eBay purchasing

[LosAngeles]

Just made my first purchase last week, and I'm really brand new to this eBay thing. I was the winning bid for some equipment 7 days ago, and of course had to wait until Wednesday for the PayPal transfer to clear (since the funds weren't aleready up). Of course the seller said he wouldn't ship until he received payment. I know it's Thanksgiving and all, but I'm getting really anxious about the whole thing. How long before I should report the item as not received and go to PayPal about getting the funds back?

[Drew Dowdell]

At *least* two weeks.... more because of the holiday. Generally ebay sellers will send you tracking information when they ship the package.

[balthazar]

If the seller has a good feedback rating (over 95%) with a decent number of feedbacks (say over 25, but preferably over say 75), they have a sizable investment in their eBay reputation and I personally would rest easy. I would agree with Oldsmoboi on the time. I'm currently in the midst of my longest wait to date (since '99): I'm the seller, auction ended 10/16, no payment yet. I'm too nice: I haven't left negative feedback yet; buyer claims payment sent as of 11/5 but it hasn't arrived here. Another e-mail sent 2 days ago- no answer yet. This will be my first negative feedback left. Of course, there's no pressure on me in this case: I still have my item...

[LosAngeles]

That's the thing: he's a brand new seller, and has only bought one thing, so his feedback score is 1. Before I bid up until the day after the auction, he responded within a day of my sent e-mails. I left him alone after that and decided to wait for the PayPal to go through, which it finally did yesterday, and I e-mailed him again. Nothing so far, so I'm hoping it's only that he's busy with family for this holiday as opposed to the guy taking my money. Plus, me effin' around with this damn AOL e-mail, all my old received and read E-mails that have gone past 3 days have already been automatically deleted, so I can't really read up on other info I need. Should one give the seller a warning about taking action, or just wait it out and, if things get ugly, take action without telling the seller anything? Edited November 25, 2005 by LosAngeles

[thegriffon]

It's a wonder he wasn't bugging you.

[LosAngeles]

It's a wonder he wasn't bugging you.

[post="48066"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Is that what a seller would usually do?

Any warning signs I should look out for?

[balthazar]

LA- how much did you send him? e-Bay will reimburse you beyond the first $25 in the event a seller doesn't come thru. I had to use that feature once, only got $7 back on the $32 I paid. 7 bucks is 7 bucks.

I would assume also that the holiday is a factor. But if you don't hear anything 5 days from yesterday, I would think you could send a semi-threatening e-mail.

Another story: my phone line went down (Hello- dial up here!) and it took 6 frickin' days to get repaired. On the evening the phone went down, another auction of mine ended. Obviously, I could not contact the buyer and 6 days later there were 4 or 5 increasingly irate e-mails waiting for me, asking for address verification.
Luckily, I have a 100% 135-ish feedback and the buyer was reassured by that. All turned out well. Point is: sometimes there are circumstances beyond seller's (and buyers) control.

[lakefire]

ya, I'd just wait if I were you. Best bet is to forget about it. Second thing is if you are using Pay Pal always have the funds come from your credit card. I have heard nothing but horror stories of dealing with Pay Pal and trying to get money back from scams. Your credit card is your best friend when you are buying online and make sure you have a credit card company you can trust. American Express is a good one but not all sellers take them (they charge the seller a good precentage if the buyer gets his money back).

[sciguy_0504]

LA, are you sure you aren't dealing with me? LOL. I had a feedback score of 1 until yesterday (now it's 2) and 6 of my auctions ended within the past 2 days. The majority of people have paid, luckily. I'm shipping out everything tomorrow. I feel bad it's taken so long but it was Thanksgiving, Black Friday and then the weekend, not the perfect time to try to ship goods via the USPS.

[Sixty8panther]

My feedback is 478 as of a few days ago... 100% positive. Which is why I had the ability to sell a 1969 Camaro for $15,000 on there for my buddy Sean this summer. When it's time to buy something I look or sellers wiht an excellent reptation. If not 100% then at least 97%. That being said give this guy a chance, everyone starts off wiht a feedback of Zero, doesn't automatically mean he should not be trusted. 95 % of the tmie sellnig my experience has been great. I've never gotten a bad feedback but I had one punk Asshole give me a "Neutral" beacuse he felt he payed too much for S&H. He bought a used Honda emblem off of me (hood "H" off a ealry 90s civic) for $1.99. I charge a minimum of $3.99 for S&H on emblems. He received the emblem in a timely fashion with no damage (like 7 days later) sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard in a regular envelope. His comment to me about the Neutral Feedback was this: "Item not in Mint condition. More like very good. Seller didn't resolve, but nice" (copied & pasted taht right off My eBay) Dude, you payed $1.99... :rolleyes: Next time buy a new one from a Honda dealer for like $27.99

[thegriffon]

Is that what a seller would usually do?

Any warning signs I should look out for?

[post="48067"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Errr, "bug" as in harass because he hadn't been paid until Wednesday.