Where are for sale items actually located?

[daveprice]

So I purchase an item that is listed as located here in Australia. A few days later the seller marks the item as sent and provides tracking details. A few more days later, in the tracking details, the item is still listed as being prepared. Another few days later there's still no new tracking events listed. I understand that orders can be marked as sent when the postage label is printed out and then it may be a day or so before the item actually hits the post office. But after a week i start to wonder if something has gone wrong with supplying my purchase. I contact the seller seeking information and 2 days later they reply asking me to confirm my postal address. I promptly reply and a day or two later the seller replies stating that they have the right address and would i mind waiting a few more days for delivery. (Meanwhile. according to tracking, the package still hasn't been processed)  2 more days pass and no delivery so i re contact the seller. Eventually they reply offering to re send the item which turns up more than 2 weeks after original purchase.

   This has happened to me several times and I'm starting to wonder if the item was ever in Australia in the first place. 

  To me it seems buyers are falsely listing items as local to get sales. Then stalling the process with buyers while they wait for the item to arrive from overseas before posting it on to the buyer.

   Is anyone else suspecting the same and does eBay allow this process? Or is it simply a legitimate occurrence in the postal system? 

[roann13]

Yes the same thing has just happened to me.  Item said it was located in "Mortlake, Australia" and item was marked as "sent" with a tracking number the next day.  I have checked the tracking a week later with Australia Post and the item has not been posted, so I contacted the seller to ask why not.  I was emaiedl a link to the tracking website for the tracking number and the tracking company was located in China!  I have since learnt to look at seller's location from the feedback and see that this seller is in Hong Kong!!!  I also see that other buyers have left feedback to the same seller saying the same thing.  Yet this seller uses Australia Post icon on their listing and says it is Austrlian Stock!!!  I have reported this to Ebay as this seller has broken their "Item Location Policy" which says they must clearly and accurately state where their listed items are located.  I wonder if anything will happen?

[davewil1964]

No!

Do your due diligence BEFORE purchasing.

[countessalmirena]

Unfortunately eBay classes “in Australia” under “just in time fulfilment”. Under this definition, Chinese eBay sellers stating that item location is in (for example) Dandenong, Victoria/Australia are permitted to do so even if the item is coming from China via a logistics company to be stored in or despatched domestically from a large warehouse in Dandenong (again, for instance) owned by the logistics company or in partnership with the logistics company.

Hence, reporting the seller for false item location will do as much good as hiring an angry skunk as a receptionist for a perfumery.

[springyzone]

Nothing will happen because of what countess outlines, but yes, it is annoying to a lot of buyers to discover this.

Best bet is to check out seller location before you buy. If you click on the seller ID, there should be a little menu that says Shop, About, Feedback. Click on the 'About' and it will show where they are located.

If they are overseas, probably the items are coming from there too.

The delivery date is a good guide as well.

It's really misleading when companies use aussie icons all over their ads but ebay won't do much about it so you have to do the check ups yourself if you want to avoid it.