Why does eBay Not Prohibit Freight Forwarding?

[thebricktank]

I do this on the side.  I am not a profession eBayer.  I made the unfortunate mistake of not initially filtering out where I shipped to and quickly rectified that but left Canada open.  Unfortunately, despite using USPS Priority Flat Rate Boxes, which are lightning quick typically in the U.S., once they get to Canada, the good Lord only knows what happens.  So sorry, no more Canada.

I digress.  Real issue is other international buyers get through the filters by using these what I consider to be fraudulent U.S. addresses at freight forwarding / mail forwarding services.  

Had a guy from Northern Europe, and nothing against Northern Europe, but the guy not only seemed to be getting away with this practice but then starts complaining about my shipping fees.  See above re USPS.  I proceed to tell him shipping costs are what they are and moreover I don’t ship to his Country.  He then admits freely (from the poor English it sounded like he was using Google translate, which is strange because I know that people speak and write perfect English in this particular Northern European Country because I’ve been there multiple times), but says he uses a “hotel” address to forward mail on eBay and has been doing same for “many years”.

I immediately canceled the order for using wrong shipping address.  How this pr@ctice of using these third party services is permitted is truly beyond me.  I mean, for OFAC purposes alone, we could be unwittingly violating U.S. Sanctions for all we know.

#Fail.

[7606dennis]

I find your comment about people speaking perfect English in a particular part of northern Europe a bit amusing.  Being in the USA and living in Central Florida, I have neighbors that speak no English at all.  Of course, most of my friends in the UK seem to think that my command of the English language leaves much to be desired.  (Personally, I think they talk funny.) 😉

[slippinjimmy]

Why would they?

eBay has always allowed seller to block DESTINATIONS they don't want to ship to, eBay has NEVER allowed sellers to block buyers based on their citizenship or place of residence.

Buyers who use a forwarding service based in the Sellers country are not asking for the seller to ship outside their own country so it is a completely legitimate way for non-residents to purchase from sellers who only wish to ship domestically.

I've sold via mail-forwarders hundreds of times over the years, never had a single issue with ANY of those sales. I have also sold to plenty of foreign buyers who are temporary residents of the US. Other than during Covid there are normally between 10 and 20 MILLION temporary US residents,  (on holiday, at school,  retired with seasonal residences in the US, temporary employment etc.) these people need to buy stuff and even though they may be registered in a different country I'm not interested in giving up that business just because they don't permanently live in the US.

[7606dennis]

Oh!  Since anyone using a freight forwarding service is technically having the item shipped to a US address, I'm not sure I would agree with it being fraudulent.  Of course, eBay should stick to their policy of considering the seller's job done when the item is delivered to the forwarding service, in my opinion.  Perhaps buyer's would choose the forwarding services that they use with great care.

However, I suppose that there would be some unscrupulous sellers that would ship NAD items in an attempt to swindle the buyer in some cases.  This could be a problem since the forwarding service doesn't open and inspect the packages to verify that the items are what the buyer actually ordered.  At least, I don't think they do.  Obviously, there are good and bad aspects to using a forwarding service for both the buyer & seller.

[dbfolks166mt]

      First and foremost the addresses are not "fraudulent" addresses they are legitimate address of FF companies. Lots of foreign buyers utilize FF's for multiple reasons but the most common is to consolidate and save money on international shipping. Shipping multiple individual packages internationally can quickly become VERY expensive. The FF's can and do combine items into a single shipment often using discounted logistical carriers that are not directly available to sellers through eBay, to get the consolidated shipments overseas. 

     I have shipped a number of items through FF's albeit lower value items and low target items that are generally off the scammers normal target list. I would not ship electronics through a FF. I have never had an issue with FF shipments since most of the buyers MBG ends when the item is delivered to the FF and eBay has put some seller protection in place with regards to chargebacks. 

[thebricktank]

I can see from the mountain of other threads that this is a hot topic.  I can understand why more vigorous Sellers are ok with this practice.  For me, a slightly overweight middle aged guy selling collectibles here and there, it tweaks my Spidey sense.  

[monroe67]

The experience of my selling ID/personality is that - - - - -

Some products that I have sold seem to have a highly motivated market in Russia.  
Those Russian ladies (usually) -- they buy, they pay quickly, and they provide shipping addresses that are at forwarding services, third-party services, and are often in the state of Delaware.

Probably because there are no sales taxes in Delaware.  

Those addresses are not "fraudulent."  They are not spots in the middle of a vacant lot.  

So, I ship to Delaware.  And I have never had a problem with delivery.   Everybody is happy, in my experience.  

[north40sales]

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@thebricktank wrote:

I do this on the side.  I am not a profession eBayer.  I made the unfortunate mistake of not initially filtering out where I shipped to and quickly rectified that but left Canada open.  Unfortunately, despite using USPS Priority Flat Rate Boxes, which are lightning quick typically in the U.S., once they get to Canada, the good Lord only knows what happens.  So sorry, no more Canada.

I digress.  Real issue is other international buyers get through the filters by using these what I consider to be fraudulent U.S. addresses at freight forwarding / mail forwarding services.  

Had a guy from Northern Europe, and nothing against Northern Europe, but the guy not only seemed to be getting away with this practice but then starts complaining about my shipping fees.  See above re USPS.  I proceed to tell him shipping costs are what they are and moreover I don’t ship to his Country.  He then admits freely (from the poor English it sounded like he was using Google translate, which is strange because I know that people speak and write perfect English in this particular Northern European Country because I’ve been there multiple times), but says he uses a “hotel” address to forward mail on eBay and has been doing same for “many years”.

I immediately canceled the order for using wrong shipping address.  How this pr@ctice of using these third party services is permitted is truly beyond me.  I mean, for OFAC purposes alone, we could be unwittingly violating U.S. Sanctions for all we know.

#Fail.

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It is permitted most likely because eBay offers the exact same service with their GSP program.   Would not want to prohibit something that they do themselves now would they.  

[yuzuha]

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@thebricktank wrote:

I can see from the mountain of other threads that this is a hot topic.  I can understand why more vigorous Sellers are ok with this practice.  For me, a slightly overweight middle aged guy selling collectibles here and there, it tweaks my Spidey sense.  

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I sell collectibles and I ship to freight forwarders on a pretty regular basis. Never had a problem with them.

By not doing so, you're cutting off a huge market. There are a lot of collectors with a whole lot of money in other countries. An example: I shipped a $50 US-exclusive Pokemon plush to a buyer in Japan via a freight fowarder a while back.

[jayjaspersgarage]

Great point about people using FF to combine numerous shipments into one larger package before they have it sent over the pond.  They can easily establish a working relationship with a FF.  

I don't sell much that ends up going though a FF.  I cut off international sales six years ago.  

[jayjaspersgarage]

"For me, a slightly overweight middle aged guy selling collectibles "

TMI

[keziak]

FF are fine with me. Anything that opens my business to the world that doesn't require me to ship it myself and have to "eat if" if the package is lost or the customer claims non-delivery. FF, GSP, either way. There certainly are a lot of international buyers who seem to laugh at high prices for their stuff.

[kensgiftshop]

@thebricktank 

It'd be a little hard to stop freight forwarding, when Ebay does it themselves with the GSP.

[albertabrightalberta]

I've never had an issue with a buyer who used a freight forwarder. (My conservative guess is that I've had 200 sales with delivery to freight forwarders in Delaware, Oregon and Washington state.)

[kenflynnsports]

Check your fees.  When a seller ships to a FF company you are charged 2.5% for shipping to a non registered 

address.