Have you ever gotten an email stating "please send to this address which is not mine, this is a gift." Then accompanying that request is "please don't send anything about ebay, the item number or cost when you ship the item". Last but not least is the "Please do not use your return address, use mine as a return address." All wrapped up with "If you're not willing to do this, kindly refund my Paypal payment; it shouldn't be difficult to find another seller who will help me.  Thanks."

What this is... is not a scam, but a person that is selling your product, making money doing it and never having to use their own money for stock, auctions or shipping. It is a person who has an online store or catalog, or even storefront that accepts payment and monies for items they do not have nor stock, then uses ebay to find them and ship them to their own buyer. They are a middle man that you and I really do not need.

Now notice above how they try to strong arm you into following their terms of the form letter with telling you that someone else will help them if you don't and they want their money back if their terms cannot be met. Now remember, you have terms of sale, they have read them, but they are forcing their terms of sale onto YOU! Do not allow this to happen. Your terms are the contract, not theirs. If you don't care that the address is unconfirmed and you have no saftey net with paypal nor ebay if you send it, then by all means do so. But... if you do, this buyer, can if he or she wishes, dispute their purchase and it's arrival simply because of the unconfirmed address. Seller beware.

My advice, send it to the person who bought it, the buyer, not the person they are 'gifting' it to. Or send it to their customer with an invoice, and ebay # as well as your email asking them to let you know that the item has arrived safely and you are the actual seller. Also contact those who have left feedback for this seller and find out if they have done the same. Most likely buyers with large amounts of feedback in a short amount of time are doing this. Also save your email, this buyer may try to sully your business and you'll need it and your correspondence with other sellers as proof for ebay. If a seller owns a business and uses ebay to buy stock or sold items that is fine, but do not allow them to bully you into taking the risk of shipment for them. Remember they are selling to a customer who believes that they are responsible for the item and shipment, but it is actually you who is and will be if there is a problem.

So sellers too must be aware and beware of some buyers, and of course vice versa. Ebay is a 'fair trade' online service, relying on people's good will. Sometimes money simply makes people loose this human trait and try to gain as much as they can through greed.