Question about how to proceed with "illegal" buyer

[thegardentool]

I had an item listed on eBay that recently sold to an international buyer. In the auction it clearly states that I will only ship to a PayPal confirmed address within the United States.

What is the best way to begin handling this without the buyer freaking out and neg repping and trying to deny my fees to be refunded?

[ryborg]

Just talk to the guy. Most people are reasonable. Tell him you clearly say US only. If he does have a confirmed PP address, why not consider selling it to him?

If things go awry, you can't stop a neg, but you can always get your fees back. Just fill out the form, and if he doesn't respond within a week or respond the way you like, you can close the dispute and get your fees back automatically.

[thegardentool]

He lives in a country, Singapore, where there isn't confirmed addresses. He does have quite a bit of near-perfect feedback, mostly from sellers in Great Britain, but I still stated will only ship to a US confirmed address.

I will send him a message explaining it I just don't want a situtation to turn ugly. It would have been okay if he didn't snipe the auction within a minute to go and I had time to explain it to him before hand. Maybe I need to go mess around with my ebay options to block all countries but the U.S.

[-_-Nintendo-_-]

If it's a small value money item, then I would risk it. Anything over $50 i'd just refund him and say "Sorry, I only ship to comfirmed addresses" Then just offer a second chance offer to the next bidder in line.

[smork]

He lives in a country, Singapore, where there isn't confirmed addresses. He does have quite a bit of near-perfect feedback, mostly from sellers in Great Britain, but I still stated will only ship to a US confirmed address.


Not 100% sure, but I am pretty positive you can get a confirmed address for Paypal in Singapore. People use it all the time in Malaysia/Singapore.

Though honestly, its pretty unlikely a Singapore user would be fraudulent.

[FABombjoy]

The "confirmed" part isn't the whole story. Referencing the Paypal user agreement, seller protection policy:



11.3 Qualification Requirements. In order to qualify for coverage under the Seller Protection Policy, you must meet the following requirements:

...

b. The transaction must be between a US, UK or Canadian buyer and a US, UK or Canadian seller...

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_spp-outside

[smork]

The "confirmed" part isn't the whole story. Referencing the Paypal user agreement, seller protection policy:

Fair enough; I guess it's caveat emptor then.

[FABombjoy]

Yeah, they bury that part pretty far in there. Personally, I don't take Paypal on international eBay sales. Seems like when I did, I ended up losing money anyway. Bid goes up fifty cents but the % goes up to 3.9% and I get a cross border fee & time spent in line at the post office.

[Kitsune Sniper]

For future listings, make sure you check the "Don't allow users that are not registered in my country" box so people like him don't bid on your stuff. It should be near the bottom, in Buyer Requirements or something like that.

[thegardentool]

I haven't found an option like that Kitsune Sniper. I found one close that says do not allow buyers from countries which I do not ship to but I haven't found a way to add countries to any lists.

On news of this, the buyer uses a U.S. based company that will ship to him directly. It is a confirmed PayPal address for him so I'm taking the chance. He has bought a lot of rare and expensive gaming items worldwide lately without any issues.

The company seems legitimate as well, Meridian IQ.