Buyer placing lots of orders using different account and name for each one

[gear-house]

I'm encountering some very strange buyer behavior. A buyer has ordered 15-20 watches in a row, each other going to the same name and shipping address, but each using a different eBay account and name. Is there any legitimate reason for this type of ordering? They aren't even bothering to take advantage of the discount offered for multiple items.

The accounts are all newly created, or a little older but just used for the first time. One of them already says "not a registered user" less than an hour after making the purchase. They are obviously putting a lot of work and effort into whatever this game is.

All the orders are going to an address in Oregon, which is probably a reshipper. 

I have encountered this before but it was much smaller orders (2 or 3) and thought maybe they wanted it shipped separately for customs reasons or something like that.

Anyway, because it's a new account for each order there's really no way to make it stop. 

It's hard for me to play order police because I don't really know what the reasons are, but it doesn't seem right.

Thoughts?

[gear-house]

Right, I've seen this before and that was my guess. Maybe an import threshold so they have them shipped individually. But that's usually 2 to 4 orders, not 25. I don't know where this will even end. They are still ordering every 20 minutes.

[soh.maryl]

This is a very far-out idea, but is it possible that this is a new buyer who believes that, if he makes each purchase with a new account, he will avoid the buying limits that eBay sometimes puts on new kids on the block?  

[gear-house]

Maybe? But not a new buyer. These accounts were all made in batches. A handful of them were made 10 days ago, some others a month and a half ago, and there's others that were all made on the same date in January of 2021. So it seems like this has been something going on or planned out for a long time. My guess is the buyer is constantly maintaining a cache of accounts to use for this.

[albertabrightalberta]

Could it be that the buyer has a stash of stolen credit cards and by making individual smaller purchases, they're less likely to raise red flags with the card companies? 

The fact that one of the users is NARU means that all the accounts are in violation since a NARU user can't use another account. 

At this point, I'd recommend sending a PM to ebay for business Facebook and have them look at your account as well as the buyers' accounts.

[zero29zero]

Looks like there's been lots of speculation & guesses as to what's going on but sometimes the direct approach can be best:

Have you tried to contact the buyer and ask them what is the deal is?

[fab_finds4u]

What country is on their feedback profile?

Have you googled the address to see if it's a freight forwarder?

If the buyer that's NARU has the same name as your other buyers cancel the transactions citing problem with the buyer's address.  

There's something about the same person buying lots of watches on different user names that pegs my hinky meter. 

[onefootflipper · Accepted solution]

I would not ship those orders and if they are only buying one model of watch I would take the quantity of the listing down to zero. The risk on your end is far too high. A normal looking order going to a forwarder already has a much higher chance of normal of being fraudulent in some manner. I absolutely would not ship a neverending stream of watches to the same address to new accounts that are being removed. The chargebacks on those orders are going to start coming soon. 

Messaging one of them won't help, they will claim that they work there. At least every forwarding service scammer I have ever actually exchanged messages with has made that claim. 

Problem with customer address is your cancellation reason.

[gear-house]

That is what I'm leaning towards. I had taken several items down to zero quantity already, then they just start in on others. 

[ckimodog]

@gear-house 

After reading all the replies from very reputable and knowledgeable sources here along with your posts, I would really contact FB for business and discuss your situation with them:

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/

These are actual US Ebay employees and there have been many positive posts here in their ability to be helpful. 

I'd do this ASAP.  This just sounds too fishy.

Good thoughts and good luck for a positive outcome. 

[itsjustasprain]

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@onefootflipper wrote:

A normal looking order going to a forwarder already has a much higher chance of normal of being fraudulent in some manner.

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What manner(s) would that be exactly? Forwarders exist to ship items internationally from sellers who do not ship there themselves.

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@onefootflipper wrote:

I absolutely would not ship a neverending stream of watches to the same address to new accounts that are being removed. The chargebacks on those orders are going to start coming soon. 

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I agree - this whole story sounds problematic but it is not the fault of the reshipper.

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@onefootflipper wrote:

Messaging one of them won't help, they will claim that they work there. At least every forwarding service scammer I have ever actually exchanged messages with has made that claim. 

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I would not bother messaging the buyer at all. They already know their buying pattern is suspicious.

[dbfolks166mt]

     This has bad news written all over it. Google the address and confirm it is a freight forwarder. You can also look at one of the orders , view order details and in the shipping section there is a drop down button on the bottom right that will show you the buyers registered address. 

     While eBay claims to have some seller protection regarding freight forwarders that has been questionable at times and there is NOTHING eBay can do about protecting you from a buyer that files a chargeback with their CC company for NAD, which you are almost certain to loose.