International Freight Forwarders

[tantox]

Anyone had experience with freight forwarders? I had a sale that took place with PP G&S, and they offered to pay the fee without being asked. Google found several references about the specific address (this one seems to be an international freight forwarder) and even the persons name being a part of an alleged scam on other sites >> item is shipped to the provided address >> packages are forwarded out of the country >> then buyer claims they never received, and they get a refund from PP G&S, which is how they paid.

Interestingly their PP accounts have no verified mailing address in PP, which I found unusual, and may void a sellers protection against potential fraud. I have not shipped yet, and am considering refunding. This just seems fishy.

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[SwissHeritageCo]

Better safe than sorry.

 

[hhmoore]

No verified address, and evidence of scamming activity. Take no chances

 

[Triton]

Why take a chance?

 

[tantox]

I agree with the sentiment here. One of the user accounts who paid for the item has great feedback here on BF, as in over 100+ positive. But apparently the address is a freight forwarding service, used by both legit international forwarders and potential scammers. Likelihood of item going to Eastern Europe (as in Russia) is high based on research. Possible shipment is pending their acceptance of signature confirmation if I choose to go forward.

 

[toker]

I've shipped people things where the buyer has used freight forwarding services on eBay. Once the package is delivered there, then the transaction should be considered complete on the seller's end. At least that's the way that places like eBay see it.

The international buyer would understand the risks.

 

[ooitzoo]

Anyone heard of legit users/buyers having Bear, Delaware 19701 addresses? I had a sale that took place with PP G&S, and they offered to pay the fee without being asked. Google found several references about the specific address (this one seems to be an international freight forwarder) and even the persons name being a part of an alleged scam on other sites >> item is shipped to the provided address >> packages are forwarded out of the country >> then buyer claims they never received, and they get a refund from PP G&S, which is how they paid.

Interestingly their PP accounts have names in non-English characters, and there is no verified mailing address in PP, which I found unusual, and may void a sellers protection against potential fraud. I have not shipped yet, and am considering refunding. This just seems fishy.

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I don't know anything about the specific forwarding service in question.

I generally treat these as foreign buyers and act accordingly (i.e., PPFF only and the sale is done fully at the buyers risk).

 

[Mister_Punchy]

As a buyer from overseas, I would considerate using a freight forwarder only if the seller (usually an online store) would not ship internationally. I do not see any reason to use one when dealing with a private seller so I would advise Op to exercise caution in this case.

 

[Steven65]

I often use a freight consolidator/forwarder for buying car parts from eBay and other online retailers. I then consolidate the packages into one and ship it. Saves me a ton of money.
This is what freight consolidating/forwarding is designed for.

What it sounds like is happening here (and I'm just surmising) is that the buyer is using a freight forwarder either because he does not want to reveal his true address to the seller. And/or he wants to try and play with customs descriptions and values when the knife enters his home country to pass inspection and save on duties and tariffs.
Either way that's a problem as knives attract a far higher level of shipping issues than other commonly shipped items.

By not telling you that he was using a forwarder he opens you up to all sorts of problems. Don't do it.

 

[other memory]

I did this once, but the guy agreed to use ff. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it because you as the seller are shipping to an address that isn't the buyer's. You lost leverage and violated pp's terms and conditions. No bueno.

It's 2024 guys. Y'all should know how pp works at this point. Apparently, many are still struggling and management is getting annoyed. Please improve.