mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@monster-deals wrote:
@dbfolks166mt wrote:If the receiver actually paid you for the item then they are not a freight forwarder they are simply another seller filling orders.
You just described a freight forwarder.
No, they described Retail Arbitrage, which is against the Ebay rules.
To me it does not sound like a FF. I've dealt with a lot of them over the years and I've never had one open the package before shipping it on to the international buyer. I think it is a company or person that their business is to locate and purchase something a customer of theirs is looking for. They of course charge them a fee for the service.
Buyers don't set up a US account so they can use a FF. They do have an international account and just have a primary ship to address that is a US address.
As to sellers getting notified when an FF ships the item on to the international buyer. It simply isn't necessary. The seller's responsibility stops at the FF's address per the MBG. In reality there are some exceptions not noted in the MBG. But one this is a constant, if the buyer files an INAD after they get the item at their international address, the seller is not responsible for paying international shipping rates for a return. That is on the buyer.
@ittybitnot wrote:Only after the item is actually shipped off to the buyer from the FF.
@mam98031
Proof of that is no longer required. Back in the day when it was, Trinton's old "the buyer may actually work there" or "the buyer may actually live at that address" or "that buyer from Siberia is just having his stuff held there until he comes by to pick it up someday" yada yada it soon became a very impractical if not embarrassing declaration. No way 300 or more people from the Russian Federation could possibly work or live at that address in New Castle. Nor was it possible to believe that all those 'empty boxes' arrived there as well day after day. The seller providing proof of reshipment has been basically abandoned.
I didn't say that they did, I actually never knew it was a requirement. I've always gone by if the buyer asks for a return and they are somewhere other than the address the product was shipped to, then the seller wasn't responsible because it had to be reshipped in one way shape or form to get to the new address.
If by chance I do get an INAD from a transaction like this. Approving it usually isn't an issue because the return shipping label is good for the address the seller shipped the item to, which in this case is a US FF. To take advantage of the label, the buyer would have to ship the item back to the FF at their expense, then pay the FF to reship it to me. I never had that happen. I suppose it could, but in my experience it never happened.
There was a time when I sold fragrances that I dealt with a lot of **bleep**.
@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:then question the O.P. They stated F.F. in post.
The F.F. process for buyers not located in the US is their work-a-round when a seller does not offer international shipping.
You know that as a long-time member.
That is why all sellers need to check buyer's profile before shipping.
Not necessarily. Some international buyers use **bleep** to save money on shipping. Having a few purchases shipped together likely saves them enough to even pay for the services the FF charges. IDK, this is an assumption on my part.
I've had buyers use **bleep** when I do ship internationally.
Many sellers would not have the time to do all the research on a buyer before shipping. However I think you have a great point, especially for more expensive items.
@ittybitnot wrote:To take advantage of the label, the buyer would have to ship the item back to the FF at their expense, then pay the FF to reship it to me.
@mam98031
No, the buyer could forward that label to someone in the US, who simply changes the ship to address to reflect a parcel of air or a packing peanut being sent to the local gas station of the seller. Voila!!! Confirmation of delivery that passes the eBay bot smell test, even though the seller got NOTHING. Same tracking number, same barcode, altered address. Much less expensive for the scammer than purchasing/shipping a cheap trinket from Amazon or Etsy and sending to that seller's local gas station.
New enhanced streamlined version of the fake tracking return scam.
You are talking about those willing to do dishonest things. That is not most buyers.
If you want all the what IFs, the list will likely be long. But what you describe is not the normal process with most buyers.
