Ebay question: unconfirmed address

[higleytownheros]

Hi everyone,
I have started selling on ebay recently, and a buyer paid through paypal, and the address listed in unconfirmed. This is a first for me, so I'm not sure what to do. Should I question the buyer?
Thanks

 

[Not so Dumbo]

Send them an email asking if the address paypal has on file is correct. State the address in the email. That way you have the email from them saying that it was the correct address

 

[DianeV]

That wont help if you ship to the unconfirmed address and they say they didnt get it. Paypal will refund them from your account.

You should probably make a decision if you want to ship to those unconfirmed addresses or not and put it in your auctions as some buyers tend to get testy if you dont and then dont understand why you wont ship there. They have no idea about the lack of coverage or on the other hand, some do and know they can get a refund.

You can also after you do that set our payment receiving settings on paypal under profile to not accept unconfirmed addresses or be asked if you want to accept them

 

[Stein]

If I ship to an unconfirmed, I send them an e-mail as mentioned above. I also pay for delivery confirmation out of my pocket as added insurance that they cannot deny receipt of the package.

I also have a practice of removing the money from my Paypal account after every transaction to prevent the immediate removal of any money for any reason. This may sound a bit harsh, but I have 100% positive feedback and ship good items for good prices.

I want to have control over the resolution, not Paypal. So far, I have resolved everything in a fair and just way and everyone has been happy.

 

[dis-happy]

I hope you can work it out to ship to unconfirmed addresses safely. I'm someone with an unconfirmed address, simply because I would never want to give paypal my checking account number! However I've had lots of successful transactions with ebay and paypal. Just wanted to let you know that there are valid reasons some of us prefer to stay unconfirmed....

 

[Aimros]

Agree with the above poster...

after my checking account was hacked into this past spring and I had to go through the hassel of getting a new debit card/changing pins/changing passwords, etc. I removed all of my financial information off of PayPal. I was a confirmed buyer with a rating of 23 or something, but now I'm back to being unconfirmed.

I would be wary, but also realize that they could be legit and just don't want their financial info out on the world wide web, regardless of how secure Paypal might be!

 

[DianeV]

I didnt think a bank account had to be involved to get a confirmed address? Just a credit card?

They also have another way of confirming an address that doesnt require giving that info from what I have read

 

[Not so Dumbo]

I didnt think a bank account had to be involved to get a confirmed address? Just a credit card?

They also have another way of confirming an address that doesnt require giving that info from what I have read

yes, the bank account does have to be involved. I would like to remove mine but can't because of the whole confirmed thing.
However, the account that I have listed is an account w/ only $5 in it, the problem is that if I don't remember to change type of payment to CC then I get a $30 over draft fee from my bank

 

[rflorek]

Confirming an address is as simple as adding a credit card to your Paypal account so that they can verify your mailing address. See below from Paypal's help screens (it also explains their Alternative Address Confirmation procedure):



How can I confirm an address?

A confirmed address is an address that has been reviewed by PayPal and found to be safer than addresses that do not have similar characteristics. PayPal provides confirmed addresses to help sellers make informed decisions when shipping goods.

While PayPal confirms addresses, there are things that you can do to help PayPal confirm a specific address:


-Add a credit card to a PayPal account. Once completed, the address on file with your credit card company is confirmed on your PayPal account.
-Apply and be approved for a PayPal Plus Credit Card or PayPal Buyer Credit. Once approved, the address on your application is confirmed on your PayPal account.

OR

Confirm your address through Alternative Address Confirmation.
To qualify for Alternative Address Confirmation, you must meet the following requirements:
Be a Verified U.S. PayPal member in good standing.
Be a PayPal member for more than 90 days.
Have a Community Participation buyer number more than 10.
If you qualify for Alternative Address Confirmation, you must fax several documents to PayPal, after which we will mail a secret code to the address you are trying to confirm. After you enter the secret code correctly into the PayPal website, your address is confirmed. For more information, please see our User Agreement.

 

[Zim]

I have an unconfirmed address for other reasons. My grandmother is home all day to accept packages at her house. So it's a safer route for me to making sure the packages don't walk off my doorstep.

I think going by their feedback is the best indication that an unconfirmed address is not something to worry about. If it's a big ticket item, send out a confirmation email like the poster above stated.

 

[DisneyGerry]

Maybe lucky--but I never look at that or pay much attention to it--I also send internationally and easily have over 3000 transactions and havent been burned by sending to non-confirmed stuff.

 

[ceecee]

Paypal will only cover it, if it is shipped to a confirmed address with delivery confirmation. I have occasionally shipped for people who buy from me (for gifts) but only on low amounts. One woman left me feedback (positive....loved the item) and then a week later Paypal took the money out of my account and said she reported the item as never arriving. I had a delvery confirmation (to an unconfirmed address) and her email, still lost the money. Luckily it was a small amount ($30.00). So now I only ship to a confirmed address, expecially larger amounts.

 

[Colinsmom]

If you ship to an unconfirmed address (even with delivery confirmation), they can claim that they never received the item (or never purchased it) and Paypal will give them their money back without even giving you a chance to fight it. Sending an e-mail asking them to verify their address in a reply e-mail means nothing to Paypal and won't protect your money.

It's a risk, and you have to decide whether to take it or not. Like everything with eBay, 99% of the people are honest and 1% (or something thereabouts) are not - is it okay with you to take a chance on this person? I personally won't do it since confirming is a fast, easy step (though I understand why some choose not to do it) and it protects both the buyer (from fraud) and the seller.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

IMHO That's absolutely stupid for Paypal not to investigate before refunding the buyers money. Especially if the seller has proof through delivery confirm. or confirmation email. It seems like they should have to file a claim first, in which the seller is notified and given a chance to respond to the alligation.

 

[disneyfanfamily]

I had an unconfirmed address for awhile. I think it was because my mail goes to a PO box and my credit card had that address. However, my mailing address was not the PO Box, but my physical address. I did buy from someone who did not accept uncomfirmed addresses (which I did not notice until after I bidd on an item of theirs) and I emailed them to explain the reason that I thought my address was not confirmed. That person was fine with agreeing to sell me that item. I have a perfect buying score, so maybe that helped him in his decision.

 

[CathrynRose]

I hope you can work it out to ship to unconfirmed addresses safely. I'm someone with an unconfirmed address, simply because I would never want to give paypal my checking account number! However I've had lots of successful transactions with ebay and paypal. Just wanted to let you know that there are valid reasons some of us prefer to stay unconfirmed....

Exact-a-mundo! ! !

Ive been an eBay member since 1998 - and have no confirmed address.

Besides - I do not want stuff sent to my house. Im not home. I want it sent to work.

 

[DMRick]

If it's not too expensive of an item, I ship to unconfirmed addresses. Well, unless they write me first to see if I ship to unconfirmed..then I say no. I"m always afraid they are scoping my out..paranoide I guess LOL.

Just a note..for those who sweep their accounts in fear someone will do a chargeback. You will still owe the amount of the chargeback to Paypal, per the agreement you agreed to , when you decided to use them. They can "take" that money as soon as another person pays you, or from your credit card (and I assume most have one attached to their account, since that is YOUR safety in case a seller doesn't send an item you bid on). If you never put money in your account again, they can (and will) persue the money with a collection agency.

Another note..for those not confirmed, because you don't want your checking account attached to Paypal..you used to be able to be confirmed with your charge card..is that not true anymore?

Actually I did a search and found my own answer (oh, and my shipping address is different from my billing address, and they are both confirmed). Number three should work for those of you without a checking account or a charge card. I think you have to fax your license.

How do I confirm my shipping address?

1. You can confirm your shipping address in three ways:
Add a credit card to your PayPal account. By adding a credit card to your account, PayPal can attempt to confirm your address with your credit card company. If the credit card company is not able to confirm your address, you may be asked to complete the Expanded Use enrollment process to activate your credit card. Your address can be confirmed after that process is complete. Note: Not all credit card companies are able to confirm addresses.

2. Apply for PayPal Buyer Credit. If approved, the address on your application will be a confirmed address.

3.Complete Alternate Address Confirmation. This process takes several days and is only available for U.S. accounts. To learn more, log in to your PayPal account and visit the Alternate Address Confirmation page.

 

[~Kathie]

rflorek also posted the above information on page 1 with a little more detail about option #3.

 

[Colinsmom]

IMHO That's absolutely stupid for Paypal not to investigate before refunding the buyers money. Especially if the seller has proof through delivery confirm. or confirmation email. It seems like they should have to file a claim first, in which the seller is notified and given a chance to respond to the alligation.

The theory is that someone could hack into your Paypal account, change your address to their own (thus it would be an unconfirmed address), make purchases with your account and have the items sent to their own address. The confirmation process presumably verifies that items are shipped to the same address as the billing address on the charge card. It's actually not totally unusual for businesses to refuse to ship to an address other than your credit card billing address; this is no different.

So, if you had delivery confirmation, all that would prove is that you shipped the item to an address and it was received. It doesn't prove that the item was received by the person who owns the Paypal account (versus some hacker).

I'm not saying that unconfirmed address = thief, just that you open yourself up to a chargeback and need to decide for yourself whether it is a risk you want to take.