buyer asks to send to a different person and address

[nutesstuff]

He won my item and asked to ship to a completely different person and address. Is it possible the buyer has made a side deal with another bidder on my item to keep the price down?

[momcqueen]

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wrote:
It's not that valuable but it sold for a lot less than expected. But you are right. they have no buyer protection and I will notify them of that the next time. Thanks.

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If I may, it's the SELLER that loses Seller Protection if they ship to an address not associated with the buyer's paypal account. The buyer loses nothing, they pay, they get delivery to the address that is associated with the payment or their money back.

Paypal's rules of Seller Protection require a seller to ship to the person who paid them, period. (And prove delivery but that's another kettle of fish.)  That's the reason there is some danger with doing the buyer a favour and shipping to Aunt Betty who's not listed as the buyer. But if the buyer is asking you ship a $5 book of needlepoint patterns to Aunt Betty, that's a certain level of risk against the buyer asking you to ship a $1000 iPhone to Skinny Pete at a different address. Get my meaning?

[forester_studios]

I have a buyer who wants me to ship to an address different from the one on the paypal payment.  Normally I would not be concerned, but they will not provide the name of the person at that address.  Does this seem odd to you folks?  I wonder if I'm being scammed?   She originally said she forgot to change the address when paying.  I sent 2 emails yesterday about her providing the persons name, but no response.   Wonder if I should just cancel and refund? 

[ricarmic]

It depends why they asked, it may still be them, they may have moved, or they may have two addresses (work and home, I have had customers sending their purchases to work so the homefront doesn't know!).

If they didn't say it was to a different person it could just be them still....hopefully they'll get back to you soon....

[forester_studios]

They are in BC and the other address is in Ontario.  They said it was a gift.

[ricarmic]

Hmm well a name would be good to have then.....odd that they haven't answered back....

[forester_studios]

Also the chain of emails they sent seemed a bit odd.  They bought the item and paid just after 7pm.  Then at 10:20 pm they emailed asking if it was too late to ship the item to another address.  I emailed them back 20 minutes later and told them I prefered to ship to the paypal address and could they send me more info.

I got no response until 9:18 the next morning when they sent the same email as they had sent at 10:20 the previous night asking if it was too late to ship the item to another address.  Then from 9:24 until 12:01 they sent a message 4 times saying it was their first time gifting through ebay and they forgot to set the address before finalinzing the order. 

The emails had an Ontario address but no name.  I sent them 2 emails yesterday one at 2:40 and another at 10:21 pm and have recieved no reply.  At this point I'm just getting annoyed.  These are the kind of buyers that can be a real pain.

[ricarmic]

Especially when they often are the smallest order of the day....

I'm perhaps forgetting my record details but I recall something like 21 questions were asked before the buyer purchased a $14.99 item.... 😞

[femmefan1946]

but they will not provide the name of the person at that address. ..Then from 9:24 until 12:01 they sent a message 4 times

Either the guy is terminally confused, or he is a scammer.

It won't get better.

If he has paid, refund and then cancel with the reason "problem with address", which is the "get out of jail free" excuse with no Defect attached.

If he hasn't paid, just cancel for address problem.

momcqueen-- My list of scammer pseudonyms is all the better now that Skinny Pete has joined Moose, Big Larry, and Guido the Knees.

[forester_studios]

Exactly!   It seems to always be the lower value items that attract the worst buyers.  The rare time I sell something for over a hundred dollars things always go smoothly.  It's the items under say $20 that can be a hassle.  By the way the item they bought is $7.99.  I'm tempted to just cancel and give the "buyer wants another address" as the reason.  The only problem is I'm concerned they might send negative feedback.

[forester_studios]

I might very well cancel.  They did pay, but I will just use the "problem with address" option.  Just worried about negative feedback as I got 1 last year (first in about 5 years) and am concerned it might look bad to buyers as it will drop my percentage.

[ricarmic]

I'm also compelled to remind us that sometimes the people just don't use/understand ebay well or at all.

I learned this first hand by talking with a buyer who's responses devolved to just single letters!

I got their phone number and called her her and it was a very nice old lady who's son originally purchased the item for her for her husband, while he was at her place, but now she was now flying on her own and really had no idea how the processes worked.

Fortunately I was able to look after things from my side and all worked out in the end.

If I had never called, I'd have assumed scammer etc too....

The suggestion to cancel for bad address is likely good, especially depending on how close it is to being "shipped late" as it is now...

[femmefan1946]

While feedback does still serve a public relations function, eBay no longer uses it as a metric for assessing seller accounts.

Your future buyers will mostly look at your percentage. Most of those will think 95% is an "A".

You can Respond to any feedback, indefinitely.

Usually it is not a good idea since it draws further attention to the neg.

[forester_studios]

Fortunately the buyer emailed me this afternoon with the name of the person she wanted it sent to.  I mailed it out this afternoon feeling fairly confident that she was possibly just a bit disorganized and not a scammer.  So everything looks like it will turn out ok.

You make a good point about feedback no longer counting against sellers as far as ebay is concerned.  Still like to keep it as high as possible for public relations sake.

Thanks to everyone for their helpful input, it is much appreciated.

[tyler@ebay]

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wrote:

He won my item and asked to ship to a completely different person and address. Is it possible the buyer has made a side deal with another bidder on my item to keep the price down?

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Hi @nutesstuff - just wanted to pop in and confirm that the information shared is great. @pjcdn2005 gave you a great rundown of what I'd expect you to be advised if you contacted Customer Service.

Official clarification here. While this is an eBay.com page, the information would be treated the same for a transaction on eBay Canada.

When it comes to PayPal protection, I can't speak to their processes. They don't have access to eBay messages, so the protection may not be the same.

Keep us posted if you run into anything else!

[nutesstuff]

The strange thing is he will not reply whether the person received the item or not. Thanks for all the replies!!!

[nutesstuff]

Does feedback count against a buyer? Now I have a buyer who hasn't paid in 5 days. I have emailed him 5 times.

[nutesstuff]

If he hasn't paid why wouldn't you notify ebay as a problem buyer?

[ypdc_dennis]

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@brianmood47 wrote:

Does feedback count against a buyer? Now I have a buyer who hasn't paid in 5 days. I have emailed him 5 times.

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Then you follow procedure and open an Unpaid-Item-Dispute. If the buyer still does not pay, you close the dispute after 4 days. You get your Final Value Fees refunded, and the buyer gets a black mark (2 or more black marks in a year make it more difficult to bid or buy).

[ypdc_dennis]

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wrote:

If he hasn't paid why wouldn't you notify ebay as a problem buyer?

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The Unpaid-Item-Dispute will do that.

[femmefan1946]

You only need to notify him once.
Politely.
Then go to the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page.
That whole process is mechanized and very efficient.