0 feedback buyer for $325 item, confirm address?

[easytime305]

Hi all, I just sold a musical instrument for $325 and need your advice to minimize risk when selling to a 0 feedback buyer.

The buyer is a zero feedback eBay member, just joined a few days ago. Because I had two buyers recently who had address issues (one said I shipped to the wrong address, which I didn't, and the other said they wanted the item shipped to a different address), I have asked the 0 feedback buyer to please confirm the address before I print the shipping label. I thought it would be fair to reach out since they have 0 feedback. If they want to change the address, I would refund them and ask them to repay with the correct address.

So far, no answer. I sent two messages, one last night and one this morning. I am afraid the buyer might try to scam me by claiming they didn't get it or I did the incorrect address, etc.

A couple of questions for you all on what the smartest thing would be to do while minimizing risk.

1. What if I don't get an answer? Do you suggest I just ship it to the address provided by eBay and insure it, or require a signature?

2. How long can I wait before I get into trouble for not shipping the item?

3. Any other thoughts or ways to protect myself?

[bonjourami]

As long as you ship to his registered Ebay address, you are protected. Looks like you have a two day holding time, if you dont ship within that time, you will get dinged. I would insure it.

[little*blackdog]

I don't know if being on Managed Payments makes a difference, but up until then... you had to ship to the address shown in the PayPal Transaction Details page.

If I were you, I'd also keep a close eye on the tracking for this item and via Ebay messages, report to the buyer when there's a change in tracking. 

You can copy/cut/paste what you see in tracking, and by sending it to the buyer, you're like saying, "Here it comes... I know you're going to receive this... Ah!  You got it delivered today!"  Not in those words, but by sending the buyer the tracking info, those are the messages you are basically sending him.  So, HE KNOWS that YOU KNOW when he got the item!  And of course Ebay would know too!

Congrats on the sale and good luck w/it.

[fashunu4eeuh]

A zero feedback buyer poses no greater risk than any other eBayer. New buyers are coming to eBay as more people have started shopping online. If you have confirmed the money is in your PayPal account, then ship to the address of record and insure your item. Insurance protects the seller’s interests.

Adding signature confirmation affords you no greater protection in this case. Ebay needs it for transactions over $750. Including SC can sometimes throw a monkey wrench into the transaction when the buyer isn't expecting it. It can needlessly create a hardship for them. If you know you’ll possibly want SC on a shipment,  put that in the description field while listing, that you may add it in some instances. This will keep the buyer informed ahead of time.

As for their delay in responding, your buyer is new and may not be familiar with  checking their Messages on eBay. In addition, one should allow 24 hours for a response, out of courtesy.

The time to assess one’s risk tolerance is before listing the item. At the point of sale, the seller has an obligation to ship the item out. So far your buyer has done nothing to point to a scam. If it were my transaction, i would ship without worry. The time to worry is when something actually happens. Good luck and congrats on a nice sale!

[nobody*s_perfect]

I agree 100% with @fashunu4eeuh : Just ship it. There is no need to "confirm" their address through messages. Do not use Signature Confirmation, which will offer no additional protection and could complicate the transaction by making it difficult for the buyer to receive the item.