eBay - is this request from buyer dodgy?

pinkteapot

Just had a worried phone call from a relative who's not that experienced with eBay and thinks everything is a scam. At midnight, someone bought an £800 item from them using BIN. They paid immediately via Paypal, then (within minutes) sent a message via eBay saying they forgot to change the postal address in Paypal, and please send to an alternative address. Paypal address was up north, alternative is in London.

Relative concerned because (1) change of address and (2) bought a pricy item without making an offer first (it was BIN or best offer) and there are cheaper ones up in regular auctions.

Re #2, I said some people just pay the premium for BIN because they can't be bothered bidding. I wasn't worried about that.

Re #1... Paypal email address matches the name given with the original shipping address. Ie joebloggs@aol.com and ship to Joe Bloggs, XXX, Up North. I said they could send an email from their account to buyer (not via eBay), asking them to confirm that the message received via eBay was genuine, given that it's a high price item. Obviously this won't help if the Paypal account has been hacked and both email address and name changed on it.

Relative is worried because Paypal payment notification said they must ship to the address given in Paypal. Only other thing I could think to do is phone Paypal customer services and ask their advice?

My feel is in all likelihood everything is above board, but anyone know of any scams this might be (beyond someone hacking accounts to buy/steal the item), and anything relative can do to protect themselves?

I did also tell them to withdraw the money from Paypal immediately in case the buyer goes for a refund.

eBay buyer is a long term user with 200+ feedback (all buying, no sales so can't see where account is listed as based).

Browntoa

Thought seller protection said you MUST ship to the registered address

The "my address is wrong" is one of the oldest scams

Taking the money out from PayPal does not protect them from a chargeback and PayPal will come after them for the money using bailiffs if need be

pinkteapot

Thanks. Googled and found this page:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/Sending-to-an-Alternate-Address-for-Buyers-and-Sellers-/10000000014599377/g.html

Advised relative to cancel the transaction via eBay and send an explanatory message to the buyer.

Thanks - wouldn't have looked it up if I hadn't asked on here!

soolin

It is all covered on the sticky postage thread and on every paypal email and transaction you get. For seller protection items must be sent to the paypal address that they say is 'ok to send to'.

Have a read of the sticky postage thread

glentoran99

I have genuinely ordered stuff to wrong address and asked to get it changed, but for an item that amount seem like a scam, tell them to get the buyer to cancel and re-order to correct address if they are genuine they wont mind

pinkteapot

Thanks again all (and apologies for missing the relevant info on the sticky).

I'm still intrigued as to exactly what the scam is (when it is a scam) and Google is failing me.

The obvious is account hacked = hacker buys item with victim's Paypal account then has it shipped to themselves.

Saw some references to cases where the buyer asks for a different address that doesn't exist, then uses an item not received dispute to get a refund. But I don't understand this one as then presumably they wouldn't get the item anyway.

shaun_from_Africa

pinkteapot wrote: »

I'm still intrigued as to exactly what the scam is (when it is a scam) and Google is failing me.

By sending to an address other than the one registered on Paypal, the seller loses all seller protection.
All the buyer has to then do is to claim that they didn't receive their goods and paypal will refund them from the sellers account (or from the paypal coffers and then they will try to get the money back from the seller).

Proof of delivery won't be of any use as this won't show that delivery was made to the correct paypal registered address.

pinkshoes

Send a message saying:

"no problem about wrong address. Would you like me to refund your Paypal payment so you can add the correct address and re-pay? I cannot send it to an unconfirmed paypal address as it is against paypal rules".

Wait and see what they then do, then phone eBay if they insist on unregistered address.

pinkteapot

Thanks again for the input guys. An update on what happened for you:

Following your advice, relative cancelled the transaction via eBay and sent a message saying they couldn't ship to an unregistered address, but that the person was welcome to re-purchase and pay correctly when the item was relisted.

He was then waiting for the buyer to accept the cancellation.

A few hours later, he had a message from eBay saying the buyer's account was being investigated and that he shouldn't ship the item. Followed a short time later by another message to say that the buyer's account had been hacked overnight, and the hacker had placed the order. As relative had already pressed cancel, eBay completed the cancellation, refunded the buyer, refunded all of relative's fees and relisted the item.

Thanks again guys - so glad they didn't ship the item!

missbiggles1

I have several addresses registered with Ebay - is that unusual? I choose the address where I want it sent when I'm paying - there's a change address option at this point anyway.

WELLSIANA

send tracked and signed to registered address or cancel the sale....that is what i do and you find if you stick to it they go away .