New buyer with invalid address not replying to messages. Post or not?

[jeni!!]

I have a buyer with zero feedback and an invalid address--no street name (Ebay and PP)

I have sent two messages asking for a valid address and have had no reply.

i looked up the surname/state/suburb/street number combination on WhitePages and found a match. So I could post to the address I found.

However I usually post as a large letter to keep costs down, sono tracking.

Am I leaving myself open to a claim of item not received or similiar if I post to the address I found on White Pages?

Any other suggestions?

[twyngwyn]

I'd wait for them to respond...they could be away for the weekend

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@jeni!! wrote:

I have a buyer with zero feedback and an invalid address--no street name (Ebay and PP)

I have sent two messages asking for a valid address and have had no reply.

i looked up the surname/state/suburb/street number combination on WhitePages and found a match. So I could post to the address I found.

However I usually post as a large letter to keep costs down, sono tracking.

Am I leaving myself open to a claim of item not received or similiar if I post to the address I found on White Pages?

Any other suggestions?

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Am I leaving myself open to a claim of item not received or similiar if I post to the address I found on White Pages?

YES

Any other suggestions?

Wait until they have had a reasonable amount of time to respond to your messages.  Then, send a message informing them that in the absence of a valid mailing address you are unable to post the item but will do so as soon as they provide one.

To be covered by PayPal, you probably need to refund their payment and have them pay again with a valid address with that payment.

It might pay to phone eBay and let them know the situation.  You could suggest to eBay that they try contacting the buyer to get this sorted out.  This may help you have any defects removed if necessary.

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

The best thing to do is send them a message that provides an appropriate deadline for response, in a polite way that is. 🙂 

i.e. Let them know that if you're not able to confirm the complete address by x date, you will unfortunately need to refund and cancel the order.

If you're sending by unregistered letter, PayPal protection is (almost) a non-issue, because you wouldn't have it no matter where you send the letter. The only time it really becomes an issue if something about a transaction suggests you'd be better off having protection, but an incomplete address isn't sus (as such), just kinda annoying   (I get it every so often, some buyers respond, others never do, even when I refund and cancel, or to ask where the item is. Seems to happen more often with guest buyers, the ones that don't have an account and just use eBay as a guest, generally indicated by a seemingly random sequence of letters and numbers).

If they don't respond, you can cancel the transaction and issue the refund via eBay (choose 'Cancel order', then the option that states 'there's a problem with the buyer's address'. You shouldn't get a defect for canceling this way (but it has been known to happen). 

[clarry100]

My take on this is that since you say you use standard mail with no tracking that in the event of any INR claim you are going to lose anyway even if the address was correct. No tracking or proof of lodgement = automatic loss of an INR claim.

So in such a case I would be inclined to use the address you have found if you're reasonably confident it is correct.

It depends on the value of the item and how much your are prepared to lose it.

[jeni!!]

Thank you all for your suggestions, most appreciated. I have used a combination of your ideas.

I found a mobile number on the sales record, so have sent an SMS stating that:

--the account address is invalid;

--I will wait until monday for a valid address else cancel the sale;

--i have already sent 2 ebay messages.

The sale was made 19th May, so the buyer has had a few days to reply to my Ebay messages so far. However they might not even be getting ebay messages perhaps? I can't remember if there is a setting for that, but it's possible that the setting is turned off, or that the messages are going to spam. At least I can be confident of the SMS being received (assuming the mobile no is valid).

Those of you who said I'm already at risk of buyers claiming they haven't received their item--that's very true. So far it hasn't happened. The sale price is low so Im prepared to take that risk to keep prices down.

[clarry100]

Yeah we also use large letter for our stuff which is relatively low cost.

We find we are getting 1 in about 1000 packages we mail out reported as missing. Thankfully they use messaging to report to us.

After asking the buyer a couple of pertinent questions we just mail out a replacement as we recognise if it goes to an INR claim we will lose anyway and suffer a defect. Kind of like self insurance you might say.

After we send the replacement item we put a follow-up comment on the feedback we left for the buyer that says:

<UID>: Replacement sent for item reported lost in post <date>.

The reason we put the UserID (UID) in the comment is so that everyone can see it otherwise their ID is hidden by ebay.

This just lets everyone who wants to know that this buyer has made an INR claim.

No problems if they are genuine but if all sellers would do this then if they repeat the behaviour we can all see it easily.

And the date because ebay just say something during past month or year etc.

[jeni!!]

@clarry100
Excellent idea. Thanks for that, especially the tips re adding ID and date.

[jensmanchester-australia]

jeni - if you found a mobile number why not just ring the buyer to confirm their address. If it is a new buyer a lot of the time they have no idea where to find or answer ebay messages.

[jeni!!]

Agreed, they might not be getting the ebay messages or know how to reply.

I've sent an SMS.

I do want them to update the address on Ebay though, rather than just SMS me the address. Am I being too picky?