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Known scam/fraud shipping address.
I have an item I sold in a bidding auction where the buyer won, and the item did say they send payment but upon researching their supplied shipping address I noticed it’s heavily linked to fraud/scams. I refunded the buyer immediately and explained that I’m not comfortable with shipping the item to that supplied address. So I have a valid good reason with eBay to not ship this item? Or create another auction to sell to that winning bidder and chance this?! The item is for 280$.
9 comments
mr_lincoln
Mentor2 weeks agohI @ryanofrjnn
-WHERE are you getting your information about a scam address?????
-More likely what happened is a foreign Buyer is using a US based forwarding company that allows them to purchase items here that are not offered via eBay's International shipping. eBay allows this and you are only responsible to the US address for both shipping and returns. The Buyer pays to ahve the item shipped to their country.
ryanofrjnn
OP1 week agoAll I did was see user address in FL, but they live in Qatar. I entered their address into google and it linked me to a section where their address was listed with multiple users warning about scams there.
mudshark61369
Mentor2 weeks ago · Edited@ryanofrjnn ,
If you did not cancel the transaction which automatically issues a refund, you may run into problems since this appears to be your first sale in over a year. Actually cancelling a transaction selecting Issue with address as the reason, could be reported by the buyer and your info from online sources would not be accepted by ebay as a valid reason for cancelling. That could cause you to get a defect on your account and possibly having to pay the final value fees for the transaction. It could also extend the amount of time you will have payment holds on your payments.
Since you have refunded the buyer, you can send a second chance offer to the next highest bidder on that auction. Open the link below to learn how to do that. But sending an offer to a buyer you refunded, would probably be a waste of time.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/selling-auctions/making-second-chance-offers?id=4142
I've been selling for years on ebay and have yet to look up a buyer's address, and I have had very few problems with scammers.
ryanofrjnn
OP1 week agoThe buyer eventually ended up leaving me a negative feedback. I sent eBay a long description of why I chose “issues with delivery address”. eBay removed the buyers negative feedback after review. I explained the entire situation with their address just like I did on this forum. What I ended up doing is relisting the item for the buyer. Ironically this person was the only two bids. So I gave them another try and relisted it, and my only requirement was that they just need to sign upon delivery. So in my eyes that makes me feel more comfortable as the seller and the buyer still gets the item they rightly won fair and square. Wasn’t trying to hassle them but it felt like a red flag to me when I see that the package is to be delivered to FL, but they live in Qatar.
Now the buyer is contesting the fact I included insurance and signature upon delivery. I’m here trying to fix and make this person happy and it’s seeming like no matter what I do they are not happy. I communicated fully why I made the choice and even eBay seems to have agreed with me. I’m just trying to fulfill the order and my obligations as the seller.
monroe67
Mentor1 week ago · Edited"What I ended up doing is relisting the item for the buyer. Ironically this person was the only two bids. So I gave them another try and relisted it, and my only requirement was that they just need to sign upon delivery. So in my eyes that makes me feel more comfortable as the seller and the buyer still gets the item they rightly won fair and square. Wasn’t trying to hassle them but it felt like a red flag to me when I see that the package is to be delivered to FL, but they live in Qatar."
It felt like a red flag because it was unfamiliar to you.
Many, many people who do not live or work in the United States are able to purchase things from eBay's USA site -- ebay.com -- because they have contracted with private companies in the United States known as freight forwarders.
Those people, whether they live in Qatar or Italy or Australia or anywhere else, are provided, by the freight forwarding company, with a USA delivery or shipping address at the freight forwarders' facilities. Those people type in that delivery address when they register to buy things on ebay.com.
That is obviously what your Qatari buyer has done.
YOU, a seller on ebay.com, are expected to ship your sold items to the address that eBay gives you. If I buy something from you, you will send it to my home address in San Diego (until we are bombed off the map, of course . . . . .).
Your Qatari buyer expects you to send his purchase to that address in Florida.
Assuming you will ship to any/all USA addresses, there is nothing wrong or illegal or dangerous about sending any purchase by a Qatari person to an address in Florida.
YOU are only responsible for getting the item to that Florida address. When you pay for the shipping through eBay, you will get a tracking number, which will show the date the item is delivered to the Florida freight forwarder's address.
Thus, a signature upon delivery is not necessary.
Again, YOU are only responsible for getting the item to that Florida address. If the package is lost or destroyed between Florida and Qatar, the buyer cannot attempt, through eBay, to get a refund from you.
In the interest of full education for eBay's USA sellers who sell to buyers who live/work in other nations and use the services of freight forwarders, YOU will probably also find eBay's International Fee in the order details of this purchase.
The International Fee on ebay.com is 1.65% of the total amount paid by the buyer. It is in addition to the regular Final Value Fee (normally 13.6% of the total amount paid by the buyer) and any Promoted Listing fee you might have voluntarily agreed to.
Many freight forwarders are based in Delaware and Oregon, largely because those states do not charge any sales taxes. While Florida, in general, does charge sales tax, the state has exempted certain zip codes and/or businesses from sales tax, including some freight forwarding companies.
ryanofrjnn
OP1 week agoSo at the end of the day I did ship to the address they provided and still fulfilled my obligation at the seller. i sent the item right away within 24hrs. I see what you mean about the freight forwarding. I did however ask the buyer specifically if that’s what that address was and they didn’t respond to that point. Also right off the bat I explained to them the reason for signature upon delivery. Even after that… I informed them USPS also allows you to sign before the item arrives… thus hopefully this should pan out. I just have an odd feeling about this buyer that they’re doing everything they can to either manipulate what I’m saying or to try to paint me as some fraudulent seller. It seems no matter what I do they are not happy.
mr_lincoln
Mentor1 week ago@ryanofrjnn
First impressions are important and apparently theirs of you may have been tainted from the start. Add them to your blocked list on this page and move on from them. Buyer management | eBay
ryanofrjnn
OP1 week agoI just want to thank you for your meaningful replies. Last time I sold an item on eBay was 2017. I’ve never dealt with such a buyer who was so rude. They’re acting like I don’t want them to get their item. Which is anything but the truth.
mr_lincoln
Mentor1 week ago@ryanofrjnn Sadly, if a Buyer has one bad experience on eBay they tend to suspect that most Sellers are bad and out to scam them which is obviously not true. Sellers can have up to 5,000 members on their blocked list and there are obvious reasons for that. Not all Buyers are honest either and if you sell long enough you run into some of them. After 11 years my blocked list has almost 250 members on it.