eBay

qui-goncain · ‎09-26-2018

Beware This person had me send a package to the following address:

xxxx NW xxth St Ste 100
Miami / Doral , FL 33198
United States

DO NOT ship to this address. I did a Google search on this address, and it is apparently a known "forwarding" company that repackages merchandise and reships it internationally without the sellers knowledge. It is called BM Cargo. This firm is used by eBay buyers in Central America to pretend they have a US address so they can buy items from US eBay sellers that had no intention of shipping their item outside the US. This firm will repackage your item to try and reduce the weight so they can save on shipping charges to the buyer in Central America. As part of this repackaging process, they will lose key accessories for your item. The buyer in Central America will receive an item without those accessories and attempt to blame the US seller, who had no idea they were sending their item to a third party for repackaging and shipment outside the US. This firm will then support the Central American buyer in blaming the US seller for an incomplete shipment and deny they repackaged the item from the original packaging. If you watch your tracking information, you will notice the zip code change when it is rerouted to what is provided to Ebay by the seller. The buyer will then claim the package was delivered, but not to the address provided, and then attempt to file a claim. I print my labels using Ebay/USPS, so there is no discrpancy. This is the second time this has happened to me. I had to fight it for months last time and was awared my lost monies, but not my lost time. Avoid at all costs.

Thankfully I caught it in time (I hope) and reported it to both Ebay and PayPal. I will update if anything changes with the outcome.

atikovi · ‎09-26-2018

OK, I just remember posts saying you have nothing to worry about selling items to people using forwarders. Looks like buyers can pull the same scams as they do here.

qui-goncain · ‎09-26-2018

Never used the words "all buyers." Just warning others that if they ship to this location, it is possible to have issues with the sale.

dinpavent0 · ‎09-26-2018

I had a guy order a headlight socket from me and send to that address, it was address on his account. He contacted me saying it was deliveed to a different zip code. I went to post office and they told me it is a virtual mailbox basically. It compares to if i order something and it goes to my home usps office which their zip different than mine. I told the guy it was delivered to correct address. I told him to check n see it should be there. He messaged me back and said I was right n it was there. No problems after that at all. Yes it is someone that doesn't live in united states and that is a virtual mailbox so they have a us address. I confirmed it made it there and was no issues. Sounds like you just got a couple of buyers that didn't quite understand, and /or scammers.

lex-talon · ‎09-26-2018

That address looks very familiar. I shipped several items to freight forwarders in Florida. Never had a problem with them.

They are welcome to order from me anytime.😀

luckythewinner · ‎09-26-2018

@qui-goncain wrote:

Thankfully I caught it in time (I hope) and reported it to both Ebay and PayPal. I will update if anything changes with the outcome.

Reported them for what? Neither they nor the buyer violated eBay policy.

I have shipped to the forwarders in Doral - and others as well - with no issues.

luckythewinner · ‎09-26-2018

Auction was set up to sell within the continental US only.

No, your auction was set up ship within the continental US only. eBay does not allow sellers to block buyers by where they are located; only by where the want it shipped.

It matters when the package is rerouted and USPS cannot confirm the delivery.

It is not "rerouted". It is delivered to Florida, and then shipped a second time. The delivery confirmation will show delivery to the address on the Paypal payment, which is exactly the tracking you need to prove delivery to eBay.

webpiggy · ‎09-26-2018

I have been dealing with this ALL day today, too.

I listed some calculators for sale yesterday and they all got bought up wayyy to quickly by *people* from the same area of FL. I started googling the addresses and found the same info as you did. I canceled all of the purchases; way too fishy. (I called eBay and they insist I should NOT have canceled their purchases! )

Check out the zip codes in the screengrab - all in the same area.

How do you continue selling using BUY IT NOW if fraudulent buyers keep purchasing your products? There is no way to geo-block on such a granular level.

coolections · ‎09-27-2018

@webpiggy wrote:
I called eBay and they insist I should NOT have canceled their purchases!

@webpiggy

Just so you know there is a good chance you will be kicked from Ebay for cancelling as there was no reason to. Doing private eye work sometimes is just not worth it. The best thing you could have done was make sure the address said it was OK to ship.

webpiggy · ‎09-27-2018

@webpiggy Just so you know there is a good chance you will be kicked from Ebay for cancelling as there was no reason to. Doing private eye work sometimes is just not worth it. The best thing you could have done was make sure the address said it was OK to ship.

No reason? I respectfully disagree.

I've been on eBay for 18 years (good grief, has it really been that long!) and have been selling on and off. I have never run into anything like this before. There are red flags flying all over the place!

What scenario exists where 5 different buyers from the same general zip, with physical addresses in warehouses, with meaty yelp reviews warning against shipping to said addresses (https://www.yelp.com/biz/bm-cargo-doral), AND happen to need the EXACT same calculator at the EXACT same time?

I don't profess to know everything, so what am I missing here? How does this not scream SCAM to everyone reading this?

Buyers are exploiting an imperfect system, but that doesn't mean I can't protect my interests and not fall into a trap that will cost me, most importantly, precious time.

If they ding me for this, that won't be great. I will appeal it and try to explain my side.

coolections · ‎09-27-2018

@webpiggy wrote:
If they ding me for this, that won't be great. I will appeal it and try to explain my side.

Because you where told, or at least should have looked, that it was OK to ship. Doesn't matter if you've been on Ebay for 20 years or 1 year. If you cancel when it says OK to ship, eventually enough of them, you get the boot. I am not familiar with site site your referenced but it looks to me like a few others that just has a bunch of disgruntled sellers. Let us know how it works out for you.

qui-goncain · ‎09-27-2018

Then the buyer should have contacted me first to make sure it was ok to bid knowing the package was going to reshipped out of the country. The delivery confimation has been somehow altered to reflect a different zip code, one that does not match the buyers delivery address. His next step was to tell me that he did not receive the item.

qui-goncain · ‎09-27-2018

The difference with my transaction is that he told me he didn't receive the item.

qui-goncain · ‎09-27-2018

He claimed he didn't receive the item. His next step would to file a claim against me.

luckythewinner · ‎09-27-2018

Then the buyer should have contacted me first to make sure it was ok to bid knowing the package was going to reshipped out of the country

I have friends in the UK, Norway, Australia, Japan and Germany who have received packages and then forwarded them to me. As long as my address is valid, It is none of the seller's business what they do with it.

The delivery confimation has been somehow altered to reflect a different zip code, one that does not match the buyers delivery address. His next step was to tell me that he did not receive the item.

I simply do not believe that the buyer was able to change information on the USPS site. I think have a fundamental misunderstanding about how eBay uses delivery confirmation. When checking delivery confirmation, eBay matches the zip code of the delivery confirmation to the zip code of the PayPal shipping address provided by the buyer, not the buyer's eBay default address.

Now, just to be clear ...

I am not for a minute suggesting that a buyer using a forwarding service cannot rip off a seller just as easily as any other buyer can rip off any other seller at any time. Any purchase can be a scam.

I am simply pointing out that:

a) there is nothing wrong with - and no eBay rule against - using a forwarding service, and

b) there is nothing wrong with - and no eBay rule against - having a shipping address that differs from your registered eBay address

c) neither of these is something you can "report" a buyer for, because there is nothing to report

kensgiftshop · ‎09-27-2018

@qui-goncain wrote:
The delivery confimation has been somehow altered to reflect a different zip code, one that does not match the buyers delivery address.

The first time I shipped to this freight forwarder, both Ebay and Pay Pal showed a different address.

The street was the same, but one had Miami and the other had Doral and had different zip codes.

I looked it up and one of the city's had just extended their city limits to include this address.

Packages could be sent to either address and it would show delivered.

This was a couple years ago and I was a little worried about the different address's, but the transaction went fine.

Have a great day.