"oh darn! I gave you the wrong address"

[missdigitalmoon7]

Ok, so, I've been selling on eBay for about 3 months and never had this problem all my packages always get  there.

My account is a new (3 month old) account however so I have recently graduated from eBay/PayPal's "funds availability" program, having sold almost $4k in sales.

My ebay account is in excellent standing - no returns, no negative feedback, and only two defects due to having to cancel and refund what were questionable scammy buyers.

So, I sold an item on the 15th to a buyer who checked out as a "eBay/paypal guest" so they don't have any feedback - but they paid immediately and I shipped the item (an expensive laptop) with USPS delivery confirmation, insurance for the full item's value and signature confirmation.

Today I checked the USPS tracking for this item that was supposed to be delivered today, and it says "item undeliverable- wrong address."

Great, guess now I can count the money being held by PayPal for this transaction as dead considering now it can't be delivered and the funds released because the buyer gave me the wrong address and of course Paypal needs to see "delivered" to release the funds to me.

So I contact them through eBay and they send me a message saying "oh darn, my address is actually - not - sorry! I was wondering why the delivery truck kept going round and round"

So...now I have to go through the hassle of calling the USPS, waiting for my item to be sent back to me, and then refunding the buyer once I get it, no way i trust them to give me the correct address again, I do not intend on playing a tennis game with this buyer.

In the case that they are attempting some sort of "item not received scam" where they (might) attempt to file a charge back with PayPal before the item is returned to me, do I have any recourse? It shouldn't be my fault that I shipped to an undeliverable address that the buyer gave me.

And the package was expensive to ship - $29 with signature confirmation, and insurance. So now when I get the item back the buyer is going to have to pay for that if they still want it, failing that, how can I cancel the transaction without getting a defect and getting my fvf fees back?

What is the best thing to do in this situation?

[the_fancy_fox]

Once you get the item back you can cancel with problem with buyers address. Before doing that ask he buyer if they still want it and if so you will send them an invoice through PayPal for the shipping costs.

[missdigitalmoon7]

By canceling and selecting "problem with buyer's address" does that give me a defect?

And would I get my fvf fees back?

[banana*shoe*boutique]

No, I don't believe you get a defect for that but you will be out the shipping costs.  

When you printed the label did it say you were eligible for seller protection?  You may be able to get your shipping costs back but I'm not certain.

[missdigitalmoon7]

Yes, the shipping address was confirmed and it said I was eligible for seller protection.

[missdigitalmoon7]

And furthermore ...

HOW does Paypal "confirm" an address that's clearly incorrect? When I login to PayPal and see a what looks like a CONFIRMED address with "OK to ship", what does that mean exactly?

Does paypal actually CONFIRM the address or is that just a lie? Something doesn't add up here, why would Paypal allow a clearly wrong address and say its confirmed?

Someone explain this to me.

[labs118]

When I buy a gift and have it shipped to a friend or my sister , anywhere I want then I change the shipping address at checkout. Shown below

As long as I input an address there & it is on a sellers Paypal transaction page then it is considered a confirmed address. 

If I type in a wrong street address for my sister say the house next door to her that is my fault , How is Paypal to know Jane Smith doesn't live there.
Confirmed as in that is what your buyer typed in for shipping you print the label & ship it there your covered under seller protection.

[inhawaii]

I had this exact thing happen to me twice.

The first time, the buyer was understanding and offered to pay shipping charges again to have the package re-delivered. Why should i take a loss for his mistake?

The second time, the buyer was also understanding, offering to  pay shipping charges again to have the package re-delivered ... but never did.  I sent a paypay request, 2 paypal reminders and 2 ebay messages to remind him.  Still no payment.  That was months ago, maybe even a year or more. The item was sent back to me and i still have it.   At one point i thought about refunding the buyer (less shipping) but i never got around to it. The time limit to file a claim or leave feedback has long passed.