what is it with the MASSIVE increase in non arrivals from China ??

[odiumplus2]

This year I have had around 40% of the items I have purchased from China simply not arrive, I am a seasoned buyer on eBay (more than 10 years) and I have not seen such dishonesty from Chinese sellers before, I am sick to death of having to make PayPal claims over and over again.

Has anyone else got this problem or it just me ??

And before any says they are getting knocked of from home I have a secure mailbox and a deal in place with my local delivery person (I know him personally)

And IF they are posting the items where the hell are they dissappearing to ??

[aps1080]

I am going to order some items in early January, it will be interesting to see when they arrive.

[i-love-my-sheep]

It could depend on the seller, but mine normally take 2-3 weeks via whatever mode they use for free postage from China.

[streetbeastshop]

i have given up buying from china / hong kong it takes 3 months to get here if at all, packing is non existent so half arrives damaged, warranty doesnt exist and its all cheap and nasty any way..

plenty of places in australia now selling the same rubbish, no waiting time, almost as cheap and warranty / returns are so much easier.

[i-love-my-sheep]

I would imagine it would depend on what you are buying. I would NEVER buy anything electronic/computer related from China as there are too many dodgy sellers. I buy mineral specimens from China and apart from the major delays to mid to late October shipments (for a LOT of people), I've had very few issues with my sellers. 

As mentioned above, usually 2-3 weeks to arrive, unless I fork out for airmail, in which case it takes 4-5 days. One arrived in 3 days. I'm normally happy to wait the extra for 'free' postage. In the rare event that something doesn't arrive, they are more than happy to refund, even after the 45 days cut off and even well after 60 days have passed. I suppose that's how they keep their 100% feedback score and 5 star DSR's.

All  my sellers pack things VERY well. I've never had a breakage and some of the minerals I have bought are quite delicate. Sometimes I have said they package TOO well. I did have one arrive on Tuesday where the box was wet, but given that was one of the delayed October items, I doubt it was due to seller error. They use a LOT of tape, so the box was still in one piece.

It pays to pick your sellers and ALWAYS read their feedback. High volume Chinese sellers, you should NEVER buy from them if their feedback is less than 99.5%.

[happycamperau]

I have to agree with the OP as I'm having the same problems.  Have actually had 3 this week not arrive and another is heading towards 35 days so I'm not holding my breath on receiving that either. 

One item resolved tonight was bought from an HK seller who I've bought from previously without any problems...now he/she keeps asking to wait another few days...wait another week...and on it goes.  I've vowed never to buy from HK again but sometimes they are the only sellers with the items. 

Last month I went direct to a website and bought from there as I was becoming jaded with HK sellers on eBay......info gave the impression the seller was based in the UK.  Ripper...no more 'not received' problems I thought!!!    The item arrived after 48 days 'but' wasn't the item I purchased and once again, I was asked to wait another few days/week/etc and they would resend the correct item. 

How on earth was a replacement item going to arrive in a 'few days' when the original took 48 days is beyond me. 

Had one win today after all this BS....bought a cotton scarf from HK on 11 Dec and it arrived today 19 Dec.  So if one item can arrive in 8 days why the hell can't the rest of them??  I would care if they all took 21 days 'IF" they arrived.  Probably seems a simple pleasure but that scarf arriving in 8 days really gave me a boost that not 'all' HK sellers are the same!! 

[cq_tech]

Given a choice between a seller from Hong Kong or a seller from mainland China, I'll purchase my item from the HK seller every time, mainly because Hong Kong Post is around twice as fast as China Post, with many items arriving in 10 days or even less.

It also means that if an item purchased from a Hong Kong seller hasn't arrived within 21 days, then it'll be very unlikely to turn up at all and you'd be well advised to lodge a claim immediately. With China Post OTOH, it's not unusual for items to take as long as 35 days or more so you need to be very aware of the 45-day claim cut-off period.

[aps1080]

cq

Spot on with the above. I do the same, look at all the options, HK or China and if not too different, will always go HK.

HK should be looked at as a different country, isolated, stuff leaves and doesn't have to go through anywhere etc etc.

[odiumplus2 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the feedback folks, it has been refreshing to note that it isnt just me that has noticed the rise in non delivery, I will take on board the "buy from HK only" info this is now given me food for thought on the China issue and as mentioned before "some times they are the only sellers"

[happycamperau]

Thanks for that info cq_tech will take more notice next time.  In saying that I've had three small parcels arrive today well before the 'estimated' delivery date....so I'm getting all sides. 

Otoh, the 'missing' items have not appeared, so they truly were lost in transit, I guess. 

Thanks for your help, it's appreciated! ...sorry for the slow reply too!

[peri-landlubber]

Over the last 3 days, I've bought 6 cheap items from 6 different Chinese sellers, their estimated postage says up to Feb 1 - all are marked posted now with only one having tracking & most have left feedback.  Only one demaned a street address the others seemed fine with the PO box.

I checked their feedback, nothing below 98.5 (one at 99.7) & if there was a choice I picked the seller with the best performance in the last month - all from Hong Kong or Shenzhen (one of the latter I purchased from some years ago).

If there was more than 2 sellers with the same photos & description, they got dumped even when their feedback was 98.8 - very high volume sellers with 600-800 negatives & almost as many neutrals in 12 months.

I know I'm taking a chance with the others, but we'll see what happens.