Item not received

Question

I just went through a situation where I purchased a football card, and when tracking said delivered, I checked my PO Box but the item had not arrived. I opened a claim and seller said they were going to help. Then they stopped communicating, so I asked Ebay to help and Ebay told me I was going to have to eat it, because tracking said item was delivered.

Well, after Ebay told me to get stiffed, I go to my PO Box to pickup other cards I purchased, and the card I was missing was finally in my box a week later.

I am glad I received the card, but now I am scared to purchase on Ebay. I am worried I will purchase a card and not receive it, and then not get a refund when I am supposed to have buyers protection.

Any help or feedback would be beneficial.

jacbarcollectibles · Answer

You have to understand that most sellers selling trading cards will use the eBay Standard Envelope to ship the card. This is a special USPS service that is really more like Metered Mail than other kinds of mail. The tracking is only updated at specific sorting centers and it can be shown as delivered while still going to the final post office for delivery. So you do need to allow a few days from the delivery notification before opening any case.

comics-scifi-collectibles · Answer

@cardshop11 I understand your concern. This sounds like it was an eBay Standard Envelope Shipment for select items $20 and under.

eBay Standard Envelope is a Metered Mail shipping method and the tracking can only be read by the sorting equipment.

You can't look it up on the USPS site like regular tracking you have to use this tracking tool> https://www.trackmyshipment.co/

Since the tracking is read by the sorting equipment there is often a delay of at least a few days for the card to actually arrive to the buyer after tracking says delivery.

I know that this can be confusing but it is the quirk of using this lower cost (somewhat) tracked shipping method.