eBay

hpfireman · ‎08-28-2023

This is really getting to be a problem.

I've had this happen twice to me in a month. I needed a chainsaw to cut some trees on my property, one of which smashed my garage.

In both cases there was radio silence after I ordered and im convinced nothing would have happened if I hadn't complained to the sellers and ebay.

In one case the item never showed shipped and they said they couldn't make the order. What's to make? Its in a bix!

In the second case it showed shipped at the last moment but no tracking/carrier was provided. After I escalated the seller said it was lost in shipment. I don't believe it.

I've been buying on eBay for decades and 500 successful purchases.

I'm furious and eBay needs to do more to stop this.

kathiec · ‎08-28-2023

I suspect you ordered from sellers who are dropshipping, as these sound like typical dropshipping excuses. If you're looking for a new saw, try looking for listings that don't appear to be using stock photos. That might help avoid sellers who are dropshipping. You can often also spot dropshippers by looking at their other listings. And of course checking feedback can also help identify this kind of problem before you make the purchase.

As for eBay doing more to stop this, what would you suggest? On any given day there are more than 1.5 billion listings. There's no possible way eBay can vet every single one of those listings to make sure the seller has it ready to ship. So eBay provides a very buyer-centric Money Back Guarantee. And having MBG cases opened is one of the metrics eBay uses to measure seller performance.

12345jamesstamps · ‎08-28-2023

If they are doing drop shipping...selling items from another company...I can see why its out of stock.

Need to check seller feedback and where item is shipping from and seller's ID what country they live in.

Sometimes seller hasn't ever seen item seller is selling to someone.

khetzel · ‎08-28-2023

I ran into my first dropshipper on eBay in 1999. That one I found out after he had my money order and he told me he would now order the product. Nothing you could do back then but wait and hope and try not to be too angry.

I disliked them then and still do today. I've just gotten better at sniffing them out and avoiding them like the plague.

simba6 · ‎08-28-2023

If you need it right away, mail order is never best. I will say large items can be lost in shipping. I once had an ATV tire lost by Fedex.

hpfireman · ‎08-29-2023

Are there ANY disincentives for sellers that sell phantom products? Buyers should be able to impact seller reputation after a cancellation, not just after a successful transactions. Sellers should receive some tangible penalty for selling items they can't ship. Tracking info should be mandatory or at least let buyer know before the sale their may be no tracking info orovuded. A sale that completes but doesn't ship should automatically go into refund/replace after a time. The processes and policies and incentives should lean in favor if the purchaser. Seems like anyone can sell any fictional product and its up to the buyer to catch them if they can. This is how it seems.