eBay

e_knny · ‎09-24-2013

1) A buyer bought an item from me. Looking at the order details, the address is from the USA, so I sent an invoice with USA shipping charges.

2) The buyer paid the invoice but then changed his shipping address to the United Kingdom.

3) Shipping to the United Kingdom is more expensive, so would I have to refund him the payment and send him a new invoice? How did he even change the address in the first place?

thank you for your help

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-25-2013

I would send a message to them explaining what happened and why the shipping cost is wrong. Let them know that you will be sending them an invoice to their paypal email address for the amount owed. It looks like the difference is $2 so before you do anything, you have to decide if that amount is worth having to explain the problem to the customer and taking the chance that they might react negatively. I'm not saying that it isn't worth it..just that you need to take that into consideration.

rose-dee · ‎09-25-2013

In this situation, if indeed the difference is only $2.00, I would give the buyer a pass. In my view, it isn't worth risking FB/DSR backlash to collect $2.00. I probably wouldn't even risk it over a $20.00 difference.

To the OP: There are 3 possibilities: You may get away with creating just a slightly disgruntled buyer by charging an extra $2.00 and get your money as well as reasonable FB/DSRs; you may get your money but tick off the buyer enough for him to retaliate (as in: "What, she's invoicing me for a lousy $2.00?"); or you can pay the extra $2.00 yourself, let the buyer know you've paid it on his behalf, and make him happy all around. For me, the choice is a no-brainer; others may disagree.

This very scenario in fact happened to me recently. I had a buyer whose Paypal address was shown in the U.S., yet he was registered on eBay.ca. He had already paid, including the (discounted) flat rate shipping by Small Packet to the US. I sent him a nice email asking if he could confirm whether the US address was correct. His reply was that he maintained a US address for US purchases on eBay, and asked me to ship to his Canadian address. Before doing so, I checked it on Google and Canada 411 to make sure it actually existed and that his name was linked to the address, then I sent the parcel Expedited within Canada -- the item was too large for lettermail but would have fit Small Packet US, so I was out about $8.00. I sent a follow-up note to the buyer indicating that I'd shipped the item and that I'd paid the additional shipping charge at no cost to him. The result: glowing FB (and I assume the DSRs that went with it).

Now, there is the potential that this buyer has figured out how to work the system in order to force lower shipping rates, but I think that's very doubtful. Even if I suspected this, I would bite my tongue and smile knowingly (is it possible to do both those things at once???), but I'd still pay the additional postage on my dime.

One caution: if the new address given to you by the buyer is not yet shown for him on eBay (check your sales record) or Paypal (check the transaction record), then I'd be inclined to ship with delivery confirmation if the item is valuable. I know it's an added expense, but I generally don't like to ship to an address that isn't linked to Paypal.

One thing I might do in this situation is very nicely and politely remind the buyer to check that his address is current on both Paypal and eBay.

dipmicro · ‎09-25-2013

Tell buyer address change requires reinvoicing. If buyer leaves a negative for a problem they created, reply with facts, people read those replies. In a rare case the buyer goes nuts and argues or even harasses you, call Ebay and ask them to clean-up their own mess. Recently I only had positive professional CS from Ebay.

e_knny · ‎09-25-2013

thank you for your advice. I did email the buyer to confirm the address but never received a reply. I guess I will ship to his new address and absorb the cost difference myself. I don't understand why ebay allows this loophole in the first place

rose-dee · ‎09-25-2013

@e_knny wrote:
thank you for your advice. I did email the buyer to confirm the address but never received a reply. I guess I will ship to his new address and absorb the cost difference myself. I don't understand why ebay allows this loophole in the first place

I have to say that 'dipmicro's advice is sound only if you have the kind of large volume that can absorb a few bad DSRs/FB without too much concern. However, it looks as if you're still getting established in selling on eBay. One really nasty backlash from a buyer at this point could do some serious damage to your seller rating and take quite a long time to put behind you. Two such experiences could result in restrictions.

May I ask if the item is valuable? If it's worth less than, say $80 to $100, and you can afford to refund the buyer in the event it's not received, you can probably ship without delivery confirmation, but definitely don't use surface shipping. Small Packet (or Light Packet) Air is quite quick to the U.K.

By the way, you can specify in your listings that you will ship only to a Paypal confirmed address (which means the holder will have a current credit card linked to his address), and that may help to avoid this problem in the future.

rose-dee · ‎09-25-2013

@e_knny wrote:
I did email the buyer to confirm the address but never received a reply.

Remember to keep in mind how many times zones ahead the U.K. will be from where you are in Canada, combined with the time lag caused by personal schedules. When I was selling from Victoria, BC to Europe, I had to expect that I often might not get a reply until late the following day.

For example, if I emailed Europe in the evening my time, it was the middle of the night there -- many buyers wouldn't get a chance to check their personal emails until they get home after work the following day, at which time I'd still be at work, so it was regularly at least 24 hours to get a response.

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-25-2013

By the way, you can specify in your listings that you will ship only to a Paypal confirmed address (which means the holder will have a current credit card linked to his address), and that may help to avoid this problem in the future.

Putting that in your listing won't stop someone from purchasing an item whether or not they have a Paypal confirmed address and since it isn't required for seller protection. I don't recommend posting that. Also, North American addresses can be confirmed but many other countries can not so you could be eliminating many potential buyers.

I just checked a couple of payment emails I received from Paypal and there is no mention of whether or not an address is confirmed. Is that info even available now?

rose-dee · ‎09-25-2013

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
By the way, you can specify in your listings that you will ship only to a Paypal confirmed address (which means the holder will have a current credit card linked to his address), and that may help to avoid this problem in the future.

Putting that in your listing won't stop someone from purchasing an item whether or not they have a Paypal confirmed address and since it isn't required for seller protection. I don't recommend posting that. Also, North American addresses can be confirmed but many other countries can not so you could be eliminating many potential buyers.

I just checked a couple of payment emails I received from Paypal and there is no mention of whether or not an address is confirmed. Is that info even available now?

I didn't actually mean that a statement be put in the listing itself, but to choose it when preparing the listing (it stays in the background, but is supposed to block any buyer who isn't confirmed). I use this for higher value items to protect both myself and the buyer -- partly for the reasons the OP has run into. I do state it in these listings as well, but then I restrict my shipping to the US, UK, Europe, Australia and a few other "reliable" countries anyway. I probably am eliminating some potential buyers, but 95% of my sales are to the US in any event, and overseas sales tend to be more problematic and involve expensive shipping. I'm just as happy to avoid the less reliable areas.

I don't specify "Paypal confirmed" for many smaller, lightweight or less expensive items that can be shipped inexpensively and that I know I can refund easily if need be. I'm fairly sure Europeans can also be confirmed by Paypal (at least I know I've seen this for the items I've shipped to the UK and Europe on listings where I've specified 'Paypal confirmed" required).

I usually check the buyer's confirmed status on the Paypal transaction record -- if confirmed, it will be stated prominently at the top right of the record. Granted, I don't believe there is a way to check in advance -- for that I rely on the eBay/Paypal system to eliminate unconfirmed addresses.

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-26-2013

I didn't actually mean that a statement be put in the listing itself, but to choose it when preparing the listing (it stays in the background, but is supposed to block any buyer who isn't confirmed).

How do you block someone without a confirmed address? I've never noticed an option like that.

Still...I don't place too much faith in that preventing someone from having the wrong address in Paypal. Have you had to confirm your address every time you've moved? If not, then even if your address was the same on your Paypal account and credit card account when you were confirmed, it might not be the same now.