Buyer Insists on Weird Name for Shipping Label, also Funds are Withheld for Longer?
Newer seller here - I’ve been trying to sell a camera, but I got a suspicious buyer.
He bought the item within 24 hours of my posting it, and insisted I leave his last name on the shipping label as some alphabet soup instead of a realistic surname. The item says it’s paid, but they stipulate that the funds won’t be released until a really late time, to assure there’s no fraud (according to eBay).
So, this guy’s obviously a scammer, right? I suspect he’ll receive the item, claim it’s not him because of the weird surname, and then run off with the item. I also looked into some of his buying history, and he has several reviews where they complain he didn’t pay.
So, I’m wondering what would be the best way to get out of this, without any poor reviews. Haven’t shipped yet, obviously, because the fishiness of it all. I’m thinking of canceling the order, and then blocking the buyer from the posting in the future. Is this a good way to go?
Any advice on how to get out of this cleanly and sell the camera easily is appreciated.
thelongball
·2 years agoThe advice I've seen given to people many times on this board is-
Never sell anything that you can't afford to Lose. Losses are a part of Business.
Read the papers and see how many stores are getting rid of self checkouts. Its because they can't afford the losses.
inhawaii
·2 years agoWhy all the fuss? This is so easy.
Inform the buyer that you are required to ship it to the address on the label. period.
He has 2 choices.
1) Ship it to the address on the label.
2) Cancel the sale.
dentalsales4u
·2 years agoI just wanted to add that if the buyer contacted you to be sure the name is exactly as he states, respond back to him asking if this is the information needed for the freight forwarder.
If he responds back with a yes, you will then have the buyer stating they are forwarding to another address.
The buyer will lose his MBG.
I had this happen to me and when I showed in my eBay messages that they buyer admitted to forwarding, eBay immediately closed the case in my favor.
You could then get a credit card charge back and those are a lot harder to win.
But, be sure to get signature required as other has stated.
Good luck to you.
ittybitnot
·2 years agoI’m thinking of canceling the order, and then blocking the buyer from the posting in the future. Is this a good way to go?
@finiano4587
You probably can't cancel it without added drama. The funds are "on hold", and it is possible eBay will not allow those funds to be used to refund your buyer in full which would be required unless you have available funds or provide a payment source to front the money. The whole payment is not there anymore since eBay already took their part, and putting the rest on hold for you. There is no real reason to cancel that is allowed: i.e. suspicious buyer, etc. , but many say they use "problem with the buyer's address".
One thing to remember about buyers that use a freight forwarder: They basically forfeit their money back guarantee coverage by doing so, as long as you know how to proceed if a claim is made. eBay will not be proactive in this, and should the buyer file a case it will be shown to you as YOUR problem just as any other sale, in hopes you don't know any better. It is up to you to inform eBay that this is a transaction involving a freight forwarder. This is best accomplished via the eBay social media portals, and not the regular outsourced foreign customer service people you get on chat or call back.
If anything is going to go awry with this, it will either be as soon as the parcel shows delivered to the forwarder, or after a couple of weeks have passed in time for it to arrive in the destination country. These will be "not as described" related, for there is no seller protection for same. Should this happen, contact eBay right away as described above, but do not let your time expire to act on any buyer claim. If time is running short you can always issue a return label. It will be from the forwarder address back to you.
Worst case either the label (with the tracking number intact) will be used and tweaked to add a different return address and ship to address (somewhere in your Zipcode, but not you). Or the label will not be used at all, and you will not be charged. A buyer can use their own label, but likely it will be for some cheap trinket purchased in the US and sent to your Zipcode which of course will satisfy eBay that they returned the product (again unless you know what to do in this situation).
As others have said, buyers that use freight forwarders are not necessarily below board. In recent years, many 'below board' buyers that pulled scams were from the Russian Federation. Since they are not allowed to use eBay at present, we are not hearing so many complaints.
What is the country of registration of your buyer? If they have ZERO feedback, it might not be easy to find out. Come back here and I will tell you how to do it.
Always remember, just about anything can be had for free at the seller's expense. Know that going in and do not post anything for sale that you cannot afford to lose, and pay additional money to maybe get it back. That goes for both domestic and international sales.
Good luck to you, and hope it works out well.
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoThe only REAL 3 questions you need to answer.
1. Are you absolutely positively sure he's PAID? Did you check for payment on your ebay? (NOT email etc). and ebay says OK to Ship and you can do an address label through ebay?
2. How long does it say the hold is for on your funds? You're a new seller with a high value sale so it's most likely 30 days. Is that message about a funds hold on your EBAY? (not in email or such).
3. If the buyer is not asking you to change the name & address supplied to you by ebay in any way then it's fine to ship that way.
aeparts1
·2 years agoWhen I have had the same request, I do one of two things: I type the user name they want in the second address space, if it is empty. The name & address stay the same. Or, I write the user name all over the box in black magic marker. Usually I do the marker thing.
You are taking a huge risk selling $2500 cameras. I've sold for 20+ years & I wouldn't take the chance. Ask yourself the age old eBay question: will I be OK with losing both the camera & the $$$? If the answer is NO, end those listings, figure out another way to move them.
dhbookds
·2 years agoYou will need to use signature required on the label............since it's over $750.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoOn the one hand, it is heartening that you demonstrate some self preservation instincts.
On the other hand, new sellers offering big ticket items are a target for every scammer and con man who frequents the site. It is just a matter of time before you get ripped off.
Scammers will take advantage of every error you commit in procedures and policies.
I too suspect this might be destined to a freight forwarder, which is not in itself a red flag. I have never had a problem with a shipment to a freight forwarder, but I have never sold big ticket electronics on Ebay.
Make sure you have familiarized yourself with the Ebay Guarantee and make sure you do nothing which permits this buyer to have Ebay intervene, if you do, you will lose.
richard1rst
·2 years agocaldreamer
·2 years agoUsually when shipping label has "funny code" that means it is going to a freight forwarder. Code# is way of identifying who to forward package to. Is customer asking you to make changes to the name/address? If so, that would be a problem and against EBAY rules.
No way to determine, in advance, if you are going to be scammed but I personally never had a problem with orders sent to freight forwarders. However, I can understand your concern because this is a expensive item.
finiano4587
OP2 years agoThanks for your reply - this is an expensive item, and I do want to be careful with it.
He didn’t ask me to change anything, but he insisted I make sure that his last name on the label was some alphabet soup, nothing really resembling any surname I know of (the last name he gave me is BSPXFRTX - I replaced a few letters with X to make it less incriminating.) Also, like you mentioned, the address isn’t to anything remotely residential, but goes to an airport shipping area in the Pacific Northwest. So, not typical in the least.
I guess all I’d want to know if there’s any insurance I’d have if this guy pulls any funny business. I don’t have a ton of ratings (sub 100) and this is the most expensive item I’ve sold yet. Would eBay be able to step in and help if this guy tries to pull something fraudulent?
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoThanks for your reply - this is an expensive item, and I do want to be careful with it.
He didn’t ask me to change anything, but he insisted I make sure that his last name on the label was some alphabet soup, nothing really resembling any surname I know of (the last name he gave me is BSPXFRTX - I replaced a few letters with X to make it less incriminating.) Also, like you mentioned, the address isn’t to anything remotely residential, but goes to an airport shipping area in the Pacific Northwest. So, not typical in the least.
I guess all I’d want to know if there’s any insurance I’d have if this guy pulls any funny business. I don’t have a ton of ratings (sub 100) and this is the most expensive item I’ve sold yet. Would eBay be able to step in and help if this guy tries to pull something fraudulent?
Buyer is utilizing a freight forwarder as @caldreamer mentioned it's the way the FF knows where to forward the package to. If you check the buyers registered address it is highly likely that they are in a foreign country. Also eBay would have hit you up with the international fee.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agobut goes to an airport shipping area in the Pacific Northwest.
Freight forwarder. Second safest addresses you can ship to.
The safest being a post office box and least safe a street address because of porch pirates.
So, not typical in the least.
Very common, very typical.
if there’s any insurance I’d have if this guy pulls any funny business.
Money Back Guarantee on delivery stops at the forwarder's doorstep .
Paying for Signature Confirmation gives you the warm pink fuzzies and eBay requires it for shipments over $750.
And a Not As Described claim would fail if you demand a return before refunding.
Your Return ShippingLabel goes to the forwarder not to Asia.
The buyer has to return the item to the forwarder and persuade/pay the forwarder to return it to you, under a deadline.
So... that.
A seller is only required to provide return shipping from the buyer's input address at time of checkout - that goes for any return where a seller provides shipping ('free' returns, etc).
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/All-Items-Are-Free/m-p/31966203#M1772511
Message #20 from tyler@ebay
The input address would be the forwarder, not the final destination.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoApparently you don't know anyone of Finnish, Polish, Serbian or SriLankan extraction.
My own last name is so unusual that anyone carrying it is probably a relative.
The address is more important than the name.
The actual problems are:
he has several reviews where they complain he didn’t pay.
But he did pay you.
And those feedback are from dumb sellers who don't know how to open aClaim, get their fees back, and give the deadbeat a Strike that makes it more difficult to bid on eBay.
it’s paid, but they stipulate that the funds won’t be released
That's eBay policy not the buyer.
As a new seller, eBay assumes that Murphy's Law is in play, and puts a Hold on the payment until tracking shows the shipment is delivered or up to 30 days against your good service.
canceling the order,
You will get a Defect on your selling account which will keep your future payments on Hold for longer than most sellers.
blocking the buyer
Any seller can Block any buyer for any reason.
Newer seller here - I’ve been trying to sell a camera,
You are new and cameras are high value/high scam items.
finiano4587
OP2 years agoThanks for the reply - you bring up some good points. Just a bit hesitant to send this off with it being such an expensive item.
The last name is not like any surname you’d find anywhere - it’s BSPXFRTX (I replaced a few letters with X to make it less incriminating.) All capitalized, by the way, leading me to think it’s probably some shipping code thing.
Would you know more about any recourse I could take if this is in fact fraudulent? You mentioned expensive cameras like this are ripe for scams - does this seem like such a case?
onefootflipper
·2 years agoAbsolutely a freight forwarder, the weird letters are his account number.
The only issues I ever had with freight forwarders were back when I used to sell trading cards stamp and envelope as there were are a lot of people who would use a forwarder and claim not to receive any order that was sent without tracking.
I have had zero problems with forwarders other than that.
You also had the cheapest price on the website for that camera body. Which is a good sign as well. If someone planned on stealing it then they likely wouldn't have wasted much time price shopping. Also, it just being a camera body makes it less of a scam item since the scammer couldn't easily flip that for cash in their home country.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoThanks for the reply - you bring up some good points. Just a bit hesitant to send this off with it being such an expensive item.
The last name is not like any surname you’d find anywhere - it’s BSPXFRTX (I replaced a few letters with X to make it less incriminating.) All capitalized, by the way, leading me to think it’s probably some shipping code thing. As has been stated multiple times the buyer appears to be using a freight forwarder.
Would you know more about any recourse I could take if this is in fact fraudulent? You mentioned expensive cameras like this are ripe for scams - does this seem like such a case?
Freight forwarders are pretty safe to ship to. The buyer generally looses their MBG protection once the item has been delivered to the FF. However, eBay has waffled on this adn while eBay may have some seller protection when a third party shipper is used that protection does NOT apply to CC chargebacks.
The fact that the sale is probably international and the buyer is using a FF does not increase the sellers risk, and in fact may reduce it, since this can happen with any type of sale domestic or international. Over the years I have had more issues with domestic buyers than I have had with international one.
Remember while eBay may provide some limited seller protection it mean nothing if the buyer opens a chargeback with their CC company.
redmodelt
·2 years agoAll new sellers or even returning sellers have their payouts held up to 30 days after the sale, but you still need to ship in the amount of time shown in the listing.
Only ship to the name address shown in the listing after eBay say ok to ship. Don't change anything.
heckofagame
·2 years agoYou are required to ship to the ADDRESS. That is what tracking looks at. I get goofy names all the time.
fern*wood
·2 years agoHow are they insisting you use a particular name? The name & address should be with the payment. I wouldn’t change anything based on a message. Actually the name doesn’t matter but the address is what’s important.
finiano4587
OP2 years agoThey messaged me after they bought the item and said to make completely sure the shipping label had the alphabet soup last name. The label does have it, they match, but his using a fake last name, along with his review history, puts me off.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoIt's probably going to a freight forwarder and the Alphabet Soup last name is probably their ID with the freight forwarder.
The funds will be held for 30 days because it sold for $1000.
jscar59
·2 years agoAnything over $750 requires a signature for eBay seller protection, Failure to use proper name will result in a signature match . I say cancel and use "something wrong with buyers address"
gone.c-33
·2 years agoRegular signature confirmation may be signed by anyone.
janet9988
·2 years agoThat is against ebay policy.
There is nothing wrong with the address.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoAre you missing the part where this is most likely a freight forwarder?
The name is probably the FF's identity for this particular buyer.
Is the address maybe in Delaware or Oregon?
Unavailable member
·2 years agoThe label you print to ship the item to the buyer will have the buyers name and address on it. As they have it when they placed the order. There’s nothing that needs to be changed. If the buyer has paid Print the label put it on the package and ship.
jscar59
·2 years agoI think you are wrong, This needs to be shipped signature required which will require
a matching name. I call scammer.
ittybitnot
·2 years agoshipped signature required which will require a matching name.
@jscar59
For eBay purposes, ANY signature will suffice.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoSignature required....yes, the signature matching the recipient name....NO
The only way to get a signature that matches the recipient is to use Registered Mail which is an expensive and painfully slow service (and there are loopholes for that).