Concerned About Shipping eBay Item To Unconfirmed Paypal Member

eBay Selling Tips - Reader Question Answered

Okay so today I received an e-mail from a reader of the blog who is at their wits end with eBay and was seeking advice. So here's the situation. The eBay seller sold an iPhone for just under $700. A Chinese buyer with an address in Oregon purchased the item. Paypal and eBay were not showing the transaction as having officially cleared and were showing the hour glass so the seller didn't ship.

The buyer then messaged and basically gave a deadline saying ship before Monday or I will leave negative feedback. The seller later contacted eBay who told them the payment had cleared and that they should have checked Paypal.

I'll post the buyers story below but just a bit of commentary. First I applaud the eBay seller for not making the stupid mistake so many make which is shipping immediately before payment has cleared or even caving to buyer extortion and shipping even if payment hasn't cleared.

I do agree with eBay to the extent the seller should have checked Paypal but I can see where the confusion comes in where eBay itself is showing the payment as still being an hourglass which is strange.

Apparently eBay told the seller this is not feedback extortion and they would not remove the feedback. Now one thing for you guys to be aware of. A seller having a "verified" Paypal account isn't a requirement of Paypal  or eBay. Sure it's good it means they've hooked up a credit card and/or bank account and have gone a step further in confirming their identity but it's not a requirement to buy or sell on eBay. Many people outside of the USA buy items on eBay and have them sent to a mail forwarder, typically on the west coast for Asian buyers. In my experience generally in California but Oregon would not surprise me. This is really big in the basketball card category.

I think the best thing to do in this situation is to try to contact the buyer and request a feedback revision. Express your concerns as well as confusion about the payment not showing cleared, you may even want to send a screenshot showing that eBay still shows an hourglass. Apologize to the buyer, maybe even offer a partial refund in return for having the feedback removed. I know people hate losing out on money but honestly the harm of negative feedback will cost you more than throwing a few bucks back the sellers way or offering free shipping or a return on shipping.

If that doesn't work you may want to give eBay another call and see if a different eBay rep may see your side of the story and remove the feedback.

I sold an iPhone on June 6 via buy it now with immediate payment required for $699.99. The item immediately showed up under my "Awaiting Payment" tab. It had the hour glass that said "This item is pending payment through PayPal". A few days ago I received a message from the buyer that said, "SHIP before next Monday, otherwise I will complain in EBAY and add NEGATIVE." This morning, the payment still showed as pending on eBay when I received negative feedback. eBay shows his is a user in China who is trying to have me ship to an unconfirmed address in Oregon. 

I called eBay this morning and was told by the first representative that my feedback would not be removed. She was very unhelpful. I was then transferred to someone on the Leadership Team. This person explained to me that I should have checked PayPal to see that the payment had cleared. 

Which apparently it did. However, eBay still showed the payment as pending and the page clearly said "Do not ship yet." She also said that the buyer had not tried to extort feedback because he simply wanted me to ship an item that had been paid for. Am I required to ship to an unconfirmed address? My account is 15 years old. I've paid eBay untold thousands of dollars in fees. And this is the treatment I get in favor of a buyer with 3 feedback and a year old account. I'm incredulous to this whole thing.