posted on March 15, 2002 03:58:40 AM new
Can I get some input on what other sellers do when a payment comes through from Paypal with unconfirmed address? Up to now I have always sent the item, even though I am nervous about doing it. What exactly does it mean? Is the buyer not registered with Paypal? I hate to refuse payments, I am sure some people would be quite offended. Any suggestions?
posted on March 15, 2002 04:49:29 AM new
Go the Paypal website. Click help. Do a search on "unconfirmed address", and you'll get a lot of info on it. You don't have to log in to PP to do this.
[ edited by alwaysbroke on Mar 15, 2002 04:51 AM ]
posted on March 15, 2002 06:27:30 AM new
Thanks, I did check that out, but didn't find it terribly helpful. I would still be interested to know if sellers send items to unconfirmed addresses.
posted on March 15, 2002 06:45:57 AM new
I usually do, based on two forms of confirmation.
>> what's the person's overall feedback on eBay - that should give you a "gut" feeling
>> what information is provided for the person on PayPal - because, even if they have an unconfirmed address, if they have done any PayPal business, there will be stats.
If they are "brand new" and the account is verified, you should probably go ahead and ship.
You might want to suggest to the person that to avoid potential problems in the future, they take the time to have their address verified (using the method which does NOT require a credit card).
posted on March 15, 2002 06:50:36 AM new
when a buyer enters credit card infomation,his bill to address is verified against his bill to address on file with his credit card issuer.
some folks have their credit card statemnent sent to post office box or work place and not thier residence.in that case,their billing adr will be different than their shipping address.
so when he asks you to send to his home,you could be taking the risk of sending to an address which is not verified.
in this case you can do a directory look up by using his phone number of his shipping addr and see if he is the registrant of this phone number,usually address will be shown as well.
the bill to addr verification only verifies the numeric portion of street number and first 5 digit of the zip code so if you have a neighbor who uses your credit card and asked to ship to same addr and zip but different apt number,the system will not detect any problem.
of course he can also stand outside your home and receive the package if the delivery person will let him have it,some of them will ask him to take out his house key and open your front door!!!!!
there are also cases where your buyer asks you to send to someone as a gift,so what can you do??
you can call him and confirm if he really wants to send it to a different addr(some crooks can be very socialble on the phone) or how about if you just want to send it to his confirmed addr and let him take it from there?
this is okay with ebay bidders but not okay on upscale shops say on yahoo.
posted on March 15, 2002 07:41:56 AM new
stopwhining,
I do the address and phone verification, too, on the internet as well as email look up. One of my deadbeats scored zero on all counts, nothing matched (name, phone number, & e-mail bad). I didn't waste time pursuing him for payment, but did do the standard eBay notification routine so I'll get FVF. A real crook can get around any system, but I think this at least helps.
posted on March 15, 2002 07:45:41 AM new
If the buyer is verified, but has an unconfirmed address, I'll usually ship to that address without question. In most cases, it turns out that it's a work addy because the person isn't at home during the day to accept packages. I've never had a problem doing this.
If the person isn't verified, you should worry more about that than whether or not their address is confirmed, IMO.
posted on March 15, 2002 09:10:01 AM new
No matter what form of payment a seller receives there will always be a risk. So to say "another reason not to take paypal" can also be applied to checks and money orders. Cash can be stolen in transit. I guess you might say life is a risk also but we still stick around. I ship to non verified addresses but I don't sell high ticket items and replacement value is low. I would have second thoughts if my items sold higher. I guess if you think you are going to have a problem, send the package with insurance and delivery confirmation with signature required. If your buyer wants your item bad enough they should be willing to pay for that.
posted on March 15, 2002 09:15:47 AM new
Don't forget that your house may catch on fire from all the computer electrical cords, or you might get robbed or killed on the way to the bank. Better not to sell anything, or better not to live. I totally agree with Libra63, there is risk in everything, and accepting paypal is no riskier than a regulat credit card, check or money order for that matter (yes, they are forged)
posted on March 15, 2002 09:58:43 AM new
i agree accepting paypal is a risk same as any other online payment. i would say its the customer service that counts and from my personal experience it simply is not their with paypal.....had no problems with either c2it or billpoint so really cannot comment on theirs!
posted on March 19, 2002 04:27:03 PM new
I appreciate the helpful comments. I live in Canada, can anyone tell me how to do the phone search etc to check address, I just had another "unverified address" today, and I don't know what to do about them. Do I mail or not??
posted on March 19, 2002 04:35:55 PM new
I try and verify all my addresses regardless of whether PayPal said it is or not. I run them through USPS or the National Addresss Server. You can also check it out by mapping the address on Yahoo. There are some addresses so rural and so new that you won't be able to check it out. Contact the bidder to be sure it's good.
posted on March 20, 2002 08:13:04 AM new
Oh, good grief. Such much agitation over the possibility of a chargeback.
I have just passed 600 PayPal transactions, and half were sent to addresses that were not "confirmed." I have had no problems, no chargebacks, nada.
If the recipient is in the same town, or even state, it is not worth a second thought for most transactions. People today have work, home and personal addresses (like at MBEtc.)
To be fair, my average transaction is probably $25, and my largest about $200. If it was more, and a foreign address, I would take precautions. But for $25x600 ---- not worth the worry. Maybe if one comes back I will change my tune.
posted on March 21, 2002 05:04:26 PM new
My mailbox is on a major country highway so I try to never ship there. I always ship to my work address-until recently I always sent a note to the seller explaining why the shipping address was unconfirmed and included both addresses and phone numbers. I recently opened a bank account just for buying using my work address so my work address is now confirmed.
I never had a problem with the sellers,(Bless them all!) but I think it was because I gave them both addresses and a "choice" as to where to ship.
afullbarn on eBay
posted on March 21, 2002 05:29:57 PM new
I just added to my EOA Invoice "...PayPal CONFIRMED addresses only." I'd rather be paid by check or money order anyway, or c2it. I hope it cuts down on PayPal payments, as I get quite a few unconfirmend addresses.
posted on March 21, 2002 05:58:42 PM new
WELL PILGRIMS HERE'S ONE THAT WILL BLOW A HOLE IN A BUNCH. MONEY ORDERS CAN BE STOPPED!!!!!!!!! YUP! A LADY FRIEND OF MINE SOLD $65.00 WORTH OF PERFUMES AND THE PERSON GOT THE FUNDS BACK. HER EXCUSE TO THE MONEY ORDER COMPANY,,,,,,,,,ER, YOU KNOW WHAT, I AIN'T GONNA DO IT. NOPE. WHY FEED THE FIRE. BUT IT DID AND DOES HAPPEN. AND THE MONEY ORDER COMPANY OF COURSE HELPED THE BUYER,,,,,,,,,,,NOT THE SELLER IN ANY WAY. 2 CENTS.
posted on March 21, 2002 09:22:58 PM new
That's nothing new, all money orders can have a "stop payment" applied to them. There are exceptions, one being a USPS money order.
My main concern is not with charge-backs, it's with the PayPal fees. That's why I said I'd rather to have a check or MO. Yes, PayPal fees are relatively low, but I want ALL the $s possible. And I'm tweaking my business to get it.
posted on March 22, 2002 07:40:27 AM new
I never ship to an unconfirmed address! Nobody should! It's an open invitation to the buyer to dispute the Paypal payment! Their TOS clearly states that they will not protect the seller if shipped to a non-confirmed address (they never protect the seller anyway, it's a joke!).
My three years with Paypal has produced only one (and the last) problem with disputes because of this fact!
Just think of it: one dispute for $100 that is reversed by Paypal means that I have to sell 4 items at 33% profit to break even, just to Pay for the loss.
The first and only time I had this happen 3yrs. ago, I did ship the first time to an unconfirmed address, and sure enough the payment was reversed because I couldn't prove that I shipped it (1st class mail for a CD). I then asked Paypal how would I get my CD back? They replied "Ask the buyer to return it to you". What a joke!
posted on March 22, 2002 07:44:04 AM new
Few of my items reach anywhere near $100 in value. If they did, I would be a lot more careful about where I shipped. But in my experience (over two years), I've never had a problem with shipping to an unconfirmed address. Almost always, it has been a work addy because the buyer is not home during the day and doesn't want a package left outside the house unattended.
There is a way to check the stats of a PayPal buyer. If they are verified (not their address, but their identity), and if they've had a fair number of completed transactions, I just don't worry about the address thing.
