Buyer ignored no int'l shipping and is now offering multiple shipping addresses-- suspicious?

[hansus22]

Hi there,

I listed a blazer last week and received a message asking if it could be shipped internationally to either Moscow or Estonia. I responded to the person saying no, I am not currently shipping internationally. It also says this on the listing-- US only. Despite me letting them know this and having it clear on the listing, they bought the item, and asked to have it shipped to Moscow or Estonia after three days with no payment. I told them again that I had already told them I wasn't shipping internationally and I would be cancelling the transaction. I successfully cancelled it and relisted the item. They messaged me after asking me not to cancel it (too late) because they would try to find an address for me to send it to the the U.S.

I'm finding this all very suspicious. For those who sell more internationally-- is this common for people to have multiple places to have an item be shipped, being Estonia or Russia in this case? Is it normal for somebody to say they will "try to find" an address for me to ship to in the US? I'm not sure if I'm just out of touch about this situation.

Since they never paid me, it was easy to cancel the transaction and relist. However, I'm concerned they will try to buy the product again and I'll have to go through the whole song and dance and waste my time waiting for payment that's never going to come again. Can anybody shed some light on whether this is normal or not for me? Thanks!

[donsdetour]

Put them on you blocked bidders list.

Also never ship to any address that is not listed with eBay  when payed..

[ittybitnot]

 Despite me letting them know this and having it clear on the listing, they bought the item,

Simply stating it in the listing is not enough.  You need to set your site preferences to reflect where you will or will not ship.  If you had done so (excluding all except for the US), this user would not be able to bid or buy your item.

Many international buyers will use a freight forwarding service to purchase from sellers who do not wish to sell internationally.  That will give the buyer such as yours a US ship to  address so they can then freely buy from you.  

[postingid7659]

A professional reply would say something like "I am sorry but I can only ship to the address on your eBay account, per eBay and PayPal rules."  

Somewhere you can go in and manage your shipping preferences and set what countries to exclude, both when you make the listing and as a general rule.  That stops that.  You have to watch because eBay will default check all the options.  

I shipped to each of those nations once and it was successful, but afterwards I blocked them as places I ship to.  

[kensgiftshop]

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@hansus22 wrote:

Is it normal for somebody to say they will "try to find" an address for me to ship to in the US?

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A lot of foreign buyers will use a freight forwarding service located in the US when the seller doesn't ship to their country.

When they pay, they provide the freight forwarders address and you ship the item there and they'll reship it to their customers.

[wesk_36]

Maybe suspicious or not, maybe stubborn, they may just really like the jacket so they might look into US based  re-shippers.

Despite that, they reached out to ask if you would ship to Moscow, you said no, so they ignored you and bid anyway and won the jacket but didn't pay and asked again to ship to Moscow. That's rude, imo. Like bully rude.

"...is this common for people to have multiple places to have an item be shipped, being Estonia or Russia in this case? "

It's common for some to have a US re-shipper as their address, but if it's not the shipping address of file in their account, then no go no protection for you.

I would block them and if it happens again, even from another ID, you can cancel as problem with buyers address.

[mam98031]

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@donsdetour wrote:

Put them on you blocked bidders list.

Also never ship to any address that is not listed with eBay  when payed..

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Buyers are allowed to designate the ship to address at the time they make payment.  That address does not have to be listed with Ebay or PP previous to the payment.  It has been this way for a very long time if not from the beginning of electronic payments.

To qualify for Seller Protection seller are required to ship to the address stated on the payment.

FYI, Sellers have no way of viewing or knowing all the addresses a buyer may have set up in their Ebay or PP account, so they could not do as you suggested anyway.

[mam98031]

You can't block an international buyer from bidding in Ebay if they have a US ship to address.  There are lots of international buyers that are here on visas of one kind or another, whether it is for work, vaca or visiting family.  And some international buyers use freight forwarders so they can purchase things here in the US.  The vast majority of time these buyers do not present any kind of issue.

You should check your site preferences and make sure you have the block set that will block international buyers that do not have a US ship to address from bidding or purchasing.  That requirement would have likely saved you with the issue you just had with this buyer.

It is however likely there really wasn't a problem with this buyer.  They could be back and forth between those countries for work or something else.  Who knows.  But they really should have respected your answer to their question.  Clearly they really wanted what you were selling.

But go your your site preferences and then buyer requirements and make sure you have your setting where you want them.

[sin-n-dex]

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@hansus22 wrote:

Hi there,

I listed a blazer last week and received a message asking if it could be shipped internationally to either Moscow or Estonia. I responded to the person saying no, I am not currently shipping internationally. It also says this on the listing-- US only. Despite me letting them know this and having it clear on the listing, they bought the item, and asked to have it shipped to Moscow or Estonia after three days with no payment. I told them again that I had already told them I wasn't shipping internationally and I would be cancelling the transaction. I successfully cancelled it and relisted the item. They messaged me after asking me not to cancel it (too late) because they would try to find an address for me to send it to the the U.S.

I'm finding this all very suspicious. For those who sell more internationally-- is this common for people to have multiple places to have an item be shipped, being Estonia or Russia in this case? Is it normal for somebody to say they will "try to find" an address for me to ship to in the US? I'm not sure if I'm just out of touch about this situation.

Since they never paid me, it was easy to cancel the transaction and relist. However, I'm concerned they will try to buy the product again and I'll have to go through the whole song and dance and waste my time waiting for payment that's never going to come again. Can anybody shed some light on whether this is normal or not for me? Thanks!

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1. Block the bidder to calm your anxiety about them (they could create a new account with a USA shipping address and you won't know it's them, but as I said to my business partner that shipping in the US once paid by Paypal/MP has the same risks with that buyer as any other buyer who pays me)

2. Russia does not have tracking service, Estonia did, not sure if it still does. They might think you can ship to a relative in Estonia because of FCI service with tracking.

3. The address they are going to "find" in the United States is going to be a freight forwarder. they are just checking with their friends to find out how to get  your item shipped internationally while using a US address.

I don't think you have anything to worry about, really, but if it bugs you, You can just block them from buying.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@ittybitnot wrote:

 Despite me letting them know this and having it clear on the listing, they bought the item,

Simply stating it in the listing is not enough.  You need to set your site preferences to reflect where you will or will not ship.  If you had done so (excluding all except for the US), this user would not be able to bid or buy your item.

Many international buyers will use a freight forwarding service to purchase from sellers who do not wish to sell internationally.  That will give the buyer such as yours a US ship to  address so they can then freely buy from you.  

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We don't know if the OP set their blocks to exclude other countries (I'm assuming they did if it's USA only), but they may have also set their preferences to exclude these buyers from being able to purchase.

I don't know what the OP's settings are, but I do know this...

There is a glitch that is affecting some (maybe not all) members that international buyers are able to purchase items despite being excluded from buying. I managed to sell something to the Netherlands and Germany despite them being on my excluded list. I trouble shoot'd this problem in chat three times, and we determined it's not my list that's the problem, it's a glitch that's allowing them to buy.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@postingid7659 wrote:

A professional reply would say something like "I am sorry but I can only ship to the address on your eBay account, per eBay and PayPal rules."  

Somewhere you can go in and manage your shipping preferences and set what countries to exclude, both when you make the listing and as a general rule.  That stops that.  You have to watch because eBay will default check all the options.  

I shipped to each of those nations once and it was successful, but afterwards I blocked them as places I ship to.  

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OP said buyer didn't pay yet, so the buyer is free to update the address to a USA address before making payment.

C.