7 ms·

If you google the buyer's address, it's home to a package forwarding service. Do not ever do business with a buyer using such a service. 100% guarantee it's a

by mperham 10y ago

If you google the buyer's address, it's home to a package forwarding service. Do not ever do business with a buyer using such a service. 100% guarantee it's a scam. https://www.google.com/maps/place/78+McCullough+Dr,+New+Castle,+DE+19720/@39.6922734,-75.5688828,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c702fc680bcabd:0x4bf837ee53036895!8m2!3d39.6922734!4d-75.5666941 https://www.google.com/maps/place/78+McCullough+Dr,+New+Cast...

adamredwoods 10y ago
Isn't there a way that Ebay can automatically detect a mail forwarding service and flag addresses?
- hydrogen18 10y ago
  They could, but there is no incentive to do so.
  - eric_h 10y ago
    In fact there's a disincentive. eBay made their commission on this sale, changing their policies would likely mess with both the top and bottom lines of their business.
    - duaneb 10y ago
      Trust has value, too. Just imagine how much money they'd make if they weren't known for being a terrible place to sell OR buy.
      - eric_h 10y ago
        I agree. What percentage of the eBay-using population has reduced their trust in eBay as a result of this and many other articles on HN, though? The brand awareness of eBay has given them a great deal of trust runway that, IMO, they can burn through before it starts to actually affect the short term numbers that dominate the things that anyone actually acts on with large, publically traded companies.
        imcrs 10y ago
        By the time that happens, though, it will be too late for them.
      - dragonwriter 10y ago
        The problem with that is a decision today that favors trustworthiness pays off over years, with a negligible positive impact in the short term, while one that favors short-term results pays off, well, on the short-term. There are a lot more structural incentives to maximize next quarter's numbers than the same numbers 5 years down the road.
      - nommm-nommm 10y ago
        For what its worth I really LOVE buying on eBay for the most part and I'm not the only eBay fan. I think the scam listings are easy to avoid and the one time I was scammed by a seller (sent me obviously used item rather than the advertised new condition) eBay refunded me and the entire process was pretty easy. I really like eBay bucks (though they have neutered the program lately), its a great place to buy used everything, eBay daily deals can be great, major stores/brands have eBay stores and Newegg specifically has a lot of eBay only sales, and they sometimes have 10% off gas cards sold directly by SVM. It still works even though there are scams because the vast majority of people are honest. I sell on eBay as well but I don't love it because the commission is more expensive. If the commission were lower I'd prefer it to selling on Amazon. I do most of my selling on Amazon lately but I still eBay some stuff. I do worry about getting scammed, especially while selling, but I think you're equally likely to get scammed on Amazon than eBay. For high value items (I sell items that cost $1,500+) I google the buyer and address, and I take pictures and video of me packing up and shipping it. I also don't ship anything that isn't eligible for PayPal's seller protection. I'm glad most people don't try to scam me. I had one person claim to have their eBay and PayPal accounts hacked but PayPal's seller protection took care of me. Facebook groups seem to be a good place to sell and I've sold a few impossible to ship items there, but honestly, I still don't feel comfortable meeting strangers in person.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
ClassyJacket 10y ago
Excuse me? As someone who uses package forwarding services to get things that don't ship outside America, I can assure you I'm not a "scam".
- mperham 10y ago
  For every one of you, there's a dozen scammers.
  - Dylan16807 10y ago
    Then say 90%
    - ohyoutravel 10y ago
      As long as we're being pedantic, it's way more than 90%.
      - Dylan16807 10y ago
        The difference between it being certainly a scam vs. not certainly a scam is much more than a pedantic nitpick.
        tempestn 10y ago
        Yes, but if you charitably take the point as being that sellers should assume it is certainly a scam, then it holds.
        Dylan16807 10y ago
        But it needs an addendum that that might be a real customer and you should ideally have some way to purchase with additional verification, not just cutting them off and thinking no more of it because who cares about scammers.
  - lisivka 10y ago
tibbon 10y ago
One of my last eBay experiences ~9 years ago involved a package forwarding service, but I don't believe there was a scam. I had shipped out a piece of recording equipment. It was packed pretty well- certainly good enough for domestic shipping. I sent it off to somewhere in Seattle, and according to my shipping records it arrived. Strangely, like 3-4 weeks later the buyer is like, "Whoa, it arrived damaged!", to which I felt terrible, as I liked shipping things properly. I told him to ship it back to me, and I'd refund him, or to take it to the USPS store for the insurance claim. He said he couldn't ship it back to me, or that it would be $100 to ship, and there was no USPS store. I told him that was absurd, because it only cost me $15 to ship it to him. It was then uncovered that he was in another country, and that it had been shipped on a container ship to get there. I hadn't packaged the thing for international travel. Anyway, we resolved it and I paid him a bit (somewhat begrudgingly) for 'poor shipping packaging'. But it taught me a lesson about shipping. Had he simply been transparent, I'd have added yet one more box layer. As-is, it looked like a forklift drove through it.
- ScottBurson 10y ago
  Seems like your responsibility was just to get it to the destination you were given. He should have filed a claim against the forwarding service.
- rasz_pl 10y ago
  sounds like scam run directly by ebay under the name "eBay U.S. Global Shipping Program" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZwZgcoc_zw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZwZgcoc_zw
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  Some (all?) of these forwarding services repackage items, probably very poorly.
  - lisivka 10y ago
    Some services are providing optional insurance. Packaging is hardly matter when shipping container is lost at sea or whole pallet is dropped to the floor by a forklift. Oversea shipping is still risky. In this case, package is open at customs, phone weighted and replaced by an another phone with exact same weight. Typical man-in-the-middle problem.
ikeboy 10y ago
As a seller, I've sold plenty of items to forwarding services and never had any of those turn out to be scams.
omgtehlion 10y ago
I regularly use a forwarding service (albeit another one), and assure you that I am no scammer. Did it multiple times, and no seller refused to send a package to forwarding address. Never had a problem either. The service I use does make photos of all incoming and forwarded packages (and contents), so in case of any problems there will be some evidence.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
> Do not ever do business with a buyer using such a service. 100% guarantee it's a scam. This isn't correct, not 100%, probably not even 50%. I sold a $1,000+ used MacBook and shipped it to a package forwarding service. Before shipping expensive items I always do a small amount of research to determine if I feel comfortable shipping it out. I googled the buyer and I found out that he's a newspaper reporter in the Caribbean, so he obviously had a large public presence. Before the sale we had a lot of back and forth messages as he had several questions about the Macbook and I sent him several more pictures. He was very well spoken, personable, and polite. He seemed like the most legit buyer there can be, I sent it out. I got a very nice feedback from him thanking me. I also have sent a whole bunch of things (none expensive) to eBay's global shipping program, Never had a scammer there either.
GFischer 10y ago
It's not 100% guarantee of a scam. I live in Uruguay and forwarding services are very valuable to me. It is extremely unfortunate that scammers are using them, this means a lot of sellers won't sell to me :( .

by mperham 10y ago

adamredwoods 10y ago

Isn't there a way that Ebay can automatically detect a mail forwarding service and flag addresses?

hydrogen18 10y ago
They could, but there is no incentive to do so.
- eric_h 10y ago
  In fact there's a disincentive. eBay made their commission on this sale, changing their policies would likely mess with both the top and bottom lines of their business.
  - duaneb 10y ago
    Trust has value, too. Just imagine how much money they'd make if they weren't known for being a terrible place to sell OR buy.
    - eric_h 10y ago
      I agree. What percentage of the eBay-using population has reduced their trust in eBay as a result of this and many other articles on HN, though? The brand awareness of eBay has given them a great deal of trust runway that, IMO, they can burn through before it starts to actually affect the short term numbers that dominate the things that anyone actually acts on with large, publically traded companies.
      - imcrs 10y ago
        By the time that happens, though, it will be too late for them.
    - dragonwriter 10y ago
      The problem with that is a decision today that favors trustworthiness pays off over years, with a negligible positive impact in the short term, while one that favors short-term results pays off, well, on the short-term. There are a lot more structural incentives to maximize next quarter's numbers than the same numbers 5 years down the road.
    - nommm-nommm 10y ago
      For what its worth I really LOVE buying on eBay for the most part and I'm not the only eBay fan. I think the scam listings are easy to avoid and the one time I was scammed by a seller (sent me obviously used item rather than the advertised new condition) eBay refunded me and the entire process was pretty easy. I really like eBay bucks (though they have neutered the program lately), its a great place to buy used everything, eBay daily deals can be great, major stores/brands have eBay stores and Newegg specifically has a lot of eBay only sales, and they sometimes have 10% off gas cards sold directly by SVM. It still works even though there are scams because the vast majority of people are honest. I sell on eBay as well but I don't love it because the commission is more expensive. If the commission were lower I'd prefer it to selling on Amazon. I do most of my selling on Amazon lately but I still eBay some stuff. I do worry about getting scammed, especially while selling, but I think you're equally likely to get scammed on Amazon than eBay. For high value items (I sell items that cost $1,500+) I google the buyer and address, and I take pictures and video of me packing up and shipping it. I also don't ship anything that isn't eligible for PayPal's seller protection. I'm glad most people don't try to scam me. I had one person claim to have their eBay and PayPal accounts hacked but PayPal's seller protection took care of me. Facebook groups seem to be a good place to sell and I've sold a few impossible to ship items there, but honestly, I still don't feel comfortable meeting strangers in person.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

ClassyJacket 10y ago

Excuse me? As someone who uses package forwarding services to get things that don't ship outside America, I can assure you I'm not a "scam".

mperham 10y ago
For every one of you, there's a dozen scammers.
- Dylan16807 10y ago
  Then say 90%
  - ohyoutravel 10y ago
    As long as we're being pedantic, it's way more than 90%.
    - Dylan16807 10y ago
      The difference between it being certainly a scam vs. not certainly a scam is much more than a pedantic nitpick.
      - tempestn 10y ago
        Yes, but if you charitably take the point as being that sellers should assume it is certainly a scam, then it holds.
        Dylan16807 10y ago
        But it needs an addendum that that might be a real customer and you should ideally have some way to purchase with additional verification, not just cutting them off and thinking no more of it because who cares about scammers.
- lisivka 10y ago

tibbon 10y ago

One of my last eBay experiences ~9 years ago involved a package forwarding service, but I don't believe there was a scam. I had shipped out a piece of recording equipment. It was packed pretty well- certainly good enough for domestic shipping. I sent it off to somewhere in Seattle, and according to my shipping records it arrived. Strangely, like 3-4 weeks later the buyer is like, "Whoa, it arrived damaged!", to which I felt terrible, as I liked shipping things properly. I told him to ship it back to me, and I'd refund him, or to take it to the USPS store for the insurance claim. He said he couldn't ship it back to me, or that it would be $100 to ship, and there was no USPS store. I told him that was absurd, because it only cost me $15 to ship it to him. It was then uncovered that he was in another country, and that it had been shipped on a container ship to get there. I hadn't packaged the thing for international travel. Anyway, we resolved it and I paid him a bit (somewhat begrudgingly) for 'poor shipping packaging'. But it taught me a lesson about shipping. Had he simply been transparent, I'd have added yet one more box layer. As-is, it looked like a forklift drove through it.

ScottBurson 10y ago
Seems like your responsibility was just to get it to the destination you were given. He should have filed a claim against the forwarding service.
rasz_pl 10y ago
sounds like scam run directly by ebay under the name "eBay U.S. Global Shipping Program" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZwZgcoc_zw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZwZgcoc_zw
nommm-nommm 10y ago
Some (all?) of these forwarding services repackage items, probably very poorly.
- lisivka 10y ago
  Some services are providing optional insurance. Packaging is hardly matter when shipping container is lost at sea or whole pallet is dropped to the floor by a forklift. Oversea shipping is still risky. In this case, package is open at customs, phone weighted and replaced by an another phone with exact same weight. Typical man-in-the-middle problem.

ikeboy 10y ago

As a seller, I've sold plenty of items to forwarding services and never had any of those turn out to be scams.

omgtehlion 10y ago

I regularly use a forwarding service (albeit another one), and assure you that I am no scammer. Did it multiple times, and no seller refused to send a package to forwarding address. Never had a problem either. The service I use does make photos of all incoming and forwarded packages (and contents), so in case of any problems there will be some evidence.

nommm-nommm 10y ago

> Do not ever do business with a buyer using such a service. 100% guarantee it's a scam. This isn't correct, not 100%, probably not even 50%. I sold a $1,000+ used MacBook and shipped it to a package forwarding service. Before shipping expensive items I always do a small amount of research to determine if I feel comfortable shipping it out. I googled the buyer and I found out that he's a newspaper reporter in the Caribbean, so he obviously had a large public presence. Before the sale we had a lot of back and forth messages as he had several questions about the Macbook and I sent him several more pictures. He was very well spoken, personable, and polite. He seemed like the most legit buyer there can be, I sent it out. I got a very nice feedback from him thanking me. I also have sent a whole bunch of things (none expensive) to eBay's global shipping program, Never had a scammer there either.

GFischer 10y ago

It's not 100% guarantee of a scam. I live in Uruguay and forwarding services are very valuable to me. It is extremely unfortunate that scammers are using them, this means a lot of sellers won't sell to me :( .