1️⃣ sandypebbles is not the OP, and has not “discovered a source of income”; and

2️⃣ the thread (and the last post on it) dates back to January – 8 months ago. It really doesn’t gain from being resurrected as a zombie thread…

A moderator will probably be along to lock the thread due to its age and having been resolved long since.

Yes, very dodgy behaviour by the seller indeed.

The fact that they are in Australia, and that you received notification it was sent but it had not arrived within a fortnight screams that they didn't have the item in their possession.

If you look at their other neg and neutral feedback, they make a bit of a habit of selling without actually having the stock.

It is definitely against ebay policy to send direct from third party such as Amazon. Just reporting it doesn't seem to have done anything. Reports are probably all handled by computers without a human in sight. You could contact ebay via chat till you get onto a real person and report it that way.

Yes, of course the seller bought it cheaper elsewhere. It's very rarely that sellers list things below the price they actually paid (or not for brand new things, anyway), as they need to make a profit to stay in business. That stands to reason. But any seller with an ounce of sense would cover their tracks-get things delivered to themselves, then send it to the new buyer. This particular seller has tried to save a postage cost.

You haven't exactly been scammed as in robbed of your money, as you got your product, but I understand your anger. What would annoy me is that your name and address details have been passed over to an uninvolved third party without your permission.

@michaelvank wrote:

Obviously seller didn't have item when advertised so used my money to purchase in my name and address from Amazon at almost $20 cheaper than their price. I believe this is scamming.

you are making an assumption that could be wrong.

That seller is an infrequent seller and may be subject to a 30-day hold on payments.

You got your item well before 30 days had passed.

You were not scammed . . . you got something you paid for.  If you never received the item, or got a worthless item like seeds, and didn't get refunded, that would be being scammed.

Think of it this way 👉 you got a $20 lesson on buying goods online.  You also got some free advice here on these boards . . . although, I am guessing you won't appreciate that at this time, but it may save you more than $20 in the long run.

certainly not the crime of the century.

That seller would have had fees on that sale, fees that would have significantly eaten in to their $20.

Also, if they are a regular buyer on Amazon, there might have been a shipping charge (shipping on that item on Amazon is free for new customers).

Some free tips for you:

- shop around before buying

- learn how to do a reverse image search (when images look like stock photos)

- ask sellers questions before buying

- join Amazon

- use paragraphs

- use a line spacing between paragraphs on forum posts

How do you know it was $20 cheaper than their price or are you just assuming that.

If it came in Amazon packaging that doesn’t mean anything I’ve had items ordered from EBay wrapped in Amazon packaging.

I think you are worrying over nothing.

Take a chill pill.

Yes, unfortunately eBay have said 'no problem' with a couple of sellers I have reported for selling stuff they don't have and getting it shipped from there instead. Also had AI come back with 'no problem'

These ones I reported very clearly don't have any of the items they list, and very obvious what they are doing

eBay bots say fine

(I did not buy from these sellers, they are clearly dodgy, just have to look at the listings) I simply reported the dodgy ads I saw

This is indeed against eBay policy, which the bots ignore

Not something other members can control or do anything about

Have you been able to contact eBay using 'eBay Help' and asking for a supervisor?

You can also leave them neg feedback 

What was the item number?