a separate "contact member" message confirming validity of the second chance offer.

RareBronzeCollector · January 31, 2007 2:25AM

I've shipped to different addresses.... I've had people have their coins shipped to me, for me to forward to them.... mostly because sellers wouldn't ship out of the country.....

This decision, should always be made prior to the sale..... It's a gut call from the seller.... Of course ,when I have done it, I have known my buyers (or sellers) for quite awhile.... sometimes, when a seller doesn't take paypal, I ask him if it's ok to have a friend send him a check (I'll reimburse my friend via paypal, etc...).... Never is this done AFTER the sale (unless I missed the NO PAYPAL caveat in the listing, which has happened)... but it's never been a problem.....

I do not take paypal, and have never really had an insurmountable problem.... although recently, I opened a second paypal account, a premier account, just to accomodate overseas bidders... If in doubt, I still don;t accept it, and have them send a check to a friend in the UK..... (most of my sales are inthe UK, as they are mostly GB coins.... Although I have sold to bidders in Australia and Japan already, with no problems....

To sum up, if you have a gut feeling that this is not right... go with that feeling.....

laurentyvan · January 31, 2007 2:27AM

With all the fake second chances going around, I would also send him a separate "contact member" message confirming validity of the second chance offer.

You are very correct!

Such a consideration has been prepared for.

laurentyvan · January 31, 2007 2:33AM

I've shipped to different addresses....

As have I and every forum member who sells on e-bay, I'm sure. Your comment concerning a "gut feeling" is what I'm going with.

Gotta add: I would love to be proved wrong.

mjk1971 · February 5, 2007 5:04AM

"I'll be happy to send you the coin. Please send me (XX) US dollars cash, and I will ship upon receipt. Thank you for your purchase."

Accepting PayPal for overseas transactions of this nature is just like flushing the money down the toilet.

laurentyvan · February 6, 2007 2:11AM

Well, since I didn't exclude any particular type of bidder from the auction, I feel honor bound to ship upon payment. And they certainly did pay via paypal, after 6 days.

I hope the switch from USA address to South Korea address won't be a problem.

Otherwise, it'll be a well-earned lesson to me...

SYRACUSIAN · February 6, 2007 5:23PM

He doesn't have to be a fraud for you to lose money on this. If the item gets lost on its way to South Korea, he's entitled to a refund. But a zero feedback ebayer, is usually unaware of what he's entitled to and what not.

Personally, like ajaan first said, and like you finally did, I would have agreed to this request. In my opinion, he bought the item for a friend of his in S.Korea, or he has already fliped it to a South Korean collector with no access or no trust to ebay.This could also explain the slight delay of the payment. Given the item's value, he probably preferred to save on double shipping, although in this scenario, I would have personally asked to see the item first, and if I was satisfied, I could have become a repeat buyer of yours on similar items, with the same request, ship the items won to South Korea.

So, it's a gamble, you might end up losing a few dollars, or you may have already won a satisfied repeat buyer. If the latter, I would ask him to pay registered shipping in the future, at least on higher value items.

laurentyvan · February 14, 2007 1:49AM

Ok, I feel silly.

Despite a rough start and many misgivings this transaction turned out perfectly with good feedback. Kudos to those who had no hesitations in their post replies.

It's probably never the one you suspect, (with obvious exceptions).

No way I want to ship to this bidder!

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