How do you request for a buyer to confirm address

[Former_Member]

HI! :) I'm fairly new to Etsy and I love asking the wonderful community here for advice. Everyone is so helpful.
I wanted to know if you ship to unconfirmed addresses? Do you ask the seller to confirm it? I read the paragraph about it on Paypal saying you can ask the buyer to confirm it. What is the process they follow to do so. I would hate to bother my buyer. I know this may be a silly question and some will just say to ship the item but I want your input. :) Thank you in advanced

How you ask the buyer to confirm the address on PayPal.

[BakerStDesignsCo]

I believe an "unconfirmed address" just means they processed their payment through paypal without having a paypal account.

[Former_Member]

Or if they have a PayPal account, but the address is unconfirmed. For that, as long as the PayPal address matches the Etsy address, I will ship. I would only confirm the address with the buyer if the addresses don't match up. -Shirley

[Former_Member]

I don't use that service or any online service to keep costs down, but using a already filled out and stamped postcard/business Thank you for your purchase card (with your mailing address on it) and a short message from you thanking them for their purchase and requesting a confirmed address should work.

[Former_Member]

Keep in mind buyers can't confirm their PayPal address if they live in certain countries.

[Former_Member]

I have had this happen before. The address had been entered in with typos. PayPal wouldn't let me print the shipping label with a mis-typed address.

I emailed the buyer and asked them to confirm. They did. Then I mailed it.

Not all addresses are fully updated, so we just have to deal with it. The thing that annoys me is when people type addresses with typos. Random capitals and lowercases, missed spaces, etc. I don't even know how websites let people type in stuff like that.

[Former_Member]

Certain things like zip codes can also be changed by a city or county. Not everyone will update every single account and website to account for such address changes. I know this sounds rare, but I've had it happen before. I've also lived in a city where they added a new zip code once the population got bigger.

[Former_Member]

Thank you everyone. :) This buyer lives in the US so I know that the address can be confirmed. I just need to know how to go about it. :)

[Former_Member]

Don't look it at like bothering them at all. Quite the opposite, it's a kind gesture to make sure that their package arrives at the right destination.

[ChellysShoppe]

'Unconfirmed' means that the buyer just has not confirmed their paypal account. 'Unregistered' means that the buyer has payed through paypal without having a paypal account. Shipping to an unconfirmed address has been perfectly fine in my history of selling.

[poisonpear]

If I remember from when I set up my Paypal account many years ago, an account is often unconfirmed if you don't have a credit card set up with it. When you set up your credit card with Paypal, they check to see that your credit card billing address matches the address given.
No big deal, usually. As long as both addresses given are the same, you should be fine.

[HullStreetStudio]

I usually just email them or convo them on etsy to ask for confirmation.

[correenscdesigns]

My work is primarily custom so I have an informational email that I send out to each customer. On that email I have a line on it where I ask for them to make sure the address on their paypal/checkout information is where they want their item sent. I have had about 4 instances this year where the person forgot to update their addresses after they moved months before.

[Former_Member]

Unconfirmed can also mean that the address entered has a mistake it in. I've had an experience in which the buyer's address had typos and PayPal didn't recognize it as a "real" address.

It's best to contact the buyer to make sure. It would be a nightmare if the package got shipped back to you for an address the post office doesn't recognize (this happened when I sent my friend a bday card, and the address wasn't even that far off! she got the card like 2 weeks later).

Don't take any risks with shipping. If the package doesn't arrive on time or if there are any other glitches in the process, you will have a very unhappy customer when you could simply have asked in the first place.

[kidsstore]

I have had a few questionable addresses before that I wanted to confirm. Just convo them that you need to verify their address to make sure the package gets there safely. Then type in the address that you have. Also tell them that, unless you here from them with a different address before such a date, the package will be shipped to the address that you have.

When I have had to confirm an address, the customers where pleased that I was willing to take that extra step to make sure their transaction was as positive as possisble.

[Former_Member]

UPDATE!
I contacted the seller asking to please confirm the address. She replied with " is it nessesary because this is a temporary address and I do not want to register it. I am still thinking of how to respond but after her reply I am sure I don't want to ship the item.

[Former_Member]

I was just on the phone yesterday with Paypal customer service trying to confirm MY address (I recently moved). The representative told me the only way to do this is by attaching a credit/debit card to my account that has the same billing address as the address I'm trying to confirm, so I did.

Your customer can always confirm her new address if she has the means, update her address in her Paypal profile later, and confirm the new address the same way. Also, the card doesn't have to be in her name (which I find iinteresting!).

Hope this helps.

[perpetualposy]

I have had the same thing on a previous and current order. I send out an initial Thank You for your order convo and then just let them know that paypal had their shipping address listed as unconfirmed. There has been no problems with customers confirming their address. The first time, the customer purchased as a gift and had me send it directly to the recipient. So the address they had listed as the shipping address was not on their paypal acct. thus showed as unconfirmed. I would imagine this comes up a lot around Christmas as people are purchasing not necessarily for themselves and want it shipped to someone else.

[Former_Member]

If you ship to an unconfirmed address, you are not protected. Paypal states that in their policies. Ebay states that as well. I had a customer that wanted me to ship to an unconfirmed address but I shipped to their confirmed address, with an explanation that we would both be unprotected. I got a positive feedback from them.

[Former_Member]

I did respond. :) I let her know it was something she needed to do. I would love to ship the item out but I can't risk not being protected.

[Former_Member]

I just had a transaction with an international buyer who could not "Confirm" her address because of the country she lives in (PayPal rule). The PayPal Help Center says I'm still protected if the item is not received, as long transaction is Partially Eligible (look under details of transaction on PP), and I meet a couple basic requirements, which you can find here:
https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=ua/UserAgreement_full#11. Protection for Sellers.