P.O. box registered in a different country AND under a different name than eBay and PayPal accounts.

[slitty12]

Hello!

I am new to selling on eBay, so for lack of experience, I was wondering if this situation is typical.  A buyer from Argentina bought and paid for a small item (approximately $5 in value).  However, even though I ship to Argentina, the shipping address they provided is a P.O. in Florida... with a recipient name that is completely different from the registered name of the buyer's eBay and PayPal accounts.

I sent the buyer a couple messages to clarify the situation and confirm that they wanted this item shipped to the US.  Twenty-four hours later: they haven't answered, and I will soon have to make good on my commitment to ship within 1 business day of receiving payment.

Should I go ahead and ship, or is there reason for concern that warrants waiting?

Thank you!

[slitty12]

And by P.O. box, I mean one at a UPS Store.

[ricarmic]

I have had folks in countries like Argentina send to friends in other countries, or buyers will use a forwarding company located in the US.

I always ship to the payment address. (When in doubt I do the same as you, I send along a question - if they don't answer I ship to the payment address)

If it were me, I'd be happy because it is a lot safer shipping to the USA address anyway....and it is a low value item in the worst case....

PS my favourite personal example was a fellow overseas that asked if I would ship to BC to save shipping costs. I said yes no problems and he bought it. Then it turned out, oh he was wrong it was going to Calgary but he wasn't sure of the date, then he said if not Calgary then it could be New York.... it turned out the other address was the location he figured his friend would be at who was here from overseas visiting relatives across the continent!!!! He finally settled on the Calgary address and lo and behold it worked out. I figured for sure that one was a goner......

[mr.elmwood]

A lot of people in the Caribbean and South America have mailing addresses in Florida. I can instantly tell when I am sending to a freight forwarder just by the address. Never, not once, have I ever had a problem.

They do not trust their country's PO or Customs.

Yer good to go.

[femmefan1946]

Postal mail boxes are some of the safest addresses around. The items can't be picked up without at minimum a key to the box and for larger items, supervision by the postal staff.

UPS mailboxes and the like are pretty good too.

Only ship to the Paypal address for full coverage. With a $5 item, I'd be content to ship to another address, with the minor exception of South American ones and probably Italy , where the postal/customs systems seem to be inefficient.

[mr.elmwood]

Just got another one going to Miami for re-routing to another country. I can tell by the address.

[recped]

I've never blocked any country but I'm considering blocking Argentina because of the new import rules they recently put in place which are EXTREMELY harsh (the harshest of any country on the planet except for North Korea).

Personally I would be jumping for joy if I had an Argentinian buyer who had a US address.

Most of the package forwarders that serve South America are located in Doral Florida.

[mr.elmwood]

I get a lot of Doral and a lot of Miami.