eBay

33nhl · ‎04-11-2017

Just got a winning buyer on an item

His profiles says he is in czech republic but has usa mailing address to ship his items to

COMC.com Mailboxes so is this legal or not

Has any one come across this and this is the first time that I see on the invoice ebay check out has a USA mailing address but the buyer is registered as living in czech republic.

Im considering cancelling the transaction sounds fishy to me to send cards to USA address mean while the buyer is in czech republic

Any info input much appreciated on this subject

thanks

thestuffofchris · ‎04-11-2017

Your buyer is most likely using a freight forwarder, which is a company that people use to order online from sellers (not just on eBay) that don't normally sell to their location.

For example, I have used a freight forwarder in Japan to purchase select collector's items that are normally only sold in Japan. I place the order with the company, they place the order on my behalf, they receive it, and then ship it to me. I pay for the items (plus any shipping costs they incur, though I tend to find domestic shipping in Japan is usually free), shipping from the freight forwarder to myself, and a small fee for their service.

musicyouneed · ‎04-11-2017

I have had many buyers from countries I don't ship to have a US address, it is very common for me.

momcqueen · ‎04-11-2017

Ship with tracking and don't worry any more about it.

Buyers outside of North America commonly have USA-based Shipping Addresses.

ypdc_dennis · ‎04-11-2017

@33nhl wrote:
... His profiles says he is in czech republic but has usa mailing address to ship his items to
COMC.com Mailboxes so is this legal or not
...I'm considering cancelling the transaction sounds fishy to me to send cards to USA address mean while the buyer is in czech republic

Nothing illegal. But you may want tracking to prove the freight forwarding company received the purchase.

Using a freight forwarding company (or a relative/friend) is one way frequent buyers outside USA/Canada can trim shipping costs and save $$$.

-,,-

cumos55 · ‎04-11-2017

Buyer identifies a primary shipping address on eBay, and that becomes the address on Paypal.

The Paypal address can not be changed.... cannot be edited.....

A seller's responsibility ends when the item is delivered to the address specified on Paypal.

I have had a buyer in the UK have me ship a book to a Canadian address.

Also.. Buyer in Israel had me ship to his friend in the US... and then the purchase went to Israel...

femmefan1946 · ‎04-12-2017

Actually, eBay runs its own freight forwarding service that is chosen by many US and UK sellers.

It's called the Global Shipping Program.

US Sellers ship to the GSP plant in Kentucky and there their responsibility for delivery ends.

The GSP also charges a fee to the buyer that covers any applicable duty and sales tax the destination country may charge, as well as a small service fee of about $5 USD.

So go ahead and ship.

If you still feel a bit nervous, use Google Maps to take a look at the US address.

Chances are it's in a strip mall or industrial park. You could also look the company's reputation up on the Better Business Bureau site for the local area.

33nhl · ‎04-12-2017

Thanks for the input

I have looked into this company that the buyer is using and its

COMC com mailboxes

and what this company does is actually opens the packages upon request from the buyer on a monthly bases charges a fee to the buyer and they say they make a video of the contents from each package once they open for the buyer, then they charge him/her a flat rate and they ship the items to his/her home mailing address.

I feel this should be a red flag process that ebay should look at or even paypal as my concern would be that when a package or parcel is received at the COMC com Mailboxes and its contents opened and filmed/shown to the buyer, then they the COMC.com Mailboxes facility mess up in its storage ect or when it repackages with other items for that buyer then mails it to the buyer over seas and it goes missing or it arrives damaged, who is then on the hook for the mess up.

This is my first coming across this type of method for shipping and althought its for a 10.00 card will be my first and last of accepting an mailing address as such

Cause once again the any item arrives nicely and timely at the COMC com Mailboxes but they mess up after opening or shipping im still on the hook for any wrong doings of COMC com Mailboxes

Even more the site states that they will open the package tell the buyer a brief discreption of what contents was inside but wont tell the buyer if they see its damaged or not, thus they open a package its good they mess up after and the sellers pays for someone else wrong doings. Ebay and Paypal should definitely look into this and RED FLAG this method.

recped · ‎04-12-2017

Eligibility for buyer protection either via eBay's Money Back Guarantee or PayPal's Buyer Protection program ends when a package has been forwarded.

Buyers may still be able to open claims but sellers can win any such claims. It is especially easy when a buyer is registered in one country but uses a shipping address in another country and that address is identifiable as a mail forwarding company.

If you have every shipped a parcel to Doral FL, Long Beach CA or Jamaica NY it's quite possible you made a sale though a mail forwarder and didn't realize it.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

ypdc_dennis · ‎04-12-2017

@33nhl wrote:
I have looked into this company that the buyer is using and its COMC com mailboxes and what this company does is actually opens the packages upon request from the buyer on a monthly bases charges a fee to the buyer and they say they make a video of the contents from each package once they open for the buyer, then they charge him/her a flat rate and they ship the items to his/her home mailing address.

I feel this should be a red flag process that ebay should look at or even paypal as my concern would be that when a package or parcel is received at the COMC com Mailboxes and its contents opened and filmed/shown to the buyer, then they the COMC.com Mailboxes facility mess up in its storage ect or when it repackages with other items for that buyer then mails it to the buyer over seas and it goes missing or it arrives damaged, who is then on the hook for the mess up.

Cause once again the any item arrives nicely and timely at the COMC com Mailboxes but they mess up after opening or shipping im still on the hook for any wrong doings of COMC com Mailboxes

Not according to an eBay buyer on the forums of blowoutcards:

"When COMC received the envelope, it was open and empty. They sent me pictures and advised that it looks like it wasn't properly sealed. I opened an Ebay dispute and it was closed within a couple of hours and I was told that I won't be getting a refund. The reason? Using a third party consignment service VOIDS any buyer protection!! Wow was I shocked."

...

ricarmic · ‎04-12-2017

@33nhl wrote:
Thanks for the input
I have looked into this company that the buyer is using and its
COMC com mailboxes

and what this company does is actually opens the packages upon request from the buyer on a monthly bases charges a fee to the buyer and they say they make a video of the contents from each package once they open for the buyer, then they charge him/her a flat rate and they ship the items to his/her home mailing address.

I feel this should be a red flag process that ebay should look at or even paypal as my concern would be that when a package or parcel is received at the COMC com Mailboxes and its contents opened and filmed/shown to the buyer, then they the COMC.com Mailboxes facility mess up in its storage ect or when it repackages with other items for that buyer then mails it to the buyer over seas and it goes missing or it arrives damaged, who is then on the hook for the mess up.

This is my first coming across this type of method for shipping and althought its for a 10.00 card will be my first and last of accepting an mailing address as such

Cause once again the any item arrives nicely and timely at the COMC com Mailboxes but they mess up after opening or shipping im still on the hook for any wrong doings of COMC com Mailboxes

Even more the site states that they will open the package tell the buyer a brief discreption of what contents was inside but wont tell the buyer if they see its damaged or not, thus they open a package its good they mess up after and the sellers pays for someone else wrong doings. Ebay and Paypal should definitely look into this and RED FLAG this method.

This was actually informative, I didn't even know there was such a process.

I all the time have buyers with different country of registration vs where the item is shipped. (I sell stamps, I have no blocks to any countries sold to 55 different countries last year and I have a very low loss rate - there's a separate thread I post each year with my self insurance statistics if you want to see the details).

I ship to the paypal address and worry no more (normally I wouldn't even notice the country of registration being different as I don't pay attention to it).

I know I have several buyers who are using forwarding companies, or perhaps something like this because some of them have told me what they use is expensive.

I don't care if they're using a forwarding company. If there is a loss, for an item this size, it falls under my self insurance (aka cookie jar insurance). Only if I began to lose a number of items to forwarding companies would I begin to investigate ways to protect myself.

momcqueen · ‎04-12-2017

We had a lively discussion on eBay Canada on this topic recently: http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Is-this-true-I-found-it-on-the-com-board-re-forwarding-co...

zee-chan · ‎04-12-2017

I'm not familiar with COMC but I use freight forwarder all the time when I buy from Japan. It's not uncommon practice for freight forwarder to take videos of them opening the package for the buyer but I have never used such service because I feel it is not necessary for me to watch my items get unpackaged (extra fees with the video request) and I only buy from established sellers. I think the video recording is only necessary if the buyer is getting something very expensive and rare... are you selling something to the Czech buyer that's very expensive and rare?

zee-chan · ‎04-13-2017

@33nhl wrote:

...then they the COMC.com Mailboxes facility mess up in its storage ect or when it repackages with other items for that buyer then mails it to the buyer over seas and it goes missing or it arrives damaged, who is then on the hook for the mess up...

I just reread your post so I'm gonna add to my above comment.

In my opinion you are overthinking / worrying too much about COMC potentially messing up your package. I see no red flags myself and as I mentioned above there are Japanese mail forwarders that will do video request for a small fee as well (which I deem a waste of my money). A good mail forwarder will make sure they do not mess up the items they forward, because that means they are going to kill their own business as the buyers would not be happy to see their repackaged goods damaged. It would be in a freight forwarder's BEST INTEREST to ensure they have repackaged the items properly before shipping it to their customer, so that said customer will use them again.

The mail forwarder I use DO open my packages, get rid of the excess packaging, and then repackage them appropriately, using just the right amount of bubble wrap so that I'm not paying shipping on excess packaging. For example, if I bought 15 books from 5 different sellers, these 15 books can be packaged all together and wrapped with only one big sheet of bubble envelope rather than 5 different sheets. and in one big box. It takes less space and cheaper to ship, and I obviously do not need the used envelopes from the original sellers.

As for ebay seller responsibility, as others have mentioned above, your responsibility as a seller ends when your item reaches the freight forwarder, as buyer protection only covers up until that point. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't sell to someone using a freight forwarder again unless you get an actual problem with this sale. Heck, the Japanese websites I use (ships domestically only) even have ads for freight forwarders... so they do welcome international business; they just doesn't want to be the one dealing with the international shipping part of it.