Buyers sharing accounts

[bluzie51]

Hello Community,

I was looking to get some insight and thoughts from fellow sellers on what I believe is account sharing;

I received a message in my inbox this morning regarding the desire to bid on an item I have listed.  I reviewed the sellers account and noticed they were located in China......I have my account opened to buyers in that country and willingly ship there and have had excellent results from the few times I've shipped there.  So I assumed they were just being polite to make sure their patronage was welcomed.  I then responded with as long as payment (if item won) through PayPal is prompt and shipping address coincides with address associated with PayPal/E-bay accounts I'd gladly accept their business.  A few minutes later I received a follow up message with a screen shot showing that their bid was declined because seller(me) has decided buyer is not permitted to bid, and they also informed me that delivery address would be in Portland, OR.

I thought I never had dealings with this account before and felt it strange they couldn't bid, so I did a little check on my blocked bidder list and that account was listed......and from it's location on list it seems I placed it there a long time ago.  I have no memory of what got them on the list, but at the time I'm sure something sent up a red flag.

The buyer has a bunch of feedback in the last month and over 100 in past six......so it seems too many for 1 person from China doing all that buying and I assumed it's several people sharing 1 account and having items sent to a domestic US address, shipping co. to later bulk send to China.  I had a similar situation a few weeks back on a BIN item; I refunded the buyer and canceled the sale when I saw a China address associated with account but shipping address was Delaware or Rhode Island....I googled the address and the first several listings were saying it's a scam.  Explanation was either the shipping co. is a scam and receiving goods but not sending to China or buyers in China are in on it and saying items not received and getting refunds and then getting the goods.

Sorry so long winded, but I was wondering if other sellers experienced these situations and what are your thoughts.  Trying to discern if I'm being too cautious and passing up on valid sales from buyers looking to reduce their shipping costs.

[jela_4749]

The on addresses are reshipping Services. You are covered as long as you ship to that address.
Once they have a tree shipped they lose all buyer protection.

"so it seems too many for 1 person from China doing all that buying and I assumed it's several people sharing 1 account"

I used to buy around 500 items a month on here by myself, so you really can't judge a buyer by the amount they buy

[annasunicorns]

I have yet to deal with any issues using forwarding companies. No doubt, some are sed by scammers, but so is everything else. Id unblock and ship.

[lewisburggold]

Alwys be alert for anything that dont seem right.  The best seller protection you have is You.  Best regards

[jela_4749]

@bluzie51

One other thing I should mention, is it canceling sales can lead you to get defects on your account.

There are only a few reasons to cancel, and eBay has started to crack down on sellers who use "problem with buyers address" or "buyer requested" when those reasons aren't true.

[missjen831]

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@jela_4749 wrote:

The on addresses are reshipping Services. You are covered as long as you ship to that address.
Once they have a tree shipped they lose all buyer protection.

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They only lose ebay buyer protection but not paypal buyer protection.

[a_c_green]

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@bluzie51 wrote:

I thought I never had dealings with this account before and felt it strange they couldn't bid, so I did a little check on my blocked bidder list and that account was listed......and from it's location on list it seems I placed it there a long time ago.  I have no memory of what got them on the list, but at the time I'm sure something sent up a red flag.

The buyer has a bunch of feedback in the last month and over 100 in past six......so it seems too many for 1 person from China doing all that buying and I assumed it's several people sharing 1 account and having items sent to a domestic US address, shipping co. to later bulk send to China. 

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Right. For items sent to a domestic address and reshipped to a foreign country from there, two approaches are possible:

1. The buyer holds the eBay account, and chooses the reshipper as his domestic Ship To address. I would say this is the more common approach.
2. The reshipper holds the eBay account, and maintains his own membership of people who are allowed to bid under the reshipper's ID (or he bids for them, or whatever). This is how the "FlightTo<airport_abbreviation_here>" airline buying accounts operate.

In either case, a user ID in the Ship To address will tell the reshipper who bought the item. Once your package shows a Delivered status to the reshipper's address, your delivery obligation is complete and the reshipper takes over from there. If the buyer wants to return it later, he will have to get it back to his reshipper and over here first, because you are only on the hook for domestic return shipping.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Reshippers aren't a problem. It's the person on the other end that can be a problem.

That said...they're on your block list for a reason, even if you don't remember it. Listen to your gut about this.  Something a long time ago told you they are/might be a problem. What would be different now?

[pburn]

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@missjen831 wrote:

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@jela_4749 wrote:

The on addresses are reshipping Services. You are covered as long as you ship to that address.
Once they have a tree shipped they lose all buyer protection.

---

They only lose ebay buyer protection but not paypal buyer protection.

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I think this is a crucial clarification and should be emphasized to @bluzie51.

@jela_4749

"Once they have a tree shipped . . . "

I assume this is autocorrected? I'm curious to know what you actually intended to type!   

[a_c_green]

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@pburn wrote:

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@missjen831 wrote:

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@jela_4749 wrote:

The on addresses are reshipping Services. You are covered as long as you ship to that address.
Once they have a tree shipped they lose all buyer protection.

---

They only lose ebay buyer protection but not paypal buyer protection.

---

I think this is a crucial clarification and should be emphasized to @bluzie51.

@jela_4749

"Once they have a tree shipped . . . "

I assume this is autocorrected? I'm curious to know what you actually intended to type!   

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"Once they have it reshipped..."

(I can see it now: "Dear Sir: I ordered a birch tree and you have clearly sent me a Scotch Pine..." )

[jela_4749]

Life was easier when we had white out!