It is riskier to ship to a confirmed address, but it really boils down to what the item is. If it's like a ceramic teapot, I doubt granny who bought it is out to rip you off. Also, if the item is only a few dollars... who really cares anyway.
But generally, try to ship only to confirmed addies unless you know the person somehow.
Some people have difficulty confirming addresses so they have to use the alternate address confirmation which takes weeks. I had to do that because my bank doesn't support online address verification, therefore I could not confirm with a credit card.