Scammer?

[lpscollector1]

I got a notification 2 hours ago that somebody had bought my item. Their shipping address is in NY but their location says Malaysia? It was only a $25 item.. Was also strange to me that they bought it at 2 am here which I found out is 3 PM in Malaysia hmmm.. What should I do about this? 🤔What does it mean when their location is shown as another country but their shipping address is in the US...

[slippinjimmy]

No not likely a scammer but rather someone in Malaysia who wants to buy your item and either because you don't ship out of the USA or because it's cheaper, more secure and faster to use a Mail Forwarder or a friend to handle getting it to Malaysia.

It's also possible it's someone in Malaysia buying it as a gift for someone in the US or it could be someone from Malaysia temporarily living in the US.

[inhawaii]

I wouldn't worry about it.  Ship it to the address on the ebay shipping label and forget about it.  

Good luck and stay safe.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Not an uncommon thing to have happen. Check the buyers profile is it a new account? Do they have feedback? Neither necessarily identifies them as a scammer but if they have been around awhile and have a feedback record you risk is probably less. Google the shipping address. Is it a freight forwarder, a residence or an empty lot? Again not a 100% guarantee that the person is or is not a scammer lots of international buyers use freight forwarders when purchasing from U.S. sellers. 

     I use the eBay GSP for international sales and have a long list of countries that I will not sell to simply because of the high scamming out of those countries. China being at the top of that list. Not sure what the item was but weigh the risk against the cost of a possible loss. It's your decision.

[soh.maryl]

In all probability, you're looking at an international buyer who uses a freight forwarder in the US to receive his purchases in the US and then ship them on to him.  Ship to the address you are shown.  

[greatstuff80]

Happens quite a bit. I have had nothing but issues with foreign buyers who use US addresses. 3 charge backs in the past 6 months and at least 6 non payments. Check extra charges ebay may assess for accepting foreign currency. 

[jayjaspersgarage]

With a (0) feedback score there is no telling what will come your way at first.  Just mail it to the address ebay supplies you and move along.  The bigger question is how did you do in Chem?  Back in my college years I gave my chemistry books to a student who helped me replace a roof on one of my rental homes.  Sixteen hours of labor for two books.  I think I was 32 at the time and sure appreciated the help.

[bbravo65]

@jayjaspersgarage 

...nice story...thank you...

[dillsdprib · Accepted solution]

I've had a couple sales from buyers who are based in other countries, such as the ones I've sold to in Asian countries.

I only sell & ship to US states & territories so my listings are set up not to accept from buyers outside the US (I changed settings in my account & also when listing). With that being said, the buyer would utilize a service typically based on the East or West coast to send the item(s) on their behalf, so it's probably legit & if you search the address as you stated is in NY.. it's most likely a middleman business like I described.

I've never had a problem with those distributers so good luck with your transaction! 👍

[lpscollector1]

The chem question made me lol. Interesting story you have! I have taken chem a total of 5 times at this point.  In highschool pre-AP grade: B, AP failed had to drop and take over the summer thru a college grade: C, 1st semester of college grade: C, and now I am so proud to announce my first A in chem ever was this semester that just ended! Not the best track record for a biology major hoping to go to vet school but hey I'll take that kind of improvement! Moving up to organic chem next semester... yikes! At least it won't be virtual like these past two semesters were, chem lab is so hard virtually it was bascically like teaching ourselves.

[lpscollector1]

The other interesting thing that I forgot to mention is that it is a brand new account. It actually says member since May 14 2021 lol. They still haven't paid yet but if they do, I'll probably go ahead and send it. Crossing my fingers at this point. I wish there was a way to stop all this scam stuff. Ridiculous to me that that's how some people "earn" a living.

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@lpscollector1 wrote:

The other interesting thing that I forgot to mention is that it is a brand new account. It actually says member since May 14 2021 lol. They still haven't paid yet but if they do, I'll probably go ahead and send it. Crossing my fingers at this point. I wish there was a way to stop all this scam stuff. Ridiculous to me that that's how some people "earn" a living.

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Hi, just keep in mind that new accounts are just that, new. Not necessarily a bad sign when there is no sales history. Should i consider your account as suspicious because it is 0?

Scammers will tip their hand soon enough, so there is no reason to judge a new account as a fraudster until such time as they actually do something untoward. 

[bbravo65]

...I have to admit that I was a dumbest person in Chemistry class from high school to college, specially the Organic Chemistry...but I survived through self-struggling (lol...)...well, didn't want to be an engineer or doctor...ended up being government worker, wasted in time and money for school...what I had learned is not helpful for my current illogical, unrealistic, non-sense career...

...my best was in History and Math...

...btw, the Chem story was posted by "jayjaspersgarage"...

[lpscollector1]

LOL. I totally responded to the wrong person! Hahaha. Funny enough, my WORST are actually history and math! I'm not good with numbers, dates, geography, any of that.

[jayjaspersgarage]

"LOL. I totally responded to the wrong person! Hahaha. Funny enough, my WORST are actually history and math! I'm not good with numbers, dates, geography, any of that."

If it's any consolation my father earned his PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1955 using only a slide rule.  I traded my chemistry books for help with the demolition of two layers of asphalt shingles because if I had finished the class it would have sabotaged my 3.80 GPA.   Obviously I fell off a different branch of the tree than my father who served in WWII and got the PhD in a science.  I double majored in Business and Industrial Psych which led me the best quote ever on a construction job site.  "Yep, I went to college and ended up hanging really smart ceilings because of it".