Random ebay parcel sent to me.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I've received a parcel from someone, ebay postal label. It isn't a mix up from a seller afaik as I have checked with the sellers of a couple of items that I'm waiting for, they haven't posted it by accident.
I called ebay as I thought they could contact the person (name and most of the address is on the label) but apparently they can't do that. The woman I spoke to said she thought someone had stolen my identity, and to take the parcel to the police station.. This seems a bit extreme, but it is weird. What would you do, should I send the person a postcard telling them I've got their parcel? Should I be worried?

I might be missing something, but if someone had set up a fake eBay account in your name, what would they gain by also using your address - anything they bought would go to you? Has anything come out of your Paypal?

Can you open the parcel in such a way that it's resealable? The sellers details might be inside (they often enclose an invoice or business card). If the item is sufficiently distinctive, you could try searching for it under 'sold items' and see if you can track down the seller yourself.

I don't see the point either, the person I spoke to was very unclear. I've opened the parcel as I assumed it was something I'd bought, it doesn't have any info inside, no invoice or anything, so I've only got the details on the front label to go by.

Is the item of high value or commonly associated with fraud (e.g. i-phone)?

No, it's a girl's dress.

It does sound more like a mistake than a scam. I can't see how it would possibly work as any sort of fraud. You could try looking/posting on the Seller Boards on eBay to see if there's been any kind of technical issue with labels; otherwise your idea of dropping the seller a postcard is probably the only way to go. Could it be a seller you've bought from in the (possibly distant) past, and they've somehow printed off an old label?

Look for the sold item on eBay, you will be able to see the seller and their email address, easier than sending a postcard.

This once happened to my mum.
She sent it back to the return address.
Another appeared and then another.
Eventually she opened it.

Inside was a massive, pink, sparkly dildo. Poor mum was mortified.

This happened to me once, when an eBay seller reused packaging I had used to send something to them. They'd used it to send on to a third person, but my return address still stood out and was mistaken for the delivery address.

BikeRunSki- I did wonder if something like that had happened. Ebay said she didn't have a seller account, but what does that even mean? I mainly buy on ebay but sometimes have a clearout, am I registered as a seller then?
Oh and I can't search for the item, I don't know the item number. It is a girl's dress from Monsoon,

You don't need the item number. Search for a girl's dress from Monsoon, looking only at sold items. It's relatively easy to narrow it down with other search criteria.

Do you have a young girl? Could someone have bought it for you as a gift?

Have you logged in to eBay and checked your purchased items?

I've checked purchased items , yes. I've also checked paypal payments for the past few weeks and nothing has gone to that name. I do have a daughter but I'm sure it isn't a gift from anyone I know.
I can't work out how to search "Sold" items, how do I do that?

We once received a metal mop bucket like this. Never got to the bottom only it and nothing since!

To search for sold items you need to go to the advanced search - you might need to be on the full website rather than the mobile one- and there's a tickbox for 'sold' and one for 'completed'.

Have worked out the sold thing and am searching for it now.

As a pp said, could it be something meant for your daughter? My MAIL has on several occasions sent unexpected items through the post for our kids. They rarely have anything indicating that it's from her. Very kind, but often the source of confusion - we had a pair of sunglasses this week ...

*MIL not mail!

I can't see it in the sold items that are coming up.

I really don't think any of my friends would have bought this on ebay for my dd without letting me know. It isn't an obvious present-type dress for starters, (Autumn/Winter type day dress) and dd's birthday isn't until Christmas. Also don't ebay sellers have to send directly to the purchaser rather than to a third party?

Sender has an unusual name , there is someone with the same name on facebook and linkedin.

We regularly get eBay gifts from people. Also send them. They can go anywhere. I think this is likely a random gift

Dds only get gifts on birthdays or at Christmas, no-one has sent anything from ebay in the past, but also anyone likely to send something would have let me know I think. The label says "prepaid and printed by ebay" which would surely mean that my address must have been down as the purchaser? Or could one put in any address?
I think I'll have to send a card to the sender today, I just didn't madly want to give out my email or telephone number to a random stranger.