eBay Sellers: Do you ship to unregistered addresses?
 

I was just wondering how other eBay Sellers handle the following scenario.

Buyer wins an item and then pays for it. Shortly after paying, they ask me to send to a different address from what they registered on eBay.

My response was that if you want me to send to a different address, then you must change it on your eBay account. I will NOT send it to an unregistered address.

Buyer then cancelled his transaction instead of updating his address.

I will never ship to an address that is not registered with the buyers account. Simple reason, If buyer claims that item was not delivered, eBay will not protect the Seller because tracking says that it was not shipped to registered address.

Just wondering whether other Sellers have risked shipping to an unregistered address.

My advice is to not do it.

Nope - I wont do it

Classic Scam

^^THIS^^ Do not send to a unregistered address.

Hell no
 

Hell no

Never. I've had people ask before and always said no.

Agreed. Definitely not through eBay. I will in some cases ask if I’m doing a private transaction (like BST here...) if the address they want shipped to and the PayPal address does not match up, but I always point out to the buyer that they will not be covered by PayPal if I don’t send to the address on file. Many times this prompts them to fix the address.


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In general I'd say no, however, I have made exceptions for people I actually know and trust and they have a good reason.

Like they don't want to let their wife know what they bought.:D I think most of us have been there at least once.

I have a couple International customers who ship to U.S. addresses, who seem to change their preferred address all the time in their settings, who have to be reminded occasionally to flip their settings back to their U.S. address, if that's where they actually want it shipped.

I won't ship it there otherwise.

It's good to see that we are all on the same page. The only time I have done it when it's a customer that has been with me for awhile or somebody that I know.

I have also heard the excuse many times that the buyer does not want their wife to know. If they are hiding this from their spouse, I can't imagine what else they might be hiding.:eek:

Nope
 

with you all the way

NEVER!!!

Anyone who doesn't want to have a properly registered shipping address with eBay is trolling for stupid or naïve sellers he can rip off.

As a buyer in Canada, I have asked sellers if they would ship to our company's US address, or to a friend. Some will do it and some won't.

This request is especially true if:

• The seller only ships to the continental US
• The seller uses the Global Shipping (ripoff) program

When I have asked, there is nothing nefarious in my request.

I often get asked to send to a different address but I respond and tell them I ONLY ship to the registered address that eBay provides. If they don't like that I just tell them to either have eBay change it or I can cancel the order. No big deal either way.

e bay confirmed vs non confirmed
 

Always ship to confirmed address, a buyer can amend their shipping address thru system and if he waits till last minute, well, thats their fault...in case of someone moving, I have changed the shipping address but must be formally requested & e mailed thru e bay system clearly and before I package item so there is a paper trail.

Before immediately dismissing the buyer as a scammer, I'd suggest reviewing their feedback. If they're a longtime eBay member with a healthy feedback number standing at 100%, I really don't think there's anything to worry about. I certainly wouldn't suggest doing this with a high dollar item, but please don't sweat the small stuff. If their feedback checks out, the odds of them wishing to rip you off over a $10 purchase are practically nil. I've been in the same position as Bob mentioned above. Help your friendly brothers to the north!

I have grading customers who are located in Canada that have their purchases shipped directly to me instead of to them. This allows them to send all of their purchases to me, have them graded, and then I can ship them back to them in bulk instead of the other way around. Definitely both a money and time saver for them. I'm not aware of if they've changed their eBay address to my shipping address or not so I can't speak to that.

Generally, it's not good practice to send anything out to someone outside of the address listed on eBay or PayPal so do so at your own risk. Regardless of that, I'd definitely make sure it was being signed for so at the very least you have something to fall back on in regards to both the request and it being signed for.

Many years ago when I was avidly collecting Olympic autographs I had built quite a network of collector friends around the world. I remember a trading partner from Latvia would have tons of stuff shipped to my house that he won on American ebay, and then I would bulk package a month or two worth of ebay wins into one package for him. I know that I was not his registered address.

Again, as said earlier, I think you have to look at the item and the buyer. If I am selling a $500 item, no way I am shipping it unregistered. If it is a $25 item to a person with glowing 1000+ feedback I feel pretty confident that it will be ok.

I'm almost in total agreement with you, Sam. It's nice to read someone who shares these feelings. All of these points are personal preference, of course, but I'd be comfortable with even a spotless buyer feedback rating in the hundreds. That's a pretty standup track record to me.

I also have to agree with Sam, who also used to buy from me when I was actively selling on ebay. I have a friend in Switzerland who buys signed photos of Olympians and Tennis players on ebay and in U.S. auctions. He has them shipped to me. The reason: Swiss customs is a bitch. They know him and check every single package he receives and holds it until he comes to retrieve it and pay the possible duties. When it arrives I can hold it until we see each other when I make my annual trip to Europe or I can mail it to him with a letter from me saying that I met the person and got an extra one for him. The ebay sellers also charge much lower postage to send to me rather than overseas. Swiss customs is so bad that they sit outside of the post offices across the border in Germany and stop Swiss citizens who are trying to mail packages and avoid customs. It happened to my friend when he had a consignment package to send to a German auction house and they stopped him outside the building.

Thanks!!! Anyone who checks my eBay rating (same name) can tell I am a fast payer, regardless of the cost. I will also take it on the chin when it's on me.

For example... A couple of months ago I won a bobblehead doll. GOt it shipped to my work mate in Houston, and it arrived. I subsequently left the company on account of illness (I was sick of them, and they were sick of me). Had my Houston friend ship it to someone else in my (old) office. It's disappeared. A $300 hit.

I'm not leaving negative feedback, or complaining on these boards. It's all on me. Totally my loss, in an effort to save almost $100 shipping.

Further, if I am buying a 4 figure item, I will always pay the exorbitant shipping to ensure I get the item.

non confirmed addresses
 

If a seller wants to take a risk on a low priced item, I can understand that but why cant a buyer just amend his mailing address, it takes a few minutes and can be changed back..Sellers already have to take back items uncondionally within 30 days and thats fine but a buyer that cannot provide a confirmed address even if they moved, well that is just not reasonable...If you live in Canada but have a friend that will take the item in the USA, change the confirmed address thru system..its so easy..

Also labels automatically get printed thru system of address on file, that confirmation is important for e bay and paypal transactions... o/w a seller must manually issue a label which takes extra time and also can have errors.

Sidebar:

In the past 6 months or so I've discovered more and more eBay sellers won't ship to PO boxes. It's only happened with sports cards a couple of times, but with other products (especially electronics) I'll have to go through multiple listings before I find one that will ship to PO boxes. There won't be anything listed on the item page, but when I go to check out it won't let me complete payment and states "buyer does not ship to PO boxes." What gives?

Perhaps cost......Recently I sold an autographed basketball to a customer in California. Cost to deliver via Priority Mail was approx $43 & via Fed Ex about $22. My lucky day as the buyer provided a street address - Fed Ex will not deliver to PO Boxes. This could be the reasoning, especially for items larger than sports cards.

Many sellers who primarily ship larger or heavier items use carriers other than USPS as a default. Many of these carriers will not deliver to a P.O. Box, hence the message. In some cases, you may be able to enter the street address of the post office your box is at, and enter the box number as a "Unit #" to get them to deliver it, but I have found this to be a little hit-and-miss, and occasionally have to make an extra trip to the carrier's local hub to pick up a package the driver refused to deliver to the P.O.