Shipping to a forwarding agent

[ontariosurpluscanada]

Hello, 

I am a fairly new seller on Ebay and I recently received a message from a potential buyer based in Australia ( I don't ship to Australia). He was wondering if I would ship to his forwarding agent in Portland Oregon. I am wondering if I should do this or not, and if so, what is the best way to go about it? FWIW he has been an Ebay member since 2006 and has 100% positive rating.

Thanks!

[tryubik-useonlyasdirected]

DISCLAIMER: This is not a scenario that I have dealt with personally and am unfamiliar with the eBay regulations detailing "middling" parties.

What type of intermediary is "forwarding agent"? Are they a large scale business re-shipper? Or are they a personal friend?

As a seller you are obliged to send the item to the address used on the order details. If an item is sent to an address other than this you may lose your seller protections. I do not know if the eBay and PayPal address are required to match or if the PayPal address has to be the shipment address for PP protection.

Re-Shippers: tend to purchase items on behalf of the buyer.

Personal Intermediary: this is entirely up to the buyer. If a buyer wants an item posted somewhere other than their current address that is their choice. They must purchase using the address you are to send the package. This then only offers an eBay Guarantee as far as the shipment and sale go between yourself and the address used.

As they have told you of their plans ahead of time, I suppose it is your own discretion. If you choose to go ahead I would clarify eBay's Conditions regarding purchase protection and that purchase itself be made with the Oregon address and that they are aware your only obligation is to get the package safely to the address used for purchase. After it arrives in Oregon it would be trust.

[ichopshop]

I ship to the address provided by the buyer in the sales record.  If that happens to be a forwarder, so be it.

Ian

[tyler@ebay · Accepted solution]

Hi @ontariosurpluscanada - just wanted to chime in and say that as long as you ship to the address the buyer inputs on their checkout page (with tracking) you are protected in the event that they claim they didn't receive it. 

When it comes to the use of forwarding agents, there's nothing against policy for you to send to them. In fact, the buyer is taking more risk at that point as they are not protected by the Money Back Guarantee if they use a forwarder. This, coupled with the fact that the buyer has been very up front about sending it to an agent says to me that the buyer is on the level.  

If you're interested in fulfilling this purchase please make sure to send this one with tracking.  🙂

[femmefan1946]

@tryubik-useonlyasdirected 

Forwarding agents are common in the USA because American sellers are so xenophobic and cannot cope with the idea of exporting their products.

So buyers sign a contract with an agent, usually on the coasts, who forward any purchases to the buyer and usually also deal with customs and sales taxes .

As long as the seller clearly states what the product is and where it was manufactured it's a smooth normal process.

If this sounds like eBay's Global Shipping Program that's because it is.

And before you get panicky, the GSP is popular because it takes most of the concerns of the terrified American seller out of his hands.

• The seller ships domestically with cheap domestic tracking.
• When tracking shows delivery to the forwarder, the seller's responsibility for delivery ends.
• The occasional 'customs' scam is averted, because those import fees are paid before the item is forwarded. (With the GSP before the seller ships)
• Not As Described disputes are lessened because much of the responsibility for secure packaging is taken on by the forwarder.

@ontariosurpluscanada 

Be sure you use a tracked service to the shipper. If you don't normally do this, give your Australian  buyer a firm quote on how much it would cost.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

If you don't have the zipcode or state for the forwarder use 90210 if you are in the East and 37188 if you are in the East.

[recped]

I have several repeat buyers from China who use the Portland forwarder.

I also ship to many other forwarders, never had an issue with any of them. Just make sure to include any "extra numbers" that may be part of the address as this is what identifies the buyer to the forwarder.

There are other companies out there that act as "agents", they actually buy under their id, you never have any contact with the actual buyer (user names like flighttoXXX or ShopAirlines) they will ask for the item number to be shown on the outside of the package.

[tryubik-useonlyasdirected]

@femmefan1946 Well put.

@ the fantastic forum community :

Is there a list somewhere of reputable re-shippers and their destinations?

And is it possible to suggest a re-shipper on a foreign order to help a buyer save on postage? (Or does eBay frown on this.)

[tyler@ebay]

Hi @tryubik-useonlyasdirected - I don't believe there is anything wrong with that per se, but I worry about the logistics.

Sharing address information prior to a buyer checking-out could trigger it for a review for any off-eBay sales attempts. Upon actual review a teammate would see what you were trying to do and there shouldn't be a problem. However, there's also a level of automation at play that would send messages to both parties advising not to take sales off the site. This could worry a buyer in this scenario, and lead to headaches for you. 

Alternatively you can exchange such details once a buyer has paid. However, at that point the address is set so there's not a way for you to get that information to them in a meaningful way.  

[reallynicestamps]

@tryubik-useonlyasdirected 

Reputable in what way?

As a seller, your responsibility for delivery ends at the forwarder's doorstep.

If you use tracking, that's the end of it.

Not As Described Disputes are also fewer, because most of the Money Back Guarantee provisions end when the reshipper sends the shipment to another address. Not your problem.

You can google any address,and you will find hysterical reviews of some reshippers. In my opinion, as a cynical and grouchy old woman, most of these are from xenophobic dimwits who can't understand that most people are honest.  Even foriegners. 

Which makes me wonder about their own honesty.

[zee-chan]

I can't speak from selling experience, but I use Japanese forwarders frequently as a BUYER because a lot of Japanese websites do not sell internationally, and I rarely have issues. It also helps me save postage because usually I group several orders into one large international order. I'd assume it's the same for your Australian buyer. 

There are the odd retailers who won't ship to forwarder addresses (I don't know why) so imo it's their loss.