USA eBayer wants me to post to UK address... can anyone advise?

YoJoJo

Just had a message from someone in U.S.A. who wants to buy one of my items and have it posted to an address in the UK. She has asked me to advise her on how to go about doing so.

I realise if I go ahead and do this I have no Seller protection with PayPal and I think asking for a cheque is a no no too. It's not a particularly low-priced item either so I will only send it recorded delivery.

I've looked at PayPal help and it states: 'You can only add postal addresses which are located in the country where your PayPal account is registered.' so I can't ask her to add the UK address to her PayPal account.

Is there any way round this?

Also, if there is a way to get payment into PayPal with Seller protection eligibility, should I ask her to make payment in £-sterling?

I am so sorry for asking for more help this week but any support would be really gratefully received.

YoJoJo

Bumping this up... anyone? pretty please

bcl999

I'm no expert but I think the safest way for you to sell to her would be payment in advance, maybe via BACS or IBAN, I think is the international system. I have also in the past used www.xe.com but it takes quite a while to set up an account with them as they have various procedures to check to avoid money-laundering.

Using one of these methods, you should be protected but of course it leaves the buyer without any protection. I suppose it depends on how badly she wants your item and that there is no alternative source for her to obtain it.

There used to be companies which provided an escrow service for a fee but I have no first-hand knowledge of any of them.

choc_mouse

I'm not sure but if the buyer goes through the ebay checkout, they can change their delivery address. Then, it should go through normally with Paypal with an "unconfirmed address". I'm assuming that both of you won't have any protection because of the unconfirmed address.

I've done that in the past where I've changed my delivery address on the ebay checkout to a different country. Better than just asking in an email or the "message to seller" section which isn't clear.

If you think about it, delivering in the UK would be easier and cheaper than the hassle of deliverying to the US which probably isn't trackable unless you use FedEx etc. This might be to your benefit assuming the buyer has nothing evil planned.

hermum

Hi similar, last week, you should find some more answers in here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=30436169&highlight=#post30436169http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=30436169&highlight=#post30436169

too_much_debt

I had a buyer in Canada wanting to bid on one of my items, they messaged me to ask if I could change the listing so they could bid and that they wanted it sent to their mum's house in UK. When the auction finished they paid for it and the Paypal payment had a UK address on it.

I posted it and it was received OK.

YoJoJo

hermum wrote: »

Hi similar, last week, you should find some more answers in here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=30436169&highlight=#post30436169http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=30436169&highlight=#post30436169

too_much_debt wrote: »

I had a buyer in Canada wanting to bid on one of my items, they messaged me to ask if I could change the listing so they could bid and that they wanted it sent to their mum's house in UK. When the auction finished they paid for it and the Paypal payment had a UK address on it.

I posted it and it was received OK.

I am still confused!! Should I ask the Buyer to send the money as a gift option in PayPal to me and send the UK address to me and I just go ahead and post? Or am i likely to get a chargeback through PayPal if the item doesn't turn up or is a chargeback not something that can be done when money is sent as a gift?

RachelA_2

Hi
Ebay recommend that you do NOT send to an alternative address, particularly with higher priced items.

YoJoJo wrote: »

Just had a message from someone in U.S.A. who wants to buy one of my items and have it posted to an address in the UK. She has asked me to advise her on how to go about doing so.

I realise if I go ahead and do this I have no Seller protection with PayPal and I think asking for a cheque is a no no too. It's not a particularly low-priced item either so I will only send it recorded delivery.

I've looked at PayPal help and it states: 'You can only add postal addresses which are located in the country where your PayPal account is registered.' so I can't ask her to add the UK address to her PayPal account.

Is there any way round this?

Also, if there is a way to get payment into PayPal with Seller protection eligibility, should I ask her to make payment in £-sterling?

I am so sorry for asking for more help this week but any support would be really gratefully received.

cyberbob

As long as they add the new address to paypal before they pay and paypal say OK to send you will be covered by paypal seller protection if its sent tracked

YoJoJo

Managed to find an answer after searching the community forums on eBay and have emailed my potential USA buyer.

Apparently, if you get the Buyer to change their address in the 'review your purchase' page when at the payment stage on eBay, it will also appear on the PayPal confirmation you are emailed once the payment has been sent. It is a way of indirectly adding an address to your PayPal account that is an address outside your home/registered country - something you cannot directly add to PayPal. Also apparently, the new address will stay as an additional one in that PayPal account for future use.

I have let the Buyer know that if the address does not appear on the PayPal confirmation email I will have to refund her as I am not covered by Seller protection. I hope this is ok.

Huge thanks for all the advice again - this one has been a real brain-drain. I will report back if the above actually happens as I hope it will!

YoJoJo

cyberbob wrote: »

As long as they add the new address to paypal before they pay and paypal say OK to send you will be covered by paypal seller protection if its sent tracked

Hi Cyberbob - I will definitely check the email from PayPal to see if says ok to send before doing so! Thank you.