Another Ebay Account Hack?

mcitinner1 · Mar 19, 2018

While waiting for a buyer based in Italy, to pay for a tin of 40th, I noticed that the address shown in the details was in Michigan. I messaged her to see if I needed to reimburse some of the shipping fee, and she replied that the Michigan address was wrong, and she lived in Italy. She is talking to Ebay about the problem.

joeman · Mar 19, 2018

Not just your average, run-of-the-mill eBay hack....a McClelland item eBay hack! :roll: :? :crying:
Good catch on the address.

cigrmaster · Mar 19, 2018

Great catch MC. I am sure the buyer is very glad you were paying attention. Now she is going through all kinds of pain in the ass getting her account fixed.

seacaptain · Mar 19, 2018

I doubt it's a hack. It's more likely a scam to avoid customs regulations. Some (many) overseas buyers have a contact in the U.S., a friend or relative, who will accept the ebay shipment, then repackage and reship to the overseas destination with a false customs form.
That assures they will never run into a seller unwilling to falsify a customs form because the seller is always shipping to a U.S. address. I've been on ebay almost 20 years and have run into this crap many times, and in fact I've ran into it right here on the pipe forum with a tobacco giveway. The recipient was in Europe and wanted me to ship to a U.S. address. No thanks, I'm not participating in your customs scam. Don't like your country's customs rules? Then stop electing leftist politicians who steal your money.

pipestud · Mar 19, 2018

Actually, it is most often not a scam. Many overseas buyers use legitimate, tax paying USA overseas shipping companies to forward their packages. Several are located in California and others in Michigan, New Jersey, Delaware and a couple of other states that I am not remembering. It is absolutely okay for eBay sellers to ship to those locations in the USA no matter where the buyer is from, whether it be Italy, China, or Timbuckto.
As for mcitinner1's issue, I suspect the buyer wanted the shipment sent to Italy but forgot that they had their USA packing/shipping address as their registered eBay address. It is less expensive for them to have the goods shipped directly to them in their home country as they pay a fee to these shipping houses.
I will sometimes get overseas eBay buyers whose address is actually overseas, but they bypass my "USA Shipping Only" rule by having a registered address in the USA which prevents the USA Shipping Only block on them when they bid. Sometimes, I get a follow-up email asking if I will ship directly to their country. Unless it is a really high dollar pipe that is worth my time to ship directly, I will politely decline.

seacaptain · Mar 19, 2018

Actually, it is most often not a scam. Many overseas buyers use legitimate, tax paying USA overseas shipping companies to forward their packages.

Does that even make sense, adding the expense of a shipping middleman unless there was a financial benefit?
So, you're saying that if I ship $100 of tobacco to a "legitimate, tax paying USA overseas shipping company", that they will in turn repack and ship the tobacco with a full customs declaration? Not likely. And the REAL question....how would they even know if it's tobacco since a US to US shipment wouldn't have a "declaration". Plausible denial comes to mind.
Why would anyone pay for repackaging and additional postage instead of direct shipping if they are making honest customs declarations? There's a financial reason for the repack and reship services being provided and it isn't an honest one.

admiral · Mar 20, 2018

Some of us are forced to do all kind of stupid moves just to be able to get some decent tobacco.

It is really not cool to play judgmental and preach over all non US smokers.

mcitinner1 · Mar 20, 2018

Captain you're speaking from no experience in the matter, but decide someone isn't honest. As Admiral said: NOT COOL.

pipestud · Mar 20, 2018

+1 at mcitinner1 and admiral.
Pipestud

oldgeezersmoker · Mar 20, 2018

Seacaptain, I represented a freight forwarding company back in the 1980's. Totally legitimate business, in fact they worked closely with Customs, are licensed, bonded and regulated. There are many of them. If someone is in some way associated with an overseas company engaged in the import/export business, and uses their services anyway, it is very convenient to run everything through them.

seacaptain · Mar 20, 2018

Sorry I touched on a sore subject for some of you. I never said 100% of reshippers are committing customs fraud, but if you're trying to deny this sort of customs fraud exists, you're not being honest.
And look, I don't care. I personally won't do it but if the rest of you do, then more power to you. I'm just pointing out that fraud does take place with these types of arrangements, which admiral tacitly admits in his reply.

pipesmokingtom · Mar 20, 2018

Wait - are we saying the freight-forwarding companies are or are not falsifying customs forms?

cosmicfolklore · Mar 20, 2018

This isn't the same as what the OP or Seacaptain were talking about, but there are scams that includes fraudulent shipping companies. It has been a few years, but there used to be a scam where someone from Russia or China would email someone with an eCommerce site and scam them, as described here. When we had the B&M, and the full retail website, we had an attempt, but sounded too good to be true, and it was.

But, in about every business there are legitimate law-abiders, and some scammers. But, not every freight company is trying to by-pass customs. But, sometimes it might be nice to know which ones will, ha ha. : puffy

:

pipesmokingtom · Mar 20, 2018

I don't care what someone does to try and get tobacco to their residence at the best rate possible.
I DO think it's an awfully easy thing to be sanctimonious about when one can get tins delivered to his door for around $9 a piece and many bulks for less than $2/oz. I'll reserve judgment, personally.

seacaptain · Mar 20, 2018

I DO think it's an awfully easy thing to be sanctimonious about when one can get tins delivered to his door for around $9 a piece and many bulks for less than $2/oz. I'll reserve judgment, personally.

Apparently, you're not. No one is being sanctimonious, just pointing out how this can be used to circumvent customs.
I also think people are conflating businesses that have large packing and shipping enterprises with the run of the mill ebay user who has a friend or relative in the U.S. to repack stuff to avoid customs. The latter is what I have personally run into, just as I said in my original post. Why is that so hard to accept?

pipestud · Mar 20, 2018

Why would anyone pay for repackaging and additional postage instead of direct shipping if they are making honest customs declarations? There's a financial reason for the repack and reship services being provided and it isn't an honest one.-seacaptain

I never said 100% of reshippers are committing customs fraud, but if you're trying to deny this sort of customs fraud exists, you're not being honest.-seacaptain

I think you cast your net over the entire herd of the professional repack/reship services with your first comment, seacaptain, and the later crawfishing was kind of lame. All that most of the good folks on this thread are trying to tell you is that there are honest repack/reship services and a lot of reasons why they are assets. And as I said in my first post, a lot of international eBay buyers like to use those services so that they can purchase something on eBay or elsewhere that does not ship internationally. That's not really a hard concept to understand. What I found hard to understand, seacaptain, was you jumping in here and immediately bashing such services as being dishonest. If I misunderstood your meaning then I certainly apologize.

oldgeezersmoker · Mar 20, 2018

Running a business that was predicated on sending a large volume of packages to international addresses with phony customs declarations would not seem to be a viable business plan. The company that I represented had been in business for over 100 years.

warren · Mar 20, 2018

Why would anyone pay for repackaging and additional postage instead of direct shipping if they are making honest customs declarations? There's a financial reason for the repack and reship services being provided and it isn't an honest one.-seacaptain

Italics mine.
No room for interpretation in that last, italicized portion.

seacaptain · Mar 20, 2018

I think you cast your net over the entire herd of the professional repack/reship services with your first comment, seacaptain, and the later crawfishing was kind of lame. All that most of the good folks on this thread are trying to tell you is that there are honest repack/reship services and a lot of reasons why they are assets. And as I said in my first post, a lot of international eBay buyers like to use those services so that they can purchase something on eBay or elsewhere that does not ship internationally. That's not really a hard concept to understand. What I found hard to understand, seacaptain, was you jumping in here and immediately bashing such services as being dishonest. If I misunderstood your meaning then I certainly apologize.

It's funny that so many people got personally insulted by my comments, when my comments were directed at an anonymous ebayer and not at anyone on the forum.

pipesmokingtom · Mar 20, 2018

Judgment and disparaging commentary can be condemned without having been personally insulted.

Another Ebay Account Hack?

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