Buyer makes multiple purchases, each with a different shipping address

[forumeurope]

We never had this happen in the previous 19 years. But the past 6 months, it is almost a daily occurrence. A person buys an item, then changes the shipping address, buys another one, changes the shipping address again. Is this a scam? For example, just this morning, one person bought the same item 3x, with three different shipping addresses.  Thanks in advance for any help!!

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Update Sat 3/2/24:  Guys, thank you so much for all your answers. Yes, it sounds like these buyers are using us as a drop shipper. In our case, this is unacceptable, and we will be blocking such buyers. Luckily we have not had any unhappy customers yet.

We truly appreciate your help (& opening our eyes to this practice)!!  🙂 💗

. 

[kensgiftshop]

Sounds like they are using you as a dropshipper.

They sell the item on their site, then buy from you and have you ship to their buyer.

[onefootflipper1]

You are less than half the Amazon price on this item, it is definitely a dropshipper.

[aproudparent2010]

They are using you as a drop shipper.

I had someone do this with like 10 of my items..I include my invoice in each package so gets them to return to me for the item directly instead of the drop shipper.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

A buyer can change the shipping address. I'm not a fan of that, but eBay does allow it. Could be someone buying for family members. 

As a seller, I would review the buyer's profile and all feedback. 

You might look at each address via Google map and satellite view. Does it look iffy or questionable? 

You can always ship with signature required depending on fees / profit margin. 

Don't get too worked up but do your homework. 

[spreadlovelikefire · Accepted solution]

It's someone using you as a drop shipper.  I've had this happen to me a couple of times over the 18 years I've been selling.  Once, I had someone purchase like 50 items from me spread out over 2-weeks or so.  I didn't realize it was the same user until I started receiving a huge number of return requests.  Some of the items that were returned had an Amazon packing slip in the box.  So this was a seller on Amazon.  The packing slip showed a stock photo of a similar item I sold but was described incorrectly, like the size and/or colors.  Hence why they were returning it.  Out of the 50 items this person purchased, 45 were returned.  I lost tons of money on shipping as I have free returns.  I of course blocked them and reported them several times but eBay never took action on their account.  

[robbie31415]

There is a setting you block repeat purchases within x amount of time isn't there?

I haven't used it, but it might be worth activating until they go away.

[brightlightbookseller]

Yes, that's possible on your "Manage who can buy from you" page from Selling Preferences: https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

It can either apply to all buyers or just ones with lower feedback scores (though that second option isn't likely helpful here, a dropshipper probably has racked up many positive reviews from sellers, since they can't get negatives).

[ryanrobyn]

I do the same thing when I purchase things for my children and grandchildren. It would be ridiculous to have items sent to me and then I would have to pay more to send them again.

[pjcdn2005]

That only applies to buyers who have currently purchased 1 or more items from you already.  It doesn't block a first time buyer. The two bottom lines on your screenshot are associated.  You can block all buyers who buy x number of items from you in so many days or just block buyers with x amount of feedback who have bought items from you in that time period.

[forumeurope]

Thank you for this info & link!! ❤️

[soh.maryl]

What information could a seller gain by reviewing any buyer's feedback?

As someone mentioned, buyers are allowed to use different shipping addresses, for instance, when sending to friends or relatives.

They paid, you ship.  

[forumeurope]

Thank you so much for this information.  ❣️😊

We do have buyers that order multiple items, and we always combine them into one shipment. We do not mind shipping to another address when there is a good explanation. 

But when we asked these buyers to explain the multiple shipping addresses, some said it was a gift, some asked not to include a shipping slip, and some never answered.

So obviously these buyers are not being truthful. 

They never provide feedback, and the actual end user cannot provide feedback if they wanted to.

This is very important to us.

This is definitely not OK. I never would have never thought that someone could be selling on Amazon and asking us to ship merchandise listed on eBay. 

From a buyer's perspective, I am sure they want a quality product and to be able to contact the seller directly with any questions. Sometimes we do have quality issues.

And the feedback is very critical to us since we sell health-related products.

[spreadlovelikefire]

Yes, there is a setting you can use to block a person from purchasing a large quantity of your items within a certain time period.  I've also experienced buyers who have a bunch of different buying ID's and use those to bi-pass the settings.  The only reason I figured it out is that on the payment screen it shows the address and phone number of the buyer.  None of them ever matched the shipping addresses.  So the one person who opened all the returns used 4 different accounts to do so.  

[gloryglorygifts]

I had that happen to me last year.  First time in 16 years. The guy was selling my items, including items that are my brand name, on Amazon. Definitely a dropshipper and it is 100% against Amazon policy. Because he rebranded my brand name as his own, I got my attorney involved and sent him a cease and desist order. Of course you don't have to go to those measures. I figured it out with my first return, which had the Amazon return slip in the package with his name. 

I contacted ebay for business on Facebook, explained it to them, gave them the id's I had and they have a way to block IP addresses from purchasing from you. This way, you can target all the names you know and don't know. Just send them a dm with all the info and they will get back to you. If you don't have FB, they are on Twitter and Instagram too. 

I also sent letters to all of the buyers, with my packing slip and a screenshot of his item on Amazon and told them to report him if they paid more than X for the item. I know what I paid for the items and he was marking prices up to 500% on some of them.  It made me sick that he was doing that to people, so he messed with the wrong person. Btw I always include a packing slip in the items I ship and have done it from day 1. 

Definitely contact ebay for business and see if they can help you block all their id's. I got it very early on and I'm glad that I did. I can sleep at night knowing that I'm not being used to rip people off. Good luck to you.