Freight Forwarding Shipment to Ukraine - Scam?

[marian9288]

Hi, I've made a sale for a pair of ice skates on eBay for which the buyer paid immediately. I then noticed the buyer is located in Ukraine but the postal address is to a freight forwarding company called Ukraine Express in Basildon, Essex.

A search on Google has shown a US branch of this company associated with fraud, e.g. parcels apparently going missing, item not as described etc. It seems they re-package the items before sending to the Ukraine and then claim they are damaged etc. I have messaged the buyer asking for reassurance but received no reply. The same buyer has since made an offer on a second pair of ice skates I have for sale which has made me more suspicious.
Should I send the item to the address listed in eBay or is this a known scam? The item would be sent by Royal Mail trackable service but I'm not sure if I would be covered if they reported the goods as damaged. 
If I decide to cancel and refund the order, am I still liable to pay any final value fees? 

[douglaspuglas]

You are only responsible for making sure the item gets delivered okay to the address given to you at checkout.

I think buyers who use freight forwarders aren't covered by the eBay money back guarantee.

But it won't stop them trying a chargeback with their payment provider.

But if you aren't sure about sending it cancel the sale using the reason "problem with buyers address". 

You should get your fees back minus 30p.

Also block the buyer so they can't buy anything else from you.

[pg_kicks]

If the item is shipped to the freight forwarding company and thats the address on the order then they should have seller protection even if the buyer opens a case with their payment provider so then eBay take the hit?

[papso22]

Not for a not as described chargeback, there is basically no protection against those.

[marian9288]

Thanks, I feel very uneasy about this as they bid on the second pair of skates and have now won the item, and still no reply to my message to them. Seems strange they would want 2 pairs of the same thing.
I know that my responsibility ends once they have been received at the UK address given at checkout, but I have read that this company re-packages items and then send on to Ukraine.....hence reports of damage etc. 

Really don't know whether to take the risk as I am not sure eBay would cover the seller and most likely favour the buyer in the event of a claim. The seller always seems to come off worst in this scenario.

[rjwilmsi]

While I don't sell skates I have sold various computer parts and PCs to these forwarding addresses (iShop Zambia etc.) and never had any problems. I had one sale this weekend going to an Access Self Storage place with an ID in the name, so must be another forwarding operation.

Buyers who use freight forwarders void their eBay protections - if they do open a return you only have to issue them a UK return label and the overseas back to UK part is their problem. So from that perspective the sale is better than a UK one: they're not going to return the item.

I don't think the situation with chargebacks is any better or any worse with normal UK sales - as a seller it tends to be very hard to win chargebacks. It is a risk of selling, consumer protection laws favour the buyer and we all generally benefit from that, just not when operating as an eBay seller.

Still, if you don't feel comfortable with the sale then cancel it.