Marking shipped and no tracking number? Why?

[Anonymous]

Why would a seller mark something as shipped and not provide a tracking number?   I know why one seller that I dealt with on this subject marked it shipped and then on asking them for a tracking number they came back with oh , I know what happened,  your item was shipped to another person and I'll get them to forward it to you.   Well of course I said that I wanted a refund and got it.    That was a really strange situation. 

But it's just happened again from a different seller.   I 'm going to give it another couple of days and if they don't put in a tracking number I'll ask.   

As a buyer ,  I need to follow up with tracking because sometimes the items get stuck and you have to follow up with the shipping people.     USPS has gotten so slow .  

But why , if they haven't shipped it to a buyer do they even bother to mark it as shipped? 

[mtgraves7984]

Maybe they didn't use tracking... some don't. Is the item you're waiting for being shipped Media Mail or First Class?

[popblox]

Hi, this can happen for a number of reasons. Sellers could be new and/or they take their packages to USPS/FedEx/UPS instead of printing a label from eBay, then forget to add the tracking. Sometimes sellers use external shipping sites to print their labels and the tracking numbers don't properly link. Some sellers ship using methods that don't have tracking.

While it can be inconvenient to not be able to track your item, you can always contact the seller and ask for the tracking number and/or file an item not received case with eBay if it goes past the estimated delivery date.

[Anonymous]

It's supposed to be first class but every other first class package that I've received has had a tracking number. 

[stainlessenginecovers]

If they purchased 1st Class through ebay, it would auto load. If they purchased from many other places (in person or on line) they have the 'option' of putting the tracking number in (as long as they mark it 'shipped')

I would NOT wait; ask them for the tracking number if they are marking it 'shipped'. They don't 'have' to, but they should for themselves and you. 

[juicydrupes]

Probably because those sellers used eBay to purchase shipping - which automates adding the tracking.

Buying postage at the PO - you have manually add the tracking.

[downunder-61]

Tracking protects the seller not the buyer.

All a buyer needs to concern themselves with is the latest estimated date for delivery - how does knowing where it is at any given time during it's journey help a buyer.

As to "  I need to follow up with tracking because sometimes the items get stuck and you have to follow up with the shipping people"

Not your job, that is up to the seller if you claim it is not received.

If an item does not arrive by the due date, you wait 24 hours and claim INR with the MBG

[ed8108]

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@downunder-61 wrote:

Tracking protects the seller not the buyer.

All a buyer needs to concern themselves with is the latest estimated date for delivery - how does knowing where it is at any given time during it's journey help a buyer.

As to "  I need to follow up with tracking because sometimes the items get stuck and you have to follow up with the shipping people"

Not your job, that is up to the seller if you claim it is not received.

If an item does not arrive by the due date, you wait 24 hours and claim INR with the MBG

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I suspect manny sellers prefer that tracking  inform a buyer of a carrier delivery delay rather than having buyers open unnecessary INR cases.

In cases of a carrier misdelivery it may be helpful for a buyer to alert the carrier sooner rather than latter for the carrier to sucessfuly locate & retrieve the package.

Just my thoughts

[downunder-61]

True, I I just don’t understand this obsession with tracking an item you purchase.

I buy a product, I see the shipping estimate, I wait for my parcel to arrive. I don’t care how many different parts of the country my parcel may visit, so long as I receive it in the end.

If a week passes beyond the estimated delivery date, I check my purchased item in my history and see if a tracking number has been uploaded – if yes I will check it out, if not I give it another week or so and claim INR. If it arrives later, I contact seller and organise payment into their Paypal or bank account.

[bobbyflye2780]

Well if i drop 100 bucks on a rare album i wanna know if its in the mail

[gnappi]

Knowing when an item is going to be received is critical for me. I live on a school bus stop and the little pre-prison dwellers have found a few ways to get at what's in my locked mailbox. So with an "out for delivery" notice I know within a few hours the day it will arrive so I can be at home to thwart the little  angels criminal plans 🙂

[redlinear]

If you bought more than one item and the items were shipped together, and the labels made through eBay. 
One item gets a tracking number. The other items get "marked as shipped" with no tracking.  

[cammanbrayton]

Unfortunately, PayPal will not pay seller until item is in shipped activation. With all due respect, this is a go-around with seller's and their money prior to postage paid prior to PayPal dispersing funds for payment, meaning seller forks over funds first, period. Ebay is not as encrypted with their app purchases as to Amazon's tentacles of fund flows by eliminating PayPal's capabilities to be used as 3rd party issuance of funds for purchases, leaving eBay more of a less of a watchdog of sellers. This, as usual, has it's advantages, as well as its disadvantages. These days, sellers who can actually hold a greater amount of funds for  7 to 10 days on purchases they never planned on selling in the first place can give them quite a liquidity edge on their books for their business, and also protects them in the end for query into the shipping status as either a lost or null shipment. Of course, they could start an avalanche of bad business practices, or come out smelling like a rose with enough capital for 7 to 10 days to save their business. Either way, to prevent conspiracies or suspicions like the one I just wrote, tracking should be implemented whether or not formal shipping companies are used or not.

[spark-chaser1]

There are many sellers who simply don't use tracking. If this happens to me and I don't receive my item by the Estimated delivery date, I simply move to file an INR a few days past that and get my money back.

Tracking is not for the buyers convenience, though it is nice. Sellers need tracking to confirm delivery if the recipient doesn't get the item. Its for the SELLERS protection. And its in their best interest to use it. 

[xadexane]

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@cammanbrayton wrote:

Unfortunately, PayPal will not pay seller until item is in shipped activation.

With all due respect, this is a go-around with seller's and their money prior to postage paid prior to PayPal dispersing funds for payment, meaning seller forks over funds first, period. 

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You are wrong, unfortunately, conspiracy or no. PayPal will not disperse/disburse/dispense funds to the seller on eBay -- not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

Instead, eBay takes all PayPal payments from buyers now, then metes out a portion to the eBay seller.