Help, am I about to be scammed ?

[peacockessentials]

last week I got a multiple sales, when I went to ship them out I noticed it was to the same buyer. I clicked on the buyer's page it showed he is based in Ukraine. I thought it was odd that a person living in Ukraine would be buying golf clothes, and collectors clothing in the midst of a war. I contact an eBay rep to discuss my concerns, is there shipping to Ukraine? But the rep said that the package isn't going to Ukraine, it's going to New Jersey. I googled the New Jersey addressed, 600 Markley Street Port Reading, NJ 07064. According to the internet it said that sellers across the country are being scammed for years. The eBay rep said I can cancel the order so I did and blocked the buyer. The buyer continued to reached out to me through message, now today the same items sold to another buyer from Ukraine. The shipping address is now from California. I talked to an eBay rep again today and he said that I should go ahead and ship the items to CA and make to purchase the shipping label from eBay and that this will protect me from the buyer trying to open case against me and request a refund claiming that items were never received or that the purchase was not authorized because I followed all eBays rules. My question now to anyone reading this, should I believe that I'm protected from being scammed out of new with tags worth $850 or should I go with my gut and cancel the sale again and risk being dinged by eBay. Please help. 

[caldreamer]

You are NOT protected against scammers or customer's "reversing charges" after they receive your item.    Scammers look for "high value" items (they can easily resell).

[fab_finds4u]

You'll find people from Ukraine or any country that use freight forwarding services. And those reshippers have people claiming they're scams when they're not. 

If the buyer pays you're covered if you ship it to the address the buyer wants their package sent to.  When you cancel and the buyer didn't  ask to cancel you earn a defect. It's not a problem with their address unless it's a bad address or no such address.

[printpeople]

Personally, I am glad that I’m not in your position, and am pretty sure I would do no high dollar shipments for someone that can quickly change their shipping location and buyer ID. ( I would assume it’s the same person with same items and same country).  I would also assume it’s some kind of scam.  

But, as I read here nearly every day…. If you can’t afford to lose it, don’t list it.

[duffy4444]

    Unfortunately, being put in such a position is becoming more and more common.

    Frankly, in my opinion, I would never trust the words of an eBay rep, unless it is from a genuine eBay rep's reply to a message from you on eBay for Business on FaceBook (not just a post there). Many, if not most, eBay reps you reach on the phone cannot be trusted, are often not understandable, have very little clue as to a real solution to a problem, and will sometimes tell you anything just to get you off the phone.

    NEVER, EVER  sell online, and especially ship, any items that you and your business model are not prepared to lose, in addition to the double insult of the loss of your payment on a forced refund that is way out of line with common sense.

    I had a similar incident from a "buyer" based in China with multiple buyer IDs, 0 feedback, and when I clicked on his feedback rating of 0, I discovered he had joined eBay as a seller that very day. The shipping address was to a freight forwarder in Oregon. The first time I said no, canceled the order and refunded his money with a courteous eBay message explaining that I don't ship to China. Then I blocked the buyer and accepted the ding on my metrics. He tried it again purchasing the same item with a different ID and very similar name, same 0 feedback and joining eBay as a seller that same day. I said no again, and canceled and refunded the order, this time using problem with buyer's address, and blocked that second buyer ID as well. Then I simply did not relist the item for just under 90 days. Never had the same problem again, as he got the idea he couldn't pull that stunt on me anymore.

   $850 worth of golfing and collectors' clothing to Ukraine, of all places? Duhhhhh - what's he going to do with golf and collectors' clothes while his country is being bombed? You may want to hold off for a month or two on relisting those items the scammer was interested in. And make sure you mark off and exclude any countries you don't want to ship to in your eBay shipping preferences. By the way, another tipoff that it is very possibly a scam, is that a "buyer" based in Ukraine will most likely never use an address in California... East Coast freight forwarder addresses are nearly always used for Europe.

Cheers, Duffy

[duffy4444]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

You'll find people from Ukraine or any country that use freight forwarding services. And those reshippers have people claiming they're scams when they're not. 

If the buyer pays you're covered if you ship it to the address the buyer wants their package sent to.  When you cancel and the buyer didn't  ask to cancel you earn a defect. It's not a problem with their address unless it's a bad address or no such address.

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   And some sellers claim freight forwarders are a "middleman" that are being used in a scam. There is practically no defense against a credit card chargeback from anywhere in the world even months down the road.

   The problem is not with a freight forwarder... it is with all the other obvious red flags the OP detailed... maybe the seller doesn't want to take a real chance of losing $850 worth of clothing in addition to a very possible loss of his payment for it on a forced eBay refund. It happens -- a lot.

   The OP is in the position of having to make a value judgment in the face of a potential scam, and has legitimate concerns. It's HIS money, not eBay's or anyone else's.

Cheers, Duffy

[printpeople]

I also read somewhere in a mail alert that shipments to Ukraine are moving very slowly, if at all….

Even if it was a regular buyer, they probably wouldn’t be at all happy to wait an eternity for golfing wear.  

Once it gets to a freight forwarder, the buyer can wait a bit, then file a NAD, and eBay can, and may  refund them from your funds.  I would try a PM to EBay for business on Facebook.  They seem to be the only real help that eBay offers.

Good Luck to you.

[hvrdmed]

600 Markley Street Port Reading - is a fright forwarder. That's how Ukrainians normally shop in US, especially in times of war. Honestly, I don't see any issues here. Golf clothes may be ordered not for personal use, but for someone else (let's say - for one of their customers). 

Anyway, you are protected as a seller.

[anuwka2005]

 Your buyer indicated the warehouse address of the Ukrainian carrier  Meest  in America. Ukrainian buyers do this because all outgoing mail is delivered by the national postal operator Ukrposhta, and she likes to lose the package or pretend that nothing happened)) When the goods are expensive, the Ukrainian consumer tries not to contact Ukrposhta, but uses private carriers, where there will be more guarantee that the package will reach the buyer and on time faster than the terms in which the turtle-Ukrposhta delivers. If we buy in America, then we use the carrier's address in America, if, for example, in the UK, then their address is in the UK. It is also convenient for us to deliver if the seller does not deliver to Ukraine. Your buyer wanted to protect himself from the loss of the package during delivery and wanted to receive the goods in normal terms and not in half a year, as Ukrposhta likes

And yes, we are bombed, for example, I often correspond with my clients to the sound of alarm sirens, I go to the post office to send packages also to the sound of alarms. In these conditions, we also need to somehow learn To live on. And live under the bombing and constant sirens about possible missile attacks. Life does not stop and those who survived to this day even order collectibles)) 

Hello to all of you from Kyiv! Take care of yourself, there is nothing more valuable in the world than life!!!

[1tuna]

you should stop calling ebay CSR..they are telling you lies

it was not good to cancel the first order no  matter what the CSR told you

what reason did you have for the the cancellation

you are being led astray by clueless customer service

@peacockessentials 

[peacockessentials]

Thank you for your help.

[peacockessentials]

Thank for your help. I could afford to lose one item but multiple at a time ouch.

[peacockessentials]

Thank you for for all the advice and you're right about the reps i've noticed a big change since 2020 with them. Does cancelling with "problem with address" ding you account?

[peacockessentials]

@1tuna thanks for the advice! does cancelling with "problem with address" ding you account?

[albertabrightalberta]

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@peacockessentials wrote:

Thank you for for all the advice and you're right about the reps i've noticed a big change since 2020 with them. Does cancelling with "problem with address" ding you account?

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Cancelling with "problem with address" isn't honest. There's no problem, just that you don't want to ship to that address. 

I've shipped items to various freight forwarders in various states and have NEVER had a single issue nor been scammed.

I think you were wrong to cancel and wrong if you lied about the reason for canceling.