Buyer asked to ship to a different address after I purchased the postage. Free Shipping deal

[lucid-blue]

The buyer bought an item with a free shipping deal from me. I paid for the postage and printed the label (USPS shipping label printed on eBay), getting ready to ship it out. Then I received a message from the buyer, saying she forgot to change the shipping address from her old to new and didn't realize it until she finished paying for it, so to ship it to her new address if I haven't shipped it out yet. I replied saying my situation and asked to set up a forwarding service on USPS site (only costs $1 but takes 3 days or so to process). I also said I would not ship it out until we solve this.  She has not comminuted with me since she messaged me to ship it to her new address. 

Again, this was a free shipping deal.

If I don't hear back, should I take out the shipping I paid from what she paid and refund it? Or do I just ship it out to her old address anyway??

[iowa_east_coast]

Void the shipping label, you will get a refund but it may take a couple of weeks to receive it.

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

I would void the label, then create a fresh label with the correct address. The buyer's message serves as documentation.

A second option is to refund the payment and send an invoice with the buyer's new address so that the buyer can select the right address during checkout and pay again. But making a buyer jump through hoops is not a good idea.

I would NOT mail to the old address -- would you want a seller to do that to you? That would only delay delivery, risk having the package delivered to someone else or have it returned to sender marked "addressee unknown" or "forwarding expired."

You are not permitted to deduct any amount when shipping is included in the selling price.

USPS does not charge a fee to submit a change of address form or to forward First Class and Priority Mail. However, 3rd class and 4th class mail may not be forwarded.

Bottom line: Just keep it simple and do as the buyer asked.

~~C~~

[Anonymous]

Void the label and cancel the sale.... Problem with the buyer's address.  Let the buyer know you will relist and they can purchase it using the correct address.  eBay claims they will allow an item to be sent to an address other than the one on file if they can see a buyer requested it in messages... Paypall will NOT.  If the buyer goes to Paypal and opens an INR claim there instead of eBay, you will have to refund.

[missjen831]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Void the label and cancel the sale.... Problem with the buyer's address.  Let the buyer know you will relist and they can purchase it using the correct address.  eBay claims they will allow an item to be sent to an address other than the one on file if they can see a buyer requested it in messages... Paypall will NOT.  If the buyer goes to Paypal and opens an INR claim there instead of eBay, you will have to refund.

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This 100%. You need to do this in order to have full seller protection. 

[green-night]

OP, for low value items I personally will ship wherever the buyer wants the items shipped.    Canceling and relisting the item for the buyer to repurchase with the correct address is doing 'by the book' but it is a little bit of a headache for both you and your buyer.    Just speaking from my own experience I've changed addresses for buyers more times than I can remember and never had a single one file an INR.  

Of course that is your decision to make, but just my 2 cents. 

[twk]

pinupsplus wrote:

Void the label and cancel the sale.... Problem with the buyer's address.  Let the buyer know you will relist and they can purchase it using the correct address.  eBay claims they will allow an item to be sent to an address other than the one on file if they can see a buyer requested it in messages... Paypall will NOT.  If the buyer goes to Paypal and opens an INR claim there instead of eBay, you will have to refund

THIS^^^^^^  Doing anything else voids your seller protection if the buyer were to claim they never received it.

Sadly there are a lot of honest people out there, but there are the bad apples just looking for opportunity.

[pooh333piglet]

Totally agree. I have done the same and no issues. Just cancel and make a new label.

[lcw987]

I agree with green-night. Let the value of the item, the cost of the shipping, and the buyer's history provide guidance for complying with request to change a shipping address. I have made several shipments to a requested change of address, always asking buyer to explicitly make the request in ebay Messages, and handled a couple requests for which I made refund, relisted, made the sale again with buyer's new address only after they got it corrected with PayPal to allow them to buy with shipment to a PayPal-Confirmed address.

[buyselljack2016]

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USPS does not charge a fee to submit a change of address form or to forward First Class and Priority Mail. However, 3rd class and 4th class mail may not be forwarded.

Bottom line: Just keep it simple and do as the buyer asked.

~~C~~

last I knew, USPS charges to do a COA on line. minimal charge to CC as a means of verifying who is doing the change.  Fill out form and send in, no charge

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