posted on January 24, 2007 07:15:27 AM new
Here is a message I received:
Hi! I have a confirmed address (NJ,07---) listed with PayPal but would like this item to be shipped to my UNCONFIRMED SINGAPORE ADDRESS WHICH IS ALSO LISTED WITH PAYPAL. I have 3 shipping addresses listed with PayPal but they only allow one confirmed address. Kindly advise if you will ship this item to my UNCONFIRMED SINGAPORE ADDRESS BY USPS AIRMAIL LETTER/PARCEL POST. If willing to do so, kindly let me know the cost. Please refer to my 100% positive feedback and note that I have done this many times without any problem. I look forward to your reply. Thank you for your kind attention.
I replied:
Hi, I am sorry, if you use PayPal, you must have a confirmed address for shipping. I could ship to your NJ address and you could reship to Singapore or you could send a money order in US dollars, thanks for the interest.
posted on January 24, 2007 07:44:24 AM new
Seems to me I've had this before also. What's his profile like? See how many unique sellers he's paid. If it's stellar, I'd ship.
Which brings me to asking since I've been wondering -- how many of you have actually been burned by shipping to unconfirmed address? I do believe it depends on what you sell, but for general collectibles, antiques, paper etc., has this really really ever been a problem?
posted on January 24, 2007 07:56:33 AM new
How much is the item WORTH?
What is yer RISK TOLERANCE level?
If ye ship to SINGAPORE, & the deal goes into da toilte, ye be the one holding the bag, as you will NOT be covered under PP's SELLERS UN-PROTECTION POLICY...
posted on January 24, 2007 08:15:19 AM new
So my question, and sorry to hickjack this thread, is, so HOW have you in fact been protected or un-protected under the PP policy?
posted on January 24, 2007 08:15:31 AM new
why dont you ask why he has so many shipping addresses?
I think you handled it well,money order if Singapore else confirmed address only.
Let him figure how to ship it from NJ to wherever!
I was burnt once by someone in Spain who claimed he did not recieve the items.
Also when I first open my shop in cyberspace,I have Indonesians claiming they are in Singapore and ordered from me,their addess is Indonesian with a country code of ID but country is Singapore.
It turns out that Singapore post office will forward the mail,sometimes but not all the times.
They also can claim they are in Australia ,Nigerian would claim they are in Norway and the private carriers like UPS and Fed exp offices in Norway or Australia would forward the packages and turn around and slap extra charge on the shipper.
[ edited by hwahwa on Jan 24, 2007 08:19 AM ]
posted on January 24, 2007 09:11:12 AM new
Or return it to you and charge you the return fee (Fedex will do this if you don't tell them to abandon the item) - and of course then the buyer can do a claim with PP and get all their money back. You have the item but it cost you 2x shipping for nothing.
Ditto what Tom said.
birgittaw - Paypal seller protection is almost zero - only works for the seller in rare cases.
posted on January 24, 2007 09:14:10 AM new
Birgittaw--I've shipped to numerous unconfirmed addresses in the past with no problem at all, no scams, no repercussions. In the last year I've started e-mailing the buyer about the discrepancy in the addresses given (by eBay and then PayPal); they've told me to send to the unconfirmed address, and I have.
That said, most of the items are low cost; I'd have to think twice if an item brought more than $100 or so.
_____________________
A person who is nice to you but rude to a waiter is not a
nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) ~Dave Barry
posted on January 24, 2007 09:23:30 AM new
My rule of thumb is if it's over $50 and can be shipped for under $10 - I will take a chance and as Roadsmith said it works out 99 1/2% of the time. It's a business risk.
If it is over $50 or shipping is high - I look at the buyer very closely. I have it in my TOS that I take paypal at my option.
posted on January 24, 2007 09:25:50 AM new
Thanks Roadsmith, that's what I was wondering -- not what PP on the one hand, and horror stories on the other say, but actual experience.
I have shipped like you do for years, but like you, most of the time under $100. And I've had a few issues as a buyer, but frankly, got no "protection" other than through my credit card.
If you sell, be it on eBay, a B&M store, or a show, you're always at risk. The hazard of doing business, and something you need to factor into your cost equation regardless.
In the case of the Singapore address, it's a hard call without having the bidder's info and profile on hand. Sometimes I think we're just all a bit too cautious and paranoid, which is why I was asking how many times you actually had a problem. Kinda like taking checks -- I have NEVER in 10 years had a check bounce on ebay. Never.
posted on January 24, 2007 09:37:36 AM new
I firmly believe that it all comes down to WHAT SORTS of items you sell--what categories. In books and collectibles, I've had no problems to speak of. The few times I've branched out into "guy stuff," "young man stuff," I've found that (1) the majority of them don't answer e-mails; (2) their payment is late; or (3) I've had to send many reminders about payment and contacting me, the seller. My picture of them is that they buy something on eBay and then go back to their video games. . . .
_____________________
A person who is nice to you but rude to a waiter is not a
nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) ~Dave Barry
posted on January 24, 2007 09:39:23 AM new
Thanks for all the advice and info. His feedback is 100%. He has been on Ebay since 11/01. There is no way that I know of to check whether any of these items were shipped to Singapore or NJ. I do not know what the final value of the item will be since it is a new listing and no bids have been place.(I do not think it will be that high) He asked this prior to bidding and I guess I would rather avoid the intrique and research. If you are registered in the US and have a Paypal account tied to a NJ address, my opinion is have it sent to NJ and you, the buyer, make arrangements for the item to be shipped overseas.
That said, I have shipped to unconfirmed addresses, only after an explanation: ie, work address, no one home, my sister wants this, etc. I have never had any problems, but have always made the buyer include insurance and I had DC.
posted on January 24, 2007 09:43:30 AM new
Roadsmith, I agree, the only bounced check I had and it was for over $600 was for a Star Wars figure. We had just taken it to the PO, after checking with the bank that the check had cleared (the bank said there were no uncleared checks, but they were looking at the wrong account!!)luckily my husband knows the people at the PO and they retreived the package, we were out the postage, but better that than the merchandise. The check was never made good. I still have it as a reminder!!
posted on January 24, 2007 12:16:27 PM new
merrie replied: Hi, I am sorry, if you use PayPal, you must have a confirmed address for shipping. I could ship to your NJ address and you could reship to Singapore or you could send a money order in US dollars, thanks for the interest.
That is the correct response and very professional I might add.
What do you think, is this some kind of scam?
No, despite it proximity to that hotbed of fraud Singapore is quite a nice city/state. However, as eBay/PayPal accounts do get hijacked, coupled with PayPal's policy of automatically refunding buyers until seller is proven innocent, leaves you no choice but to say "Thanks, but no."
posted on January 24, 2007 02:12:53 PM new
birgittaw,
This is close to what you were asking:
It happened to my EX-partners before I became involved with them (I'm much too paranoid to ship to unconfirmed addresses; I've probably lost a few thousand in business due to my policy, but no outright theft ).
They shipped a $900 watch to someone who had excellent feedback who sent a very well-written email asking that the watch go to his work address rather than his home address, valuable item, worried about being left on his doorstep, etc. Well, they thought that they were covering themselves by requiring a signature, but the deliberations following the "Item Not Received" dispute were very quick: Did you ship to a confirmed address? No? Refund granted. NEXT!
By the way, did I mention that they were EX-partners?
I'll grant that this isn't the same as it happening to me, but it isn't as removed as the girlfriend of my next door neighbor's dog walker
[ edited by cashinyourcloset on Jan 24, 2007 02:13 PM ]
posted on January 24, 2007 03:54:09 PM new
Got an almost identical email last week about one of my items about shipping to Canada address was confirmed but wanted it shipped to US to his other address. I told him due to PP rules that shipping could only be to confirmed address but I am amazed at the almost identical wording of your email and the one I got. I did not get a bid from him and I was not worried about that either sounded too fishy to me for some reason.
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