When should I start to worry when buying off ebay?
 

Anyone have some advice when buying off ebay? Won an auction, paid for it via Paypal as directed in the automated payment request email. But no respond from the seller since the auction ended. When should I start to worry? :(

Wait at least a week. My wife is a big e-bayer, she has bought a ton of stuff, and ususally gets shipped fairly quickly. There was one time when she was asking for how much the shipping was, it took the seller a week to get back with appologies for not responding. So give it at least a week, and if not, then report to e-bay.

Like absorbentishe said, a week sounds like a good wait.

For future reference, always check their seller ratings. I've worked hard to get mine high, and only buy from those with similar ratings.

The seller and buyer are SUPPOSED to contact each other within 10 days. Have you sent an email direct to the seller? Usually the seller will do it first, cause they want the money, but feel free to contact them yourself. A week is not to long to wait for a response especially if a seller has a lot of auctions going on at the same time. Some of the power sellers set aside one day a week to take care of posting new auctions, sending out stuff and answering email.

Have you tried to contact the seller? Just email him/her stating that u've paid and that you are awaiting a reply.
As drawerfixer said, buy from someone with a high rating always.

Yeah I emailed the seller right after I paid. Which was almost right after the auction ended. I guess I am kinda jittery since this is my first ebay purchase. Hope it goes well. Thanks for the help/advice !!

i bought something off of ebay and i immediatly received an email from the seller.

but, i didnt receive the item after a week, so i emailed the guy. the guy apologizes and sends it the same day and i received it soon.

E-bay sounds really great, but I've never used it. This guy I know says he got ceramic bearings for a mere 4 dollars, or something.

If the person you bought from has like loads and loads of sales, there is a good chance that they are sending out mass stuff, they may just take a while to get to you, don t fret it.

If they have any negative or 0 feedback, then worry a little but wait a week.

Slow shipping times are not always a sign of a problem. But if the seller is not responding to your emails, then you should start to worry. Don't expect any help from eBay though, as long as they get their money, they could care less. If you have Paypal, you should try Half.com. You may pay a little more, but the seller doesn't get a cent until you get your stuff.

I have had stuff that took over a week, shipped the cheapest way possible.

The proverbial "Slow boat from China".

Don't send payment right after the Automated message. Get in contact with the seller via e-mail first.

Agree to keep in contact with the seller: 1. Confirm he/she gets payment.
2. The date the item is sent.
3. His/Her address the item is being sent from.

And anything else you can think of. And always check the feedback. Not just the rating, but review what people have wrote. Someone could have a high feedback rating, but have a bunch of negative feedback responses that start recently.

I had a friend get fucked over on eBay last year. The guy that fucked him over lived in Boston. The friend of mine happen to be in Boston for a buisness trip shortly after the fiasco. He went to the guys house and took a picture of himself standing on the guys front porch and emailed it to him.

The guy refunded all his money plus gave him whatever he had baught in the first place.

I always check out the seller's rating before buying. If they ship out hundreds of items a day or week then the occasional negative comment is acceptable (some buyers are just jerks). If there are a lot of negative comments I just move on.

Some buyer's panic if they don't get a response the instant they win and fire off a negative response.

Remember, you are likely dealing with a person, not a company that pays someone to handle your purchase. There are an infinite number of reasons why the seller might not respond immediately. Give it a week before worrying.

If you're typically a fretter and can't help it, you are probably better off sending them an email *before* you pay up.

Hmm.. ok a week it is! Lets hope my first ebay experience wont be my last

Good luck, let us know how it turns out :)

I've bought a fair bit of stuff off Ebay and I've only had one experience where I didn't receive the item.

I'm 2 fer 3 on e-bay transactions... one guy just flat out bailed on me, after winning my auction, and i decided it wsn't worth the effort to re-post it. But selling my iMac went well. buyer even came to pick it up, so we didn't have to ship the damn thing! :D and the nic i got off of there is still workin' hard. :)

wow, I love these forums, whenever I have a problem and think about asking about it, someone already has! Ok, my problem is similar.. I won the item on July 28, its now Aug. 14... I wrote the seller a question about shipping price, he responded, I sent the money. 2 weeks later, and I have nothing except for $13 less in my pay-pal account. What do I do now? I already e-mailed the seller again yesterday. Planning on waiting a day or two before I do something... but what should I do? I looked at the guy's rating before I purchased the item from him and its 95% good.. so.. I don't know what is going on.... any suggestions?

Of course, they're probably very honest and are off camping for the week. But just in case...

Coilz, march yourself over to ebay's transaction disputes and fraud section immediately! They offer like $200 in insurance, but you have to take the EXACT right steps in order to get it. If you wait too long (which they encourage you to do in a sneaky move) you will not be able to collect.

Hindsight is no help right now, but in the future, a few simple things go a long way. My rules: First, don't buy from anybody with no feedback or who is new. Second, don't buy from anybody with more than 1% negative feedback. Third, always send the seller a detailed question about the item and see how (and if) they respond. No response = no bid.

If you do get ripped off, don't let them get away with it. Be persistent because the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Use google to find out more about them (where they live, work, other emails, etc.) and use the information (but never physically threaten them or do things that make you a criminal as well). Keep good records of everything related to the transaction (save emails, receipts and check stubs, keep a copy of the auction page, a copy of paypal, and a log of all conversations or attempted conversations). If you can't get them to budge, file a complaint with the attorney general in the state the seller's from. Emphasize "mail order fraud". Email any other buyers that gave them a negative rating to learn why they gave them negative ratings. If you can show a consistent mode of fraudulent operating you are more likely to get the AG's attention.

I've been ripped off twice. Once, it took 60 days of pestering and a few very mean calls from a lawyer to get my money back. The other took about 1 year with constant help from the attorney general in the state the seller was from (at first, the AG was just gonna send them a clarification of facts letter, but when the guy started lying to them and getting caught, it quickly became a "refund the money or pay $10k fine and go to jail for up to 10 years").

Good luck!

UPDATE!!.. Finally got email reply from Seller, saying he have sent off the thing I won. But no Tracking# yet.. he said he'll get it to me ASAP. I guess this is better than no reply at all ! Yay !

I want to buy Chrono Trigger off of ebay. Im thinking about one of the auctions, its really low. I love that game..

Coilz,

Glad to hear that the seller has responded. Be aware that often con artists will string you along, so make sure you ask him for specifics (tracking #, ship date, carrier), and if he continues to be extremely slow to respond, stay concerned.

Good luck!

(and I just noticed that I am no longer a rookie!)

Ugh..my last transaction left me with a distrust of the people on ebay. I was looking for a real specific part, so the auctions are few and far between. Long story short- one month, four emails, and two phone calls later, and the item shows up on my porch without all the necessary parts and rattling around in a box only half filled with styrofoam....