eBay

pall_ma · ‎01-07-2021

Brand new buyer sent me message and wants me to ship an item to Japan. When I scroll down below their message it says Located: Iwaki-City, Fukushima, Japan however when I click on the buyers profile the location just says United States. It this a red flag? Shouldn’t Japan be listed on their profile as well? I usually only deal with buyers in the US so I have never payed attention to this before. Thanks.

coffeebean832 · ‎01-07-2021

That just means their primary registered address is a different location. It could be someone that uses a US re-shipper, someone that spends part of the year in both locations, or any number of factors. It's not a red flag.

luckythewinner · ‎01-07-2021

@pall_ma wrote:
Brand new buyer sent me message and wants me to ship an item to Japan. When I scroll down below their message it says Located: Iwaki-City, Fukushima, Japan however when I click on the buyers profile the location just says United States. It this a red flag? Shouldn’t Japan be listed on their profile as well? I usually only deal with buyers in the US so I have never payed attention to this before. Thanks.

A buyer in the USA with a USA shipping address might be legit, or might not be legit.

A buyer in the USA with a Japan shipping address might be legit, or might not be legit.

A buyer in Japan with a Japan shipping address might be legit, or might not be legit.

A buyer in Japan with a USA shipping address might be legit, or might not be legit.

There is no way we can tell whether this buyer is legit, because are perfectly valid reasons why a buyer might want to ship an item to his family or a friend somewhere else.

That being said ...

When you sell on eBay, there is a risk of fraud or loss with every transaction and you are risking the cost of the item plus the cost of shipping it (and the cost of return shipping, if you want to try to get the item back).

For a 10 ounce package to the USA, you might be risking $5 in shipping costs. But to ship that same package to Japan you will be risking around $25 in shipping costs.

If you do not offer international shipping and and don't feel comfortable doing so, you have every right to politely decline.

pburn · ‎01-07-2021

@pall_ma wrote:
Brand new buyer sent me message and wants me to ship an item to Japan. When I scroll down below their message it says Located: Iwaki-City, Fukushima, Japan however when I click on the buyers profile the location just says United States. It this a red flag? Shouldn’t Japan be listed on their profile as well? I usually only deal with buyers in the US so I have never payed attention to this before. Thanks.

I want to make sure I'm clear about this, because I may not understand the events:

The buyer's registered eBay address--according to his/her profile, is the United States.
A message you received indicates s/he's in Japan.
The address used at checkout was in the United States.
S/he sent you a message asking you to ship the item to Japan.

Are the above statements correct?

Have you confirmed the person who messaged you is actually the same person who bought the item?

You ship ONLY to the address the buyer used at checkout. Period.

If the buyer sends a message via eBay messages (or through any other format) asking you to change the shipping address, politely decline.

Offer to cancel the transaction, relist it, and they can buy the item again, entering the appropriate "ship to" address during the checkout process.

Keep in mind the shipping will be much more expensive and potentially complicated if shipping to Japan rather than the U.S.

pall_ma · ‎01-07-2021

Thx for the info. It’s probably no big deal however I wanted to be sure as I have never sold anything to an account that was literally created the same day. That alone is enough to make me nervous.

pall_ma · ‎01-07-2021

The buyer has not purchased anything yet they only sent a message asking if I could ship to japan. Sorry I could have been more clear. Thanks for the advice.

pall_ma · ‎01-07-2021

Im not worried so much about the buyer being located in Japan as I am the fact that their account is only a day old saying they’re located in the US but with a Japanese address.
Thanks.

a_c_green · ‎01-07-2021

@pall_ma wrote:
Im not worried so much about the buyer being located in Japan as I am the fact that their account is only a day old saying they’re located in the US but with a Japanese address.
Thanks.

Did you buy an item here on the same day you opened your eBay account? I did. That was why I opened the account, in fact, since we didn't have guest accounts back in 2004. It's entirely possible that this guy signed up in order to buy your item.

As he's using a U.S. eBay account, he may also be using a reshipper to send items to Japan (although if he is, he doesn't need to ask you first since you are only shipping to the U.S. address of whatever company he signed up with). Assuming that you're okay with shipping your item to Japan, whatever it may be, then make it clear to him that you can only ship to the address that he provides with his payment, and make sure your listing covers shipments to Japan.

Speaking for myself, I've shipped to Japan many times over the years (as well as to Japanese buyers using a U.S. reshipper), and had no problems. Japan is a member of the e-DELCON countries, so First Class International tracking and Delivery Confirmation can be obtained when shipping there.

P.S. Are we talking about your unopened World Series Coca-Cola bottle here? I hope you're not really going to ship that in a Priority Mail padded envelope. That will not end well.

ezezao-0 · ‎01-07-2021

@pall_ma wrote:
Brand new buyer sent me message and wants me to ship an item to Japan. When I scroll down below their message it says Located: Iwaki-City, Fukushima, Japan however when I click on the buyers profile the location just says United States. It this a red flag? Shouldn’t Japan be listed on their profile as well? I usually only deal with buyers in the US so I have never payed attention to this before. Thanks.

Simple, it's not a matter of the buyer being legit.

It is a matter of either you do or you don't.

If you do, you will need to include international shipping in your settings and any items you wish to ship to overseas locations.