Unconfirmed Paypal address - What to do?

mockinglee

mockinglee

Piemaker
O.G.
May 17, 2007
6,331
16
#1
I'm new to selling on eBay and I've got a situation on my hands. Looking for some advice!

I put a bag up for auction and it sold. After reading all the horror stories here and guidelines for sellers, I stated explicitly in my auction terms that I would ship only to confirmed and verified Paypal addresses and that I would only ship within the U.S. A buyer contacted me asking if it was ok to bid even though she lived in the UK, if she had a forwarding address in the US. I told her it was ok, as long as her shipping address was confirmed. She bids and ends up winning my bag, pays right away.

Well, I take a look at the Paypal payment and of course, her shipping address is UNCONFIRMED. :Push: I sent her a message asking about it and she replied that Paypal would not verify because her credit card billing address is registered in the UK.

So...what to do now? Even though I would ship with tracking and insurance I would not be protected if anything should happen and she claimed she didn't get the package right?

And if I decided I'm uncomfortable with shipping and refunded her money, what would I do about the auction? Is there a way to "cancel" a transaction or would feedback reflect the "failed" auction? And would there be a way for her to leave feedback about it if she's upset?

Thanks for any advice!
 
#3
I should add that the buyer has a low number, but 100% positive feedback, and she's bought similar items from sellers who also had confirmed-only, no international policies. Dunno how she convinced them to ship.
 
#4
I would ship it with signature required as well as tracking and insurance, of course. I shipped to unconfirmed addresses before and never have had any issues with buyers.
 
#5
I would make an exception to ship outside the US this time and tell her to confirm her UK address. You'll have Paypal protection if you ship to a confirmed address even if it's outside the US. It will be easier for the package to get lost in the mail if it goes to a parcel forwarding service - there's twice the processing involved there. Really the simplest thing is to ship it directly to her in the UK and make sure you get her signature on the delivery.
 
#6
Ugh...I reeeeeally don't want to have to ship to the UK. I guess that's a possible alternative to canceling the auction and relisting, but I'll have to think about it.

Is there a way of blocking people with unconfirmed addresses from bidding?
 
#7
mockinglee said:
Ugh...I reeeeeally don't want to have to ship to the UK. I guess that's a possible alternative to canceling the auction and relisting, but I'll have to think about it.

Is there a way of blocking people with unconfirmed addresses from bidding?
Click to expand...

You cannot block them from bidding, but you can block them from paying.

It's done in your PayPal settings.

Under "My Account", click on "Profile"
Then, under "Selling Preferences", you can then select "Payment Receiving Preferences"
The very first section refers to blocking payments from bidders with unconfirmed addresses, make sure the "Yes" bubble is selected. Then go down and Save it!

Done! :tup:
 
#8
^THANK YOU! I'm going to go do this right away.

Now, since the buyer has already paid for the item, can she give me negative feedback if I refund her money and refuse to ship? I have such little feedback I might take the risk just to NOT get a negative.
 
#9
^Yes she can. It sucks but thats Ebay:tdown:

However, if in the event she leave negative feedback, you can reply with something descriptive and informative that basically says you only sell to those with confirmed addresses and that way in the future, people will know that she left you mean spirited feedback, kwim?
 
#10
^Ah GUNGer and Bertha! I feel better already :smile:

Grrrr....this is stressing me out. It's not anything too expensive, under $200, I might just take the risk and send. Yeesh. Good thing this is the LAST thing I have to sell for now (possibly for-EVER).
 
#11
I live in Sweden and have bought over 600 items from all over the wourld whitout any problem. I sometimes get the question about my unconfirmed address, I can´t confirmed it at PayPal. I don´t think you should be any worried at all about it, it is as she say. She live in the U.K. if she have some positive feedback she probobly is a great buyer.
To block some people to put a bidd can realy be stupied. I have seen so many nice thigs go for mutch mutch less that i have been willing to give, just because sellers has block forenget to put a bidd. the tast is very difftent around the wourld and a bag that just cost $15 in U.S. can some one in Sweden bee willing to give $100 fore.

(sorry about my spelling):Push:
 
#12
Get her to confirm her UK address, then ship there directly (instead of a US rerouting address). Paypal confirms USA, UK and Canada addresses. For buyers from other countries, I'll ship even if they don't have a confirmed address (since Paypal can't confirm them at all) so long as I'm comfortable with their ebay feedback. But for USA, UK and Canada buyers who don't have confirmed addresses, this raises a red flag for me.
 
#14
Ok, update. I finally decided to go ahead and take the chance and send, but when I went to print the shipping label, the buyer's address came up as confirmed! So...all good right? I shipped on Wednesday and today the buyer has already received it and left positive feedback. :shocked: Wow, that is a FAST forwarding service she's got to the UK! :thinking:

So I guess...yay?
 
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