Selling MacBook to an eBay account based in Chile, but sending to address in Florida

[scole_scole]

Hi!

I'm a fairly new seller to eBay. I have a MacBook Pro that I've been trying to sell, so I auctioned it. I received several offers for it outside of eBay that I could tell were scams, and I ignored them. But the person I sold it to has an eBay account that was created just 8 days ago in Chile. He sent me the funds through PayPal (I verified, they're there and being held until the transaction is complete), and put an address to a different person in Florida who will receive it. He says this person is a friend and he'll pick it up in a few weeks. He also confirmed everything, that he was from Chile and that yes, the shipping address was meant to be in Florida (I don't ship internationally). The shipping address on PayPal is consistent with one he messaged me about, so that's where I'll send it, with priority mail and signature confirmation. I'll keep all shipping documentation on hand and take pictures of the package for proof. I just want to confirm that I shouldn't cancel this order for suspicion of a scam and leave it to PayPal to take my side should a "broken item" or "unreceived item" request come through to try to scam me. Thank you in advance for any help!

[corvettestainless]

Cancel and refund. Then block that buyer. Then exclude all countries but yours (no international shipments of high value should ever be done and no international during this CV19 Pandemic should be tempted (could take months to get there, they will file for refund etc.) 

[scole_scole]

Won't that get me a bad mark on eBay, though? What if this person is actually legit and just seems like a scammer?

[scole_scole]

Also, I already have excluded international sales, which is probably why this person is having me send it to FL.

[donsdetour]

Non of this sounds right. I would run. Yet for information:

You can only ship to address given in PayPal and eBay.  T

Both should match. If they do not, well you get the idea.

Also you verified all this by going to PayPal and signing in ?   I hope.

[scole_scole]

The addresses do match in PayPal and eBay, though the address was only added after the item was won. There was no info before that. The address is going to a person whose name is different from the person I sold to. I verified in PayPal by signing in, but I'm still unsure. I might just risk the bad review.

[southern*sweet*tea]

A buyer can have their item shipped wherever they want as long as it's somewhere you ship to. Your buyer is using someone in Florida. Once your package is scanned delivered and SIGNED FOR, they cannot file an item not received case on you.

Like any other buyer (domestic or otherwise), they can file a not as described case. You would only be responsible for return shipping from the Florida address.  The buyer would somehow have to get their item to Florida, then have that person send the item to you within the return timeline. If they filed a case through Paypal, THEY would be responsible for international tracked return shipping, which is very expensive.

Could this be a legit sale? Absolutely. Could this be a scam? Absolutely.

[7606dennis]

Did you go through eBay checkout?  It sounds like he is using a freight forwarding service.  

[Anonymous]

The item type itself carries a lot more risk than where you are shipping it.

[scole_scole]

I did all of that, and I just cancelled the order because I didn't feel right in my gut about it. I'm willing to risk a bad mark, and I won't post anything this expensive on eBay again. Thank you all for your help.

[Anonymous]

Seller cancellation strike isn't that bad. A lot better than potentially giving a macbook away.

[acrc3113]

Cancel immediately due to a problem with the buyers address. Chances are, if you ship, you will lose your item and your money. You will lose all of your seller protections if you ship it to some 3rd party. The buyer is doing this because you have his location blocked and he knows you won't win an item not received case. As soon as you were to ship it the buyer can claim an unauthorized charge on his/her bank account. DON"T SHIP !

[pa_38276095]

"I received several offers for it outside of eBay that I could tell were scams, and I ignored them."

Does that mean if they didn't sound like scams you go ahead and try to complete them, any one of which will get you banned by eBay? You will now no doubt get additional unwanted offers including some from stealth eBay accounts.

What are your account settings?

Have you banned shipping addresses outside the U.S.?

That does not actually ban people living outside the U.S. from trying to buy your items. They are still free to bypass your eBay settings and use a foreign based PayPal account to buy your items. They are still free to bypass your eBay settings by use a reshipping service in the U.S. to ship the item to them in their country.

Don't listen to eBay customer service when they tell you to ship the item. eBay and PayPal do not care what happens to you - they only care about the fees they can make off you. eBay cares so much about you that they've not fixed this issue since their founding 1995.

You need to add additional terms to the bottom of your listing to cover yourself.

Buyers Requirements:

Physically reside within the U.S. or have a APO/FPO/DPO address.

Have a PayPal confirmed U.S. shipping address.

Have a verified U.S. based PayPal account.

Shipping:

No items will be shipped to 3rd parties.

No items will be shipped to reshipping services.

Now when such a buyer tries to violate you eBay settings they are violating your Terms of Service.

In this case this, cased upon the above example, the buyer doe snot live in the U.S.; does not have a U.S. based PayPal account; and is shipping to a 3rd party.

A  buyer that violates your TOS has no legal right even to create a binding sales contract with you as they have no legal right to alter your TOS.

Don't cancel the transaction via PayPal as they will still keep their fees.

You give eBay customer service a call and tell them to cancel the transaction at their end due to the buyer bypassing your eBay settings and the TOS found in your listing. This way you will not be out the PayPal fees. If the buyer leaves bad feedback for not completing a transaction that they have no legal right to agree to in the first place then demand that eBay remove the feedback.

You will no doubt get the traditional runaround and phone tag from eBay but you stick to your guns.

Any buyer that violates your eBay settings and / or TOS has already shown themselves to be dishonest as that just didn't happen by chance - that required a intentional set of acts by the buyer.

The above technique has been used to cancel multiple transactions and remove feedback by such dishonest buyers.

[scifiwriter99]

I sell a lot of items to buyers outside the country who use a shipping company inside the US. As long as the US address is their verified shipping address you won't have any problems. Miami is a popular destination for buyers in South America and the Caribbean. Once the item is received at the shipping company address you aren't liable for the item, even if the buyer doesn't receive the item from the company. It's happened to me several times.

For future reference, Oregon and NJ are also popular places for international buyers to use for their shipping address.

[glyph01]

"Have you banned shipping addresses outside the U.S.?

That does not actually ban people living outside the U.S. from trying to buy your items. They are still free to bypass your eBay settings and use a foreign based PayPal account to buy your items. They are still free to bypass your eBay settings by use a reshipping service in the U.S. to ship the item to them in their country."

Payments from Non-US PayPal accounts can be banned via your PayPal seller tools settings (the very last option on the page - for personal & business PayPal accounts):

https://www.paypal.com/businessmanage/preferences/payments