A buyer wants the item sent to a different address than the one listed on his account

[sunlitslumber]

The buyer wanted me to privately message him on his private email and phone number but strangely not through the ebay messaging system. His original address is overseas but says it needs to be delivered elsewhere in the US.

I read that if I send the item to a different address, I am not protected by ebay/paypal because the buyer can claim the item was not delivered/sent correctly. 

I am trying to cancel this order but the buyer is not responding.

[gracieallen01]

There is a good chance that it is a scam.  Never give out your email address or respond other than through the ebay messaging system.  You could end up with an official 'looking' email that says you have been paid, but you haven't really.

Just tell the buyer to change the addy on their account and you will be glad to send it there, after you have confirmed payment IN PayPal.  They will probably 'go away'.

[itsjustasprain]

Because you are a new seller you are a magnet for scammers if you are listing something they want. You ship only to the address you received with the payment. 

The buyer is definitely suspicious when he wants you to email an offsite email address or a phone number. That just screams scammer. Real buyers will not ask you to do that. That will not end well because Ebay cannot verify the payment. He will probably send you a fake payment notification to fool you into shipping. Dont do it.

If he sent you that message through Ebay asking to change the address then that is good enough for you to cancel by choosing the reason of PRoblem with buyer address and Ebay can see that message on record. Dont delete it from your Ebay messages folder. You do not need his approval to cancel for that because he basically already requested a change of address that you cannot do. 

Put him on your Blocked bidder list so he cant come back.

https://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BidderBlockLogin

You should definitely list your items as Fixed price only. Dont use Make Offer because that lets them send fake payment notifications. When you put up your listing find the Immediate payment required option and check the box. That forces them to make a real payment before they become your real buyer.

[sunlitslumber]

Okay thanks for the help everyone! Oh man this gave me so much anxiety and never realized how often scams happen.

[iaintdoingit]

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@sunlitslumber wrote:

Okay thanks for the help everyone! Oh man this gave me so much anxiety and never realized how often scams happen.

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Take a deep breath!!!!  You did the right thing coming here to the boards to get advice.  There are very knowledgeable posters here and much can be learned just by reading, or like you, asking a question.

Good luck with Selling and welcomed to the community.

[ittybitnot]

I am trying to cancel this order but the buyer is not responding.

Take a look at that message, and see if it is actually from your buyer of record.  It could very well be simply someone else "pretending" to be the buyer trying to get you to redirect the package. 

In a case like this, if you cancel the order the REAL buyer is not going to get the merchandise. 

[ittybitnot]

The buyer wanted me to privately message him on his private email and phone number

@sunlitslumber

 If you still have the original message in your eBay message inbox,  please copy/paste the text of that message to this thread removing any personal information:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Reply-Re-Removal-of-Report-Button-from-eBay-Messages/m-p/29914...

Trying to collect some information about these messages asking for contact outside ebay.  Thank you! 

[sunlitslumber]

@ittybitnot It was an offer and the message said the following. And other messages were continued through email but I had stopped.

Message from (redacted):
Kindly text me (redacted) to make the payment ASAP i'm shipping it within USA,Or text my email (redacted).

[sunlitslumber]

After some research, I've learned that the "person" I'm dealing with actually is a scammer. They could be automated bots because there is another person I found on Twitter who reported a similar message but different email/name/etc.

[scga912]

They are attempting to get your PP email addy so he can send you a fake, but very real looking, You've Been Paid Now Ship notice.

This isn't a new scam.

Your "title" isn't the issue.  People are registered one place and have shipments sent other places all the time, but they change the address at the time of payment with the actual Ship To address.

Whatever you see before payment doesn't matter.  It's what you see afterwards, on the Order Details, that does.

[femmefan1946]

Tell him to change his address on Paypal.

If he does not respond you can cancel without Defect as "problem with address."

Only ship to addresses in the Paypal payment.

If you don't want to accept overseas customers , including those who legitimately have US addresses (usually freight forwarders) go to your PP account an Block payments from non-US accounts, which charge you a higher rate  ( 4.4% instead of 2.9%).