to think this is eBay's responsibility?

[CoolToned]

I sold an item on eBay and eBay sent me a notification containing the buyer's postal address.

After the buyer paid, I sent the item to such address.

As it turned out, the buyer's Paypal's address is different to eBay's notification.

Now I sent eBay the notification as a proof and eBay said I should have checked the Paypal address if it matches with eBay's.

I don't think this is my fault? Shouldn't eBay be responsible for consistency of information?

Well, I think this is eBay's oversight since the "incorrect address" was provided by eBay.

I am not necessarily saying it's the buyer's fault. However, it IS ebay's fault. They have sent clear instructions to the seller telling her where to post it. Nowhere in the email does it tell the seller that she has to log in to paypal to verify the address. Therefore, they have been negligent because it's entirely foreseeable that problems could occur if the address in the email and presumably on the PAID FOR postage label they produce is incorrect.

Therefore, ebay must bear the financial responsibility for this until they sort their procedures out either by not putting the address in the email or by making it clear in the email that the seller must check paypal first.

Ebay is a huge corporation with a massive turnover. I'm sorry but they need to bear the responsibility rather than a private individual seller.

The incorrect address was provided by the buyer.

Ebay can only work with the information they have.

Paypal and eBay are now independent of one another.

When the seller pays by PayPal the instruction is always to use the address Paypal provides.

Ebay is not at fault. Its a combination of the buyer and the seller.

Didn't you get another email when the buyer had paid? With the correct address?

As a seller I always check the order details on eBay once the item is paid for... I presume at that point the correct address is shown? So no need to log into PayPal separately?

No, I got an email from Paypal but not from eBay. I actually did not consider the possibility that there could be two different addresses so I did not check if they are the same. I do not sell often on eBay and have never had any problem with addresses before.

I always followed the address on eBay's notification since I trusted that it is the correct information, as it is the "Buyer's Postal Address"

Ebay is not at fault. Its a combination of the buyer and the seller

Seriously, they are negligent in the extreme- why put the address in the email if they don't want people to use it? They offer to print postage labels fgs. Why the hell offer that service if they have no idea whether it's the correct address?

OP, I would refer this to the financial ombudsman if you get no joy out of ebay. It's very poor show.

This happened to me a couple of years ago- for some reason eBay started showing our old address even though we'd been getting deliveries at our new one for years at that point. I pursued eBay until they refunded me, since I pointed out neither the seller or myself should lose out because eBay prompted them to use incorrect details.

Not everyone pays by PayPal, so eBay need to send out the address that the buyer has provided so that the product can be posted.

When you accept PayPal, you should be aware that to be covered, you send the items to the PayPal address.

Ebay did nothing wrong in supplying the address that the buyer provided.

The buyer should have updated their address. The seller should have used the address supplied by Paypal, - as has always been clearly stipulated.

Can't get too worked up about someone that should have been aware they should send the item to the PayPal address in order to be covered by it's guarantee.

Bizarre that people think eBay is at fault when it can only provide the information it has been provided by someone else.

I sell a lot on eBay and wasn't aware to use PayPal address and as I always pay for and print my postage labels via eBay I would expect their info to be up to date.

I would be kicking up a fuss

It's been covered. eBay are not at fault because, had you not used PayPal, the address they provided would be correct. As PayPal was used; the PayPal address should be used. eBay can't pull this through; it would constitute data misuse.

You could explain to eBay that you used that address and I believe that the refund for brand new sellers who fall foul of this, but it is in the terms of the PayPal agreement so if you've sold a fair bit before, they might not be interested.

There's an argument that it should be clearer, sure, but it is inherent knowledge for most people (as evidenced by all the posts on this thread!) and eBay won't pay to update the system for this.

There's a small blessing that you didn't pay for insurance here, as it wouldn't matter even if you could prove delivery. At least you saved yourself some money there!

Do check with the buyer that their eBay address isn't their parents house etc too, incase they can get the parcel.

Ebay are clearly at fault !

I began selling stuff on eBay a few months ago and I had no idea that I should ignore the address supplied by eBay. I have never checked a buyer's PayPal address, in fact I don't even know how to. I can't understand why eBay provides an address for a buyer and offer the option to print it as a postage label if it can't be assumed to be correct. Surely it's the responsibility of the person purchasing an item to make sure their address is correct?

YABU.

The eBay email clearly states that you must wait until payment has been received. If you are doing this, then you must be receiving the email from PayPal which makes it very clear that you must post to the address given there in order to be protected against a claim.

You really need to read the PayPal email carefully to ensure the buyer has sent the correct amount and you are clear to send the item.

Are you saying the buyer suggested the item didn't arrive because you sent it to their old address?

Did the package have your return address on?

If the occupiers at this old address signed for a parcel which wasn't in their name, it's theft.
Perhaps you can write to this old address suggesting that you have signed confirmation from Royal Mail they accepted somebody else's parcel and could they please forward it to the buyer at the buyer's expense, assuming the buyer has now moved too far away to collect in person.

In my experience even if the buyer's feedback is good, this can be a simple way to defraud a seller by using an old address. Don't feel behelden to the negative feedback risk by chasing this up with the buyer either.

I would also make it clear to the buyer that the old address occupants signing for a parcel have committed theft and that you'll be following this up with their local mail depot and the police.

Usually the threat of legal action prompts a buyer into saying, 'It's suddenly turned up!'
Of course, they may well reply with that old buyer chestnut, 'I'm a lawyer and my husband is a policeman and we've never had any problems like this before'.

Don't let it drop, keep chasing the buyer on a daily basis, especially if this a valuable item. The more you communicate with them intentionally the more likely the parcel will mysteriously turn up.

Disclaimer : 3 of these 'arrived at the wrong address' type claims and all 3 were patently resolved by me. Unsurprisingly, they all 'turned up!' in the end. Call me cynical ...

It drives me mad when people don't update names and addresses on ebay and paypal. It is so easy. I have so many people who say they can't change their name when it was one of the easiest name changes I did - scan of wedding certificate and it was done!

I am quite at all this. I like to think I am a fairly experienced eBay seller - 3000+ positive feedback - and I'll be buggered if I knew to cross check addresses with PayPal. Absolutely buggered. Sideways. With a pineapple.

Just goes to show what you can learn on MN!

Just an update - so I'm exchanging emails with the customer service and eBay said everyone knows not to trust emails because there are a lot of spoof emails around.

I asked, so I should not trust emails that came from eBay? The email clearly came from eBay because the email used is the same email used all the time!

ABloodyDifficultWoman - that's my point exactly. I received an address from eBay called "Buyer's Postal Address", I trusted it's the address I should use. I did not even consider that there will be different addresses.

Emergency - yes, the package has my return address on.

Just an update - so I'm exchanging emails with the customer service and eBay said everyone knows not to trust emails because there are a lot of spoof emails around

Oh my god, speechless. So they are saying their own emails are spam. They are seriously grasping at straws. Be really firm with them and say that they have been negligent here. It's obviously the buyer's negligence too for failing to update the address. However, if it's such common knowledge that you have to cross check paypal then why the hell is that not made clear in the notification email?

As I said before, I have sold through ebay before and I was not aware nor do I know how to cross-check on paypal. I just followed the instructions ebay gave me. I and (I presume you too) am reasonably intelligent and educated but I am a private individual with limited business experience. If I use the world's largest auction site to sell stuff, i expect to be able to rely on what I am told by them. Especially if they take my money to print postage labels to make the process easier for me.

Give them hell.

thisisafakename - I was surprised! And found the answer funny. Also they said it is encouraged to cross check with Paypal - so I wrote, could you please direct me to this because I could not find it in the notification email you sent which clearly indicated the "Buyer's Postal Address".

eBay replied that it's in the Help section.

My PayPal and Ebay addresses are different. ... I use the verified PayPal one for payment and that's my home and the EBay one for deliveries and that one is my work address. I'm hardly the only person to do this.... I don't want things delivered to my home as I'll not be there when they arrive and then have the inconvenience of a trip to the sorting office....
So yes Ebay should be helping to sort it.... the buyer should know where they want stuff sent.

OP pick up the phone and actually call eBay. You have more chance getting somewhere than emailing or using live chat.

Socksey, I highly recommend you add your work address to your Paypal account (you can do this as an additional address) and then make sure it is selected when you make the payment.

You may have got away with it so far but sooner or later (particularly if you buy something valuable) you will get a seller who refuses to send to anything other than the Paypal address, or, if something doesn't arrive then you may get embroiled in a messy dispute where Paypal refunds you due to the seller not being able to prove delivery to the Paypal address, and the seller coming after you thinking you've scammed them. Best avoided.

As a buyer Paypal give protection against items going missing or arriving not as described, but you do have to play by their rules or, as I say, things get messy.

I don't understand why people apparently can't be bothered to read and follow the very clear email you get from Paypal when payment is received. You know that Paypal hold your money in your Paypal account, you haven't actually got it in your bank account at this point? Why would you disregard what they are telling you when they've got your money?

For those who have never read it, here's the start of the email you get as a seller. They make it very clear that you must post to the address given and that they can reverse the payment if you don't comply and the seller raises a dispute or chargeback.

-------

Dear ,

You received a payment of £1234.50 GBP from yyyy ([email protected])
Thanks for using PayPal. You can now send any items. To see all the transaction details, log in to your PayPal account.

It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.
This item is eligible for Seller Protection.

Don't forget to:
Send the item to the delivery address below within 7 days.
Please note: items delivered in person or to a different address are not covered by Seller Protection.
Use a trackable proof of delivery.
Find out more about Seller Protection

Reversals:
Please be aware that your payment can still be reversed, (e.g. if it is subject to a chargeback), even after you have sent the item to your buyer. Complying with PayPal's Seller Protection and following the trading guidelines on our Security page helps to protect you from things like chargebacks.

Buyer
Bob Hoskins

Delivery Address - confirmed
1 Bob Avenue
Bobville
BO1 1BB

malmi - I did not get that email. I usually get an email about the order details similar to that but different wording (I'm in Australia) but I did not get that this time. I asked the customer service about it and they said it was probably a glitch in the system that was why the order details was not sent to me.

I got a Paypal notification of money received. Yes, I did not cross check the address with the address eBay provided.

The point is - eBay should make sure all the information coming from them is consistent. If the address can be different, then any communication from them should not contain any "might be incorrect address labeled as "Buyer's Postal Address" or at least put in that notification to cross check with the Paypal details.

eBay earns from the transaction - as the platform used, it's their responsibility not to provide any information that might be incorrect in any of their notification.

Anyway, I refunded the money to the buyer and asked Australia Post to resend the item back to me.