Russian Federation Ukraine China buying my items through US Warehouses

[linmom3]

Hi I don't sell out of country but for some reason this week I have had a run on buyers from Russian Federation, Ukraine and now China. It started with a cross stitch item that was purchased by someone in the Russian Federation with a New Castle Delaware address.  The winning bid or purchase comes in quick at end of item.  Then it happened again, and next a Ukraine buyer purchased with a Wilmington Delaware address which I think is another shipping out of country business.  Being a small seller this seemed a bit odd to me so contacted eBay who said there is no problem if they pay and I send I am covered. Was it not strange though? No they told me. Now this weekend I had two items sell to a person who is a member in China ,with a  Hillsboro Oregon address that again looks like a shipping warehouse situation.  Just now I checked my eBay and find once again a Russian Federation buyer with a New Castle Delaware address has purchased another one of my craft items.  I think that is 6 in just a little over a week and I only had I think 8 total sales.  I am really feeling uncomfortable about this and I don't know why eBay is saying there is no issue. I don't know. I have it set up that I only sell in country but these are sneaking through because of the US addresses. I don't know if these are legit. I have seen many people with issues regarding these exact addresses. I don't know why this is happening all at once. I am a little concerned. Any ideas anyone?

[krazzykats]

Just ship as normal.

[wittrus2014]

Sometimes they ship to a local friend and they ship the item out of the country.  Most of the time they even tell me through messaging.  The real issue would be if the items your selling are sanctioned from receiving those items by the US government .  Then I am not sure who is complicit in the grand scheme of things when it comes to that.  It seems like customs should be able to stop those.

[dhbookds]

I've sold a number of needlework kits to Russians, via the Delaware reshipping company........I don't ship internationally.....  Never any problems........  There must be a pretty big market over there.........

[linmom3]

Thank you. I feel a little better, but Do you think it is strange though al at once out of the blue that in a little over a week 3 different shipping houses - 7 sales all at once? You think it is just a run on cross stitch? I hope you are right because I have Ukraine and China onboard here too....

[disneyshopper]

All of those buyers could be members of an online group, like Facebook groups, and once a member made a purchase, let the other members know about it, and they all decided to purchase as well.

As long as you send to the SHIP TO address attached to the payment, you are covered by ebay's seller protection.  Your responsibility ends when the tracking shows DELIVERED.

Many years ago I had quite a few booklets listed to hold those squished pennies you find in theme parks.  All of a sudden I had a flurry of sales from all over the USA.  I sold all I had listed, and went to purchase more for resale, but the theme park was out of them.  I suspected these sales went to members of some online group.

[a_c_green]

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@disneyshopper wrote:

All of those buyers could be members of an online group, like Facebook groups, and once a member made a purchase, let the other members know about it, and they all decided to purchase as well.

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Yes, absolutely. This has happened to me on more than one occasion. In one instance, I had a weird run on purchases of some obscure part that I'd listed in quantity, so I Googled my own listing and discovered an on-line collector forum that was talking about it. Mystery solved.

I don't get the sense that anything in this case here is high-scam or high-risk, and in particular, they're just domestic shipments to a reshipper, so I would have no hesitation in shipping as soon as clear payment is received.

[epsilon_publishing]

China is stealing intellectual property, that's all. They buy one, then they mass-produce it and sell them online, back to US buyers, for cheaper price, do not pay for violating copyright penalties.

The Hillsboro address is well-known as a technology buyer who ships to China

[dhbookds]

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@linmom3 wrote:
Thank you. I feel a little better, but Do you think it is strange though al at once out of the blue that in a little over a week 3 different shipping houses - 7 sales all at once? You think it is just a run on cross stitch? I hope you are right because I have Ukraine and China onboard here too....

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As Disney says, I think it is a matter of networking that you had them all at once.........and that your prices seem more than reasonable to me as starting prices on auctions......

[heakal-54]

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@linmom3 wrote:
Thank you. I feel a little better, but Do you think it is strange though al at once out of the blue that in a little over a week 3 different shipping houses - 7 sales all at once? You think it is just a run on cross stitch? I hope you are right because I have Ukraine and China onboard here too....

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Yes and no, search engine algorithms affect how results are displayed and these tend to change like the weather, there is nothing in particular behind it, one day your products are showing and the next they're not.

It is also possible somewhere "over there" some new television program suddenly has everyone all interested in what you sell, we call this customer sentiment and that likes to change like the weather as well.

Now whether it is a TV program or a search engine algorithm, it's probably something completely different but equally normal and mundane in terms of reasons and explanations for what is going on.  Other posters mentioned online communities and discussion, all that and more is possible as well.

So, don't forget to thank God for the windfall.

[mr_lincoln]

@linmom3Over several years I have shipped to foreign Buyers who have used US freight forwarding companies in not just the areas you mentioned but a few others.  So far there has never been an issue ... but like you, I think its odd you got so many in such a short period of time.

What kind of things are we talking about here?

[monroe67]

Just yesterday, on my seller ID, I sold a Mill Hill cross-stitch kit with beads and charms -- to a buyer with an address in Delaware yet her name was in the cyrillic alphabet.  I have sold a good number of embroidery kits and cross-stitch charts to buyers in China and Russia.   I think these items are not generally sold in Russia and other such countries, or the selection is very limited.  

As long as the buyer has a PayPal account and a mailing address anywhere in the United States, I am OK.  There really is nothing to worry about with these buyers.  And my experience is that these buyers never gripe about postage charges or sales tax.  

The one thing you might want to be aware of, though, if you keep details about your sales transactions (like I do) is that -- IF the payment from any buyer comes to PayPal in a currency OTHER than U.S. Dollars (such as Russian rubles), PayPal's fee is 4.4% of the Final Value plus 30 cents.   PayPal transactions in U.S. Dollars are charged a fee of 2.9% of the Final Value plus 30 cents.  

[linmom3]

embroidery kits

[linmom3]

You think they are interested in reproducing cross stitch embroidery kits?

[cottongini]

No, I don't.   I truly believe there are ladies (and gentlemen, too, of course!) in China and Russia who want to do cross-stitch and other forms of embroidery.   And they can't easily get the wide variety that we have here in the US.  

I have heard there was a situation some years ago with a well-known cross-stitch designer, now deceased, whose cross-stitch patterns were duplicated and stitched by workers for pennies, and the finished products listed on eBay for hundreds of dollars.  Well, they were listed, and I do not know if any actually sold.  That designer was justified in her concerns because people were potentially unjustly enriched off her creativity.  

But -- really?  I thought the same thing about that comment.  Bootlegging cross-stitch patterns in a effort to get past American intellectual property laws?  You might as well counterfeit one-dollar bills.