Ebay sale where buyer requests seller to ship to a different address UPDATE
TPRC
Posts: 3,814 ✭✭✭✭✭
Quick question-sort of. I sold a modestly priced coin for around $50 as a best offer to an individual. Buyer emails me before purchasing and asks if I will ship to UK, which I don't normally do. My ebay listing says I ship only to US but I somehow set it up to allow international mailing. In the meantime, he places offer which is automatically accepted because of the way I set it up. I advise him I will honor the shipment to UK. However, his Ebay address is Kentucky and buyer explains that I need to send it to his UK address because he never changed his address and he now lives in UK. He seems legit, but I recall folks advising to never sent to an address other than the official address on ebay. What to do?
Thx for any suggestions or responses.
Tom
Comments
I wouldn't. Particularly if paypal was used.
If it was check, or money order, and he waited until it cleared, then I would be more inclined.
Else, no.
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
I wouldn't do it.
For your seller protection you MUST ship to the address in the PayPal email, otherwise you are not covered and are at risk.
I've had some buyers ask after sending a PayPal payment to ship it elsewhere (all overseas).
I just issue a refund and in order to get a FVF credit, I cancel the transaction in eBay saying there is a problem with the buyers address.
Nope. Not worth the headache.
Oddly I once had a seller INSIST on using a different address as at the time I had an FPO. He was convinced he couldn't either track or ship registered, even though he could. So he mailed it to my mother's house. Strange that one.
If you are in the mood to give 50 bucks away, please send it to me.
Have him change his shipping address with ebay and with paypal and then you should be able to auto print correct label.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
Good way to say bye-bye to coin and money.
I wouldn't send it to an overseas address but I will say this, I moved and changed my address with PayPal and eBay and it saved both address' and just updated my new address as preferred. I had a couple instances right after I changed it posting my old address to the seller, luckily I caught it and notified the seller, thankfully they didn't think I was up to no good and sent the coin to my correct address. Same state just different city so I'm sure it didn't raise a red flag like a completely different country would.
Sounds fishy, and usually there is no reason for these end runs around common sense. Kind of like a local firewood dealer claiming he imports the best hardwood for local sale from a foreign country because it is better, makes no sense. And no doubt questionable buyers are preying on trusting sellers more and more.
You've never moved?
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
call up eBay and ask them how to be seller protected in the new buyer is always right program they just unveiled.
I've been there and done that. The transaction has to be cancelled and the buyer has to buy it again with his new address!
I had this same thought. If he doesn't want to change his address then you know it's a scam.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Thanks for the answers and the last suggestion, in particular. It looks like it's unanimous, or nearly so.
Tom
Personally, I think a scam would go for bigger money. On a 50 dollar item, I'm shipping it to wherever (especially when I've previously agreed to ship to this country).
Call me irresponsible, call me........
No.
The only way to do it safely is have him confirm a different address, change that new address to the default in Paypal, and then resend payment.
Whether legit or not, I'll bet there is a reason he does not change it on eBay. I'll guess that he keeps it in the US do he can bid on U.S.-only auctions.
That said, my official eBay address is my old one. I just change it to an alternate (current) one i also have on file. Need to fix that.....
How can you be sure it isn't a hijacked account ? The member with confirmed Kentucky address may have unwittingly been hijacked by a user in the UK.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
I would cancel the sale but I'm not much of a gambling man.
Successful trades.... MichaelDixon,
As far as I am concerned this would be a no sale.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Danger,danger Will Robinson!
Did you check if it sold via the global shipping program? The ebay address of it is in Erlanger, Kentucky.
Also, don't send it directly to the buyer unless they update their paypal address. Don't forget to factor in the extra cost of shipping if the buyer agrees to update their address.
You have little to no protection from ebay if you ship to UK under these circumstance. As far as I am concerned, the buyer is not conforming to ebay rules; sellers have little enough protection as it is It would simply be a no deal for me, but to each their own.
That would stop the deal for me.... just not worth the risk. It is dead simple for the buyer to change his address with ebay/paypal. Cheers, RickO
If you have to ask...don't.
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UPDATE-- Cancelled the order, relisted, asked buyer to fix his address and re-offer, and I said he would accept. This time, he bought at full purchase price, did not fix his address, and sent a slightly annoyed response. So, I cancelled, told him we were done, and sent a notice in to ebay to advise. We'll see....
Thank you again for the advice. For 50 bucks, I was inclined to simply send, but Wabbit made me laugh and come to my senses when he asked me to send him $50 instead!
This is the first issue I have had on ebay. Can you simply call them and are they responsive?
Tom
So, are you going to send the $50 to Wabbit? Don't keep us in suspense.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I have called eBay once or twice - was a little tough to find the # on the site but they were nice.
As a seller on eBay you should always trust your gut feeling. If something seems off it's always better to be safe than sorry.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I've done riskier things, but good for you for trying to "fix-it" and make a sale, too. There's no seller/buyer protection when there is no confirmed address. So far, the only people who cheated me were cheaters who didn't play by the rules. It's always "risk on" when it leaves my hands, until the customer is satisfied. C'est la vie.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
My tracking shows items departing customs. Beyond there, one can only hope an honest person receives it because I typically trust the world's POSTAL services.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Just use the report the buyer in the feedback system. They were quick to respond when I did.
I've done it without a problem. Make sure the communications are in ebay's message system and communicate your concerns to ebay if you don't want to do it (which no one would blame you for).
Some people have vacation homes, cabins, cottages, friends, relatives, etc that they stay with and still want to buy things. As long as the messages containing the address(es) are in ebay's system and you're shipping to a U.S. residential address there are no worries.
P.S. Just saw you're shipping out of the country. That's a no-go. Period.
I would set your eBay shipping to include international shipping but only through eBay's international shipping program. In that case you are only responsible for getting the coin to eBay's Kentucky shipping center.
A few items to update. After telling buyer we were done, I received several emails, among them, this....
DEAR SIR__WE ARE NOT DONE!! You quoted the word "honor" when you originally accepted my offer and moneys--you have acted dishonourably and are in my opinion a disgrace to your nation.
Sadly i will have no alternative but to advise potential buyers of any items current or future that you put up for sale of your dishonourable nature--no libel or slander will be given--merely advice as to your unreliability.
It is a shame that it has come to this as i am completely genuine and wanted the token to complete my newgate token set and for the purposes of the talk previously mentioned.
I have been an ebay buyer/seller for some 6/7 years and have never experienced this kind of behaviour and i have dealyt with many nations, including your own
I started a response, but thought better of it. I figured that, if he is a scammer, the best response is no response and if he is legit, he would think better of it, agree to disagree, and let it go. I did send in a second notice to ebay, and have received no response, other than an acknowledgment of receipt of my second complaint (not the first). Oh, and I also banned him from bidding and communications...that felt good.
Hopefully, that's the end of it.
Tom
In the old days it was easy to contact random eBay users ( such as competing bidders) but I think there is no way to find out their IDs now. Good luck to him in that crusade.
He sounds like he has more bluster than brains. He is the one whose details are not up to date in eBay. And to boot, he keeps adding an extra "u" everywhere, like in "honour".
I suppose I should be mad at you for tarnishing the reputation of our entire nation, according to him, but I'll let it slide this time since it's Friday.
After communication from buyers with good feedback I have shipped to different addresses with no issues for lower value items. However, shipping out of country and the price would be two major considerations that may not work for me. On lower value things it would be a gut call based on how the buyer responded to some questions. One time it was a husband wanting the shipping to go to a work address so he could hide a gift from a wife.
Challenge him to a duel, the only way to resolve slanders against honor....
If you don't mind, please PM me this buyer's eBay handle so I can block him.
With a response like that you definitely did the right thing! Also, @JBK he isn't misspelling those words he is using British-English which is essentially the same as American-English other than spelling. They use words such as "mum" instead of mom, "realise" instead of realize, "humour" instead of humor, and so on.
Notice how he never used the word Feedback... His message indicates he knows how to work eBay so you can't claim he threatened you about feedback on the report buyer issue.. block him and move on.... If he leaves feedback contact eBay and they can resolve it
Successful trades.... MichaelDixon,
Wow.....buyer's communication is a bit odd...he sounds like a real winner.
Yes, I am aware they waste a lot of extra ink on the superfluous "u". It was an attempt at very dry humour....
Having lived in London for several months, I can attest to the fact that there are much greater differences between American and British English than just spelling....
From the wording and style used, I would very heavily lean towards the fact that you would have gotten scammed if you had followed through.
Either a hijacked account, or a way to play "US only" games and then get suckers to ship it to a different address, which would invalidate them being protected.
Glad you decided against shipping it and I would agree with your decision to not continue to respond.
If there is any other response from them, I would contact ebay, explain the issue from the address point of view and how you attempted to stay within ebay guidelines and regs in order to continue the deal, but, when he couldn't/wouldn't, you canceled the deal and then he went nutso.
Protect yourself if necessary by getting ebay involved early, rather than later, and make sure you let them know that you tried to keep the deal going, completely within their system, but the buyer seems to be playing some sort of game with their system and the address bit....
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
don't forget to block him. If he's truely been an ebayer for 6/7 years he should know you have to ship to the paypal address and he should know how to change it.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
Maybe that was meant to be six sevenths of a year, and he's a complete noob.
I buy a ton of stuff from overseas and I feel a little guilty listing a US only auction, but it is a dangerous world out there. I would have no issue working with a UK bidder if they played by my rules, but this guy is pulling something for some reason. Might be nothing but might be something. As bochoman said, he is violating eBay rules, not you. He had more to lose if he raises a stink.
I once had a spat with a buyer like this and later sold coins to him (worth $2700). Call me crazy. He seems very passionate and wants the coin to complete a collection, assuming this is legit.
I would pull the coin, tell him if he changes his address and it is paypal confirmed he can still get the coin. it would almost be worth the $50 to see the outcome. but tell him he has to apologize to our country to get it.