Should I ship the item?

[crisis.doc]

Hello Most Knowledgable eBay gurus...

I just sold an expensive pair of shoes ($400). PayPal verified the transaction. The buyer who has a male name is in the UK but the shipping address  (to a completely different female name than the buyer) is in the USA. The buyer’s most recent feedback is over six months old  and he only has 16 transactions so I am concerned that something isn’t right.

When I went to mail them at the USPS the computer said the street address was OK but there is no such apartment number.
I emailed the buyer asking for confirmation of the shipping address but have not heard back. I wrote “I will not ship these until I hear back from you” but time is ticking and I don’t want to get spanked by eBay for not shipping in a timely manner. 
On the other hand, I don’t want to be the victim of someone’s shenanigans.

Paypal verified the sale. If I ship to the person/ address provided and it turns out to be a scam, will I have to reimburse PayPal? Should I advise Paypal of my concern?

Is there a way to protect myself just in case, such as shipping with a required/ verified signature? 
All help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[corvettestainless]

Are you printing a label from ebay? if not, do that- whatever that address is, typically that is where it ships to- but.....

Also, be sure $ is in your paypal (careful, as there are scams out there- people that are NOT the buyer you a message telling you to ship it 'here' instead) 

Also- be sure person sending you message to change address is the actual buyer (compare ebay message name to ebay buyer name- (sign on names). 

Since the buyer asked you to 'change' or 'edit' the address- tell them: 

'I have to cancel/refund this sale as labels are automated and we both lose protections if I don't ship to the address you showed when purchasing. Therefore, please change your address on ebay, then re-purchase and I can then ship. Thank you' 

Then, just 'cancel', the prompts will either 'auto refund' or you 'refund' after cancelling (done on ebay, under 'my ebay' under 'sold items'. 

[myescape]

signature provides no additional protection than plain tracking showing deliver

And buyer is likely having you ship to a friend who will forward item internationally or sending a gift which is fine

You are required to ship item to address in order details to be covered by seller protection(you are not covered if you ship anywhere else)-if that address is not valid do not ship to another but cancel w reason problem with address and refund

[dtexley3]

What is the city/state of the USA address?  It's likely that it's a reshipping service.  It's no more dangerous to ship via a re-shipper than domestic shipping.  Your delivery responsibility (INR) ends when the reshipper receives the package. 

If the buyer claims "not as described" (NAD or SNAD) you can tell them to return the item for a full refund and the BUYER pays the shipping back to the forwarding agent.  The seller is only responsible for the shipping from the forwarding agent back to their return address.   Damage claims are the responsibility of the re-shipping agent, not the seller.

[crisis.doc]

Thanks for your reply Grumpy.

I Googled the shipping address, and it indicates a house on Richland Ave in Los Angeles, CA with four apartments. However there is no “unit 204” found on Google or in the USPS shipping computer as the buyer indicated.

That being said, the buyer did not ask me to ship to a different address than what was provided at the time of sale, the Shipping address is the same in the eBay notification as it shows on the PayPal receipt. The address does not show as “verified” though... didn’t PayPal used to do that? Anyway, here is the message from PayPal:

“Thanks for using PayPal. You can now ship any items.To see all the transaction details, log in to your PayPal account.
It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.
Seller Protection - Eligible”.

and, the money is in my PP account.

The trifecta of an international buyer shipping to someone of a different name in the USA at an apartment that is not showing up on the USPS computer just makes me nervous.  
What would you do?

[crisis.doc]

Thanks for your reply. I think “better safe than sorry” is something I won’t regret in this case. I would hate to be scammed out of a $400 pair of shoes (especially since they are my size, LOL) and the lack of communication from the buyer in another country is a red flag.

Sometimes I want something to happen so much that I overlook common sense! 😊

if it is a legitimate buyer and I cancel the sale for an unknown address, he will buy them again. If not, I dodged a bullet! 

[crisis.doc]

Hi Underhood,

Thanks for the advice and how to phrase the email! Yes, better safe than sorry. If it was a sale that was meant to be, the buyer will repurchase and provide a better address. I hate to miss out on a big sale but I would hate to be scammed even more.

I emailed PayPal with my questions but they did not reply yet. My guess is that they will give similar advice as you.

[corvettestainless]

PP will never reply. Just so you know, so I wouldn't 'wait' for that response. 

[crisis.doc]

😩Ugh! Thanks for the head’s up!