It's a ^&%in' jungle out there-ebay scam

[lost in space]

I just got this from the seller I just bought an item from:

Thanks for buying my laptop!
I am getting the laptop ready to send your way. There were some delays as somebody pretending to be the buyer messaged me asking about changing the shipping address. They almost tricked me into shipping the laptop to them instead of you! Anyway, it should be ready to ship tomorrow with no further delays.

How can they protect sellers from this, or is this just another way the bay is throwing seller under the bus?

[hal]

Ebay makes it very clear that sellers are protected from scams as long as they follow the simple rules. The first and most important rule is that you MUST ship to the address that ebay/paypal provides you. It is abundantly clear how important it is to do this.

Just hope he's not an idiot and ships in a usps flat rate box (he will - they almost always do)

[wurm]

hal wrote:
Just hope he's not an idiot and ships in a usps flat rate box (he will - they almost always do)

Okay, I'll bite. Why is that the sign of an idiot?

[PeterW]

Because it’s the equivalent of slapping a shipping label on a laptop, putting on a couple of pieces of packaging tape to keep it closed, throwing it into the mailbox and hoping for the best.

[Gareth]

I had a buyer recently message me on an account I rarely use (so it may have little to no seller feedback) to remind me to only ship to the address on the order because of scams like this. I thought it a little odd since of course that’s what I’m going to do, but apparently there are sellers who might fall for it! If a buyer wants to change the address, I refund them and make them repay (though with PayPal not refunding fees, I might not do that anymore and just ship to the original address).

[GGD]

PeterW wrote:
Because it’s the equivalent of slapping a shipping label on a laptop, putting on a couple of pieces of packaging tape to keep it closed, throwing it into the mailbox and hoping for the best.

I just received a package almost as bad from a Home Depot online order last week. I ordered an Inverter to replace one I previously ordered and returned as defective. The second order they just slapped a packing slip onto the box designed for shelf display, and the box wasn't even taped closed and arrived pretty battered.

My first order had a second fully sealed outer brown cardboard box from the manufacturer around this inner box. The second one looks like an open box returned item missing the shipping box with a packing slip on it.

I haven't tested it to see if it even works, and I'm contemplating returning and reordering it even if it does work.

[wurm]

PeterW wrote:
Because it’s the equivalent of slapping a shipping label on a laptop, putting on a couple of pieces of packaging tape to keep it closed, throwing it into the mailbox and hoping for the best.

So it's not the box that's the problem. It's the lazy idiot who doesn't pack the box properly. Got it.

[hal]

USPS flat rate boxes use very thin cardboard. The medium flatrate box can fit a 13" laptop with about a 1/2" for padding at the ends. The boxes are 3" think so only an inch of padding top and bottom. And people stuff 15" laptops in these as well with ZERO padding on the ends.

USPS Flatrate is at least 1/2 the price of a properly packed box so sellers often find the temptation too great to pass on.

here's an idiot showing you how its done. It boggles the mind...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffJNxeBmqgU