mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@stephenmorgan wrote:So if a account has International sales blocked and also block Buyers who have a primary address in a location you do not ship to, then this should reduce the number of items leaving the country.
There is no such block on Ebay.
" We do protect sellers in the event a buyer explicitly admits to using a Freight Forwarder"
What does that specifically mean? I was not aware that the use of a Freight Forwarder was against the rules?
@mam98031 wrote:
" We do protect sellers in the event a buyer explicitly admits to using a Freight Forwarder"
What does that specifically mean? I was not aware that the use of a Freight Forwarder was against the rules?
Hi @mam98031 and @pburn. I wanted to address both mentions of cancelling improperly, and our Freight Forwarding policies. I was specifically referencing if a buyer chooses to use a Freight Forwarder, that is their decision however if they admit to it, and we see this, their MBG coverage is lost. We protect our sellers in these instances, but if a case is not opened, and a buyer admits to freight forwarding prior to shipping we recommend reaching out to an agent so they can provide the seller with advice on how to handle the situation going forward.
Elizabeth,
So you are specifically talking about in the case of a return. That wasn't clear in your post.
Seller are only responsible for the item to the address we ship to as stated on the payment we receive. This is true, but a buyer doesn't have to admit to using a freight forwarder if they are filing a request for return. The address they ship it from will pretty much tell you that. But as for the sellers, if they issue a return label, it will be to the Freight forwarders address as that is the address we shipped to. Sellers would not have to pay for return shipping from an international address. And yes this actually voids their protection under the MBG.
@pburn wrote:
elizabeth@ebay wrote:?Hi @mam98031 and @pburn. I wanted to address both mentions of cancelling improperly, and our Freight Forwarding policies. I was specifically referencing if a buyer chooses to use a Freight Forwarder, that is their decision however if they admit to it, and we see this, their MBG coverage is lost.
Thanks again, elizabeth@ebay, for clarifying that your response was referring ONLY to buyers who've used a freight forwarder opening a return/refund request. I believe we all understand now that buyers acknowledging* they've used a freight forwarder lose their MBG coverage, although I'm not sure anyone ever questioned that.
Sometimes it's better just to reply with a confirmation or clarification of the specific issue at hand in a thread rather than muddying the proverbial waters with superfluous information, albeit on the greater general topic.
*I would object to the use of the word "admit," as if the buyer has done something wrong or is guilty of violating an eBay policy. There's nothing to "admit" within the usual connotation of that word. Perhaps a better word would be "acknowledge."
The issue at hand, though, was whether a seller can legitimately cancel a transaction using "problem with buyer's address" if a buyer uses a freight forwarder. Just to reaffirm, your answer is " . . . cancelling as 'problem with buyer's address' is a misuse of the cancellation policy per our help pages."
elizabeth@ebay wrote:
. . . if a case is not opened, and a buyer admits to freight forwarding prior to shipping we recommend reaching out to an agent so they can provide the seller with advice on how to handle the situation going forward.
But your post also says, " . . . if a case is not opened, and a buyer admits to freight forwarding prior to shipping we recommend reaching out to an agent so they can provide the seller with advice on how to handle the situation going forward."
What does the above statement refer to, elizabeth@ebay? What advice would an agent give regarding the scenario you've described?
- No case has been opened.
- Buyer is using freight forwarder.
- Item hasn't been shipped.
Why should a seller contact customer service about the above situation? What would you expect the seller to be asking? How would you expect the agent to respond?
I just want to stress, elizabeth@ebay, how important it is for sellers to have a clear understanding of transactions involving a freight forwarder. It comes up on the Selling board A LOT, and both OPs and responders need to have a complete and reliable response for members who are unsure of eBay's position regarding the subject.
Thanks!
@mam98031 and @pburn. If a seller is concerned their buyer is shipping to a freight forwarder, due to their registration address, then it would be against policy to cancel as 'problem with buyers address'. We do need the buyer to state they're shipping to a freight forwarder for MBG to be voided, as we cannot guarantee that they are indeed using a freight forwarder service based off the address alone. For those sellers who are not experienced with these type of issues, they should reach out to our agents for the next steps.
Elizabeth,
I see I made a typo as I did not quote it correctly as I should have said "primary shipping address" and this was in reply to @mam98301 post #25 at 01:04am
Having that block checked along with the international boxes checked that you do not wish to ship to would seem to reduce the amount of shipments going thru a freight forwarder?
Just a guess, but it seems like it would be a lot of trouble to change your primary address to a freight forwarders address when you can just add a ship to address at time of purchase without changing your primary address. Of course anyone intent on ripping you off may get around this.
Maybe I am wrong, it is just a thought.
When some sellers were blocking buyers from paying because they were international buyers having their item shipped to a US address, they did so in breach of the Ebay rules. The sellers that did that prevented buyers from submitting payment to them even though they were ready willing and able to pay and even more importantly they purchased their item within the rules of Ebay. So I'm glad that option is gone now as some sellers were so out of line as to even file Unpaid item disputes on these buyers and getting a unpaid strike on the buyer's account. When the fact was the seller prevented the buyer from paying.
No one has to change their "primary address" to match their ship to address. The two are not necessarily the same. And with Managed payments that can cause the member all kinds of issues especially if they are a seller too. I have purchased stuff many times on Ebay and had the items shipped to another address. All buyers can do this.
"Of course anyone intent on ripping you off may get around this." You appear to be assuming that if a FF is used, it is a problem transaction which is simply not true at all. I've shipped many times over the years to **bleep** and have never had any significant issues. In fact my most problematic buyer is a seasoned one that is also a seller.
@dryophelia wrote:
So as long as the buyer never admits to using a freight forwarding service, the Money Back Guarantee will cover them beyond the USA border?
Hi @dryophelia. For the MBG to be forfeited, we need explicit proof that the package was shipped forward to the buyer, from the freight forwarder. In most scenarios, this proof is shown by the buyers admission of using the freight forwarding service. However, if our system can see this via other ways such as tracking (this is harder to see as it often doesn't track that far) then we can use that as proof as well.
Elizabeth,
