Item never shipped; pre-order puts it out of refund timeframe

[metacrisp]

I bought a pre-sale item back in September, from a seller I had successfully done business with before (so, I trusted them). But come February, the item didn't ship, and the seller has gone silent. They won't respond to messages, have had no sales for 90+ days, and their most recent piece of feedback (their only negative one) is from another buyer who never recieved their item.

In the past, I had ordered an item from this product line elsewhere, which was delayed by a month. I assumed the same had happened with this one, so I waited patiently - unaware, at the time, of Ebay and Paypal's refund timeframes. Come April I attempted to contact the seller, and then looked into getting a refund, only to learn it was now beyond the timeframe. Which also means I can't even select the item to move forward through Ebay or Paypal's help processes to contact them.

Am I completely out of luck now? Do I just have to accept that I've lost US$490, the biggest amount of money I've ever spent online?

Also, though I've since come to find out that pre-sale scams are a thing on Ebay, I still wonder if something happened to the seller (eg; death) seeing as I'd bought from them before with no trouble (obviously, alongside many other customers). Their store/page still exists too.

Thanks in advance to any and all that can help, even if it's only to confirm I have no hope of getting my money back.

[foxette-in-sox · Accepted solution]

Contact your bank and see if you can do a chargeback on your credit card. I can't think of anything else you can do.

[davidc4430]

try ringing ebay and asking for help?

[lyndal1838]

Sellers can only list Pre Orders up to 3 weeks before they will be available.   That is so as to avoid your problem.

You should have been looking for your item to be shipped within a month, not 3 months or more.

[*tippy*toes*]

If it's more than 180 days since you hit the buy button, then you've probably lost your money. If it's less than 180 days, open a dispute through PayPal immediately. In future, don't let it go on for so long, regardless of whether you're a repeat buyer or not.

[letscleanupmycupboards]

Why in the world would anyone prepay for something that won't be available for 3 weeks let alone 6 months? Have we become that needy that we can't just, and this is a wild idea, wait until it comes out and then buy it?

[lyndal1838]

I use pre-order at times for DVDs....a movie or TV series can be difficult to get.  If I want it and a seller has it listed for delivery in 3 weeks when it is released then I am happy to pay and wait that 3 weeks.

I am not not sure what other items would be suitable for pre-order but I am open to hearing from anyone who uses it for other items.

[metacrisp]

Thank you very much, I've taken your advice. There's no guarantee they can get my money back, but at least it's a chance.

[metacrisp]

lyndal1838: You're right, I shouldn't have waited, but I've become used to being patient with pre-orders on this particular kind of collectible, as they get delayed by a month about 70% of the time.

Technically I only waited one month (Feb 28th was end of stated release month, waited through March like an idiot, contacted seller on April 1st) but it was that one month that put me over the limit. Live and learn.

[metacrisp]

letscleanupmycupboards: The item was a niche-audience, limited edition collectible from Japan. I could only find it in two online stores that would ship it internationally, and by the time I decided I was willing to buy such an expensive item, both stores had filled their pre-order allotment of only 4 units.

Fear of missing out, and having a gap in my collection made me resort to Ebay. Stupid nerd OCD. I just feel embarrassed now.