unverified buyer changed mind after talking to his mum!

alfiesmum

I sold an item last week, and the buyer paid through Paypal but unfortunately his address was unconfirmed. I have in red underlined letters at the bottom of every listing description (which is only three lines long so it's not lost in loads of text!), that I can only ship to a confirmed address, but am happy to accept postal orders or cheques too.

When his payment arrived, he said it's not a problem, he pays by paypal all the time, not to worry about it. Which in itself proves that he read the note about paypal payments, but just thought it wouldn't apply to him.

I refunded immediately and asked he pay via postal order or cheque instead. Or have his address with paypal confirmed. He replied saying he is a student and he doesn't know how to do that (?????) So he said a postal order was on the way. Well, waited another few days, nothing. So I sent another invoice a little while ago and have just had this reply.

"Hi thanks for your time with this matter but after talking with my mum I've decided that it's probably best if we cancel this transaction. It's too much hassle for both of us to deal in this manner. I'm going to get my paypal address verified at some point but until I do I'd rather not use less secure methods such as postal orders etc. I hope you understand. Thanks for your time. Very sorry about all this !"

So in order to have my fees refunded I have filed a NPB alert reason given buyer wanted shipment to a unconfirmed address. Now I'm worried coz I think it'll be my first negative, and I run my eBay as a legit business, so this will affect me.

If he doesn't respond to the dispute will his feedback be wiped if he chooses to neg me for this?

G-G_4

I used to have 6,000 feedback on eBay and run my own business on it.. Not once did I take any notice of 'confimed addresses'... I really didn't have a problem, well, no more than normal postal issues anyhow.

If I were the buyer I would be annoyed if my money was sent back and a request for postal order / cheque etc was made..

Fair enough you put this in you advert, so it's his problem I guess.. but I just think people are a little ridiculous over confimed addresses.

Sorry, not a dig at you, but i've seen it no end of times and really don't understand the issue with unconfirmed addresses?

shelly

I think it used to be that if a buyer or seller doesn't respond to a dispute then they can't leave feedback at all. Not 100% sure if this has changed along with the new feedback rules.

Someone will be along to confirm or deny this for you

G-G_4

If you raise a non paying notice and he still doesn't pay then he loses his right to leave you feedback..

I'm sure I read that in these circumstances you are allowed to leave negative / neutral feedback too.. Not tested that myself though, so can't say if it's true.

alfiesmum

G-G wrote: »

I used to have 6,000 feedback on eBay and run my own business on it.. Not once did I take any notice of 'confimed addresses'... I really didn't have a problem, well, no more than normal postal issues anyhow.

If I were the buyer I would be annoyed if my money was sent back and a request for postal order / cheque etc was made..

Fair enough you put this in you advert, so it's his problem I guess.. but I just think people are a little ridiculous over confimed addresses.

Sorry, not a dig at you, but i've seen it no end of times and really don't understand the issue with unconfirmed addresses?

The issue is that if something doesn't arrive, or it arrives, and his postie just doesn't get a signature for it - Paypal will refund him immediately, all because it was unconfirmed. I've been told on these boards loads of times, not to post to unconfirmed addresses. The note about this is two lines long, red letters, underlined and twice the size of the rest of the text. This buyer read it, and ignored it, thinking that he could be an acception to the rule. How can you combat this?? Seems you can't..

soolin

alfiesmum wrote: »

The issue is that if something doesn't arrive, or it arrives, and his postie just doesn't get a signature for it - Paypal will refund him immediately, all because it was unconfirmed. I've been told on these boards loads of times, not to post to unconfirmed addresses. The note about this is two lines long, red letters, underlined and twice the size of the rest of the text. This buyer read it, and ignored it, thinking that he could be an acception to the rule. How can you combat this?? Seems you can't..

So do you send everything recorded then at a cost of 72p per go? I am also confused as you seem to think that even if something is sent tracked it often is not signed for (which I agree with), so how will a confirmed address help then? To win a paypal chargeback the seller must prove delivery to a confirm,d address, no tracking and/or no signature and the buyer wins confirmed address or not.

Without tracking there is no need for a confirmed address, that 's why very few sellers worry about it for smaller items. I only request a confirmed address for items over £36 when I send them special.

Also, as buyer paid he can appeal any NPB strike that you give him and almost certainly win. Once the strike is removed any neg he leaves you will remain.

G-G_4

alfiesmum wrote: »

The issue is that if something doesn't arrive, or it arrives, and his postie just doesn't get a signature for it - Paypal will refund him immediately, all because it was unconfirmed. I've been told on these boards loads of times, not to post to unconfirmed addresses. The note about this is two lines long, red letters, underlined and twice the size of the rest of the text. This buyer read it, and ignored it, thinking that he could be an acception to the rule. How can you combat this?? Seems you can't..

Yeah, I do see your point.. but if people really want to rip you off then they will.. I don't think the unconfirmed address thing really has any impact..

I would just go with the flow and send things out..

Recorded would be a better investment, at least you won't be losing sales by refusing certain PayPal customers?

Good Luck

alfiesmum

soolin wrote: »

So do you send everything recorded then at a cost of 72p per go? I am also confused as you seem to think that even if something is sent tracked it often is not signed for (which I agree with), so how will a confirmed address help then? To win a paypal chargeback the seller must prove delivery to a confirm,d address, no tracking and/or no signature and the buyer wins confirmed address or not.

Without tracking there is no need for a confirmed address, that 's why very few sellers worry about it for smaller items. I only request a confirmed address for items over £36 when I send them special.

Also, as buyer paid he can appeal any NPB strike that you give him and almost certainly win. Once the strike is removed any neg he leaves you will remain.

Yes. I do send everything recorded. The buyer pays for this not me though. Do you mean that on the off chance that an item is not signed for even when sent recorded, that I should not stipulate buyers have a confirmed address? I try to keep the playing field as level as possible, and follow all the rules that Paypal and eBay set down, even if they seem daft. That way I know that I did everything to remain as protected as possible. I suppose we all do things differently. Just the way things are.

frivolous_fay

G-G wrote: »

Yeah, I do see your point.. but if people really want to rip you off then they will.. I don't think the unconfirmed address thing really has any impact.

Say I'm selling a £100 item and the buyer pays with paypal.

If I send it Special Delivery, and the postie gets a signature, BUT it's an unconfirmed address, I'm leaving myself wide open to a fraudulent chargeback.

If all the above happens AND the address is confirmed, paypal are likely to side with me if there is a chargeback. (Note: if anyone feels like challenging this one, please be ready to supply concrete examples)

Guide to common or garden unconfirmed addresses, in no particular order:

1. Buyer hasn't bothered to confirm their address
2. Buyer is unable to confirm their address
3. Buyer has hacked someone's paypal account, or stolen a credit card and had the goods delivered to his own, unconfirmed address.

Whichever it is... paypal will not defend you in the event of a problem.

P.S. Personally I would not be analysing buyers quite as scrupulously if we were talking a low-value item.

alfiesmum

frivolous_fay wrote: »

If all the above happens AND the address is confirmed, paypal are likely to side with me if there is a chargeback. (Note: if anyone feels like challenging this one, please be ready to supply concrete examples)

This is what I've always thought. If it's a proven delivery to a confirmed address, how can I be ripped off? If I slip up on either of those things, I can be ripped off. So why not be on the safe side. I don't feel that my eBay sales have suffered because of it. This particluar buyer thinks that postal orders are an insecure way of sending a payment because his mum told him that. All I want is to walk away from it with my fees back, and without a negative from a (new) eBayer who doesn't think paypal protection rules should apply where he's concerned.

I'm grateful for everyones advice, and time spent to reply. For now I'll do things the safe way (or at least the way that makes me feel safer!).;)

Thanks everyone!
alfiesmum
xx