New buyer account purchased a phone and they provided a freight forwarder address.

[kelanu]

A new buyer account (made today) purchased a phone I had for sale. The money cleared and is in my PayPal and the eBay address matched their PayPal address. Their PayPal address is confirmed. My concern  is the fact that the account is brand new and the shipping address is for a freight forwarding company in Florida. What are the chances this is a scam? Thanks. 

[pburn]

• The money cleared.
• The eBay and PayPal addresses match.
• Their PayPal address is confirmed.

What kind of a "scam" do you suspect, exactly?

[kelanu]

I was just afraid of them requesting a return and sending back a different item. 

[lightlily_arts]

First, there are many international buyers that use freight forwarders to have items shipped to them.   Unfortunately,  scammers target new sellers of high value items such as your cell phone.  I would purchase signature confirmation for the delivery even though PayPal doesn't require it unless it's more than $750. 00.   That way you have confirmation that it was delivered.  However, scammers can still open a claim  stating the item was not as described and return a brick.  They would be responsible for shipping it back to the USA as you are only responsible for the return shipping from the original shipping address. Which freight forwarder is being used? Frankly I would be extremely leery shipping to a new buyer via a freight forwarder and try to cancel the transaction because "there is a problem with the buyers address"

[kelanu]

Megatran's Cargo Inc in Miami, Florida is the forwarder. 

[pburn]

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@lightlily_arts wrote:

Frankly I would be extremely leery shipping to a new buyer via a freight forwarder and try to cancel the transaction because "there is a problem with the buyers address"

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@lightlily_arts 

But there isn't a problem with the buyer's address, is there? So that wouldn't be the truth, right? Not wanting to ship to a freight forwarder and there being a problem with the buyer's address are two totally separate things.

[pburn]

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@kelanu wrote:

I was just afraid of them requesting a return and sending back a different item. 

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@kelanu 

Well, buyers sure don't have to use a freight forwarder to pull that ol' scam. The chance that a buyer will do that is probably evenly split between buyers who live in the U.S. and buyers who live outside the U.S. and use a freight forwarder.

[mr_lincoln]

@kelanu   I have shipped to a number of foreign Buyers who use Freight Forwarding companies on both coasts.  Is there a risk?  Sure but we've been scammed by Buyers with a lot higher counts the say below (10).  We have had some of our highest sales go to low FB count Buyers ...

Thus far we have had no issues with Buyers who have Freight Forwarding companies they work with ... granted that could change  tomorrow but after almost 5 years selling we've had no bogus returns or scams from Foreign Buyers.

[gracieallen01]

At this point in time, there is no indication that this is a scam.

Every new account starts out at zero, with a first purchase.  People around the world use freight forwarders everyday.  This could be the most honest person in the world and in 5 years might be inviting you down for 'Carnival' in Rio, or it could be the king of scammers.

Chances of it being a scam?  Flip a coin.  Probably about as much of a chance as it would be if it were someone in Kansas or Montana.

Only time will tell.

[kelanu]

The buyer's account is no longer registered now. What should I do?

[gracieallen01]

Have you shipped?  If you haven't, don't.  If you have, try to recall the package - online or at the post office.  Check your PayPal account to see if the funds are there.  If they are, you may have to refund or you can try to contact the buyer to see what the problem is.  If the funds aren't there, cancel for problem with address - they don't have one listed anymore if the account is no longer registered.

There will probably be someone along to give added or better info.

[papermoneyforme]

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@kelanu wrote:

A new buyer account (made today) purchased a phone I had for sale. The money cleared and is in my PayPal and the eBay address matched their PayPal address. Their PayPal address is confirmed. My concern  is the fact that the account is brand new and the shipping address is for a freight forwarding company in Florida. What are the chances this is a scam? Thanks. 

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Thank all the rah rah posters when it is not their phone or money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully you can recall your parcel.

Good luck and you should always go with your gut.

Don't sell phones on Ebay unless you know exactly what you are doing and can afford the loss.

[babclassics]

Our store has had more than one Paypal CC chargeback for unauthorized transaction over the holidays.  All were to freight forwarders in Florida.  No attempt by these buyers to return item or contact us.  So those who have never had this issue, maybe consider yourself lucky. If the worst happens, you can report the buyer to PayPal and eBay and let them investigate (they really do). Sometimes unauthorized txn charge backs are legitimate misunderstandings by the buyers, tho I have never seen that resolution of the dispute.

 Even if one is suspicious of a buyer (forwarder or pure USA) by their feedback and buying patterns the option is their to cancel "problem with address" but, unless I am mistaken this will count as a defect after the bots do their double checking? Occasionally sellers leave positive feedback with a subtle warning if they still can.  If (and only if) I see that, I will cancel and take the defect.  This is because most off-shore freight forwarder order go smoothly.  Best of luck to you on this one.

[monster-deals]

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@kelanu wrote:

 the shipping address is for a freight forwarding company in Florida. 

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Safest transaction on ebay by miles

[corvettestainless]

Except for what OP stated now in post #10