Buyers in China with USA address
I just sold an expensive brooch on eBay to someone who’s registered address with eBay is in China. The buyers funds came through and there address appears to be a shipping processing center at 261 QUIGLEY Blvd, suite 1 # 624262, New Castle DE, 19726.
Does anyone have any feedback on this type of situation? If it’s a legit deal, do I get paid when it arrives at the processing center and someone signs for it, or do I have to wait until it gets to China?
Thanks!
29 comments
kh-samyak
·4 months agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
gurlcat
·4 months agoOLD THREAD
kdebo2014
·4 months agoMost of the Chinese buyers associated with this address are legitimate and friendly; there is no need to be concerned. The freight forwarding company is currently freezing the accounts of fraudulent individuals and cooperating with U.S. law enforcement agencies in their investigations.
However, you should exercise caution regarding the specific freight forwarding company located at 128 Quigley Blvd. Chinese buyers ship their purchased items to this address; the forwarding company then steals the high-value goods and falsely claims that the shipment was lost, prompting the buyers to request a refund. In this scenario, both the buyer and the seller lose—the only winner is the freight forwarding company itself.
gibsonjk47
·6 months agoIm selling a expensive graded tcg card 5k plus and the buyer claims to be from Hong Kong i told him since I use ebays authenticator that they won't ship over seas he said he can have it shipped to his friends address is this a known possible scam? I checked the sellers feedback he seems to run a Chinese card shop with good feedback and I requested he send me the address so I can verify its a legit address
kibble-net
·6 months ago@gibsonjk47 Due to the age of this thread, you should probably just start a new one. This is a several months old thread you are replying to. Moderators will likely close this to further replies.
gibsonjk47
·6 months agoHey thanks i looked up the buyers address its one of those forwarding places that's known for scams ill probably cancel the sell regardless thank you
eburtonlab
·6 months ago@gibsonjk47
i looked up the buyers address its one of those forwarding places that's known for scams
Freight forwarders are used by many legitimate users around the world and also by a small number of scammers; those addresses are unfairly linked to scams by sellers that post the address under the mistaken impression that a scammer is at that address rather than simply one out of many individuals using that address. Since sellers rarely post about an address when a transaction goes smoothly, only the scam reports get publicity, providing a false impression.
adamcartwright
·6 months ago@gibsonjk47
Not necessarily.
I sold a very expensive listing within the past few months.
Buyer was in Canada but had it shipped to a private mailbox address in Oregon.
It's been over a month, and I haven't heard a peep.
Mine wasn't a FF, but I have also shipped to **bleep** without incident.
gibsonjk47
·6 months agoYeah maybe im just being paranoid but I know how bad scams are in the tcg community right now and 5k plus is alot to risk for me atleast but I appreciate the responses. I just decided to not take the risk and sell it to a us based buyer and take out the extra complications. I think when selling cards that get authenticated first seller is paid once the card is passed but the buyer could say it was never received after the fact
adamcartwright
·6 months agoStrange, I don't think I said anything bleep-worthy.
I think the word was "them."
gurlcat
·1 year agoHey @cps4216 How has that fur clip sale gone so far? Did you ship it to the FF? Still waiting on eBay to clear your payment? I see you don't have anything else listed, hope this first sale hasn't been too scary for you to continue. I promise once you get rolling here, you can do quite well, especially if you have more cool vintage jewelry to offer!
adamcartwright
·1 year agoI had my first shipment to a freight forwarder today and came here to read up on it before shipping.
Thanks to everyone for your two cents' worth.
gurlcat
·1 year agoLOL I had to go to your profile because you've been such an active participant here I thought you'd been here for ages, not just over a year! And you're just now having your very first FF sale?
I could be wrong but I'd place a small bet on you having had them before, but just didn't realize it. There are FF's in (at LEAST) DE, NJ, FL, OR and CA. They could literally be in any state but those ones are the most frequent, partly due to state law differences (taxes and maybe other things, can't remember).
Incidentally the buyer usually uses the U.S. coast closest to their country, so West Coast = Asian countries, East Coast = Europe/Russia, Florida = Central and South America. But this is not always the case! -I just had a Chinese buyer who used a FF in New Jersey for some reason. It's possible they're saving money by having their package go across the Eurasian land mass rather than straight to China from California or Oregon, because of China's 125% tariffs on US goods (which were still in place at the time of the sale). Crazy times we're living in.
OH, and very importantly: Don't expect to know where a buyer actually lives by what it says on their profile. Tons of foreign buyers have US accounts.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@gurlcat
This is my buying account. I'm an established seller, but not nearly as much so as many here.
I may have shipped to FF before, but never noticed? I guess reading the posts here has opened my eyes to potential issues.
This buyer's account is based in China, but he used a Delaware address, so you may have a point there about taking the long way home.
cps4216
OP1 year agoThanks so much! Your responses have been extremely helpful. I sell on Etsy also and I’ve had a couple of sales that went to a FF in Oregon and both were OK, but at the time it made me a little hesitant. My worry with eBay was that it was the first thing I sold on eBay and the fact that it was a high priced piece. That and the tariffs were just starting.
eBay was the one that said the buyers address was in China…that, and there was Chinese lettering under the persons name which gave it away LOL
I did t have to wait too long for payment either. It was maybe 10 days. So, overall, I would not be hesitant to sell the this person again. Thanks again!
gurlcat
·1 year agoWow, so you didn't even have to wait 30 days to get paid for your very first sale here, and of a $700+ item?!! I wonder how the heck that happened. Anyway it's a GOOD surprise, congratulations!
toysaver
·1 year agoYou better hope the freight forwarding service ships this the required method.
Country Conditions for Mailing - China
"Prohibited.... Coins; banknotes; securities payable to bearer; traveler's checks; gold, silver, platinum, manufactured or not; precious stones; jewelry; and other valuable articles, unless sent in insured parcel post."
gurlcat
·1 year agoThat is a USPS link. What makes you think freight forwarders use USPS for the overseas portion of the package's journey?
Anyway it is between the FF and their customer if insurance is purchased for that leg. The eBay seller's only duty is to get the item safely delivered to the U.S. address of the FF. I sell jewelry to Chinese buyers that are using FF's almost every day.
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoSince you're a new seller, doesn't matter where it's shipped, they'll probably hold the funds for 30 days.
gurlcat
·1 year agoGorgeous Trifari brooch, and congrats on the big $ 'get'!
I sell mainly vintage jewelry and lately the majority of my buyers have been Chinese, shipping via a freight forwarder just like this buyer of yours. 99% of the time they are no problem.
Like onefootflipper says, the fact that you are new and that it was a high-dollar item does bring a bit of concern. But if anything starts to go sideways, like the buyer files any kind of claim or writes anything 'fishy' to you -come HERE for help before you do anything else. We can give you better answers than the overseas phone reps, who don't know much and tend to say whatever they think you want to hear instead of the actual steps you need to take to thwart disaster.
cps4216
OP1 year agoThanks gurlcat! Your answer and help was very positive and informative!
onefootflipper
·1 year agoAs a brand new user with an expensive item you are an absolute target of overseas scammers. While I ship to forwarders all the time, my accounts have thousands of feedback and are not targets for scammers.
I suggest cancelling it "Problem with Address."
gurlcat
·1 year agoOh I must have missed the last line you wrote there. So you really think the OP should cancel? Then what? Like what would stop another foreign buyer from buying it?
onefootflipper
·1 year agoI would actually suggest they cancel it, build up 10 feedback somehow and then go sell it.
Most legitimate buyers don't want to buy an expensive item from a new seller, but scammers love to do it.
One thing I have found that seems to help fish out the bad forwarder customers is to see if the try to hide the fact that it was a forwarder. Simple question like "Your address seems strange, are you sure it is right?" The ones who are going to make claims are way more likely to claim it is their work address.
While forward scamming isn't a huge issue on ebay it is a huge issue on tcgplayer and I used to run a TCGPlayer account for a pretty good sized company, so I dealt with it constantly.
gurlcat
·1 year agoWell high-value trading cards, or rather that realm of collectors, is also highly scam-risky regardless of whether the buyer is domestic or foreign. With a couple thousand vintage jewelry sales under my belt, including a fair bit of high-dollar ones like the OP's, I will say it is a far safer arena. Offhand I can think of only a few scammers I've run into, and most were just partial refund scammers who are easy enough to deal with ("go ahead and neg me; I don't care" 🤣).
That said, you are 100% right on all your other assertions, and I don't disagree with the advice to build at least 10 feedbacks before relisting this high-value brooch. But here's a question: is it worth the risk of this buyer negging the seller for canceling? -Contrary to what I said before, negatives matter BIG time when you don't have many positives to cushion the percentage. Also if the buyer is aware of their rights they could even report the seller for cancelling an order with a perfectly fine shipping address, which the FF is.
monroe67
·1 year ago"I suggest cancelling it 'Problem with Address.' "
That could result in a Defect for the seller, which is not a good way to start an eBay-selling side gig or career.
For an eBay seller in the United States, there should be no "problem" in mailing/shipping a sold item to another address within the United States.
My selling ID has never had a problem with sending sold items to obvious freight forwarders addresses in Delaware or Oregon. I've never had a non-USA-registered eBay buyer claim they did not receive their purchase or even that they were unhappy with it.
Every eBay sale involves some risk. Some things are riskier than others, such as electronics, i.e., phones, video games, etc. Too many dishonest people have bought, said the item is broken, get their money refunded . . .
and mailed back to the seller: a box of rocks.
Fashion jewelry is not generally one of those risky categories on eBay.
caldreamer
·1 year agoI never had a problem selling items to New Castle, DE freight forwarder. Normally, you get paid in 1-3 days AFTER you ship the item. However, because you are a "new seller" EBAY holds your money for 30 days. EBAY deducts "selling fees + shipping" and balance will be deposited into your account. Shipping money is "held for you" so you will have available fund when you print the label. Selling fees are based on entire amount (purchase price + shipping + sales tax) plus 40 cent handling charge.
cps4216
OP1 year agoThanks for your input! After I posted this I spoke to eBay support and felt better after their clarification. To cover myself I filmed my packing of the shipment and purchased additional insurance and required a signature at the address. eBay noted that once it’s signed for I get paid (but she may not have known I was a new seller). I sell on Etsy and Poshmark and have had a couple sales that were clearly a processing center and haven’t had a
problem. Most of the responses I received here helped a lot!
coastaltechsolution
·1 year agoFreight forwarder
If that is the destination address eBay gave you then the delivery responsibility ends there for you, not china
Of course I have had someone that used a FF and try and claim INAD but that's a different topic