What does it mean to CONFIRM your paypal shipping address?

As a buyer, you may come across a seller that ships only to confirmed paypal addresses.  Verbally telling the seller that “yes, this is my address, please ship my item there”, will not do.  There is actually a process you as the buyer need to follow through paypal.

On Paypal’s side, when a buyer’s credit card billing and shipping addresses are the same, or in some cases after Paypal has examined your Paypal buying account history, Paypal will be able to toggle your shipping address as “Confirmed”.  Please keep in mind that Paypal is only able to confirm addresses in the US, Canada, and the UK right now.

Why do some sellers require this? 

The simple answer is, “To minimize or avoid Fraud”.  On the off chance that a buyer disputes payment, or initiates a chargeback, Paypal will back the seller as long as the seller ships to the confirmed address.  This is what paypal refers to as “Seller protection”.

Don’t take it personally, eBay’s environment has changed drastically since it’s early days.  Please keep in mind that there are enough unscrupulous buyers as well as sellers for Paypal to even have this process in place.  It’s each individual’s responsibility to buy and sell responsibly and safely.

How do I as a buyer have paypal confirm my address?

The process is fairly straight forward.  You can have paypal confirm your shipping address in the following ways:

1. Add a credit card to your paypal account.  When you do this, Paypal will confirm the credit card billing address (the address you receive your credit card statement).

2. You can also apply for Paypal Buyer Credit.  If you are approved, the address on your application will be your confirmed address.

3. The 3rd option is Alternate address confirmation.  This process can take several days and is only available for U.S. Accounts.  For this option you will need to be a verified Paypal member, have been a member for more than 90 days, have a community participation of more than 10, and be a U.S. member in good standing.  If you qualify for alternate address confirmation, you will need to fax several documents to Paypal.
a. A valid photo ID (preferably with the correct address printed on the ID)
b. A proof of address (recent utility bill), phone bill, paycheck stub, or business card that shows the address that is being used as your alternate address.

And send or fax this to Paypal (please see their website for the exact mailing address and fax number).  After your docs are received and processed, Paypal will mail you a secret code to the address you are trying to confirm.  After entering the secret code correctly into the paypal website, your alternate address will be confirmed.

Obviously, adding a credit card to your paypal account is the quickest way.
Verfied and Confirmed are two very different things.

Becoming Verified through Paypal will allow you to have expanded use of your Paypal account (it will remove the transaction limit on your account).  But it will not necessarily “Confirm” your shipping address.  Please keep this in mind when a seller tells you that they need you to “Confirm” your Paypal shipping address.

What if I cannot confirm the address I need the item shipped to???

If the alternate address process still doesn’t fit your needs, and you need to ship to, for example your work address, or college address or if you are a buyer outside the US, Canada, UK, talk to the seller PRIOR to committing to buy the item.  They may take your feedback history into consideration, or worst case, just cancel the transaction.  Communication is always Key.  Please remember, this is only a Paypal guideline.  You can always arrange for a different payment method (such as money order, credit card, cashiers check, Bidpay, or western union) in order to ship to different address than what is on your Paypal account.