The estimated delivery times in the listings should be taken with a grain of salt. They are rarely correct. How would eBay know how long it takes for mail to go from one area to another? Things happen, delays happen and when they do happen, buyers start to worry that their item is lost, because the estimate in the listing says it should have arrived by now and it hasn't. I always message interstate buyers to give them MY estimate on how long it could take for their item to arrive.

HOWEVER, your seller stated in their listing that they ship from their warehouse in NSW. There was no mention of shipping from elsewhere if they were out of stock. If they were out of stock, they SHOULD have sent a quick message explaining what had happened and that it would be shipped from elsewhere. They could even have a message already typed up whereby they only need to add the buyers name to the message and send it. Most buyers would be happy with that, unless they needed the item in a hurry.

It took an investigation on your part for them to admit they had shipped from elsewhere. If you hadn't contacted them, they would never have told you otherwise. That to me is NOT good enough. A good seller communicates when something changes or something isn't right. There is no excuse, regardless of the volume they sell.

If you plan to email them back, ask them why they couldn't take 2 minutes to fire a message to you informing you the item would be posted elsewhere, especially when there is no mention of such in their listings. It would be interesting to hear their response.