New to selling - question about international buyers

sarahsar

sarahsar

O.G.
Sep 1, 2007
1,804
23
#1
I am currently trying to sell a bag on eBay. Although I have purchased many times, this is my first time selling a bag and I am a little nervous about all of this. I don't want to ship outside the US because of the issues that entails. I received a question from someone who seems very nice and has good feedback from the Philipines wanting to buy my bag. I said I don't ship outside of the US and she asked if I she could buy it but then have me send it to a friend of hers in the US who will be back in the Philipines later this month.

I've read enough on this forum to want to be very cautious about eBay transactions, even with people who seem on the up and up. My question is - is there any way to do this safely for me as a seller? I asked if her friend could pay with her own eBay/PayPal so that I can send it to her friend's confirmed address in the US, but apparently the friend doesn't have an eBay account.

My understanding is that I have no protection if I send it to any other address besides the PayPal confirmed address, right? If the buyer claims they didn't get it, then I would lose any chargeback dispute. Also, as a new seller I know they are likely to hold my funds for 21 days pending either positive feedback or delivery confirmation (they did this when I recently sold an electronics item of much lower retail value), and I wouldn't be able to have delivery confirmation if I don't send it to the right address. Am I understanding all of this correctly?

The only other thing I can think of is doing it off eBay, which I know eBay frowns strongly upon. As a buyer I would be very nervous about it, but what about as a seller? If the buyer paid me with her own PayPal account directly, could I ship to her friend's address, or would I still be out of luck with PayPal if there were a problem? I know at least I wouldn't have the 21 day hold issue that way.

I'm not eager to do this outside of eBay because I would like to build feedback. My only transaction thus far (the electronics one) went fine, but I had the luck of getting a buyer that has never left feedback for anyone, ever, in thousands of transactions. I was happy to get a good Buy It Now price for my item, so I can't complain, but it didn't do much to build seller feedback. Still, my main issue here is trying to get this item sold, but I want to do it as safely as possible.
 
#2
I am not sure what the issues are with shipping outside the US but I think it will much safer to ship straight to the Philippines via USPS EMS that provides tracking and delivery confirmation. BTW, Paypal does not require to have a confirmed address any more.
Good luck! :flowers:
 
#3
lightpinkdaisy said:
I am not sure what the issues are with shipping outside the US but I think it will much safer to ship straight to the Philippines via USPS EMS that provides tracking and delivery confirmation. BTW, Paypal does not require to have a confirmed address any more.
Good luck! :flowers:
Click to expand...

I didn't know PayPal didn't make you have confirmed addresses anymore. Do you know if you can still have seller protection if you ship to an alternate address that the buyer gives? (Obviously with signature, delivery confirmation, etc.)
 
#5
I sell once in a while and if I sold something to an international buyer, I made sure that it will only be shipped to the address given by Paypal. Made sure custom forms are properly filled up and I always declare the full value for insurance purposes.

In your case, if shipping to a different address aside from the one listed on Paypal, I wouldn't do it unless she will use a different from of payment other than Paypal.
 
#6
*ilovebrad* said:
I sell once in a while and if I sold something to an international buyer, I made sure that it will only be shipped to the address given by Paypal. Made sure custom forms are properly filled up and I always declare the full value for insurance purposes.

In your case, if shipping to a different address aside from the one listed on Paypal, I wouldn't do it unless she will use a different from of payment other than Paypal.
Click to expand...


...if your customer pays with cc, and anything goes wrong

she will file a chargeback faster than you can say it.. would

really suggest shipping to a confirmed pp address
 
#7
Don't do it!! I have people asking me all the time to ship to outside US and I say no, then they tell me they have a "friend" in the US I can ship to. The answer I give them is NO.

Think about it this way: if you agree and ship to this "friend" and this friend totally rips off the original buyer (uses the item, hold the item from the original buyer, damages it during this third party shipping), the original buyer is going to come after YOU for the problems. Know what I mean? Because you are selling it, you are responsible. If you agree to ship it to this friend, you are taking full responsibility for this friend's actions. Not wise.

And NEVER do it off of ebay either.
 
#8
Sarah.. if you are going to sell on ebay and accept PP payment, then you need to read the PP legal agreement that spells out what is required for seller protection. ONE very specific requirement is that you ONLY ship to the address on the PP transaction page. SO, the selling to the PH buyer and shipping to her friend in the US is (a) a big no-no and (b) not an uncommon scam. Do stay away from that mess.

I would suggest that if you are going to sell to this buyer in PH that you do some research about shipping to PH. You can search here on the ebay forum, or start a new thread if needed. PP will require you, as a seller, to provide online tracking and signature confirmation. You will also want to insure. SO, I would want to research PH shipping options to find out which would meet PP requirements and cost of same before I made any further committment. Be careful...
 
#9
sarahsar said:
I am currently trying to sell a bag on eBay. Although I have purchased many times, this is my first time selling a bag and I am a little nervous about all of this.

The key for the seller is to make sure the transaction is "eligible" for seller protection. All confirmed addresses (US, UK, Canada) are eligible. Many unconfirmed addresses are eligible as well but you won't know until after the buyer has paid. Suggestion: Tell the buyer to pay and if the address comes up "ineligible" tell her you will refund and cancel the transaction. No cost to either party.

I received a question from someone who seems very nice and has good feedback from the Philipines wanting to buy my bag. I said I don't ship outside of the US and she asked if I she could buy it but then have me send it to a friend of hers in the US who will be back in the Philipines later this month.

This is a red flag.

I asked if her friend could pay with her own eBay/PayPal so that I can send it to her friend's confirmed address in the US, but apparently the friend doesn't have an eBay account.

Another red flag.

My understanding is that I have no protection if I send it to any other address besides the PayPal confirmed address, right?

Doesn't have to be confirmed but does have to be "eligible" for seller protection.

If the buyer claims they didn't get it, then I would lose any chargeback dispute. Also, as a new seller I know they are likely to hold my funds for 21 days pending either positive feedback or delivery confirmation (they did this when I recently sold an electronics item of much lower retail value), and I wouldn't be able to have delivery confirmation if I don't send it to the right address. Am I understanding all of this correctly?

Yes

The only other thing I can think of is doing it off eBay, which I know eBay frowns strongly upon. As a buyer I would be very nervous about it, but what about as a seller? If the buyer paid me with her own PayPal account directly, could I ship to her friend's address, or would I still be out of luck with PayPal if there were a problem?

You could lose both a Paypal "item not received" or a credit chard chargeback.

I'm not eager to do this outside of eBay because I would like to build feedback. My only transaction thus far (the electronics one) went fine, but I had the luck of getting a buyer that has never left feedback for anyone, ever, in thousands of transactions. I was happy to get a good Buy It Now price for my item, so I can't complain, but it didn't do much to build seller feedback. Still, my main issue here is trying to get this item sold, but I want to do it as safely as possible.

Hang in there. Do it inside ebay. There are lots of great buyers out there. Good things will happen.
Click to expand...

Good luck.
 
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#10
I have a question about this (also am from the Philippines) - regarding PayPal addresses.

I used to buy stuff on eBay and have them shipped to my mail forwarder in the US, and so far haven't had problems. But I didn't know about this seller protection thing with PayPal.

I have two addresses on my PayPal account - my CC billing address (which I guess is the confirmed address) and the mail forwarder's addy which PayPal categorizes as a gift address.

So my question is - is the seller still protected if they ship to the gift address (which is listed on my PayPal account)?
 
#11
hazeru said:
I have a question about this (also am from the Philippines) - regarding PayPal addresses.

I used to buy stuff on eBay and have them shipped to my mail forwarder in the US, and so far haven't had problems. But I didn't know about this seller protection thing with PayPal.

I have two addresses on my PayPal account - my CC billing address (which I guess is the confirmed address) and the mail forwarder's addy which PayPal categorizes as a gift address.

So my question is - is the seller still protected if they ship to the gift address (which is listed on my PayPal account)?
Click to expand...

I would say YES, as long as the mail forwarder's addess is the addy shown on the PP transaction page, and PP page says transaction is fully eligible.
 
#13
Whether I'm shipping to a US buyer, or an International one, I state in my auctions up front that I don't deal with "3rd party" situations. I only ship to the address that is given in Paypal. Some International buyers can't get confirmed addresses, but as long as I ship to the Paypal address, then I'm covered. I've never had a problem...
 
#15
Sarah, this sounds like a scam that has happened too many times on here. Don't ever ship to an address other than what is listed on the Paypal details page and making sure that it says "Seller Protection: Eligible."

Unfortunately scammers are rampant and take advantage of trusting and often well-intentioned people. :sad:
 
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