Ebay Etiquette?

[mckafka99]

So Tuesday afternoon I won an ebay auction, for which the 'handling time was listed as 2 business days. As of yesterday I had not heard from the seller or had any indication that the item had been shippied. I sent a message asking when it might be shipped as I have some delivery arrangements with the post office that might need to be made depedning on when it gets shipped.

 

As of this evening, I still havent heard back from the seller. In the past 2 months I've literally been on a rampage buying tons of things off ebay (mostly Jag stuff) and for every single item, the sellers have always been quick to respond and have always provided quick turn around (almost always within a day of payment) on shipping.

 

My question has to do with what is proper 'etiquette' for follwoing this up and trying to get some info on shipment. I dont want to be a nag but by the same token, I'd like to know what's going on with the item I have paid for. Are there any standard rules for when you dont get feedback from the seller on shipment? Thanks.

Edited January 11, 2013 by mckafka99

[nopaybob]

Seriously...

-Maybe they have not checked there messages and the email notice could be linked to a nolonger used email account "Thats how mine is"

- Check your shipping estimate time on your won item and make arangements by that - generally it will be towards the end of estimated time

-After the sale it is the sellers job to get you your item using the option paid for within the specified time.

The seller is not required to use ebay to print a label nor is he required to upload tracking info.

 

Now if the estimated arrival date has passed or if the seller contacts you days later and gives you some piss poor excuse why they havnt shipped yet. You my friend have purchased from one of many crapass ebaysellers and should nag and bitch till the cows come home. Be on the lookout for a garbagebag with sharp broken items protruding, sealed with ductape full of pet hair with mediamail postage

[Rex Dart]

All I can recommend is that you not wait too long before filing a report, if this person turns out to be a crook. They like to stay silent & ignore you until it's too late to report them as crooks.

[mckafka99]

Thanks for the replies. The only 'estimates' listed with the item is the 'Handling Time' which said 2 days. The auction ended on Tuesday at 1:46 pm. As of Thursday afternoon (2 business days), I had not heard a thing so I sent an email asking about it. It's now Friday evening and still no word. I guess I am just finding it so unusal after probably about 25-30 purchases over the last two months (including one from Japan) all of which went off without a hitch and without 'silence' on when an item shipped'. I suspect I will just try to hold off until Monday and if I havent heard anything, then it is probably time to inquire further.

[bojay1997]

I usually give it about a week before I contact the seller. I think most Ebay sellers now mark items as shipped or provide a tracking number, especially since Ebay sometimes holds payment until shipment is confirmed. I have had a seller or two take 10+ days to ship in which case I will leave negative feedback unless they specify in their auction description that it takes that long to ship for some reason. A couple of days is reasonable, maybe five days to get them to the weekend if it's an early week auction, but anymore than that is totally ridiculous.

[labrat]

There are some sellers that just don't really bother with all of the updating tasks of ebay.

 

I sent an email wednesday night to a seller from whom I bought something a week prior. I got a response the next day that it had already been sent. Sure enough it was here this morning (but still not marked as shipped on ebay).

[pangasinan]

He probably never answered your message because you were nagging him only a few days after the auction ended,I would not have messaged the guy until about 7 working days after you paid if I had not received the item by then.

[accousticguitar]

I usually don't bother asking any questions until the item doesn't show up when it should. Then I'll email asking if it has shipped yet and I mark on the calendar when I need to file the paypal claim in case it doesn't ever arrive.

[mckafka99]

He probably never answered your message because you were nagging him only a few days after the auction ended,I would not have messaged the guy until about 7 working days after you paid if I had not received the item by then.

 

I'm not sure I could ever part with close to $100 and have no feedback on shipping for 7 days (remember the auction said 2 days handling), $25-$30 maybe -but not this much. Plus i really only wanted to know so that a temperature sensitive piece of electronics wouldnt get left outside in the cold for 5 days.

 

Thanks again to all for thoughts so I have a better perspective going forward.

Edited January 12, 2013 by mckafka99

[karokoenig]

I tend to be lenient with most ebay sellers. Remember that most are just random people trying to get rid of some of their crap and making a buck or two out of it. Not every person on this planet checks his/her emails every hour, and not everyone finds time to pack lots of items and get them to a post office immediately. Meaning: ebay is amateurs selling to amateurs, and that's the kind of service I expect. Still being quite new to the ebay experience, I am nonetheless quite happy so far. I did have some problems already, but those could be solved easily by friendly communication and a bit of good will from my side. I consider a handful of small disappointments in, say, 50 transactions normal background noise.

 

When it comes to powersellers and online shop ebay "departments", I do expect faster delivery and professional customer service, of course.

Edited January 12, 2013 by karokoenig

[accousticguitar]

Actually, I have found that power sellers tend to have worse customer service than average sellers. If I have a choice of buying an item from some guy with 10,000 positive feedbacks and another guy with 100 positive feedbacks I usually choose the lower feedback sellers, with all other things being equal (like no negatives, for example).