Postage policy excluded everyone except UK, but South Korean has bought item!

[follywildliferescue]

The way the buyer has got round the policy is by having a mailing address at a shipping agent in the UK. Can the sale be cancelled? I have my concerns, because the items was sold as potentially faulty, that this is going to end up with a full refund and no chance of getting it back. We only ship internationally via the Global Shipping Programme usually. I have tried to reach out to the buyer in both English and Google translated Korean to ensure they understand the item may be faulty, but have had no response.

[the-nutwood-collection]

If the buyer is using a freight forwarder, then the eBay MBG ends when the item is received by the forwarder.

eBay excludes liability under the MBG if - The item was sent to another address after original delivery.

Therefore, if tracking shows that the item was received by the forwarder, the buyer cannot claim under the MBG.

However ... I believe that the buyer can raise a chargeback with their payment provider citing that the item is damaged or not as described.  The payment provider would probably side with the buyer.

If you're uncomfortable with the transaction - which is understandable if the buyer hasn't responded to your messages - I think you would be wise to cancel the transaction citing 'Problem with the buyer's address' unless the value is low enough to take a chance, which it probably isn't if you include cost of the shipping to Korea.

[follywildliferescue]

Thank you. I guess I do have a problem with the buyer’s address, so that is valid. I’m not keen on getting negged for cancelling the sale either which has happened before. Luckily I have until Tuesday to think about this!

[the-nutwood-collection]

Just realised that my comment about the cost of postage to Korea is rubbish because you're being asked to send it to a UK address.  Must think harder before posting!

Yes, you might get a neg.  However, you can respond by saying that you don't support international sales, irrespective of the route taken by the buyer.  That would serve as a warning to any future buyer that plans to use a freight forwarder and possibly avoid the same problem cropping up in the future.

[follywildliferescue]

Thanks again. I have decided to risk the neg… and all future listings now have a line about bidders using a forwarding agency as their address will have their bid cancelled even if they win!

[xyz307xyz]

There is also this setting:
"Block buyers whose primary postage address is in a location to which I don’t post"
on https://www.ebay.co.uk/bmgt/buyerrequirements

(I guess it won't stop someone who knows about this option - who could temporarily put the UK address as primary.)

[follywildliferescue]

That is set, but this buyer has a UK forwarding agency as his primary address unfortunately 

[the-nutwood-collection]

I thought the primary address had to match the payment method address.  However, I may be wrong - it's been ages since I set up my eBay accounts.

This sounds like a tricky customer, best avoided.

 Also, unless the buyer has a UK bank account, you'd be hit by eBay's international fee and, I think, currency conversion fee.

[jlovie]

I've sold a fair few items via freight forwarders, but it's mainly been books and magazines, so not so much chance of anything going wrong. No problems so far.

Japanese collectors seem to use this method a lot.