DEPART SHIP PTNR SITE USPS AWAITS ITEM

[sumsum70]

eBay makes a lot of changes to the site that I consider stupid. There is one thing I would find useful though - if you could check a box to exclude every seller whose **bleep** tracking number results in the title of this thread. Every time I buy something and see this when I click the tracking link, I know without a doubt the item will not arrive any time soon. This is the main reason I buy more stuff on Amazon than eBay - when Amazon says something is going to show up, there is a greater than 99% chance it actually will.

[kathiec]

All that designation means is that a label has been printed but the seller hasn't mailed the package. The tracking number enters the system when it's generated. Every single purchase you make here that's shipped USPS is going to show that for at least a short period. 

That's how things work at the vast majority of online vendors. I have an order from another retailer right now that's showing that. Amazon is the exception, not the rule, since Amazon largely delivers using their own drivers. In the cases where an Amazon seller ships via USPS you'll see the same designation.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Then you'd pretty much exclude every seller on here because 99.9% of tracking on ebay will show that at first.

[mudshark61369]

@sumsum70,

"Departs shipping partner, USPS awaits item"  generally means the item in question is coming from outside of the country. Many foreign sellers use an international shipper that partners with the USPS so the packages get a Delivered scan. The USPS tracking that is uploaded when partner shipping is used,  will start updating once the item clears customs.

5 of the last 10 seller's you have bought from are located in China or drop ship from there.

You could avoid them by checking feedback profile pages of any seller you intend to buy from first.  Look at the country the seller is registered in.  Click on the numbers of negatives and neutrals the seller has received to read only those comments. If the seller has replied to those comments do they look like they were written by a person whose first language is English. On a listing page does the item location state a city and state, or something like California, United States?  It should give a city and state.

[sumsum70]

To the people saying every tracking number says that at first, no they don't. Any time it says shipping partner, I've been hornswoggled by another Chinese seller lying about location.

[sumsum70]

I do know to check FB to avoid the foreign sellers masquerading as US sellers, but this one had 100% feedback and claimed to be in Kentucky and FB hasn't caught up to them yet I guess.

[mudshark61369]

"I do know to check FB to avoid the foreign sellers masquerading as US sellers, but this one had 100% feedback and claimed to be in Kentucky and FB hasn't caught up to them yet I guess".

@sumsum70,

You may know how to check feedback to see if a seller is truly U.S. based, but do you do that?  If you went by their feedback percentage alone you made a bid mistake.

Two of the 5 sellers I mentioned in my first post are Registered in China according to their Feedback profile pages, and both list item locations in Kentucky.  The 100% one you bought from says Hebron, Ky. the other one Walton, Ky.  Both cities are very close to ebay's  International GSP Hub in Erlanger, Ky..  The 100% seller even uses an American flag "Free/Fast Delivery"  banner,  another dead give away of a chinese seller who poses as a U.S. based one.  

If the item is overdue leave a negative feedback as soon as it arrives, saying was late arriving because it came from China. 

  Whether it fits or not file for a refund using   "Doesn't match description or photos". 

 Item location is part of the description.  In the text box that will open state the item location was given as Hebron, Ky, but it shipped from China, and did not arrive by the last estimated delivery date.

[maxine*j]

---

@sumsum70 wrote:

To the people saying every tracking number says that at first, no they don't. Any time it says shipping partner, I've been hornswoggled by another Chinese seller lying about location.

---

I buy from many independent U.S. sellers who use either OSM domestic or DHL domestic, and that is the message I get on every order.  No problems.  No delays.  No issues.

-

[yuzuha]

---

@mudshark61369 wrote:

"Departs shipping partner, USPS awaits item"  generally means the item in question is coming from outside of the country.

---

Or that the seller is using a shipping partner like Pitney Bowes for bulk shipping. I've received plenty of things shipped from right here in the US where that was the case.

[sumsum70]

If the item is overdue leave a negative feedback as soon as it arrives, saying was late arriving because it came from China. 

  Whether it fits or not file for a refund using   "Doesn't match description or photos". 

 Item location is part of the description.  In the text box that will open state the item location was given as Hebron, Ky, but it shipped from China, and did not arrive by the last estimated delivery date.

I would not try to get a refund unless it never arrives. I would rather just have the part I ordered so I can fix my currently jerry-rigged coolant line. 

Whether or not the other seller is shipping from China, they shipped right away with what I would consider a "normal" shipping sequence: Preshipment USPS awaits item - Acceptance - Processed through USPS facility - etc. That tells me even if they are selling from China, the part I ordered was in inventory here in the US.

It's only when I get the shipping partner nonsense that stuff comes super late or not at all. You should be able to filter out sellers who don't actually have the stuff in-country ready to ship. This is probably my biggest buying-side gripe about eBay and the main reason I will often choose Amazon over eBay regardless of price - because I actually want the thing I purchased on time.

[mudshark61369]

"It's only when I get the shipping partner nonsense that stuff comes super late or not at all. You should be able to filter out sellers who don't actually have the stuff in-country ready to ship. This is probably my biggest buying-side gripe about eBay and the main reason I will often choose Amazon over eBay regardless of price - because I actually want the thing I purchased on time".

@sumsum70,

The China based sellers on ebay often do not pull listings when their U.S. warehouse runs out of stock. They keep them up and ship from China, which can mean it will not arrive within the estimated delivery dates.  You cannot filter those seller's out if they give a U.S. location for their items. Therefore why risk taking your chances with a China based seller even one w/ 100% feedback?

The one thing I would never do on ebay, is buy auto parts from a China based seller.  All too often the unbranded parts they sell are made of substandard materials, and the fitment tolerances are off.    If you do receive an item from them that was shipped from the U.S. location, and it doesn't fit. You still have to wait to get a refund, and your repair job will be held up until you order another from a seller who sells a brand named product that meets the material and tolerance requirements of the OEM. 

Then there is the possibility that you install the item, and months from now it fails, and you can't get a refund, either because your 30 day MBG protections have lapsed, or because the item was installed and can't be returned in the condition it was received, new/unused.

  Even if you file for a refund/charge back, with your payment service or card provider, they may refuse the refund because the seller can say you did not install it properly or that they are only willing to refund a portion of the purchase price, after you send the item back at your cost.  Refunds/charge backs for a reported substandard item are not automatic just on your say so.

For those who may reply to this post saying the OEM or Recognizable Brand items are often made in China, you would be correct. However, those parts have to meet the materials and fitment tolerance standards of the OEM or Brand.

[mudshark61369]

@maxine*j, @yuzuha ,

I do understand that some sellers use Domestic USPS partners for shipping items.  However, given the reputation of the China based sellers on ebay who do not pull listings when an item is not in stock in their U.S. location, I'd bet dollars to donuts that the "partner" in this case is a foreign one.  Especially, if there is no picked up/received by Ship Partner info on the tracking.

OSM shipping partner tracking looks like:

Note: Pickup By Ship Ptnr, USPS Awaits Item. Then the arrival at and departure from the ship partner's site.  A buyer knows it is on its way and has been received by the partner. Though in this case the item had to go a few hundred miles west, to Glendale, Then even further east before reaching the Detroit regional USPS facility, which had me worried at first.

Why any seller would use DHL domestic for a small light weight item, is beyond me, because their shipping costs are high.  I have made just over 5K purchases (FB left) on this site, and only had one item shipped from a Domestic location via DHL domestic.  It was a very large 85 lb item. 

[kensgiftshop]

---

@sumsum70 wrote:

I do know to check FB to avoid the foreign sellers masquerading as US sellers, but this one had 100% feedback and claimed to be in Kentucky and FB hasn't caught up to them yet I guess.

---

Did you check their feedback page, it shows they are in China and they are drop shipping from Kentucky.

[maxine*j]

@mudshark61369 

I didn't try to research OP's particular purchase/seller/whatever.  I just thought it a good idea to note, for OP and others who might look at the thread later, that the message itself tells one only that a shipping partner was used, so in and of itself should not be alarming.  

As for the sellers, from China, they're a disgrace and we all know that, but there is no way to effectively educate buyers about how to spot them and their location/stocking.shipping/dropshipping shenanigans, although you have tried more than anyone else here to do so.

-

[mudshark61369]

@maxine*j,

That screen shot was from a purchase of mine. I guess it is time to post the info about avoiding chinese sellers again.

@sumsum70,

Because ebay helps some sellers register in the U.S. or they have stock in the U.S. it can be hard to weed them out. There are ways to figure out if a seller is actually China based or drop ships from there. Below is a list of things I look for.

On Listing Pages:

• Items priced well below brand name items price. or at the same price as many other ones.
  
• An item location address that does not give a city and state Ex: USA / United States --  New Jersey / USA ...
• The use of U.S. flag symbols and several mentions of being a U.S. seller.
• Item descriptions that have wording in them that doesn't seem like it was written by a person whose first language is English.
• A  High volume seller with a feedback percentage below 98.9%
• Item titles giving a brand name, and photos showing a brand name label, but in the Item Specifics it says Brand: Unknown.
• Items that do not have a recognizable Brand name.
• The use of metric and standard measurements.
• Photos with Asian models in them.

On a Feedback Profile page:

• The seller's country of registry, sometimes.
• The year of registry being between 2012 and now, for very high volume sellers.
• All or most feedback is for Private listings.
• Feedback for all sorts of different categories of items if they are listed.
• Neutral and Negative feedback saying items came from China. That took a long time to arrive. Missing items from multiple quantity orders.  Cancelled purchases.  Poor communications. (click on the numbers of neutral and negative feedback received, to read only those comments).
• Responses to non positive feedback written by someone whose first language does not appear to be English.
  

It may take a little time to use the above lists, but in the long run can save time and possibly money.

.