I have been currently researching/testing 'Item Location', & yes you can make reference to the number to the right of the sellers user name which will tell you in most instances where the seller is located, however that individual check in itself is not sufficient to definately confirm that the item is not coming from where the seller is located (ie: They may "have a warehouse in Australia"??), in addition to this other indicators are, how specific that item location description is, anything less than in the Item location in the listing other than City/State/Country could could be considered suspicious & according to the ebay 'Item location policy' is not a practice they accept??! Customer feedback, as already mentioned is also another indicator (ie: slow postage, took its time etc, not necessarily in Neg or Nut feedback), also if you have purchased with the item location not being specific, city/state/country, you will see a number of emails coming directly from the seller (not automated) to manage your expectations regarding delivery times with messages like "to be patient", "Thank You for your understanding", "My friend" etc, you will also notice that a tracking number will be supplied almost immediately, an extremely long one (which shortens once your item has been delivered), you will also see when you check the tracking status that it takes 3 or more days after receiving the tracking No. for any movement of your item to occur & in one instance so far, receive a confirmation email that your item will be delivered today, but not, only to be delivered 5 days later (3 business days).
I have also noticed the seller will only accept Paypal, a transfer would reveal an overseas account?, you will not be able to identify a return address in the listing, the delivery dates estimations in the listing will be a range of at least 7 days, when as I understand it when you use Austalia Post Parcel Services the estimated delivery date will say on or before a date, not a range & definately not a 7 day+ range. Other indicatiors can be going to the ebay app, on my iphone for me & noting the seller legal information at the bottom of the original listing under About the Seller (eg:VAT GB123456789 but no address). I think if you have a number of the above anomilies, it certainly appears suspicious, a sneeky job has be done in an attempt to conceal the actual items location.
When you are aware of what to look for you will see a staggering amount, that could be labeled as suspicious. This practice does not create a fair playing field for genuine Australian sellers with product they have invested in, usually in bulk, having paid in most instances significant freight forwarding fees/VAT at country of origin/Aust GST & Inport duties. Combine that with the added advantage with subsidized postage from China & no Aust GST applied to the sale vs Australian sellers comparable postage costs with signature <1kg of $14.50 you fall well behind the 8 ball when trying to compete with similar items from the price perspective. Buyers in a lot of instances will not put the time in to uncover the deception & will accept the slower delivery as there is reasonable if not over communication. I have also noticed that when purchasing from 1 of thiese suspicious listings, the seller will not leave feedback until after delivery & you have left feedback, I think this is done so the seller has opportunity for negotiation if Neg or Nut feedback is left, as I have noticed that revised feedback stats, located under tab - Feedback as Seller at the far right, can be a high number on some of these suspicious item listings. Most of the above is circumstancial, but in my view seems to point to the item is NOT located in Australia.
HOWEVER, here is the Kicker to compound & again limit Australian sellers opportunity, if you promote your item which stamps the 'SPONSORED' logo on your listing, over & above getting a higher ranking in relevant search results, SPONSORED items IGNORE the 'Australian Only' filter that buyers can use to only see products located in Australia, therefore sellers located in another country & correctly identify the items location, that item will appear in a relevent search by an Australian buyer even though, the buyer has filtered from the left hand side filter options, only Items 'Located in Australia'. Is that fair business practices to offer for a fee search results that ignore buyer preferences via a filter, particularly when a buyer only wants to purchase from Australian sellers.
