Buyer lives in another continent

[braun-81]

I've only sold items online to sellers within the contiguous US states. A buyer is contacting me about one of my listings, when I checked his profile it states he lives in South America. He says he's had thing forwarded out through Florida, because electronics are expensive in his country. Has anyone else ever encountered this or something similar? I'm not sure if I'll go through with this, so I probably won't.

::edit::

Buyer said he has a locker in Miami, and would handle international shipping?

[caldreamer]

Customers can go use freight forwarder in USA.    I never had any problems with customers who go through forwarders (but I think it depends on what  you are selling).   Electronics attract many scammers.

[chapeau-noir]

@braun-81  I think he wants to use his freight forwarder to send your item to him in his country. I've also had great luck with freight forwarders, so it's up to you. He should have the freight forwarder's address added on to his account so it's registered as his address - this is very important

Is that a dog or a fox in your avatar? It's adorable!

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

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@caldreamer wrote:

Customers can go use freight forwarder in USA.    I never had any problems with customers who go through forwarders (but I think it depends on what  you are selling).   Electronics attract many scammers.

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Yes, electronics attract many scammers, HOWEVER, this buyer is using a freight forwarder and has effectively admitted to it.

The buyer's use of any 3rd party receiver/shipper such as a freight forwarder will void the MBG. If the MBG is void, the buyer will have a much tougher time scamming. If the seller knows and can prove the buyer is using a freight forwarder (such as buyer admitting it in messages), seller should be able to regain a large upper hand and retain a lot of power against MBG involved scams and be able to protect themselves

[braun-81]

Thank you! I was able to find some other threads and posts about that type of service too. But both of these replies give me more confidence for future sales.

For my avatar, it's a Fennec Fox. A tiny species native to the Sahara!

[dbfolks166mt]

     As others stated the buyer is probably using a freight forwarder. A lot of foreign buyers utilize freight forwarders to help save on international shipping costs. I have shipped several items through FF'ers and never had an issue. In fact I have had more issues with domestic buyers than international ones. 

     If you don't generally ship internationally you may want to consider doing so and using the EIS program. The seller protections under EIS pretty much reduces the sellers risk to 0. 

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/setting-shipping-options/ebay-international-shippin...