Post Office failure v Dodgy sellers

[sporthoflo]

Either the post offices in China AND Australia are really bad, or there are many dodgy sellers who give tracking numbers for very very long estimate delivery dates but items are never sent. Perhaps in the hope that buyers forget about it and miss the claim for a refund. I have been buying from ebay since its inception but I am now finding more and more items never eventually arrive. If there is an increase in bad apples, ebay should start taking ameliorating measures. Otherwise it will become associated with an untrusted marketplace. Much like certain other competing platform such as AliE***** and BangG***. Perhaps a start could be a shorter delivery timeframe. 3 months seems a little long, even in Covid times.

[sandypebbles]

The last seller you left a neg for is in Singapore and their feedback is in the toilet

If you paid with PayPal, you have 6 months to open a dispute

[gutterpunkz05]

Given the other platforms you mention, it would appear you like buying from china.   As the majority of items from china are currently coming by ship, 3 month delivery time frames are to be expected and even then items can be delayed.

Note,  some shipping companies have taken to bypassing  some of chinas busiest ports, due to huge delays in docking.

Strange times indeed

[zanadoo_56]

I've got two purchases supposedly coming from China that despite tracking saying they have been 'handed over to airline' still haven't turned up.  One was purchased in May. LOL  I'm just waiting until the estimated delivery dates pass so I can request refunds.  Fortunately they are cheap but I couldn't find any sellers in Oz so it's a bit disappointing.  The tracking only went as far as until they left the seller's country so God only knows where they are now.

However on a brighter note I made a couple of more recent purchases that I knew were Chinese sellers but they actually had the items already in warehouses in Oz.  I got one a week after purchase and the other is expected to be delivered today (according to Aust Post).  A definite improvement in service!

[sugar249]

Why would you buy things with really long delivery times to start with,  isnt that already a concern.

And just looking at you last 4 negatives,  you seem to like buying from sellers who already have bad feedback.   Why don't you check their feedback first, and don't buy,  people on this forum can't help with your poor decision making.

[jellybirddesigns]

Ebay reasonably expects buyers to carry out their own due diligence and check the sellers feedback at a minimum. I would never buy from anyone under 99.5%, especially the high volume sellers in China.

There are major supply chain issues everywhere, so post can take several months to get here.

[*sons_and_daughters*]

Mr Point has recently bought a number of items from Chinese sellers, knowing they are Chinese sellers, registered in China. All were free postage, so no chance of being sent express. I told him to expect a wait of 2-3 months. That was OK by him, as they weren't urgent. Out of 3 items, one arrived in 9 days, another 14 days, and the other, 17 days. To say I was shocked was an understatement.

You seem to have a lot of issues buying on ebay. Either you need to find another platform to buy from, or choose your seller's better. I have been buying for years, and only ever had one item not arrive. At one point, I was buying a LOT of items from China and other Asian countries. The one item that didn't arrive, the Chinese seller refunded within 30 minutes of me sending a message (I didn't open a dispute).

[sporthoflo]

Hi gutterpunkz, I am agnostic as to the country of origin of items I buy. It just so happens that many of the manufactured products I require tend to come from China. They are after all the world's largest primary producers of products. I have no doubt that the present global situation places a burden on delivery. However, when items from the same localised origin are separately ordered from different sellers and one never turns up, it raises the question of where the problem lies. The question is enlarged when it is not an isolated incident. The suggestion of increased number of questionable sellers and fraudulent transactions noted in recent times was from Australia Post. That proposition is persuasive.

[sporthoflo]

Zanadoo, I concur with your experience on both counts. It reinforces my original post of where does the problem lie?

[sporthoflo]

Sugar249, I reject the characterisation of the decision making. I purchase an item with the balanced consideration of: availability of the specific item needed and alternative products on sale; the seller's ranking and other available sellers of the same item; the relative cost of possible options; and the urgency compared against the delivery time. So, no. There is no pro forma decision making process nor a preference for sellers of any ranking or listed geographical location. Your uni-dimensional answer provides no added value to a nuanced issue. Additionally, I was not expecting any help from others, nor unhelpful comment from the likes of yours, but merely to provide notice for awareness, ala caveat emptor.