Ship to address different than billing address?

[myatticcorners1]

I seem to remember reading here that when a potential buyer wants a seller to ship to a different address than what is on their account it is a problem.  A buyer made an offer on a scarf- the item ended, as did their offer and I relisted, let them know it was back up and now they are asking if I could ship it to their business address.    I haven't agreed yet. Any thoughts on whether this is OK?  Apparently this person has been on ebay  for several years and has decent feedback.  Thanks for your thoughts

[gwens*4saleitems*]

Just simply reply with:

"I will send the item to the address provided with the payment. You must have the correct address in the payment system."

[nobody*s_perfect]

A buyer can have their item shipped to any name and address they want.  There's even a "Change" link right on the payment page.  Then the seller ships to whatever name/address are attached to the payment. I ship items to relatives all the time.

[kensgiftshop]

The buyer just needs to change the ship to address when they check out.

[caldreamer]

Tell customer it is against EBAY rules for the Seller to change shipping address.     If you "change address" customer can later on claim they "did not receive item".    

[mam98031 · Accepted solution]

@myatticcorners1 

The address to ship to doesn't have to be the same as the buyer's primary address.  Buyers are allowed to have multiple ship to addresses and at the time of payment they can put in whatever address they want to have the item shipped to.  So ONLY ship to the address that appears on the payment notification.

You are correct, a seller is required to ship to the address stated on the buyer's payment.  If a seller send it to a different address even though the buyer has asked, the seller loses their seller protection.

[soh.maryl]

It's not that it's a problem when/if a buyer wants his purchase sent to a different address.

The buyer has to change the shipping address on the invoice when he makes payment.

Coming back afterwards and requesting a change of shipping address is NOT a good idea.

Think about it.  You bought an expensive item.  You paid for it.  I can contact the seller, pretending to be you, and ask him to change the shipping address to mine.  

If/when a buyer, after paying, says he wants it shipped elsewhere, then the seller has to cancel, citing problem with buyer's address, relist for that buyer and he has to buy again, but this time, CHANGE THE SHIPPING ADDRESS.  I hope that's clear.  

[myatticcorners1]

Thanks for that explanation.  I will let the buyer know that they must change it before I will ship.

[ittybitnot]

 I will let the buyer know that they must change it before I will ship.

@myatticcorners1 

The buyer must change the address BEFORE they pay.  

[djvp53]

Tell the buyer you can't change the shipping address on this order. Tell him that he can cancel the order before whatever time or day you specify rather than have you send it to the other address if that's what he'd prefer. Otherwise, tell him you will send it to the address on the order. If he does choose to cancel it, let him know that you will relist it and he can repurchase it but tell him to enter the correct delivery address when he does. 

[soh.maryl]

The buyer has to change the address BEFORE PAYING.

They have apparently already paid.

Therefore, you have to follow the many instructions you've been given about cancelling and relisting.

Please read and follow the instructions.

[junkinabox]

The buyer must change the address before payment..

[ittybitnot]

@myatticcorners1 

For anyone reading this.  Please note that if you are contacted post sale to change the address, you need to COMPARE THE ID SENDING YOU THE MESSAGE WITH THE ID OF THE BUYER OF RECORD.  

Indeed, it may be an "imposter" pretending to be your buyer.  If that is the case, and you decide to cancel the sale, you are cancelling on the REAL buyer.  If you have an imposter (aka change of address scammer) you can report them on the eBay message itself in the menu bar under the ACTIONS tab. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@myatticcorners1 wrote: ... I relisted, let them know it was back up and now they are asking if I could ship it to their business address.    I haven't agreed yet. Any thoughts on whether this is OK?  ...

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There seems to be some confusion regarding whether the buyer has paid yet or not.  

My reading of the original post was that the buyer had not even purchased the item yet. Hence the advice from me (and others) about the buyer's option to just change the name and/or address as part of the payment process, when he does purchase it.  

But other posters seem to think that the buyer has already paid and is asking you to change the address which was attached to the payment. If you do that, you lose protection against fake "Item not received" claims, so most sellers would refuse to do that, regardless of  the buyer's lovely feedback history.

One more quirk which was briefly alluded to -- if the item has already been sold, there is a small possibility that you could get a message with an address change request from a member who isn't even your actual buyer, but is somebody else trying to hijack the transaction to get you to ship the item to them instead of to your real buyer.

[myatticcorners1]

Will clarify that the item has not been sold yet.  They presented an offer but the item expired before I saw the offer.  I relisted and contacted the buyer via Message and they replied with the question about sending it to their business address.  So no transaction has occurred yet.  Thanks