I bought a knife on ebay on Sept 18th. I proptly paid with a debit card immediatly following the auction. In the shipping description the seller said he would send by USPS priority shipping. Well nine days have passed and still no knife. My question is, how long should I wait until the seller deserves a negitive feedback? Is 9+ days an unacceptable amount of time to wait? I think it is, considering the seller was paid in full 30 seconds after the auction closed.
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Ebay etiquette??
- Thread starter Colog
- Start date
Esav Benyamin
MidniteSuperMod
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2000
- Messages
- 90,915
Have you been in touch with him since?
Where was the knife coming from? USPS priority is not the same as UPS or FexEx or DHL priority. It took better than a week for me to receive a knife mailed USPS from Dallas, TX to New Haven, CT. E-mail the guy and try to find out what is going on. I'd give the e-mail two days and then try to get in touch by phone. If he shipped it promptly, then maybe the problem is with the post office. Big suprise there. Get a tracking number if you can, and track it through the USPS web site. If no luck, flame away. As a rule, check feedback before making a bid.
Edit to add: If the seller shipped it, then I wouldn't leave negative feedback. It was shipped 2 days later than you expected, so neutral may be in order. However, if it was sent, and it arrives, and it is as described, then I don't think you have cause to leave negative feedback. Your beef is with the post office. It was sent priority right? Get the tracking number and see where it is.
Edit to add: If the seller shipped it, then I wouldn't leave negative feedback. It was shipped 2 days later than you expected, so neutral may be in order. However, if it was sent, and it arrives, and it is as described, then I don't think you have cause to leave negative feedback. Your beef is with the post office. It was sent priority right? Get the tracking number and see where it is.
If you're unsure about what type of feedback to leave right now, remember that you have 90 days to do so. Sometimes I've found it's better to wait until I receive the item, look it over, and think about the transaction in its entirety including the seller's responsiveness.
As some have said, sometimes the issue is with the shipper more than with the seller.
As some have said, sometimes the issue is with the shipper more than with the seller.
It also depends on where the item was shipped from. If he is in Florida and you are in California 9 days might be just fine. Forget the USPS tracking it is next to worthless. The only thing it shows is if the item was delivered, although I suppose if you checked it and it said item delivered you would have need of concern. Use Fedex. Also forget debit cards. That money is gone now. If you had used a credit card you could always contest the charges.
If it was sent priority mail and you have the tracking number, go to your post office and ask the manager or postmaster to run the tracking number through their system. It's a whole lot different then what you can get on the internet.
On more then one occasion, I have sent and received packages without being notified that the package was at the PO. I just recently sent a package to the LA area and the person was never notified that it was there. He went to the PO with the info I provided and it took 3 days for them to find it. :grumpy:
If it was sent parcel post, it can take a loooonnnnnggggg time.
On more then one occasion, I have sent and received packages without being notified that the package was at the PO. I just recently sent a package to the LA area and the person was never notified that it was there. He went to the PO with the info I provided and it took 3 days for them to find it. :grumpy:
If it was sent parcel post, it can take a loooonnnnnggggg time.
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2006
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- 794
I once sent a money order using USPS Priority mail, and it took 17 days to get to the person it was suppose to go to. Sometimes the post office just messes up. dont blame him he might be telling the truth.
edit... and i tried to get my money back for the shipping(not cus I needed it, but it was the principle). And they didn't give it back to me. It was complete BS.
edit... and i tried to get my money back for the shipping(not cus I needed it, but it was the principle). And they didn't give it back to me. It was complete BS.
Priority mail does not come with tracking unless you ask for it, and then its just only as good as where the mail carrier leaves it. I have had it left down in an overflowing box in a public stairway. It was left at the address, but not in anything like a secure delivery. Anyone could have walked off with it, even with delivery confirmation.
Lots of great comment and solid perspective above. Negative ebay feedback is for serious transgressions, fraud.
Communication is the variable. As long as the seller is communicating, there is no cause for negative feedback. That said, 5 days is as long as I would think Priority Mail should take within the contiguous United States.
Maintain contact with the seller.
Lots of great comment and solid perspective above. Negative ebay feedback is for serious transgressions, fraud.
Communication is the variable. As long as the seller is communicating, there is no cause for negative feedback. That said, 5 days is as long as I would think Priority Mail should take within the contiguous United States.
Maintain contact with the seller.
My biggest problem with Ebay is the feedback system - they hold you hostage for a good response.
As I recall, the way it worked originally, was that the seller would leave feedback sooner than the buyer based on how the buyer communicated, paid, etc. Thats all the buyer is required to do, so thats what his feedback should be based on. The buyer on the other hand, received the item in the mail (or however), looked it over, communicated with the seller if something wasn't right, and then left feedback based on his experience. Even if there was a problem (wrong item shipped, whatever), the seller had a chance to make it right before getting nailed with a negative feedback score.
Now the majority of sellers just slap whatever they get right back on the buyer - some even put that right in their small print. So the average buyer with 30-70 feedback (100% good of course) is faced with the option of trying to budge the feedback score of some power seller with 20k+ feedback and knowing that the reciperical negative will seriously dent his own score -despite his doing nothing wrong.
It may just be wishful remembering because I sure can't find anything like that in Ebay's rules now, but that's how I remember it being...
-Brian
As I recall, the way it worked originally, was that the seller would leave feedback sooner than the buyer based on how the buyer communicated, paid, etc. Thats all the buyer is required to do, so thats what his feedback should be based on. The buyer on the other hand, received the item in the mail (or however), looked it over, communicated with the seller if something wasn't right, and then left feedback based on his experience. Even if there was a problem (wrong item shipped, whatever), the seller had a chance to make it right before getting nailed with a negative feedback score.
Now the majority of sellers just slap whatever they get right back on the buyer - some even put that right in their small print. So the average buyer with 30-70 feedback (100% good of course) is faced with the option of trying to budge the feedback score of some power seller with 20k+ feedback and knowing that the reciperical negative will seriously dent his own score -despite his doing nothing wrong.
It may just be wishful remembering because I sure can't find anything like that in Ebay's rules now, but that's how I remember it being...
-Brian
Whether it was that way once or not, it's that way now.
In hundreds of transactions on ebay, I've felt only a few times that negative feedback was appropriate. Yet each time, I've wondered if the other side was going to unjustifiably give me negative feedback in retaliation.
In hundreds of transactions on ebay, I've felt only a few times that negative feedback was appropriate. Yet each time, I've wondered if the other side was going to unjustifiably give me negative feedback in retaliation.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2005
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- 13
People I know that do a lot of eBay have shown me so many obvious scammers and fraudsters that I no longer trust eBay at all. And to make matters worse when it comes to payment and feedback eBay seems to favor the seller. IMHO, these days you have to check the deals and sellers so much that it's no longer convenient little less enjoyable. In addition, with eBay you lose some of the consumer protection you automatically have with a mail order credit card purchase. I'd prefer pay more direct to a "regular" retailer. These days I just find a couple retailers I think I can trust (e.g. 1sks and newgraham for knives) and just go with them. Their prices may not be as low as the eBay prices, but they're good enough and in return I know the thing I'm getting is the thing I'm supposed to be getting, no seconds, substitutions, etc. and that they'll stand behind their product. If I call them on the phone during business hours, someone always answers.
No offense intended to any one reading who may be an eBay seller. I've had some great buying experiences and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from some of those people. I just mean if it's something new that can be purchased in retail stores I'll buy there first. If it's something relatively inexpensive that can only be purchased used, then if I want it bad enough to overcome my anti-ebay brake, then I might give eBay a try because at that point I have to go into swap meet mode any way and there isn't much of a choice.
Oh yeah, and to Mr. Colog: 9 days is not a sure sign of trouble. As others have mentioned USPS is a little slower (a week is not unusual) and if you add a couple days where the seller was "sick" (or not) it might make sense to wait a couple weeks. However, if the sellers starts leading you along, like taking a a couple weeks to reply to each email, telling you it's in the mail and it never shows up and you feel like he's trying to get to the 90 day mark, that's when I'd get suspicious. You might want to check out these eBay forums if you think there is a problem:
eBay feedback discussion board
This post in particular seemed like it might be useful (no idea if it's right though): Fraud Links
One last thing. Double check my facts, but I believe the last thing you want to do is start investigations with ebay AND the credit card company at the same time. Somewhere in eBay's fine print I think it says if you do that it cancels out their investigation and they don't have to do it at all. This is copied from another forum, not eBay:
-RC
No offense intended to any one reading who may be an eBay seller. I've had some great buying experiences and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from some of those people. I just mean if it's something new that can be purchased in retail stores I'll buy there first. If it's something relatively inexpensive that can only be purchased used, then if I want it bad enough to overcome my anti-ebay brake, then I might give eBay a try because at that point I have to go into swap meet mode any way and there isn't much of a choice.
Oh yeah, and to Mr. Colog: 9 days is not a sure sign of trouble. As others have mentioned USPS is a little slower (a week is not unusual) and if you add a couple days where the seller was "sick" (or not) it might make sense to wait a couple weeks. However, if the sellers starts leading you along, like taking a a couple weeks to reply to each email, telling you it's in the mail and it never shows up and you feel like he's trying to get to the 90 day mark, that's when I'd get suspicious. You might want to check out these eBay forums if you think there is a problem:
eBay feedback discussion board
This post in particular seemed like it might be useful (no idea if it's right though): Fraud Links
One last thing. Double check my facts, but I believe the last thing you want to do is start investigations with ebay AND the credit card company at the same time. Somewhere in eBay's fine print I think it says if you do that it cancels out their investigation and they don't have to do it at all. This is copied from another forum, not eBay:
-RC
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2003
- Messages
- 5,738
Part of the problem is the discrepancy between what eBay feels, and tells sellers, is acceptable - shipment within thirty days of the close of an auction, and what buyers, especially knife buyers "spoiled" to some extent by the normally fast and smooth transactions here, feel is acceptable. That said, in over 200 eBay transactions, I have never had an item fail to arrive. While a few sellers pushed that 30 day shipping time frame to the max, most went smooth as glass and as fast, or faster than anyone could have reasonably hoped for.
If I were in Colog's shoes, I'd probably send another email to the seller at this point asking if there was tracking number for the package. They may be, as some feel, next to worthless for confirming receipt of a package, but they DO prove that "something" was shipped, from address A, to address B, on a specific date.
They can also occasionally highlight a problem that explains a delay in delivery. Have had postal clerks, both at my end and the other, mis-key a ZIP code when they're printing the stamp. Since a lot of the sorting and routing is done on the basis of the ZIP they print there, as opposed to the one on your label, that can send a package a little or a long way out of its way, depending on the digits that are mis-keyed or transposed.
Had that happen once. Ever since then I've been very careful to check my receipt, which lists the ZIP the postal clerk keyed in for the stamp, before I leave the counter. Twice so far I've saved myself, and the folks I was shipping to, some unnecessary aggravation by doing that.
If I were in Colog's shoes, I'd probably send another email to the seller at this point asking if there was tracking number for the package. They may be, as some feel, next to worthless for confirming receipt of a package, but they DO prove that "something" was shipped, from address A, to address B, on a specific date.
They can also occasionally highlight a problem that explains a delay in delivery. Have had postal clerks, both at my end and the other, mis-key a ZIP code when they're printing the stamp. Since a lot of the sorting and routing is done on the basis of the ZIP they print there, as opposed to the one on your label, that can send a package a little or a long way out of its way, depending on the digits that are mis-keyed or transposed.
Had that happen once. Ever since then I've been very careful to check my receipt, which lists the ZIP the postal clerk keyed in for the stamp, before I leave the counter. Twice so far I've saved myself, and the folks I was shipping to, some unnecessary aggravation by doing that.