Buyer wants to change address?

[cellar_door]

Hi- Buyer just bought my camera ($975). He messaged a request for me to ship it to new and unofficial address. It appears eBay filtered out the new address because it is not visible to me in the message. It also appears that ‘Cancel via Problem with Address’  is no longer available to sellers. So I asked the buyer to cancel the current transaction and repurchase after making the new address official with eBay. My questions are: If he does not respond to my request to cancel this  purchase and officially register new address, am I obligated to send the camera to the original address?  Or, is there some way to cancel this purchase myself? I’d like to avoid subjecting my camera to the rigors and wasted time of shipping to a dead end if possible. What is proper procedure in my situation? Thanks so much for the advice.

[kalyoth · Accepted solution]

You are obligated to ship to the address on file at the time of sale per ebay policy or invalidating the protections in place for the transaction. I would cancel via seller request because - by changing the address, they indicated they did not want to proceed with the transaction as negotiated originally.

Cancel an Order 

Can then select issue with Buyers Shipping Address as the reason. They will just have to repurchase if they want the item under the new address.

[cellar_door]

Thank you for your helpful response, Kalyoth. 
to be clear, you’re suggesting that I wait for the seller to request cancellation. And if the seller fails to request cancellation, I send the camera to the original and official registered street address, correct?

[nobody*s_perfect]

First, you should double-check to make sure that the message about changing the address actually came from the buyer, and not from some scammer impersonating them and trying to hijack the transaction.

It is not possible for the buyer to cancel the transaction.  You, the seller,  would need to do it based on either "Buyer requested" or "Problem with address."

[cellar_door]

I got it. I found the “Problem with address’ option where you said I would. Thank you!

[kalyoth]

No - waiting can cause other issues. That is a process entirely within your control. There will never be an address change for the order. It's a one & done. They requested it when they wanted to change the address. It's a red flag that can possibly be a fraud issue - especially with high end electronics. Ultimately your call - but I'd wash the transaction per their request. Hope it goes well for you.

[ckimodog]

@cellar_door 

You did the right thing by telling the buyer to update their address. A $975 camera would be a big loss if you shipped it elsewhere, as I smell a scam.  If the buyer does not agree with your request and doesn't pay, cancel the transaction citing there was a problem with the address and don't forget to block this person. 

Hope this is helpful

Happy Selling!

[cellar_door]

Oh, shoot!  You are right. It was a scammer. I didn’t think to match the address on the request for address change to the that of the buyer. And I canceled the purchase.  I must have upset the buyer. Can’t figure out how to apologize post cancellation. This has been a learning experience. 

[cellar_door]

I have apologized to the buyer for my confusion and told him the item has been re-listed and available to him again.  I’m not an eBay pro. And I confess to being easily confused. This has been a very embarrassing but otherwise pain free learning experience for me. Scammers! Thank you for mentioning the address check, N’sP. 

[vintagecraze50]

Not all the people ASKING FOR A CHANGE in address are scammers some may not understand that you cannot ship an item and get seller protection if you ship to an address not on the record of sale. You tell them that politely and then cancel the transaction with problem with buyers address and then always have them add the new address into their account. Scammers do still try this old tactic to steal merchandise though so always be on your toes and NEVER SHIP TO an address not on the record of sale that comes up from ebay.

[soh.maryl]

Why do you need to apologize? You averted a scam issue.  

Did you not cancel citing problem with buyer's address as the reason?  

[cellar_door]

I apologized for canceling a purchase made by legitimate buyer because I failed to recognize an attempt to redirect shipping to a scammer.  Too be clear, I cancelled the purchase before realizing the guy asking for shipping address change and the guy buying are two different people. Maybe I didn’t make this clear enough in this thread. 

[cellar_door]

Good advice. Thank you. The legit buyer and the guy asking me to send the camera to a new and unofficial address are two different people. I cancelled the purchase before realizing this. Lesson learned.

[vintagecraze50]

Yep, they do that too. You may be getting a message from a scammer who is not the customer.  I believe what they do is scan the sold listings and then send a message to that seller trying to trick them into thinking they are the same person as a the buyer. YOU need to report that account to ebay if you can.

[cellar_door]

What I wish I had done is immediately recognized and ignore the scammer and sent the camera to the legitimate buyer instead of canceling the purchase. I feel bad for the buyer.