eBay

math-doctor · ‎10-23-2023

So I had a highly technical book purchased by a buyer with excellent feedback. But it listed many,many purchases (like 400 + ) in just one month. They asked me to not include the invoice and the shipping address does not match name of user. I already printed the shipping label , so too late to refund.

I am just a small time seller and not familiar with all the "creative" ways people use eBay. I guess this person is being a middleman? Can I just block them from future purchases without affecting my dashboard ratings? I have an "above average" rating.

I did message the buyer about the name difference and they did not respond. They did respond to my message about confirming to exclude invoice. TIA for your input.

lakefor94 · ‎10-23-2023

I get these type of orders from time to time and thankful to receive them.

Blocking a buyer has nothing to do with your ratings. You might miss a sale from that particular buyer account but that is it

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pjcdn2005 · ‎10-23-2023

Blocking someone does not affect your account in any way.

But why block someone who is a customer. Does it matter whether they are buying it for someone else?

I often send items to a different name than what is on the account. The buyer might be a couple living together with different last names but just one ebay account. Or I might want to send the item to my aunt in Texas or... There are lots of reasons why a name might be different.

Since they don't want an invoice included they could be buying from you to sell from someone else OR they could be sending it as a gift. Either way, it shouldn't make much of a difference to you.

12345jamesstamps · ‎10-23-2023

I get buyers who use a weird name quite a lot.

I had one last week...his address name was "Big Daddy"...LOL

I would mail the item.

soh.maryl · ‎10-23-2023

There is nothing wrong with a buyer having you send to a different address, like, for instance, if it's a gift.

But the "do not include the invoice" part is suspicious. It makes it look like this buyer is using you as the

middleman between that buyer and the person who's buying the book from him, not you.

And the better time to come here and request advice is before you do anything definitive, like printing the shipping label; however, unless that label is actually used, you are not charged for it. Has that person actually paid?

You can't block now because it appears you are in a transaction with this buyer.

caldreamer · ‎10-23-2023

This person is most likely purchasing your items and re-selling to other customers. There is nothing wrong with that and as long as you get paid (no worries).

I used to have a person who always bought my electronic items and sold them. He was my best customer and I really loved the fast sales.

cstpos · ‎10-23-2023

@math-doctorAs others have said, sending an item to someone other than yourself is not a sign of a scammer. My sister is legally blind, so I would order things for her and have it shipped to her house. If it's a gift, I would request no invoice or packing slip also. We sometimes find parts or power supplies that one of our customers is trying to source. We would put their address for delivery. It doesn't make sense to have it shipped to us, then pay to ship it to our customer. As to replying to the messages, ebay sends so many messages to buyers after a purchase, it's easy to overlook one.

Blocking a buyer won't affect your ratings. If ebay is showing that it's time to ship, you should ship it. If you don't, then you will get a ding on your account for not fulfilling the order and possibly negative feedback. Best of Luck!

math-doctor · ‎10-23-2023

Buyer has already paid. And I already paid for the label. It's not a big ticket item, so I plan to ship it. But I am on the fence about whether I want this buyer for the future.

math-doctor · ‎10-23-2023

Thanks to everyone for the quick replies! The consensus is that there is nothing scammy about this, and the buyer could perhaps be a reseller. But I got paid and made a quick sale. I will rethink whether I want to block or not. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

kensgiftshop · ‎10-23-2023

When I was selling a certain item, I had a reseller using me to dropship.

I could always count on a few sales a week and never had any problems.

Have a great day.

gloryglorygifts · ‎10-23-2023

One sale that has a different mailing address and asks for you to leave an invoice out is not concerning. I get them lots of times when people are sending gifts. Sometimes I will follow up and ask if they want me to include a note, which is a service that we do offer.

However, if it becomes a habit and you have that gut feeling, block them. It will not affect your ratings. It is against policy for anyone to use another member of eBay to dropship a product. They can, however, purchase it and resell it, which doesn't sound like your scenario. I had a huge problem earlier in the year when someone on another marketplace not only copied every one of my listings and photos, they even rebranded my brand name and sold it as their own. They had at least THREE accounts on here that they were using me to fulfill their orders from the other site. My attorney shut them down from selling my items on that marketplace. They seem to be gone from here too, but it's like a game of whack-a-mole.

Ship this item with no worries, but watch for a pattern. Some people don't mind being used to dropship. You may feel differently.

reallynicestamps · ‎10-23-2023

It is possible that the buyer was Christmas shopping early.

Possible.

But more likely he was using you as his supplier for a customer's order.

This could be a Good Thing or a Bad Thing.

The Good Thing would be that they become a steady buyer, and you ship to his customers often. The best part is that you get money.

The Bad Thing could be that he is copying your listings and only contacts you when he has a sale. This is not bad for you (because : see above) but eBay frowns on "retail arbitrage" , advertising goods we do not have* and only buying them when we get a purchaser.
Any slipups and eBay may shut them down.

But you are clear of any fault.

Some passive-aggressive sellers will include their own business contact information for the reseller's buyer to do with as they will.

*This differs from "traditional " dropshipping where the reseller has a formal contract with the supplier.

a_c_green · ‎10-23-2023

@math-doctor wrote:
So I had a highly technical book purchased by a buyer with excellent feedback. But it listed many, many purchases (like 400 + ) in just one month. They asked me to not include the invoice and the shipping address does not match name of user. I already printed the shipping label , so too late to refund.

No need to refund, and the preceding answers have clarified what's probably going on here, which is that your buyer is actually selling the book to someone else. (What they want you to leave out of the package is the packing slip, which would identify you as the seller rather than them. An invoice is a demand for payment, but you have already been paid.)

It's fine to ship to a different name and address than that of your buyer, as long as that recipient's name and address is the actual Ship-To: address that accompanies the payment.

If this happens a lot, you might want to consider raising your prices. 😉