Ebay Buyer Sales Tax Scheme Headache!

[BobC]

Originally Posted by nwobhm

A smart tax cheat would submit a mail forward with the USPS.... I suspect there was more going on there.

Maybe, but then the person trying to get around the sales tax would have to have an actual address in a non-sales tax state to use for the USPS to forward from. Not sure that would work for a fake, made-up address, and if he used a real address, that could cause problems by having all mail forwarded from that address, not just the packages for cards he was buying.

I guess he/she could go rent an address at some mail place, or even rent a P.O. Box, but they'd have to pay money for that, which kind of defeats the purpose for dodging the sales tax to begin with, right? Also, a USPS forwarding request isn't permanent. I think it may last for 6 months, not certain though. So what would they do if the forwarding unexpectedly expired and their package went to an address it wasn't supposed to? And if someone kept trying to make continuing forwarding requests for the same address every time they expired, couldn't that draw some unwanted scrutiny from the USPS? And even if they had a friend/relative living in a non-sales tax state willing to receive packages for them, they'd have to spend more postage to get them forwarded, which again defeats the original purpose of not paying the sales tax.

Not sure what else this person could be doing, besides getting out of the sales tax. If you're suggesting they may have been trying to do something like change the address and then file a claim with Ebay for not receiving their purchase, they seller has their emails asking for the shipping change to back them up. That is exactly why I recommended that when the seller notifies them that he was thinking of reporting what they did, that he offer them the chance to contact and explain to him what happened first, on the slim off-chance there is a legit reason for what the buyer did. Not sure what other nefarious things you think this buyer could have been up to.

[nwobhm]

Or put a physical address on file of a known business.... say a hotel. They receive mail for guests all the time. Scamming addresses doesn't take a whole lot of thought. I have seen a good number of mail scams over the years. They usually start with an address change.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by nwobhm

Or put a physical address on file of a known business.... say a hotel. They receive mail for guests all the time. Scamming addresses doesn't take a whole lot of thought. I have seen a good number of mail scams over the years. They usually start with an address change.

I don't doubt it!

It just seems like sooooo much work and effort by the buyer in the OP's case to save a few dollars on sales tax. Why bother going to all that technically illegal hassle and trouble for less than $10? Unless.......maybe the buyer didn't want the purchase after all, and thought this might be a way to get the seller to drop it and get out of it without a non-payer black mark?

[nwobhm]

I was thinking more along the lines of the buyer was looking to get the entire purchase for free.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by nwobhm

I was thinking more along the lines of the buyer was looking to get the entire purchase for free.

I understand, but thought I addressed that when I mentioned in an earlier post how the seller would have the buyer's email as evidence to show Ebay he requested the address change.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by BobC

I understand, but thought I addressed that when I mentioned in an earlier post how the seller would have the buyer's email as evidence to show Ebay he requested the address change.

Problem would be that after eBay turned down the buyer, the buyer could then tell either PayPal or his credit card that he didn't receive anything and they would probably believe him without giving the seller a chance to provide any evidence to the contrary like eBay could do.

[Kutcher55]

Interesting story. Thanks for sharing. I probably would have made the same mistake but now thanks to you, I won’t.

Definitely don’t mess with the guy. Not worth making unknown enemies over small $.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by jayshum

Problem would be that after eBay turned down the buyer, the buyer could then tell either PayPal or his credit card that he didn't receive anything and they would probably believe him without giving the seller a chance to provide any evidence to the contrary like eBay could do.

Now you do have a point there, but why even bother with the address change then? He can just claim he didn't get it.

And why did he have the original address going to a state without sales tax? If he wasn't planning to pay anyway, what difference does the sales tax make? I assume if you file a claim and get refunded the purchase price, it would include the sales tax since the sale technically never occurred then. Unless Ebay and Paypal are doing something that I wouldn't expect.

The fact that the buyer specifically used a non-sales tax state for his Ebay shipping address of record sure points to sales tax maybe having something to do with his scheme. Just saying, and have to agree with the OP along that line of thinking.