Take heed when buying pre-order items on ebay

[alashro2012]

Hi, just wanted to share an experience when it comes to buying sellers who are offering pre-order items on ebay. So normally these items would be delivered probably 3-4 months after the purchase is made on the platform. There are risks in this purchase. Because you will not get a refund on your money 3-4 months down the line. And there is no guarantee that the seller will actually deliver the item.

I had a recent experience with a seller. I made a purchase in March for a pre-order item. This was a reputable seller or so I thought. I received an item which was not the item I ordered for. And the cost of the item I actually purchased was way higher than what was delivered. The seller mentioned that they would deliver the item , but nothing has happened till date. And now the seller does not even respond to my messages. I expressed my grievance to ebay support, but they can't do anything because the refund time has expired. I have reported the seller. But for those genuine buyers on the ebay platform , I just wanted to share my experience. I understand the risks when buying items, but really did not expect this from a reputable seller. 

Stay Safe

[downunder-61]

If you find these sellers report them to eBay.

There are very strict rules about how "pre" a pre sale can be.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/presale-policy?id=4252&st=12&pos=3&query=Presale...

• Presale listings must guarantee that the item will be shipped within 30 days of purchase
• The date the item will be available to ship must be clearly stated in the listing
• Listings must clearly indicate in the title and description that the item is being offered for presale
• Handling time details should include the time the seller will wait to acquire the item, in addition to the time it will take to ship to the buyer

Personally, I would never touch a pre-seller, but that is just me.

[downunder-61]

For the seller you dealt with, file a CCC with your credit card provider NOW - this is why I do NOT trust pre-sale, far too much wriggle room for a scam seller.

Good luck   @alashro2012 

[mudshark61369]

@alashro2012,

" This was a reputable seller or so I thought...  I just wanted to share my experience. I understand the risks when buying items, but really did not expect this from a reputable seller".

Did you actually look at the seller's feedback profile page or just at their feedback percentage?  This seller does have a 100% rating, but I just looked at one of their sold listings.  They are using stock photos of a brand name item, but describe it as a 3D printed replica of the actual brand name item.  They have a current listing for a Pre-release item that has only a general release date of Fall 2021.  They have probably avoided negatives because those items will not arrive until after 60 days from the date of sale, negating the possibility of receiving feedback.

[alashro2012]

Hi @mudshark61369

For sure , they are definitely negating the possibility of receiving negative feedback and also ensuring no one can take refunds from earlier purchases. Becoming more difficult to decipher trustworthy sellers. Just wanted to share my experience to help buyers be aware of such sellers.

[alashro2012]

Hi @downunder-61 , thanks a lot for reply. Very true not to trust pre-sellers. It was my first time and really not a great first experience dealing with a pre-seller.  Who knows how many buyers this seller must be putting down the same hole , and unfortunately the seller still remains on the platform.

[valueaddedresource]

---

@alashro2012 wrote:

Hi, just wanted to share an experience when it comes to buying sellers who are offering pre-order items on ebay. So normally these items would be delivered probably 3-4 months after the purchase is made on the platform. There are risks in this purchase. Because you will not get a refund on your money 3-4 months down the line. And there is no guarantee that the seller will actually deliver the item.

I had a recent experience with a seller. I made a purchase in March for a pre-order item. This was a reputable seller or so I thought. I received an item which was not the item I ordered for. And the cost of the item I actually purchased was way higher than what was delivered. The seller mentioned that they would deliver the item , but nothing has happened till date. And now the seller does not even respond to my messages. I expressed my grievance to ebay support, but they can't do anything because the refund time has expired. I have reported the seller. But for those genuine buyers on the ebay platform , I just wanted to share my experience. I understand the risks when buying items, but really did not expect this from a reputable seller. 

Stay Safe

---

@alashro2012  contact customer service and send them this link if needed:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/eBay-Promoted-Funkoween-Presale-Violations/m-p/32013380/highli...

Per eBay community staff, customer service can still help if the listing violated pre-sale policies, even if it is past the Money Back Guarantee timeline.

[alashro2012]

Hi @valueaddedresource 

Thanks for a lot for the link. Actually I contacted ebay customer service a couple of times in desperation. But the only response I get from them is that they cannot refund the item because the time period for the refund has expired. And they tell me to contact the seller. But I keep on telling them that I tried to contact the seller so many times, but the seller is just refusing to respond back. And that's because the seller also knows that there is nothing I can do as a buyer. The seller has already got their money. I reported the seller , but I highly doubt anything is going to be done with regards to the seller. And I am sure there will be many more buyers that will suffer. Because the seller has more pre-sale items on their page. And there is no way to warn other buyers about this seller.

[woodland_gnome]

If you paid via PayPal file there (180 days from payment deadline).  If not try your credit card issuer.

Always check the shipping information on the shipping and payments tab of the full website for cost and estimated delivery date to your location.  If the estimated delivery date is before the item is available, that is a huge red flag that the seller is lying to eBay about when s/he is going to ship (since eBay only allows up to 30 days from cleared payment).*

*ETA: Like this seller's presales up currently with "Free 4 day shipping Get it by Fri. Aug. 20".

[kensgiftshop]

---

@alashro2012 wrote:

So normally these items would be delivered probably 3-4 months after the purchase is made on the platform.

---

Presales can't be sold unless the seller can have them shipped within 30 days.

[alashro2012]

Hi @kensgiftshop , unfortunately this is really not the case. So if you take the seller which did this to me, they have an item for pre-order. And if you see the release date of the item from the official hasbro site, the release date is next year.

[kensgiftshop]

---

@alashro2012 wrote:

Hi @kensgiftshop , unfortunately this is really not the case. So if you take the seller which did this to me, they have an item for pre-order. And if you see the release date of the item from the official hasbro site, the release date is next year.

---

If the release date isn't until next year, they can't sell it now, according to policy.

You can report those listings.

They have to be able to ship the item within 30 days of sale and if they can't, they don't need to be selling now.

[alashro2012]

Hi @kensgiftshop , thanks a lot for letting me know on this. Will definitely report this if it helps to ensure other buyers don't get into the same issue as me.  But daily I see around at least a thousand listings on pre-order items from different sellers where the actual release date of the item is really way ahead in the future. I thought if this was a policy then ebay should give warnings to such sellers and make sure this is done at a global level. 

[valueaddedresource]

---

@alashro2012 wrote:

Hi @valueaddedresource 

Thanks for a lot for the link. Actually I contacted ebay customer service a couple of times in desperation. But the only response I get from them is that they cannot refund the item because the time period for the refund has expired. And they tell me to contact the seller. But I keep on telling them that I tried to contact the seller so many times, but the seller is just refusing to respond back. And that's because the seller also knows that there is nothing I can do as a buyer. The seller has already got their money. I reported the seller , but I highly doubt anything is going to be done with regards to the seller. And I am sure there will be many more buyers that will suffer. Because the seller has more pre-sale items on their page. And there is no way to warn other buyers about this seller.

---

@alashro2012  - I understand.  Unfortunately, customer service gets it wrong sometimes. ☹️

If you look at further posts in that thread I linked to, there was another example where a buyer was originally told that nothing could be done but it was not handled correctly and they were able to have it escalated and reviewed again.

tyler@ebay  - can you give some direction here for how @alashro2012  can best get assistance from customer service on this, please?

[kensgiftshop]

---

@alashro2012 wrote:

Hi @kensgiftshop , thanks a lot for letting me know on this. Will definitely report this if it helps to ensure other buyers don't get into the same issue as me.  But daily I see around at least a thousand listings on pre-order items from different sellers where the actual release date of the item is really way ahead in the future. I thought if this was a policy then ebay should give warnings to such sellers and make sure this is done at a global level. 

---

They do give them warnings if their listings are reported.

Unless the listings are reported, they don't know if there's a problem with the listing or not.

They don't have the manpower to go through each listing to make sure it follows policy.

But I agree, they need to crack down on these sellers that don't follow their policies.