DO NOT ship to

[jahood1984]

June 22nd I send order USPS priority, last scan July 2nd.  It's a freight forwarder using some type of loophole address to scam us.  Look up the reviews.  I'll never the see the item and will be losing the money... 

 

[monica-sells]

I have shipped multiple items through that portal with "0" problems.....

You do know that once it is scanned as "Delivered" your liability is absolved.....right?

These people are just one of many "freight-forwarding" companies that assist international buyers to acquire goods at cheaper prices for shipping than what traditional post offers.....

I am almost positive I used USPS on at least one of them

[jahood1984]

It's not been as delivered, just like countless reviews says it's lost in transit.  I suspect they may actually forward cheap items but things of value are tied into some type of scam, there's far too many reviews from eBay and Amazon sellers with the same experience.  Maybe scammers know some weird loophole or it's the FF themselves, something is definitely going on.  Packages just don't get magically lost in transit for eternity to the same address for years in a row.  There's 90 reviews on Google for this address and 1 out of ten are positive...

I might ship a $5 item to this address in the future to see what happens but I'm losing $250 NOW and the item.  

  Tracking shows my priority mail package went to the international shipping center in Miami which was the last scan on July 2nd.  It wasn't a international order, somebody is clearly doing something as I imagine everyone who said it was lost in transit was lost the same way, Shane they didn't leave further details.

  For the record I ship to lots 9f freight forwarders and they all have way more good than bad reviews.  This isn't a coincidence...

 

[qeqo_0]

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@jahood1984 wrote:

June 22nd I send order USPS priority, last scan July 2nd.  It's a freight forwarder called Aeropost using some type of loophole address to scam us.   

---

Aeropost offers its customers the virtual address 1 Aeropost Way, Miami FL, 33206-3206, as a new alternative shipping address for online purchases, through which they can save 7% on their purchases, since this address is exempt from sales tax of the state of Florida in the United States.

Apparently it's not a physical location and packages cannot be scanned delivered, then possibly weeks pass until they are picked up.

[jahood1984]

I came across that as well, that allowed them to avoid taxes so they entice "buyers" with a no tax gimmick.  

That's probably why it's a scammer preferred location as they are likely hardly ever scanned as delivered, at least that's what endless reviews across the web lead up to.   

  I'll take this $250 loss of funds and item as a future directive to never send to them again.  Tracking that doesn't show delivered is a free for all for the scammers..

Sometimes I think having morals is just assurance to struggle for funds.  Everyday I get 5 to 10 phone calls a day from scammers (down from 20+ a day bc I closed my business line),50+ scam emails, scams in my physical mail from the ones who call me endlessly (no clue how they got my info) and of course occasionally taken by someone on here (far less than it used to be since becoming top rated rated plus).  If these scammers ever get caught they usually have scammed to the tune of millions while I wrote off my losses to them....

Don't mind me, life has just been kicking the crap out of me lately and this just falls in line on top of the slew of returns Ive had lately bc buyers are buying tech they don't know how to use.

Sigh. I'm off to try to accommodate enough sales to cover my "donation" to this buyer... 

[jahood1984]

Can you check if the items actually showed delivered or they were picked up by an agent, potentially weeks later.  What I'm gathering is in some cases it was shown as picked up by agents weeks after cases were ended but the majority report it's lost in transit forever, like mine appears to be.  As noted above it's a virtual address so apparently delivered is a common end to tracking. 

[rseuqinh]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

FYI - I have a number of great buyers from Chile that use Aeropost, they provide an excellent service, one of best amongst Florida based forwarders (my buyers tell me this). 

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Wondering @slippinjimmy if you could share your thoughts on Aeropost here?

[monica-sells]

After I made the initial post I tried to find the orders but was unable to do so ...

I do know (99% sure) I have sent orders to that address. I have had no returns/refunds from those transactions. They were (most probably) around 30 - 40 dollars, nothing much....

Sorry...even if I could find them, the tracking would probably not be available.....

[reallynicestamps]

Freight forwarders are the second safest addresses you can ship to.

Safer than somebody's house, where the shipment can be stolen by porch pirates.

When the forwarder signs for the shipment, most of the Money Back Guarantee ends.

If the buyer opens a Not As Described dispute, and you tell them to return for refund, the shipping label you supply is only from the US address of the forwarder.

It's up to the buyer to get the good back to the forwarder, on his own dime, and pay the forwarder to prepare the product for return and put it back in the US mailstream.

Possible, but slow, expensive, and unlikely.

[reallynicestamps]

It's a physical location.

It's on Google Maps. A building with a lot of small businesses and a loading dock.

Out by the airport.

As long as USPS shows delivery, the rest of the shipment's journey is not your problem.

If USPS does not show delivery, the shipment goes back to the PO and a delivery notice is left.

After a short period of time, if the shipment is not picked up, it is returned to sender.

RTS is slow because it is never a priority with any carrier.

[slippinjimmy]

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@rseuqinh wrote:

---

@slippinjimmy wrote:

FYI - I have a number of great buyers from Chile that use Aeropost, they provide an excellent service, one of best amongst Florida based forwarders (my buyers tell me this). 

---

Wondering @slippinjimmy if you could share your thoughts on Aeropost here?

---

What more can I say? Aeropost are an excellent company that provides a great service  to tens of thousands of buyer who are mostly in South America and the Caribbean. They have been given a special zip code by USPS which allows them to receive packages on  behalf of their customers that are exempt from Florida Sales Tax.

The obligations for eBay sellers is to deliver to the FL address your buyer provides, once you have tracking showing delivery to the Aeropost address your responsibility for delivery is OVER. In some cases the final tracking may be "Delivered to Agent" this is because Aeropost probably pick up (by the truckload) from the local USPS facility (they would be picking up thousands of orders every day), eBay representatives have confirmed that "Delivered to Agent" is accepted just like any other "delivered" scan.

As far as the "virtual address", it's a "virtual" for their customers who are located in other countries, it is not an address that doesn't exist. There is no "loophole" anymore than when a US buyer uses (usually because that is all they have) a P.O. box which is also a "virtual" address (buyers don't actually live in a P.O. Box!).

eBay allows sellers to decide if they wish to SHIP to foreign countries, they DO NOT allow sellers to refuse to sell to buyers who are foreigners when that buyer provides a delivery address that is IN the USA.

I'm really getting tired of sellers who on the one hand complain that sales are down or those that ask "where are the buyers" while at the same time doing everything they can to NOT make sales, alienate buyers and ruin eBay's reputation as a good place to shop.

[slippinjimmy]

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@jahood1984 wrote:

June 22nd I send order USPS priority, last scan July 2nd.  It's a freight forwarder using some type of loophole address to scam us.  Look up the reviews.  I'll never the see the item and will be losing the money... 

 

---

What does that last scan actually show? (specifically what does it show at USPS.com?).

[reallynicestamps]

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

Basically saying that once delivered to the forwarder the MBG is over.

 Then there is this discussion some time back with tyler@ebay 

Now -- if the GSP is not involved, but the buyer uses a freight forwarder, does the seller provide Return Shipping from the forwarding address or from the buyer's address?

Oooh this is a good clarification question @...! 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

BUT
GSP isn't considered a 'freight forwarder' as much as a shipping service a Seller can avail themselves of. 
 
On a GSP transaction the address input by the Buyer at checkout is their address at the final destination. The Erlanger address is inserted into the transaction for the Seller. This means for Not as Described return requests a Seller would still be responsible for return shipping from the final delivery address*.  
https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/Global-Shipping-program-extremely-low-efficiency/m-p/4746... - tyler Post #13.

[sdneped]

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@jahood1984 wrote:

June 22nd I send order USPS priority, last scan July 2nd.  It's a freight forwarder using some type of loophole address to scam us.  Look up the reviews.  I'll never the see the item and will be losing the money... 

---

It's a physical location, with their virtual address plastered right over the front door. 

And it's just like Trinitron has always said, that an item can be delivered to a freight forwarder but not be reshipped onward, so the buyer's eBay MBG coverage is still intact because the delivery could be

-- held by the freight forwarder for inspection,

-- ordered by an employee of the company and delivered to them at work, or

-- the freight forwarder might offer a service for items to be picked up in person from the yellow lockers with the touch screen and dome camera outside the front door!

[jahood1984]

The last tracking is July 2nd " in transit arriving late, it was shipped June 22nd.

June 22md in transit arriving late

June 28th processed through Miami distribution center

June 28th departed USPS regional facility

Miami FL international distribution

This was shipped USPS priority, it is not an international order.

  I think many are missing the point, they maybe legit but scammers have found that tracking usually shows lost in transit forever so they know that means free with an item not received case.  The vast majority of negative reviews mention forever in transit (never shows delivered),one guy said it showed picked up by agents weeks after a case was over.  The reviews from actual customers mostly say the carrier doesn't even pick the packages up for weeks or doesn't ship.

The vast majority of reviews from eBay and Amazon sellers say tracking shows forever in transit, free item for buyer.

The buyer will not respond, they probably have the item.

eBay will refund them very soon and I'll never see the package again.  You all can keep shipping there if you want just post up when tracking never shows delivered and it happens to you.  I will cancel with problematic  address as a address that rarely shows delivered is a problem. 

Feel free to lookup just the Google reviews from countless eBay/Amazon sellers and make your own decision,discount them all and mine if you wish.  I just want to warn sellers that want to minimize risk as clearly this has been a ongoing issue for years now.  Meanwhile I'm out $250 and the item but I'm going to try to get an extension on the case tomorrow.  At least that way I have some time to make more sales to cover the loss instead of it coming off my credit card.