Items not arriving

[gav1615]

I have tried 3 different sellers to buy an item over the last 9 weeks, same story.

1. Item marked "sent untracked".

2. Does not arrive, commence Ebay process.

3. Seller claims lost by courier,  will refund within 2 days and item now out of stock.

4. Ebay intervenes and issues refund.

On my last attempt my message to seller was

" do not accept my order if you do not provide tracking number", 

All 3 never had or sent the product, they claim they are now out of stock but continue to offer it for sale.

What is this nonsense ?.

My honest negative feedback was deleted.

GOOD NEWS - I tried Amazon for the first time. Same item.

1. Ordered Sunday 21st December

2. Arrived Wednesday morning 24th December.  

Within 2 business days Xmas week !

One thing left to say - Goodbye 👋 

[sandypebbles]

See ya

No need to tell other members you are leaving

Just a random look at feedback left for you shows how many dodgy sellers you choose to support

One had 39 negs in the past month alone, as well as 116 neutral in the past month alone

What is this nonsense? 

That would be your choosing to buy from dodgy as sellers and expecting not to have an issue

Not sure why you complain about your honest negs being removed (which they will be if you mention a dispute or refund)

But given you ignored all the negs the dodgy sellers you chose to support already had, why would another dodgy seller supporter take any notice of *your* neg ? 

[*casey* · Accepted solution]

"I have tried 3 different sellers to buy an item over the last 9 weeks, same story"

They're generally shonky dropshippers and  much of the time , it's the same shonky seller with multiple IDs.

"My honest negative feedback was deleted"

I noticed you wrote this in one of your feedback.

"Worst experience ever. Seller advised item out of stock and requested i cancel, they then declined the request"

Shonky sellers like this test the unwary buyers to see if they know the rules.

If a seller cancels a transaction due to being out of stock, they receive a defect from eBay.

If a buyer requests a cancellation, they don't receive a defect  and  any negative feedback will  be removed  if the seller reports it.

For  a lot of buyers these days, it's getting all too hard  and time consuming to find good sellers (even though there are plenty of them) and eliminate bad sellers. 

The site is flooded with  scams, dropshippers, Chinese sellers etc

Check their feedback, rearrange feedback from  relevant to recent, check their country oif registration, check the item location although much of the time that's a lie   etc etc

With so many online places to shop, buyers are fed up....and they're leaving.

I wouldn't want to be a new buyer these days.

In regards to Amazon , I can only speak from my own experience of buying with Amazon delivery only.

Search the item you want.

Narrow down the search on the left hand side of the page  -  easy examples:

Prime - Ships from Australia    or

Free Delivery by Amazon

Seller - Amazon AU

Choose the item/s, add to cart, pay, delivered quickly.

All too easy !

[gav1615]

Thanks Casey, well said and excellent advice for Ebay and Amazon. 

The seller feed back for one of my disaster buys was only 1 negative (quality related) and over 400 positive. ( funny they had    1.7 k transactions ?). This was the one where my feedback was deleted, I think.

I live rural and online buying is important. 

It's a shame it has got to this, Ebay use to be brilliant, trusted, I hope they can get back there.

Sweet regards.

[skyrider12-au]

Dodgy sellers  in almost every category trading in Ebay,  you seem to have had contacts with quite a few of them. Your decision to leave Ebay and give your business to Amazon is an excellent one, I have never encountered any problems during the several years of buying from them.  Good luck to you.

[springyzone]

I still use ebay but before you pay over a cent to anyone, you need to check prices and on ebay, you also need to check out the sellers very carefully. It's not as if you are actually buying from ebay itself, you're buying from a seller who is just using ebay as their place to list their goods.

Ebay is not the best spot to buy quite a few things, especially electronics or anything electrical from China.

But it is still great for some items. If you're wanting an out of print book, for example, you might find it here.

Amazon is a collection of different sellers too but the difference is I think Amazon actually stores the stock from a lot of those sellers. And it is responsible for the postage and delivery, which means it has a lot more control over the whole selling/packaging/delivery syystem. If Amazon says delivery will be on X day, it is almost guaranteed that is exactly when it will be. That's why buyers love it-quick and reliable.

But do your homework and if an item you have been searching for is cheaper on ebay, don't be afraid to buy if the seller checks out as ultra reliable.

[gav1615]

Thanks for your response.

I'll still be using Ebay,  mostly for used items offered for auction. I've had no issues whatsoever with private type sellers. I hope Ebay do sort out the issues with others.

Warm regards.

[countessalmirena]

The online buying options are global nowadays, and  buying some items from here and some items from there isn’t an either/or situation. eBay is fine if one knows what to but on its platform and how to use it to avoid issues -  but I agree there are some goods I’d not buy here (from some sellers).

[clockwork_planet]

Ebay won't get back there, they are well into their death spiral. Same as PayPal. Losing buyers hand over fist, trying desperately to squeeze every dollar out of everyone involved while providing awful service.

Their MO used to be genuine people selling used items to each other. Then they got greedy and wanted to be the world's marketplace selling everything to everyone. It was a cash cow. A computer program staffed by a handful of uni graduates who fiddled with fees and store structures to maximize profit. Squeezed genuine small scale sellers out of business (ask me how I know). Bent over backwards for the Chinese category flooders.

The buyer's experience on Amazon is so much better they don't even compete. I live in a rural area and can order stuff at 9pm and have it arrive the next day, FREE. Issues are resolved swiftly and smoothly, directly with Amazon. I hardly ever need to deal with the seller directly.

I'd love it if eBay could return to the peer-to-peer, used item marketplace, but it's too late. Facebook et al have that stitched up now. So what's left? A few decent sellers and millions of spammy, scammy dropshippers that can't deliver and have your money for days or weeks at a time while you do the dance of trying to get a refund. And eBay don't have the resources or the desire to fix it. They'll just continue to milk it til it's dead.

[sandypebbles]

And buyers who don't have the desire to check basics like feedback, supporting the scammers and ensuring they stay in business 

No dancing required 

Buyers don't have support them in the first place

Buyers don't play games when them if they do

Buyers are shown the estimated delivery date before they buy, so no waiting weeks unless they have chosen to do so

I am not aware of any site that babysits customers and then gives special treatment to those who think the site's policy won't apply to them

But of course, I don't choose to support dodgy sellers so I do not face those avoidable problems