Any red flags being raised here?

I just sold on eBay an item for $178 to a fellow in Thailand. He has plenty of positive transactions, so it appears that he's on the level.

I received the following message:

I will make payment shorty, but let me have some advice from you regarding some matters.
Could you please declare on package as used turntable cartridge with value 30-50?
Are you able to send the item to my friend address, also in Thailand?

I assume he's trying to avoid tariffs, but if something goes wrong, I won't be able to put in an insurance claim for the full value, right? (Is postal insurance even available on international shipments?)

I just want to make sure I don't get burned... What do you think?

 

I've decided to not lower the declared cost on the customs forms - I'll get burned if the package is lost in transit or something.

As for shipping to a different address, I'm gonna call eBay tomorrow and get their take on that. I don't want to do anything that may open me up to liability.

 

Asking you to declare a lower value is the first red flag.
Asking you to send to a friend is the second red flag.

Darryl

 

You're right...

I just found this on Paypal's page:

To be eligible for Seller Protection, you'll need to meet each of the following requirements:

1. You must send the item to the shipping address on the Transaction Details page.

 

If you even need to ask the question regarding #2, you're a sucker in waiting on eBay.

Only ship to PayPal /eBay verified addresses Period.

The whole thing sounds shoddy to me.

Personally, I would not include Thailand as a country I ship to for anything I was not willing to take a total loss on, but that's my view based on bad experience.

 

I'm not feeling too secure about it either... I wonder what my obligations are here.

Not Taiwan... Thailand.

 

Yeah I have to agree with the others here. I'd avoid this guy. Never ship to any address not verified on Paypal. I'd avoid lower customs declarations as well if you're going to insure the package.

The buyer might have plenty of positive transactions but it doesn't mean the account hasn't been hijacked.

 

What is your opinion on shipping to Mexico? Since I ship to the country so rarely, I don't think too much about it. I just got an email from a buyer mentioning item not yet received.

 

I've been selling on eBay since 1998. Because of excessive delivery issues over the years, I no longer ship anything south of the Rio Grande anymore!

 

I don't think that there's some strange conspiracy in the works over a $178 item. I'd just ship it and relax...

 

When a buyer asks a seller to break the law, I would cancel their order in a heartbeat. No buyer should ever willingly put a seller in that position, just as a seller should not compromise the integrity of their buyers.