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.

[mg152]

I’m not sure what the problem is. I’ve sold to a number of Canadians and never had a problem. Some Canadians have US mailboxes in the US, some get items at their address and some use freight forwarders. 

[mam98031]

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@joseh1445 wrote:

Very simple.  ebay is making money...

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@joseh1445 

Yes because sellers are making sales.  It requires both.  Ebay doesn't make money off of returns or buyers that don't pay.  So you are correct, Ebay makes money and so do the sellers.

[ubravac]

I recently sold and shipped an item to Florida. 40 days later the buyer said they need the tracking number. I had already thrown the receipt away. The buyer, who was actually in Costar Rica, was told by the forwarding company that they needed the tracking number or the package could not be delivered. Sellers are not required by eBay to provide tracking numbers, but I learned my lesson the hard way. Alway enter the tracking number because you never know when a forwarding company will be used. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@ubravac wrote: .... Sellers are not required by eBay to provide tracking numbers, but I learned my lesson the hard way. Alway enter the tracking number because you never know when a forwarding company will be used. 

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In this case, the lack of a tracking number cost you your seller protection. It made no difference whether you shipped it to a forwarding company or directly to the buyer.  

If you had saved your receipt or entered the tracking number into the transaction, you could have shown Delivery Confirmation to the address that the buyer provided, in this case the forwarding company.  You should always enter the tracking number into the transaction to protect yourself against fake "Item not received" claims.

[janet9988]

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@ubravac wrote:

I recently sold and shipped an item to Florida. 40 days later the buyer said they need the tracking number. I had already thrown the receipt away. The buyer, who was actually in Costar Rica, was told by the forwarding company that they needed the tracking number or the package could not be delivered. Sellers are not required by eBay to provide tracking numbers, but I learned my lesson the hard way. Alway enter the tracking number because you never know when a forwarding company will be used. 

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You have no obligation to give the tracking # to a forwarder.

[mam98031]

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@ubravac wrote:

I recently sold and shipped an item to Florida. 40 days later the buyer said they need the tracking number. I had already thrown the receipt away. The buyer, who was actually in Costar Rica, was told by the forwarding company that they needed the tracking number or the package could not be delivered. Sellers are not required by eBay to provide tracking numbers, but I learned my lesson the hard way. Alway enter the tracking number because you never know when a forwarding company will be used. 

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@ubravac 

If you uploaded the tracking number to Ebay as is recommended, you can go to the order and get the tracking number.

Hopefully you did upload the tracking to Ebay so that you are covered by Seller Protection.

[mam98031]

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@janet9988 wrote:

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@ubravac wrote:

I recently sold and shipped an item to Florida. 40 days later the buyer said they need the tracking number. I had already thrown the receipt away. The buyer, who was actually in Costar Rica, was told by the forwarding company that they needed the tracking number or the package could not be delivered. Sellers are not required by eBay to provide tracking numbers, but I learned my lesson the hard way. Alway enter the tracking number because you never know when a forwarding company will be used. 

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You have no obligation to give the tracking # to a forwarder.

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The forwarder didn't ask for it, the international buyer did.

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.