Freight forwarder/scam?

[diannescurations]

Hello. I'm preparing an order to be shipped tomorrow. I checked the address and it's a Chinese freight forwarder. The reviews of this business are terrible and there are warnings of it being a scammer. The buyer has all 100% top rated reviews.  The buyer nsme and name on the address appear to be different.  I've contacted the buyer and asked if he/she is aware of this.  Thank you in advance for your help.

[ms.rodriguez* · Accepted solution]

If the buyer is aware that they are scammers, they are not going to admit it.  You are supposed to ship to the address on file and not assume that they are scammers.  Now if the item is pricey like a phone and you do NOT feel comfortable, go ahead and cancel with problem with buyers' address.  Block them and do NOT relist that item yet.

[diannescurations]

Thank you. It's a 48 dollar pair of earrings....a nice sale. A few reviews of the forwarder were from eBay sellers who were scammed. Other sellers cancelled their orders based on this. Thank you!

[chapeau-noir]

A lot of us have shipped through a fair few of those freight forwarders - can you post the name of it?

[diannescurations]

This is the forwarder's address:

XKFUKQ

15617 NE Airport Way

c/o XKFUKQ

Portland, OR

[diannescurations]

I have been reading older posts regarding this same forwarder. It's a toss up.  I may sleep on it and decide in the am. I just may cancel this order for peace of mind.

[gamersbaystore]

ebay put their foot down on the use of freight forwarders years ago. If your buyer tries to open an item not received case against you, they will lose. You just call and demand the case be closed in your favor, its really that simple.

Your obligation is to ship to the address provided at checkout. If tracking shows delivered to the freight forwarder, then your job is done.

If you really feel uncomfortable with the transaction, I would just cancel citing issue with buyers address.

Not everyone who uses a freight forwarder is a scammer either.

[stainlessenginecovers]

1- nothing wrong with Freight Forwarders; the internet is full of **bleep** and realize that only complainers talk about anything that is 'wrong'. If there are 20 complaints, there were 500 that were just fine. I have shipped to them for customers for YEARS and NEVER A PROBLEM; simply because I'm not selling something worth $43. 

2- the 'complaints' were NOT of someone selling $43 earrings. It's ridiculous at best to worry about someone trying to steal a $43 item. The scammers steal items in the $100's, high end fashion, electronics etc. that they can 'resell' easily. 

3- eBay NO LONGER takes care of sellers as posted in post #7. They 'released' their foot so they no longer deal with things that way. If someone uses a Freight Forwarder and they are NOT happy with their purchase, they can OPEN A REFUND CASE and sending it to a Freight Forwarder NO LONGER AUTOMATICALLY denies that buyers claim. (confirmed by one of the highly regarded ebay reps on a thread posted a couple years ago). 

[earthdreamer]

A substantial percentage of my buyers are residents of China who use freight forwarders in either the US or Australia, and so far there has not been a single issue. 

Naturally, it is your decision to make. 

[diannescurations]

Thank you all. I may have jumped the gun but I cancelled the order and cited issue with shipping address.  I may have disappointed the buyer but these earrings ($48) are a desirable designer brand. And you are all correct, not everyone is a scammer. Thank you again. 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Exactly what @stainlessenginecovers  said.  Almost all FF's have bad reviews.  It means nothing.  Those reviews are from THEIR customers (ie: your buyer) & many of the issues have to do with pricing & confusion over how FF's work.  Plus, no one posts the positive reviews.   

Those reviews have nothing to do with you or your buyer & your buyer has likely used that FF before.   The only reputation you care about is your buyer's, not some random FF business.   You are supposed to ship & it's a small sale, but only you can decide if the risk is worth it.  Keep in mind you could be scammed by a US buyer too.  

Is your buyer an active buyer?  Sometimes high quality accts that are inactive are taken over by scammers & they often use FF's, but unless you see telltale signs of this, there's no reason to think that's what's happened.  

[shag182]

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@diannescurations wrote:

This is the forwarder's address:

XKFUKQ

15617 NE Airport Way

c/o XKFUKQ

Portland, OR

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OMG! I had a purchase today from a buyer in China (member since 2020) who had the shipping address in Portland, Oregon as well (different address than yours), but I looked the address up, it's a freight forwarder. Even had BBB reviews on this address, and it was ALL negative.  Even though the item was under $25 plus cost of shipping.  My Spidey senses told me to CANCELLED. Of course the buyer goes into the BLOCK list!

Any charge back could come back and bite me,  along with the $25 charge back fee to add insult to injury. NO THANK YOU!

Here's some of the BBB's review on the freight forwarder's address:

[diannescurations]

Thank you!

[inhawaii]

You do realize that freight forwarders deal with hundreds, if not thousands of different customers.

While a few of them may have been scammers, many of them are not.

A few bad reviews on the ADDRESS means nothing.

[shag182]

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@diannescurations wrote:

Hello. I'm preparing an order to be shipped tomorrow. I checked the address and it's a Chinese freight forwarder. The reviews of this business are terrible and there are warnings of it being a scammer. The buyer has all 100% top rated reviews.  The buyer nsme and name on the address appear to be different.  I've contacted the buyer and asked if he/she is aware of this.  Thank you in advance for your help.

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You're kinda new, member since ONLY 2015.  I've been selling on eBay when payment was sent SNAIL MAIL, before PayPal. Trust me. If warnings and reviews are terrible and sounds like a potential scam.

One word: CANCEL