Help with a PayPal / Shipping address question

[TattiePants]

I'm in the process of selling some items to a buyer in ROI (I'm in the UK) which will collectively be £600 in value. My local post office will only accept packages up to £250 when sending abroad so I'd have to split into 3 parcels which will cost a lot. Also, if I add the true value of the items to the customs declaration (which I need to to cover myself), he will also be hit with large fees.

He will be paying via PayPal Goods & Services and asked if I would post to his friend in the UK. As I would be posting to a different address to what is registered on his PayPal account I want to make sure I am covered in case the item goes missing.

Two option I have come up with are:

• He adds a new address or temporarily changes his address on PayPal to the UK address when he pays me. Not sure if this will work given the addresses are in 2 different countries.
• He sends the money to his friend's PayPal address, the friend then pays me.

Would either of these options work or is there a better way of doing it? Ideally I don't want to lose this sale but equally I'm not going to risk losing the money.

I’d just leave it. It sounds like some kind of scam and for that amount of money I don’t think it’s worth the chance of losing it

He adds his friend to PayPal is the only way you are covered.

@TattiePants

I'm in the process of selling some items to a buyer in ROI (I'm in the UK) which will collectively be £600 in value. My local post office will only accept packages up to £250 when sending abroad so I'd have to split into 3 parcels which will cost a lot. Also, if I add the true value of the items to the customs declaration (which I need to to cover myself), he will also be hit with large fees.

He will be paying via PayPal Goods & Services and asked if I would post to his friend in the UK. As I would be posting to a different address to what is registered on his PayPal account I want to make sure I am covered in case the item goes missing.

Two option I have come up with are:

• He adds a new address or temporarily changes his address on PayPal to the UK address when he pays me. Not sure if this will work given the addresses are in 2 different countries.
• He sends the money to his friend's PayPal address, the friend then pays me.

Would either of these options work or is there a better way of doing it? Ideally I don't want to lose this sale but equally I'm not going to risk losing the money.

The better way to do it would be using eBay international forwarding. For you it’s just the cost of UK postage, for the buyer they pay extra postage.

Unless you can raise a custom invoice offering the extra forwarding delivery it may need to be cancelled and a ‘private’ sale created with the international options
(You ought to be able to raise an invoice with other delivery options)

For stating the value - don’t change your declaration, it means you get the right cover, the buyer ought to be willing to pay the higher import taxes. Faking the price would of course be fraud

I did send a camera lens overseas via the international forwarding with a lower insurance valuation, but it cost me under £10 and sold for about £400. It was a ‘risk’ but the next insurance threshold was a fair bit more - it was a chance I was willing to take as I was just making a surprise profit.

PS ‘goods and services’ is a bad idea

The buyer officially loses all their protection from PayPal, and should have no claim against you - but that doesn’t mean they never side with the buyer and they can still pull back the money from you

@Tommika

PS ‘goods and services’ is a bad idea

The buyer officially loses all their protection from PayPal, and should have no claim against you - but that doesn’t mean they never side with the buyer and they can still pull back the money from you

Correction —-// goods and services is the right method!

I messed up my brain there

@tommika thanks for those tips. It actually isn’t an eBay sale, just a private sale via a niche Facebook group for collectors of this particular item. He is a huge collector and very active buying and selling via the group so I’m as sure as I can that he’s genuine but I’m still not willing to take any risks. I’m trying to work out if his friend paid me from a PayPal account with the correct postage address, is there any risk to me?

[quote TattiePants]@tommika thanks for those tips. It actually isn’t an eBay sale, just a private sale via a niche Facebook group for collectors of this particular item. He is a huge collector and very active buying and selling via the group so I’m as sure as I can that he’s genuine but I’m still not willing to take any risks. I’m trying to work out if his friend paid me from a PayPal account with the correct postage address, is there any risk to me?[/quote]
If your paid with a matching address then you have ‘cover’ via PayPal
(Note the main protection is for the buyer)

But it’s also better for you if it’s a UK sale, you will have successfully posted to the address matched to PayPal

Thank you, that's really helpful.