Buyer wants item sent to her a different address...

[postingwiththis]

Hi. I sold an item and the Buyer wants it shipped to her sister's address in a different state, supposedly as a gift, which could be the case (it's not a phone or anything; value about $50.00).  I informed her that I would not be covered by Seller protection if I shipped to her sister's address and told her she needed to add that address so I would be covered. I haven't sold in awhile. Is this still the case? What should I do if she refuses? Thanks for the suggestions

[retrose1]

What the buyer is asking is still a common scam.

You never explain to the buyer that you can't do something for them because you are covering your but.  You blame it on ebay if you can.

I usually tell them that I can not change the address because when I buy the postage and print it, the printer will only print the address that is on the payment.  And explain that they have to rebuy and repay using the correct address.

Then I immediately block the buyer and file the cancel transaction using the reason - problem with buyers address which will auto refund the buyer.  And I do not communicate with them again and wait a week to relist the item.

[couldabeenworse]

she needed to add that address

That's really all you should have said, but phrased a little less forcefully.  Something like "sure, just use that as your shipping address".  Generally, buyers don't want to hear about sellers protecting themselves because it makes them think the seller thinks they're scammers.

[couldabeenworse]

What the buyer is asking is still a common scam.

LOL.  I'm sure it's sometimes a scam, but it's not like nobody legitimately orders gifts shipped directly to the giftee.

[postingwiththis]

I felt that I shouldn't have put the whole "seller protection" thing in and I haven't heard back from her. I will send her a message with what you suggested. What if she negs me? I've saved her messages where she explicitedly asks me to send it to a different address.

[retrose1]

---

@couldabeenworse wrote:

What the buyer is asking is still a common scam.

LOL.  I'm sure it's sometimes a scam, but it's not like nobody legitimately orders gifts shipped directly to the giftee.

---

On the other site, I recently shipped out an item that was bought as a gift.  The buyer made sure that everything was correct and even asked if it would be possible to include a note about who it was from in with it.   Most legit gift buyers ask for something a little extra for their gift to make it special.

Personally I believe that there should only be one address in paypal for the item to be shipped to and it should match the address that is registered on the site that is using it.

[postingwiththis]

Well now she responded asking if I can just ship the item from the post office instead of printing it at home (she began her correspondence by saying "well now this is a problem"). She also said she has 2 great nieces and she's taking one of the items on the plane with her and this is why she wanted the other shipped? What do I do now?

[retrose1]

---

@postingwiththis wrote:

I felt that I shouldn't have put the whole "seller protection" thing in and I haven't heard back from her. I will send her a message with what you suggested. What if she negs me? I've saved her messages where she explicitedly asks me to send it to a different address.

---

I would just cancel the transaction if you have not heard from her in 24 hours.  If you get a neg, call ebay and have them take a look at the message the buyer sent you and the reason you canceled and they should remove it.

And if not - you can respond with the facts - buyer attempted to get you to ship to another address against ebay policy.  The buyer does not want their scam out in public, so most scammers don't bother with negs.

[retrose1]

Tell her that you are sorry, that you will cancel and the two of you can start fresh and she can repurchase and repay with the correct address.  If you believe her, relist the item and dn't block her and see if she repurchases.  They usually don't

The suggestion that you ship at the PO is pretty much proof that she is trying to get a freebie.

[postingwiththis]

I went back and looked at Toolhaus. She has over 700 feedback, 7 negs (mostly buyers); 1 neutral and 1 withdrawn. The negs for sellers were all for Item not received/shipped. 

[vintagethings2000]

For me it depends on what the item is!  if it is under $50 and only has value to a specific person or specific installation, than i go ahead and ship to there desired address, anything that can be re-sold easily i would ask the customer to change the address.

[pvcliff]

I just went through this last week with input from the folks here on the Selling board. Tell her nicely that you can only send to the address in PayPal and she needs to make the change and re-purchase the item. Then you cancel the sale due to problem with buyer's address, which refunds her. THen relist the item (possibly discussing the timing with buyer so no one else buys it out from under her) . My buyer bought again immediately with her corrected address, but I did have to send her an invoice after two days when I figured out she didn't realize she 'd been refunded and needed to pay again. I was out one of my free listings to list it again, but it all worked out fairly easily and she left positive feedback.

[retrose1]

At 700 feedback and negs for not shipping- she knows what she has to do when she pays.  Scammer!

Her negs are there to put fear in sellers.  When they see that the buyer negs for not shipping the item and the seller following ebay seller protection - the sellers then have to decide if they want to keep their perfect feedback OR lose the item and the money.  Most will lose the item and money to keep their perfect feedbback.

You can cancel and get a neg removed.

Report the buyer for unreasonable demands - you can find the report a buyer button in the more actions dropdown on your myebay sold page.

[do.you.read.me]

Doesn't paypal keep fees when you cancel or refund? 

[castlemagicmemories]

That's still the case. 

It's not hard for the buyer to add an address to her ship to's and remember to choose it when paying.  I probably have at least 15 other addresses, if not more, as ship to's, and I just choose the right one, or add one, when I am sending a gift to someone.  No issues; it works like a charm, and have never had a problem.  

If I send a gift, in many cases, I tell the seller so there are no problems, and mention that I chose it as a ship to.  They have all been wonderful, truly concerned about the gift and recipient, and I alert the recipient they will be receiving something from me but with a different return address as I bought it online, and to please let me know when it gets there if all is ok.  I ask that nothing is put in the package that mentions a price or any personal info.  

I have been able to get some really fantastic gifts this way, and everyone has always loved what they received!  I then post postive feedback and send a personal message to the seller, thanking them for all their help in helping me give a wonderful gift!

You just can't find the variety of items here in any store, with the ease of shopping at home online!  

So it's a win/win/win situation!  Win for me, win for the seller, and win for the gift recipient!