No contact from seller on soon to end sale item

[snoopy_2441]

Hi all, I'm watching a "Buy Now"'  item that only has 2 houts to run.  I have sent questions to the seller twice now without any reply. I'm considering "Buying" & again contacting the seller saying I will pay when he responds to my questions satisfactorily.  

            What are peoples thoughts on this please.  I have to go out in 45 minuters so need to know what to do.

                   Many thanks, Steve

[snoopy_2441]

Hi again Chameleon 54,  how long does a seller have to answer queries?  How long does a seller have top contact the buyer post sale?   The item is in my "Purchase History"'  because of my right or wrong actions but whenI go to look at the order details I get a message, 

The following critical errors have occurred.

Order Service temporarily unavailable or invalid parameters in the request URL.

Is this just downtime or something else?

[snoopy_2441]

Hi again springyzone, 

 how long does a seller have to answer queries?  How long does a seller have to contact the buyer post sale?   The item is in my "Purchase History"'  because of my, right or wrong actions, but when I go to look at the order details I get a message, 

The following critical errors have occurred.

Order Service temporarily unavailable or invalid parameters in the request URL.

Is this just downtime or something else?

[springyzone]

Hi again springyzone, 

 how long does a seller have to answer queries?  How long does a seller have to contact the buyer post sale?   The item is in my "Purchase History"'  because of my, right or wrong actions, but when I go to look at the order details I get a message, 

The following critical errors have occurred.

Order Service temporarily unavailable or invalid parameters in the request URL.

Is this just downtime or something else?

------------------------------------------

You're asking the wrong person for technical details. I'm the one who can't do ebay on my old mobile phone, so invalid parameters are well beyong my expertise.

But I would not think the fact that you sent a message to the seller at any stage or made a query would have any impact at all on the purchase history, so maybe it is a temporary glitch.

How long does a seller have to answer queries? I don't know, I don't think there is any ebay rule about it as such, but I would imagine one to two days would be the usual amount of time a buyer would be expected to allow.

A seller might never contact a buyer after a sale. I have not sold on the 'new' ebay, but I've bought a fair bit and it all seems automated. I pay, the paypal symbol comes up to show I have paid and the date I  paid and at some stage the seller may mark the icon that shows the item as sent, but generally I don't hear from them personally.

I think the ebay system itself might generate a reminder if a buyer has not paid, but sellers here will be better able to tell you exact details about that.

It is annoying if you send a message and never get any response at all. I do sympathise with you in that respect. In fact websites where they have a 'contact us' link but don't reply to queries annoy me no end and lose my custom.

But on ebay, I don't think it is necessarily realistic to expect every seller to get back to you within 14 hours, especially on a weekend.

They may or may not.

As I said, I would expect a reply within a couple of days and my experience is most reply within 24 hours.

But if you only have 2 hours before an item ends, you really shouldn't press a 'buy it now' button if you are not sure you want to buy it, because bidding isn't really supposed to be conditional.

[chameleon54]

Hi Snoopy, I have four ebay acounts with things happening day and night (  international buyers ) everyday. I work ebay Monday to Friday as a regular job, but on the weekends, sometimes I just turn the computer off untill Monday morning. I just need a break from work, the same as everybody else. So if you asked me a question 14 hours before an auction finished ( question sent Saturday night for Sunday morning finish. ) there is a reasonable chance I would not see it before the auction closed. It may sound a bit harsh, but on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings I have a fairly low care factor for ebay and just let things run their course without checking on them. My buyers seem to understand this as I have 100 % feedback and less than 1 % defects on all accounts. I do answer questions after the auctions close if I miss them and often offer buyers ( with late answers to questions ) a "buy it now" at the auction starting price if the item does not sell.

     As for the message you are seeing. Ebay is very Glitchy tonight with links not working all over the place.

Hope you recieve an answer to your questions and all goes well with the purchase.

[bombbloke]

To my limited understanding, sellers have no "obligation" to answer pre-sale questions at all, let alone within a certain time period.

On the other hand, clicking the button that says you commit to buy something generally means you are, in fact, expected to buy it.

At this point, you might as well just wait for the seller to get in touch with you. They may agree to cancel the purchase if you decide you don't want to go ahead. Although they can't force you to pay, if you decide to renege despite their wishes, bear in mind that you're the one in the wrong here - they can potentially stick a strike on your account for failure to pay.

(If I remember correctly, these last a year, and if you have two at any given time you'll be unable to purchase from any sellers who've opted to bar "non-payers".)

But don't fret too much. Sellers are indeed expected to respond to questions post-sale, so send 'em another message (if you haven't already) and see what they have to say. With any luck the terms of the deal will be to your liking.

Best advice is to be polite to them whatever happens.

[modestbods]

Hi Steve, 

 sending a message 14 & 11hrs prior to sales end would often receive a reply, but not always. In the case of business sellers, and sellers like chameleon that do ebay as a 9-5 Mon-Fri job, a message received on a weekend is unlikely to receive a reply until the next business day (ie Monday). This is especially going to be true for BIN listings as opposed to auction listings, bearing in mind that many business/store BIN listings run for 30 days.

I hope that you get the reply you wanted & everything works out fine. At least you took the trouble to come here to try & ascertain what you should & shouldn't do, which is more than can be said for some that just click to buy & then don't seem to care a toss about not bothering to pay or honouring their word (contract).

Oh btw, welcome to the eBay discussion boards.

[i-love-my-sheep]

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@snoopy_2441 wrote:

Hi & thanks for the reply.  I sent a message 14 hrs before end of sale & another 11 hrs. before the end.  I hear what you say about people not being contactable but I would expect as a sale comes close to a close sellers would be looking out for questions, bids etc.  I know I certainly would.   Surely it is reasonable that prospective purchasers would have an expectation of queries beimng answered as a sale draws to a close. I think it's in the sellers best interest as well?

I have certainly considered that the seller may be away as you say, I also have considered the possibility of something having happened to them, or perhaps the item has been sold elsewhere?.

           I have an impeccable record with e-bay & want that to continue. I have no intention of not paying, I just wanted a coupl;e of queries answered before the end of the sale, now I want those same queries answered before I pay... I think that is reasonable?

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Not necessarily. I have quite a few auctions finishing when I'm at work. I also get very few enquiries. Usually if I do get one, it's early in the peace.

Did you end up hearing from them?

[snoopy_2441]

Thanks again Springyzone, & all others. It would appear all is good, have had contact & organisding item pick up for next day or so.

trusting that item is as described.

              Cheers all.

[2106greencat]

If it is a pick up item, you have the right to refuse it if you are not happy with the description/condition.

Pay in cash upon pick up, if you decide against it, the seller will send you a request to cancel and you accept it, that way he is free to relist.

There is no paypal protection for pickup items, for buyer or seller.

[4green2000]

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@snoopy_2441 wrote:

Hi all, I'm watching a "Buy Now"'  item that only has 2 houts to run.  I have sent questions to the seller twice now without any reply. I'm considering "Buying" & again contacting the seller saying I will pay when he responds to my questions satisfactorily.  

            What are peoples thoughts on this please.  I have to go out in 45 minuters so need to know what to do.

                   Many thanks, Steve

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So you expect sellers to sit there in front of their computers for the last 2 hours incase someone asks a question before their "buy now" finishes?