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  #1  
Old 10-11-2013
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Default Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

I did read other previous posts similar to my current topic but the answers don't help my situation.

First off my 2 stealth accounts have non-existent addresses and neither address is in the state I live in.

When trying to set up a USPS online account for printing my labels from home, USPS rejected my applications due to each address being bogus, they can't confirm the address, "This Address Does Not Exist".

So I use eBay shipping and print labels through eBay and naturally the return address is the address that does not exist. This non-existent address zip code is what USPS uses to calculate the correct postage rate from point A (me) to point B (the buyer).

Unfortunately point A as eBay shipping knows it is really in a different shipping rate zone from where I'm mailing it out. So if I use any USPS service besides Flat Rate, the shipping fee paid through eBay shipping is not the right cost. It can end up being too much (which they don't care about) to being not enough which they do care about and may return the package to sender which means when they find the address does not exist it just goes in their "problem pile" as "unclaimed". The other possibility is they send it through to the buyer with "Postage Due" which really pisses the buyer off and will bring me a Negative Feedback.

I can't just place a label over the return address on the printed label showing my real location and name because the buyer is going to see this and start wondering what's going on here, who's this guy ? The auction said the item was in NC and this box is from TX. When it comes time to leave feedback the buyer may hit the "Report This Seller" button and then I get contacted by eBay if not immediately suspended.

UPS is not so bad because they allow me to use my stealth eBay account owner's fictitious name as the sender so long as the actual address I ship from is my real address. At least this way the buyer see's the correct eBay member name (as listed in their PayPal account) and when they see the address does not match they may only think I must have moved......who cares.

So how do others here get around this detail ?

The majority of my items are small enough and light enough that USPS is the only way to go. UPS would cost way too much.

All advice is greatly appreciated.
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

You could use stamps.com with inkfrog, you can set the shipping address from within the application
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Old 10-11-2013
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

It is a bad idea to use a non-existent address. And I would stop using eBay to ship your items. Stamps.com or Endicia will protect your privacy in this regard. You could put a real address on it and eBay would never see it. That way, your postage cost is correct and you won't have the negative feedback issue for postage due.

Also, if a buyer wants to return something and messages you through eBay, you could respond "just send it back to the return address" without going into detail.
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

Yeah best to sign up with stamps.com print all the labels and then simply upload tracking number to ebay and can use your real address with stamps. Can also include a note in packages, if want to return anything can ship to this address, etc
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

Is stamps.com good to use for bulk shipping? I am having privacy issues as well and would like a good way to have my actual return address listed without stirring up any suspicion from ebay. However, I am shipping out 50-100 items a day sometimes, and I need a bulk shipping method.
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

Thanks Jeffweico & 123: for your response.

I may be confused here (wouldn't be the first time or even the 753rd. time) but I'm still not seeing the answer yet.

Lets set eBay aside for a minute and take them out of the equation.

My first concern is regarding what my buyer see's.

They see what state and city the auction item is located in before they place a bid.

Then they decide to bid on my auction instead of someone else's because I'm closer to them and they feel they will get my item sooner.

When my item arrives, they look at the ship from/return address and it matches the auction item location as it should but while they were checking the tracking number for progress they see the item was accepted for shipping 2 states away and shipping progress also begins 2 states away.

Now comes my second concern that does include eBay:

Because my buyer may be a little anal, he/she feels something stinks here. They purposely chose my auction to win even if they had to pay more (as compared to the same item from a different auction where it ended for less) but their whole plan backfired because I did not ship from the advertised state.

And rightly so. If I mail a small first class package to an address 100 miles plus or minus a little away from the advertised address, the package would probably get to the buyer next day. Definitely no longer than 2 days.

Because I am really 2 states away it took the typical 5 days to arrive.

This is a bad happening here when it comes time to leave feedback probably bring Neutral or None at all. If the buyer is a "Special High-Strung Customer" it might even bring a Negative feedback.

Before someone gets on me and says "Why are you trying to create an event that makes things so difficult and not likely to happen?"

Well that's because I'm Mister Lucky !! It happened to me more than once.

I set up my first stealth account and just bought a dozen or so items that are emailed to me and not shipped (but the auction states they are mailing it to me) and I get 100% positive feedback as a buyer over the period of the first month of my new account.

I start my second month by continuing to buy non-mailed items and list a used video game starting at just .99. Before that first auction ends I list another also starting at just .99. After 3 days the first auction ends and the winning bidder pays immediately.

I ship it out same day..........to an address 50 miles away from where my Stealth Account is addressed.


OK, whats done is done. Mail it out and forget it. No worries right?

I show this scenario of events to my son and he says:

"Jeeze dad, your making a big deal out of nothing. I buy games from eBayr's every month and when they arrive I just rip the box or envelope open, throw it away and start playing the game. No one reads the return address."

"I know you have to be careful with your stealth accounts but you're taking this too far".

I send a message out to the buyer right after printing the label thanking him for his winning bid and immediate payment, give him the tracking number thank him again and then ask him to leave me 5 star positive feedback just as I left for him.

This guy writes me back within 20 minutes and says:

"Thanks man for the message. Nobody ever writes me to let me know they mailed so fast. I'm so excited to get this game. I can't afford to spend the money on new games so I have to wait until they come up for sale used so like I'm always a year behind. I'm happy I won your auction because yours looks super clean and hey we are neighbors, you only live 50 miles from me. I should get the game tomorrow. I put you on my favorites list."

Second game sells 3 days later and yep sure as hell, this time the buyer is a little more than 100 miles away from my non-existent address (going by zipcode to zipcode).

This buyer did not respond to my message sent after shipping.

NO FEEDBACK from either buyer.

So 2 more weeks go by and on my 2nd. stealth account (also non-existent address) one item auctioned was cast iron, weighed 75lbs. triple-boxed and was shipped via UPS Ground. When I went to print the packing slip I see the buyers address is just 2 zipcodes away from my fictitious zipcode but actually 1-1/2 states away from where I'm really shipping from.

I send this buyer my typical after-shipping message.

This buyer responds that night saying:

"Thanks for the heads up. Because we live so close to each other I was thinking about asking you if I could pick this hitch up from you at home or we could meet at the flying J truck stop not far from you and save myself $68.00. I couldn't figure out how to pay you with paypal and leave off the shipping cost so I decided to pay the whole amount and just let it come ups. Thanks"

Well it took 5 days to get there and I didn't get any feedback from this one either.

The only partial fix I can see is by changing my ship from location to just show the item location for each auction as "USA" OR "U.S."

Would doing this cause red flags to Ebay??

Is eBay trust and safety triggered by not including a complete location address ??

The reason why this would help my situation is because potential bidders won't bid just because they see my address to close to theirs. They might ask me before bidding where I live and I could easily use my real city location eliminating all this bs.
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Old 10-12-2013
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

When you print labels using stamps.com it would show your real address so on the label that you put on the box your customer would see your real address. Also you can easily edit the item location when listing an item, can put whatever zip code you want as the item location doesn't need to match the account location. Some people don't even put a state as item location they put something like "United States" and leave broad instead, so whatever you prefer is fine. Putting another zip code as item location won't cause you any problems with ebay, I do it all the time. Good luck and nothing wrong with being extra careful!
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

Why make shipping life so complex?

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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

What she said.^^^^^^^
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Old 10-14-2013
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

You have brought up something that could be important....However you have also struck something else in my mind..
How are some Sellers able to put United States, United States as their location? They don't have just one state like Texas, or Az or California listed whether or not they are in that state or not.
Just a thought... I have looked at locations when buying for my self or when I have over sold and have to fill an order for a client and want to find the item close to their location to get it to them quicker especially if that Seller doesn't ship out same day like I do.
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Old 10-14-2013
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

I tried listing my location as just United States as I listed something last night.
NO GO. Ebay auto listed my state and city. The only thing eBay let me leave out was my zipcode.

If you check eBay policy on this topic "Sellers Location" eBay states quite clearly that they require the seller sell's from their address on file with eBay.

The only thing I can see to eliminate this living in one state and shipping from another hassle would be to change the ship-from address on the listing page as you create the auction.

Well I tried this way before I started asking questions here because it seemed quite simple right?

Regardless where my registered address is, I'll just change the item location while creating my listing.

As soon as I clicked list my item I get MC999. Now all my auction listings get removed ( all 4 of em, I only get 5/month) and I get the typical MC999 message stating they need to confirm my identity and to call them right away or risk suspension. http://www.aspkin.com/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif

I had them call me. The customer service representative I got was an easy going guy and said he just needs to verify some additional information and everything should be fine. It consisted of whats your address, whats your phone number listed on your account, is this number a land-line or a cell phone. After answering the questions he placed me on hold while transferring me to Trust & Safety. The information he wanted was certainly not "additional information" . It is all the information originally provided to open the account.

Trust and safety finally comes on and after identifying myself again, asks me all the same questions and when I asked what I did wrong when listing my last item (playing innocent newbie) Trust & Safety says: there seems to be some confusion about your location but hold on a minute while I keep reading my screen and get caught up with whats noted here.

At this point I didn't want to bring up the item location being different from my registered address on the last item I listed which might cause them to dig deeper. http://www.aspkin.com/forums/images/...behindsofa.gif

Now she (T&S) asks me where I'm calling from. I said from home. Shes says where is that? I gave her my registered address. She asks if she calls me at this number am I there to answer the phone. I said yes. She said OK I need you to hang up your phone and I'll call you back right away. I hang up, she calls, I pick up and she identifies herself and then says OK I can get your account reactivated and you can retrieve your cancelled auctions under Unsold and then you can hit relist and your auctions will show up again. Any listing fee's on your auctions have been refunded to your account and new fees will be applied when you relist.

When I went to relist the last listing that started all this was not there. http://www.aspkin.com/forums/images/...s/confused.gif

I recreated the last listing but definitely DID NOT change the item location again.

I don't know what else to do but wait until my accounts mature a year or so and then maybe try it again. http://www.aspkin.com/forums/images/smilies/pout.gif

I know full-time RV owners sell on eBay and they mail from where ever they happen to be when the auction ends.

I guess they just leave their registered city and state showing and if a buyer asks about shipping from ?????? instead of what showed on the listing page the seller tells them the full-time traveling story and they aren't in any one place for very long. It is what it is !! http://www.aspkin.com/forums/images/smilies/noidea.gif
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  #12  
Old 10-15-2013
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

Wow vetman90 - you really are making this complex - I can't see the end goal with the whole verbosity here - sorry.
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

oooweee what he said. You beat me for verbose for sure. ^^^^^
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

I ship from Florida on accounts from many different states and never an issue.

As long as the local PO gets the credit for the package being shipped you should be ok.
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Old 10-15-2013
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Default Re: Shipping State Different From Stealth Account State

I ship from California and have return addresses from 49 different states (all except AK)

I've never had a problem and if ever asked, I tell them that I dropship and use the actual sellers address per their requests.
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