ADVICE PLEASE! Buyer violated terms of listing. How should I proceed?

[ronbaby]

I've been on eBay for 20+ years, but mostly as a buyer.  Every so often I have something I don't need, and I sell on eBay, but I am NOT a professional eBay seller.

A year or two ago, while selling a used laptop I got roped into a scam wheer the buyer gave a shipping address which was a commercial mail receiving facility right on the U.S.-Mexico border.  I didn't know about the scam, till then, so I shipped it to that place and sure enough, the guy came to me afterwards with a bogus claim that the thing was "damaged" and asking for a partial refund.  I found out at the time this is a common scam, especially when selling laptops and cell phones.  Baesd on good advice I got here, I told the guy I would ONLY give a FULL refund and only if he first returned the laptop.  Never heard from him again.

This week I have been selling a couple of techie things on eBay and I specifically said in my listings "NOTE: Due to bad previous experiences, this item will NOT be shipped to any P.M.B. box or commercial mail handiling facility."  So of course, now some guy bought one of these things, for the full BUY IT NOW price (which is more than it costs at online retailers) and sure enough, his shipping address is just a box number at some freight forwarding company in Delaware that also seems to have offices in Russia.

I want to just cancel this transaction, but will eBay give me a hard time if I do so?  When I do the cancel, what should I give as the reason so that eBay won't give me a bunch of pointless grief about it?

[kensgiftshop]

---

@ronbaby 

---

If you don't want to ship to a freight forwarder, you need to cancel as out of stock and take a ding on your account.

[pburn]

. . . and be prepared for the ensuing buyer feedback.

[mrdutch1001]

Unfortunately I think by placing that "Note" in your listing, it was an invite for unscrupulous buyers/scammers.

[pburn]

---

@ronbaby wrote:

I specifically said in my listings "NOTE: Due to bad previous experiences, this item will NOT be shipped to any P.M.B. box or commercial mail handiling facility."

---

I don't know what a "P.M.B. box" is, but excluding "commercial mail handiling [sic] facility" in your listing terms is unenforceable. 

[myboardid · Accepted solution]

Freight forwarders are considered as legitimate addresses on eBay and are used by buyers in countries where US sellers don't want to ship. You cannot refuse to ship to commercial properties of any kind. Many, many legitimate buyers use PO Boxes for their mail, refusing to sell to them only hurts your chances to sell your items. You should know that you are only responsible for shipping to the freight forwarder and not for anything that happens after it leaves their facility to travel to the buyer. Yes, the buyer can claim damage when it arrives, but you can insist he return the item to you at his own expense, and you would only have to pay the return shipping from the freight forwarder. You don't have to refund until you get the item back. Most buyers don't want the spend the money for the return.

[myboardid]

When I typed that, it had paragraphs!

[pburn]

. . . and not get your PayPal fees refunded.

[buyselljack2016]

...

[inhawaii]

I might consider cancelling the transaction.  Reason: Problem with buyers address.

[kensgiftshop]

---

@inhawaii wrote:

I might consider cancelling the transaction.  Reason: Problem with buyers address.

---

But there is no problem with the address, the address is fine.

[turtlehouse47]

You are not an eBay employee. You are not selling eBay's belongings, you are selling your personal property. The buyer did not buy from eBay, they bought from YOU. If you do not feel comfortable selling to a potential scam, cancel it. You can take a minor "ding" to your account or lose the money + item. eBay flexes too much authority on forcing sellers to give up their belongings in claims to make buyers happy, so it's probably not worth the risk. They don't want small sellers listing personal possessions anymore anyway.

[chapeau-noir]

Basically, it's a choice between taking a major defect on your account or just shipping to the freight forwarder.  There's nothing wrong with the address.

Out of stock cancellations aren't a small ding on your account - it's a major defect and I would try to avoid it.

I sell computer equipment and have shipped to freight forwarders numerous times. I've probably shipped to that one in Delaware, actually. 

You can cancel if you want, and I don't blame you for being wary due to your experience with the last buyer, but your terms are unenforceable, as said above.

As for eBay not wanting people to sell their personal possessions, I sell my own stuff on here all the time and I'd say it's a pretty common scenario - the question is ship or take the defect.

[luckythewinner]

Buyer violated terms of listing

I would argue the seller included unenforcable terms. 

That aside ... 

You should cancel for out-of-stock. Then you should pause and decide whether you want to continue selling here. More than a couple out-of-stock cancellations will bring your selling days to an end. 

[ronbaby]

Thanks much to everyone who replied.  It has all been helpful.

Me:  DUH!  I forgot to look at the buyer's feedback rating.  He's never been a seller, but he has a very good looking three digit feedback rating as a buyer, and since canceling the transaction may cause me grief in some way, I guess I'll go ahead and ship him the thing and hope for the best.  I mean what the hell?  It's only money, right? 🙂

Wish me luck.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to give me some friendly advice.  It's really helpful to have a place to go, like here, where I can get a spectrum of answers & opiniont regarding my rather naive questions.