Buyer's Request to Ship to Address Not on File

[cottagehillvanilla]

Monday morning round table...On Friday 03/28 late afternoon, I sold an item, I wanted to get it to the P.O. before they closed, I printed the Label, dropped off Pkg, obtaining receipt.  Shortly after returning rec'd message from buyer "please send Pkg. to .....I've moved".  My response was "your Pkg. is enroute w/Tracking......to address on file w/eBay (I cut & pasted USPS timeline information for him) as well as advised him eBay also provides shipping Tracking info.

Do buyer's not read disclosures in listings ie; "If you have re-located, please confirm address is correct, we do not ship to alternate addresses" (this is in all my listings) should be delivered tomorrow. 

So, will see how this shapes up. Ahhh Mondays 🤔

[soh.maryl · Accepted solution]

It is the buyer's responsibility to make sure their purchase will be delivered to the address where it should go.

It is the seller's responsibility to make sure he ships to the address the buyer provided.

If that buyer RIGHT NOW files a change-of-address request with the USPS, it's possible that his package will arrive at his current location.  Or not. If it doesn't it will probably get back to the seller sooner or later, but it could take as long as six weeks.  

Feel free to offer your buyer this information.  

[a_c_green]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@cottagehillvanilla wrote:

The purchaser did not update his shipping data with eBay, the address requested is a 'not on file' past and/or present per his request as he had moved. 

I too am hoping he updates. 

I am familiar with USPS Intercept Program, it's pricey, haven't had to use it, I've known others that have used it, it does work. It isn't a consideration in this event. 

Good suggestions, thanks

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[...]

When a buyer gives an address at the time of payment, you have no way of knowing if that is an address they have set on their account as their ship to address or not.  The order simply does not tell you that information.

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I would even venture to say that it doesn't matter anymore (i.e. whether the buyer has that address stored as one of their Ship To: addresses - as with an Amazon account, they can store several - or simply typed it in as a one-off address to go with their payment).

The concept of "confirmed" addresses I think dates all the way back to PayPal, part of their verifying that you resided where you said you did, but nowadays the only requirement for an eBay sale is that you ship to the address you receive with the payment. A Delivered status to the City and ZIP of the address received with the payment is your defense against an Item Not Received dispute. Whether that address is the buyer's own eBay address or another location entirely does not matter (nor does the name of the addressee).

[johnrj1226]

The ship to address of  the buyer cannot be  changed after it is paid for - they could have cancel the order within a give short time - you can look that up on eBay Help and Contact link that is at the bottom of this  page. - TIme is not on your side or the buyers side - you have what I call a Rind, Rang, Do.

GL

[jonathanbrightlight]

Buyers cannot cancel orders.  They can request to cancel, and they can do that via a formal method that will more effectively alert the seller than just via messages, but they cannot unilaterally cancel the order.

And the seller is in no real danger in this situation.  If the buyer files an Item Not Received request, they need only provide tracking showing delivery or even a delivery attempt at the address on the order and they're covered.

[johnrj1226]

Wonder why eBay has this in their policy? 

Go to the Help and Contact  and find out how it CAN get done.

"How buyers can cancel an order

If you’ve changed your mind about a purchase, you can submit a request to cancel the order. The seller can either accept or decline your cancellation request".

How sellers can cancel an order

On this page

• What if the buyer requests to cancel the order?
• What happens after an order is canceled?
• If there is an issue with the refund

Sellers are obligated to complete the sale when a buyer makes a purchase. However, we understand that there may be circumstances in which orders need to be canceled.

Are you a buyer looking for help canceling a purchase? Read our article on how buyers can cancel an order

You can cancel an order by selecting the button below. After you cancel we'll let the buyer know and, if they've already paid, they'll get a refund.

Cancel an order

[mtgraves7984]

Buyers can request  to cancel orders; sellers approve/deny requests. Buyers can't cancel orders. Sellers can cancel orders.

[mam98031]

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@johnrj1226 wrote:

Wonder why eBay has this in their policy? 

Go to the Help and Contact  and find out how it CAN get done.

"How buyers can cancel an order

If you’ve changed your mind about a purchase, you can submit a request to cancel the order. The seller can either accept or decline your cancellation request".

How sellers can cancel an order

On this page

• What if the buyer requests to cancel the order?
• What happens after an order is canceled?
• If there is an issue with the refund

Sellers are obligated to complete the sale when a buyer makes a purchase. However, we understand that there may be circumstances in which orders need to be canceled.

Are you a buyer looking for help canceling a purchase? Read our article on how buyers can cancel an order

You can cancel an order by selecting the button below. After you cancel we'll let the buyer know and, if they've already paid, they'll get a refund.

Cancel an order

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This is often how misunderstandings happen.  Read past the headline.  It clearly tells you that the buyer can REQUEST a cancellation.  And the seller can accept or deny it.  

[inhawaii]

The buyer doesn't REQUEST where to ship.

You ship it to the address on the ebay label.

Period. No exceptions.

[mam98031]

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@inhawaii wrote:

The buyer doesn't REQUEST where to ship.

You ship it to the address on the ebay label.

Period. No exceptions.

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A buyer does NOT "request where to ship".  The buyer states where to ship the item on the Payment / order.  It isn't a request, it is them stating that is where it needs to be shipped to.  The Ebay label pulls from this information, it doesn't pull from anywhere else.

[iamalwaysright]

Does filing a mail forwarding address online take into effect immediately? Or does it have to go thru a reviewing process? This info could have helped me in a recent similar issue with a buyer of mine.

[cottagehillvanilla]

I see you are a Volunteer Community Member, so Thank You for your Volunteerism! For clarification on this issue, the package was shipped to the address that was pulled from the eBay Label.

The Buyer's message requesting to ship to an alternate address did not come in on the Payment Order, but rather a Portal Message, AND after the package had shipped. That's a no can do for me.

As I do not want to lose any protections I might have, I ship to the address printed on the eBay Label. 

On the bright side, the package was successfully delivered (early) yesterday @ 1236 hrs to the address printed on the eBay Label.  Hopefully, this is the end of it.

[mam98031]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

Does filing a mail forwarding address online take into effect immediately? Or does it have to go thru a reviewing process? This info could have helped me in a recent similar issue with a buyer of mine.

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In my experience is is quick.  Maybe a day.

[mam98031]

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@cottagehillvanilla wrote:

I see you are a Volunteer Community Member, so Thank You for your Volunteerism! For clarification on this issue, the package was shipped to the address that was pulled from the eBay Label.

The Buyer's message requesting to ship to an alternate address did not come in on the Payment Order, but rather a Portal Message, AND after the package had shipped. That's a no can do for me.

As I do not want to lose any protections I might have, I ship to the address printed on the eBay Label. 

On the bright side, the package was successfully delivered (early) yesterday @ 1236 hrs to the address printed on the eBay Label.  Hopefully, this is the end of it.

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Just to make sure things are understood.  The Ebay label pulls the ship to address from the buyer's paid order.  At the time a buyer processes their payment for an item on Ebay they designate the ship to address.  At this point the label does not exist until the seller creates the shipping label.

I understood your issue.  It happens from time to time.  A buyer realizes they made a mistake and sends a message to the seller to correct the ship to address.  This is something, even if you still have the item, a seller should NEVER do.  The seller should ONLY ship to the address that appears on the paid Order.  NO exceptions.

If a seller ships to a different address than is on the paid order, they forfeit their Seller Protection on this transaction.  We are required to ship to and only ship to the address on the paid order.

If you still had the item when the buyer notified you of the need to change the ship to address.  The correct reaction would be to Cancel the transaction with the reason as a problem with the address.  List the item again and have the buyer repurchase using the correct ship to address on their payment.

I am very glad this worked out for you.  Only time will tell if the buyer will claim an INR.  But if they do, you will win the INR due to the tracking shows delivered.

Good Job !!!!

[buyselljack2016]

This is likely far from done.

Best case  one scenario is that USPS gets that item back because the recipient is "unknown" and the current resident returns it to USPS.

[buyselljack2016]

As a "general reply".

With the latest changes at eBay it seems to be that sellers can do some changes/editing on eBay labels, but eBay has frozen the ZIP code space making it so that it can no longer be changed.

ETA:  even more restrictive if it is an eIS order.