Seller says that Paypal is holding my payment for 21 days... [Archive]

izarate

01-28-2010, 10:14 PM

...and that I must leave positive feedback for the payment to be released. He says he won't ship until payment is confirmed.

I've had more than 170 successful eBay transactions in over 4 years and I've ever heard about something like this from any seller.

Some details:
- Seller is in the US and me in Mexico but it's always that way.
- I recently registered a new shipping address at eBay/Paypal because I learned that I had the wrong zip code before (never had a problem though since the wrong zip code is adjacent to mine). The address linked to my credit card is the same but with the incorrect zip code. Anyway, I've bought 10 or so items since then without problems.
- The transaction details page at Paypal doesn't say anything about a holdup.

So the question is: is him pulling my leg? He has good feedback (98%) but almost every negative seems to be from an international buyer.

Of course I wouldn't ever leave positive feedback without having the items in my hands, so if what he says is true I guess I'll desist.

Sorry if this isn't the appropriate forum to ask. Seemed to be the right one.

megasdkirby

01-28-2010, 10:16 PM

Not too sure, but I remember reading something like this on the Ebay Message Boards.

So maybe there is some truth after all. Not too sure, though.

I would like to know this as well. :)

Cornelius

01-28-2010, 10:29 PM

I didn't think paypal cared about eBay feedback at all. I've read about people losing claims even though positive feedback was left for them.

What kind of shipping did you pay for? My guess is the seller doesn't want to ship First-Class because they can't get tracking, so they are hoping if you leave positive feedback they can avoid an Item not Received claim.

Kitsune Sniper

01-28-2010, 10:34 PM

He can't do that. In fact, it's against eBay's rules for him to hold onto your item until the payment is cleared - usually, they have access to the money when they provide a tracking number, but of course, he can't do that 'cause you're in Mexico. Yes, it sucks for sellers, but that's how it is. Furthermore, him saying "I won't ship this until you leave a positive" is feedback extortion, as defined by eBay's rules.

He can't ask this of you. The only thing I can suggest is that you go to eBay's forums and ask for help, but I would report his ass ASAP. :P

izarate

01-28-2010, 11:03 PM

What kind of shipping did you pay for? My guess is the seller doesn't want to ship First-Class because they can't get tracking, so they are hoping if you leave positive feedback they can avoid an Item not Received claim.

In this situation Priority Mail because that was the only shipping option offered.

I usually use First Class and Priority occasionally for more expensive/rare items. I know about Global Express but the rates are ridiculous. I once shipped an SNES cartridge to a Gamefaqs user at Seattle by EMS (Express Mail Service) from Mexico and it was $13. Global Express is about thrice than that, A.F.A.I.K.

He can't do that. In fact, it's against eBay's rules for him to hold onto your item until the payment is cleared - usually, they have access to the money when they provide a tracking number, but of course, he can't do that 'cause you're in Mexico. Yes, it sucks for sellers, but that's how it is. Furthermore, him saying "I won't ship this until you leave a positive" is feedback extortion, as defined by eBay's rules.

He can't ask this of you. The only thing I can suggest is that you go to eBay's forums and ask for help, but I would report his ass ASAP. :P

He's giving me the option to wait until 21 days have passed...which is undesirable at least since that would be so close to the 45 day limit to file a claim.

I'll try to work it out. If the seller doesn't budge what would you recommend?

mobiusclimber

01-29-2010, 12:54 AM

Priority Mail from the US to Mexico DOES have tracking. It's the number on the customs form. He can use that. He doesn't need to withold anything, and you can tell him this. At any rate he CAN'T withold sending out your item. If he continues to after you inform him of this, just wait and file a claim with Ebay.

Kitsune Sniper

01-29-2010, 12:57 AM

izarate

01-29-2010, 01:08 AM

Just sent an eBay message to the seller playing dumb. I'll see what his response is.

ryborg

01-29-2010, 01:31 AM

So the question is: is him pulling my leg?

Nope, it's real. It's still pretty ridiculous, but he's not making stuff up. The only way this would be a valid excuse is if the seller truly needed the funds from the payment to ship because he has no other money, which is possible.

http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/rewardsfaq/index.html#27

IT. DOESN'T. WORK.

The customs form number is NOT A VALID TRACKING NUMBER ACCORDING TO PAYPAL.

Thank you. Some of the misinformation spread around here is ridiculous. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't post.

izarate

01-29-2010, 02:30 AM

30. What can I do to avoid having eBay item holds?
Your payments WILL BE NOT HELD if you meet all the following requirements:
eBay Tenure: Greater than 6-months
Total Feedback score: More than 100
Dissatisfied Buyers %: Less than 5%
Or if you meet all the following requirements:

Detailed Seller Rating: Greater than 4.5
Total Detailed Seller Ratings Received: More than 20 in the last 12-months

According to that, shouldn't his payments NOT be held? Here are his stats:

Positive Feedback (last 12 months): 98.8%
Member since: Mar-01-08 in United States

DSRs:
Item as described 4.9
Communication 4.7
Shipping time 4.5
Shipping and handling charges 4.7

1 month 6 months 12 months
Positive 255 1166 2324
Neutral 11 26 32
Negative 15 27 29

izarate

01-29-2010, 03:11 AM

Ok, apparently the seller is relying on this sentence for asking me to give positive feedback:

"Will usually ship within 1 business day of receiving cleared payment."

Once you click on the link:

"The handling time is the number of business days the seller will take to ship the item after receiving your cleared payment. A payment is considered "cleared" after the money from the buyer has been deposited into the seller’s account. If the buyer pays by PayPal, the payment may clear immediately. However, in categories where permitted, if the buyer pays by check, money order, or eCheck, it may take several days."

may??? ugh....

I checked an auction that I won last week and had the same legend in the "Shipping and Payments" section. Still the seller didn't had any issues about shipping to Mexico even though his auction stated "US Only" (I arranged a deal with him previously by email).

From the look of this it seems that he won't budge. :(

ryborg

01-29-2010, 06:05 AM

I checked an auction that I won last week and had the same legend in the "Shipping and Payments" section. Still the seller didn't had any issues about shipping to Mexico even though his auction stated "US Only" (I arranged a deal with him previously by email).

From the look of this it seems that he won't budge. :(

Yeah, it looks like he's not violating any ebay policies or anything. I guess you're just going to have to wait and hope for the best.

izarate

01-29-2010, 09:00 AM

Yeah, it looks like he's not violating any ebay policies or anything. I guess you're just going to have to wait and hope for the best.

No way I'm going to hope for the best on $78. I'll hit the eBay forums as Kitsune Sniper suggested and take off from there.

If it really comes to hoping the best I guess I'll just cancel the transaction.

megasdkirby

01-29-2010, 09:37 AM

No way I'm going to hope for the best on $78. I'll hit the eBay forums as Kitsune Sniper suggested and take off from there.

Good luck with that.

Sellers on DP are very nice and reasonable. Sellers on the Ebay Message Boards...well...they might want to eat you alive. To them the seller is never wrong (even if he/she/it is a scammer) and buyers are pure evil. You will have many sellers put you on their BBL for questioning seller authority (no matter what it is).

My suggestions? DO NOT USE the same ID you use to buy to post there. Use a new, fake one, else you will feel the wrath of cry baby sellers and their BBL threats.

If it really comes to hoping the best I guess I'll just cancel the transaction.

I hope everything turns out great in the end. :)

Hope for the best! :)

izarate

01-29-2010, 10:58 AM

My suggestions? DO NOT USE the same ID you use to buy to post there. Use a new, fake one, else you will feel the wrath of cry baby sellers and their BBL threats.

Ok, will do.

I'm just a little upset by the situation because he didn't warn me about this. I mean the "Domestic handling time" states that he ships after clearing the payment...but every other seller has that.

I mean what about a note on the listing stating that international buyers will have to wait 21 days due to that? Besides, does he make US residents wait that long too? He has to actually ship the product to get the tracking number, doesn't he? That would violate his "ship after payment clears" policy, isn't it?

I would understand if I had recent negatives or something but my record is absolutely clean. 100% straight positives in over 4 years. Paid right in the same minute he sent the invoice (no joking, got invoice at 12:16, Paypal payment email gets to my inbox at 12:16 too). I don't know if I set some red flags or something.

jb143

01-29-2010, 11:23 AM

Isn't the reason the funds are being held to make sure that you recieve the item before he'd be able to take the money and run? Just in case you'd need to file a claim? Seems like some goofy loop hole you two are stuck in to me.

Scissors

01-29-2010, 11:24 AM

The payment has cleared, it's just on hold. The seller is not allowed to make you wait 21 days for the payment to be released. From the Selling Practices Policy:

If PayPal places a temporary hold on payment received for an item you sold, you're not allowed to hold shipment, pending the release of those funds (after 21 days)

As others have said, he's also not allowed to request positive feedback before shipping, that's feedback extortion.

Edit: Here's a link to the Selling Practices Policy:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html

ryborg

01-29-2010, 03:21 PM

Sellers on the Ebay Message Boards...well...they might want to eat you alive.

The official ebay messages boards are absolute garbage. I wouldn't go there for anything. They're so biased and hateful, it's not even fun to troll there.

The payment has cleared, it's just on hold. The seller is not allowed to make you wait 21 days for the payment to be released. From the Selling Practices Policy:

Nice. I've never seen that written before. I'd report this guy ASAP with the link Scissors posted. The 21-day hold policy is still one of ebay's worst ideas and it only causes sellers to try to pull stuff like this.

Zthun

01-29-2010, 03:43 PM

Ok, will do.
I'm just a little upset by the situation because he didn't warn me about this. I mean the "Domestic handling time" states that he ships after clearing the payment...but every other seller has that.

I mean what about a note on the listing stating that international buyers will have to wait 21 days due to that? Besides, does he make US residents wait that long too? He has to actually ship the product to get the tracking number, doesn't he? That would violate his "ship after payment clears" policy, isn't it?

I would understand if I had recent negatives or something but my record is absolutely clean. 100% straight positives in over 4 years. Paid right in the same minute he sent the invoice (no joking, got invoice at 12:16, Paypal payment email gets to my inbox at 12:16 too). I don't know if I set some red flags or something.

You need to understand that ebay is a buyers market. It doesn't matter what the seller's policy is. It is paypal that has the final say. And even you have the power to get your money back by any means necessary. Here's the policy every seller has regardless of whether or not they want it:

1. The seller has a 45 day return policy. Paypal will believe a lie about an item not described claim, and if you don't want to lie, you can do a chargeback or a bank reversal to get your money back. Just make sure you ship the items back if you do.
2. The seller will ship internationally unless they block international buyers.
3. The seller has 14 days to ship the item. If you have not received your item by 14 days, you may open up a paypal claim for item not received.

My suggestion is to not contact the seller anymore, and just wait to see if he ships your item. If he doesn't ship it by 16 days and is still ignoring you, then you file a claim with paypal for item not received. You will win since international shipping has no tracking (hence why I personally block international buyers on my seller account). If you then receive the item after, it is your choice whether or not to refund the seller.

ryborg

01-29-2010, 07:30 PM

3. The seller has 14 days to ship the item. If you have not received your item by 14 days, you may open up a paypal claim for item not received.

You don't even need to wait that long. I've had buyers who thought they were "sticking it to me" by paying then IMMEDIATELY filing a dispute.

izarate

01-29-2010, 07:45 PM

I mean what about a note on the listing stating that international buyers will have to wait 21 days due to that? Besides, does he make US residents wait that long too? He has to actually ship the product to get the tracking number, doesn't he? That would violate his "ship after payment clears" policy, isn't it?
.

OMG!!! He actually asks US buyers to do the same. From his feedback:

Was told to leave feedback before item would be shipped - US user
Shipping still pending, but great communication with the seller - US user
Fast Communication. Looking forward to item arrival. Good luck with paypal man - Australian user
Seller contacted me said he wouldnt ship till he recieved positive feedback - US user

It seems that he doesn't have every item on hand since in some replies he says that he's going to ship as soon as new stock arrives.

mmm... :? what to do? I really really want the item... I think I'll wait the 21 days but I'll make sure that the seller has the item. If he doesn't I'll ask for a refund. Priority Mail takes about 1 week to get to me so if I file a complain by the 30th day I should be safe, right?

mobiusclimber

01-29-2010, 08:56 PM

Thank you. Some of the misinformation spread around here is ridiculous. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't post.

Yeah, it looks like he's not violating any ebay policies or anything. I guess you're just going to have to wait and hope for the best.

As others have said, he's also not allowed to request positive feedback before shipping, that's feedback extortion.

Edit: Here's a link to the Selling Practices Policy:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html

Um, yeah. *cough*

rik1138

01-29-2010, 09:03 PM

IT. DOESN'T. WORK.

The customs form number is NOT A VALID TRACKING NUMBER ACCORDING TO PAYPAL.

According to PayPal, no, it's not. But, the post office _can_ track packages by the Customs form number, but only post office-post office. They would be able to confirm the buyers _post office_ received the package (or not), but customs tracking doesn't go beyond that (which is why PayPal won't accept it).

So if a package is legitimately lost, the customs form can help locate it. If the buyer is just trying to rip you off, then it's useless...

Rik

rik1138

01-29-2010, 09:08 PM

mmm... :? what to do? I really really want the item... I think I'll wait the 21 days but I'll make sure that the seller has the item. If he doesn't I'll ask for a refund. Priority Mail takes about 1 week to get to me so if I file a complain by the 30th day I should be safe, right?

I think PayPal does this on accounts that they 'aren't sure about' or that are selling a lot of things in high-crime categories (of which I believe games is one of the highest). He's not _supposed_ to hold the item until it clears...

I'd wait the 21 days and ask him to provide some proof of shipping immediately.

But, NO MATTER WHAT, file a PayPal claim before it's too late (45 days I think, or is it 30 now?) I don't care if he sent you a video of him taking it to the post office and handing it over, if you don't have it by the claim cutoff, file the claim. When the package arrives, you can cancel it, no harm done. If you wait, and the package never arrives, you are screwed...

mobiusclimber

01-29-2010, 09:21 PM

Here's a delicious helping of copy-pasta:

Question :
How can I avoid having my payments held for eBay items?

Answer :
There are some things you can do to avoid a payment hold:

* Improve your Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) feedback rating
* Follow the PayPal best practices to reduce buyer disputes, claims and chargebacks
* Resolve all disputes, claims, and chargebacks quickly

If you meet the following, you'll receive payments instantly in most cases:

* You have been an eBay member for 6 months or more, AND
* Your eBay feedback score is 100 or greater
* Your buyer dissatisfaction rate is less than 5%.

Or

* Your Detailed Seller Rating is 4.5 or more.
* Your total Detailed Seller Ratings received is more than 20 in the last 12 months.
* Your buyer dissatisfaction rate is less than 5%.

These requirements are per individual eBay account. If you don't meet this criteria yet, we recommend that you implement best practices to reduce buyer disputes, claims and chargebacks.

I would say it's b/c he sucks as a seller.

eday_2010

01-29-2010, 09:55 PM

I've had Paypal hold payments on stuff I sold last year. About three of them. One or two were eChecks, at least one post-dated. I didn't ship the items until they cleared. Why would I send the item and risk the payment not clearing? Then I am screwed.

So it is almost certain that Paypal is holding the payment. And as a buyer, I wouldn't exect the seller to ship before the payment is cleared. But as far as asking for positive feedback before shipping, that is B.S. I would report that right away.

izarate

01-29-2010, 09:58 PM

I would say it's b/c he sucks as a seller.

I've already posted his stats and they seem to be fine. I don't even think he gets his funds on hold. In fact I'm thinking that he doesn't have a live stock but orders the items as needed.

Lots of his feedback mention that shipping took two weeks so maybe the 21 day thing works as a buffer for him.

EDIT: I'm planning to send the following message to him. What do you think? I don't want to sound threatening but I want him to know that I know that he isn't allowed to do that.

Hi, I've inquired about the issue you mention but according to eBay (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html#handling) there is no reason to hold the shipment and asking for positive feedback before the shipment takes place is prohibited (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-extortion.html).

You say that your payment policy states that you "do not ship [...] until payment has been confirmed" but the auction doesn't mention that except in the "Domestic handling time" part: "Will usually ship within 1 business day of receiving cleared payment." But the payment has been cleared, it's just on hold which is different.

Look, I really want the items, I don't want this deal to go sour. Why don't you just ship the items? Priority Mail takes about 1 week to Mexico, 2 weeks tops. That is less than the 21 days that you're asking me to wait and you'll have your feedback sooner. See my feedback, I'm not out to rip off anyone. Please answer back. Take care.

izarate

01-29-2010, 10:26 PM

So it is almost certain that Paypal is holding the payment. And as a buyer, I wouldn't exect the seller to ship before the payment is cleared. But as far as asking for positive feedback before shipping, that is B.S. I would report that right away.

I paid with a credit card linked to my paypal account. The card has been on file since I signed up on Paypal. Would Paypal still hold the payment?

eday_2010

01-29-2010, 10:28 PM

No clue. It could be just a random thing. It is Paypal, afterall. Some of the things they do do not make much sense.

Cornelius

01-29-2010, 11:05 PM

I've already posted his stats and they seem to be fine. I don't even think he gets his funds on hold. In fact I'm thinking that he doesn't have a live stock but orders the items as needed.

Lots of his feedback mention that shipping took two weeks so maybe the 21 day thing works as a buffer for him.

EDIT: I'm planning to send the following message to him. What do you think? I don't want to sound threatening but I want him to know that I know that he isn't allowed to do that.
Your email reads pretty well to me except for the "Why don't you just ship?" part. That sends a bad vibe to me for some reason. Also, referencing feedback is almost completely pointless now as a buyer.

izarate

02-03-2010, 09:26 PM

Your email reads pretty well to me except for the "Why don't you just ship?" part. That sends a bad vibe to me for some reason. Also, referencing feedback is almost completely pointless now as a buyer.

Thank you for your input. I removed that line and streamlined the rest.

Anyway, it's been 4 days and the seller hasn't answered back. I guess I'll file a claim in about a week or so.

hamburglar

02-11-2010, 11:25 PM

If you don't want to wait just tell him you want to cancel the transaction, is this a one of a kind item? can you get it from someone else?

Also on Priority mail, small flat rate envelope and box will not track, they only show they were accepted by the post and that's it. It says so on the USPS site.

The postal workers in my local post office still keep telling people you can track everything Priority mail though...

izarate

02-12-2010, 12:10 AM

It's Prima's Twilight Princess Collector's Edition Guide (revised edition). He's the only seller that has them listed as new and ships worldwide.

In the past week he received 3 negatives from people in the US that bought the same guide so I guess that I was right, he doesn't have a live stock and orders the guides as needed. I didn't think about it until later but www.primagames.com no longer has the guide listed. It seems that he orders the guides from there. The 21 day "payment on hold" period is likely a buffer for him to get the guides. I suppose that he couldn't get more of those :( Strangely enough, he got a positive for the same item in that period (maybe his last one :?).

The thing that gets to my nerves is that he doesn't reply back. It seems that he just chooses to ignore the deals that he knows he won't be able to hold up or something.

Also on Priority mail, small flat rate envelope and box will not track, they only show they were accepted by the post and that's it. It says so on the USPS site.

Yeah, I use that to verify if a seller has shipped the item. Customs numbers get recycled so I always tell my sellers to ask for the serial to be scanned or else the old data will remain in the USPS site.

izarate

02-26-2010, 02:09 AM

Battlesmurf

02-26-2010, 02:55 PM

When will the madness stop!!!!

After almost a month of radio silence the seller actually shipped the items (eBay informed me that tracking information was available) but not only that, he left me a positive ("Great communication. A pleasure to do business with." *_* ). I sent him another eBay message and no answer...maybe he changed email addresses and haven't updated his eBay profile???

Well, at least the items are on my way. I expect them to arrive next week.

Here's the thing. If a seller is selling a video game, hobby car, or some kind of "high risk" item- Paypal will hold the payment FROM THE SELLER- until the buyer recieves the item or until the buyer leaves positive feedback. The idea is that Paypal gets less risk this way.

It usually has nothing to do with 'being a shitty seller". They've been known to pick things out at random sometimes, too. "A spike in recent sales activity" is also grounds for them holding payment.

Unless I misunderstood everything totally- the seller passed the buck on to you. He shouldn't have done that (assuming I am understanding everything correctly.

Daria

02-26-2010, 02:59 PM

darkslime

02-26-2010, 03:19 PM

You still paid him after all of this?He paid as soon as the invoice was sent according to a previous post.

eBay held my funds for the first 30 or so items I sold but after that they didn't. Holding funds sounds like a BS excuse.

But I would still ruin his DSRs when it does get there.

izarate

02-26-2010, 04:24 PM

You still paid him after all of this?

The thing is that no other seller had the same Zelda guide at a similar price. Besides he had several other items that I wanted. If I had chose to cancel the transaction and get them from other sellers I would have had to pay 3 or 4 shipping charges so I decided to wait.

Anyway I thought that, since Paypal provides 45 days for me to file a claim, if he shipped by the 21th day I would still have two weeks for that. If by the 40th day it hasn't yet arrived I'll file the claim.

izarate

03-04-2010, 03:02 PM

I'm happy to report that I've received the items in excellent condition and as stated (new). The seller actually shipped them by EMI instead of Priority :yipes:

Also the packaging was great. The items came in a Large Priority Mail Flat Rate box packed to the brim with packaging peanuts but not only that, each guide and DVD was packaged individually in bubble wrap :yipes:

I'm really torn right now. He made me wait almost a month to get my items but the shipping was top notch so leaving a neg feels wrong :confused:

megasdkirby

03-04-2010, 03:06 PM

Just don't rate him at all.

You got your items, which was the most important thing.

peachstapler

03-04-2010, 03:08 PM

I'm really torn right now. He made me wait almost a month to get my items but the shipping was top notch so leaving a neg feels wrong :confused:
I think that's why they have a neutral feedback option. ;)

unwinddesign

03-05-2010, 08:42 PM

Just don't rate him at all.

You got your items, which was the most important thing.

This.

Leaving him a negative or neutral is just going to annoy him and prompt potentially angry emails from him. I'd just be happy that the items were top notch. I'd rather have slow-ass shipping + nice items than fast shipping + shitty condition items any day of the week on eBay.

Needless to say, the former is rarer than the latter. The number of times I've been satisfied with the item's condition (in comparison to what was listed/described) is probably like 1/3 of the time.

Zthun

03-05-2010, 10:55 PM

This.

Leaving him a negative or neutral is just going to annoy him and prompt potentially angry emails from him. I'd just be happy that the items were top notch. I'd rather have slow-ass shipping + nice items than fast shipping + shitty condition items any day of the week on eBay.

Needless to say, the former is rarer than the latter. The number of times I've been satisfied with the item's condition (in comparison to what was listed/described) is probably like 1/3 of the time.

That's too bad for the seller. What's he/she going to do? Fly out to the US and beat up izarate? No, of course not. He's just going to be pissed, send him the 'fuck you, remove the feedback' email, and izarate can promptly ignore him from that point out.

The point of the feedback system is to rate sellers on their performance. Since izarate DID get his items, the most generous thing he could do is leave the seller neutral feedback.

darkslime

03-06-2010, 11:53 PM

I think you should give him a positive feedback, but give him 1 star in shipping time and mention that items were in excellent condition but shipping was very slow.

Trust me, 1 star hurts more than neutral.

Ed Oscuro

03-07-2010, 09:14 AM

What the esteemed Mr. Darkslime said.

Also...$78 for a Twilight Princess guide? O_o

izarate

03-07-2010, 12:13 PM

What the esteemed Mr. Darkslime said.

Also...$78 for a Twilight Princess guide? O_o

It wasn't just the TP guide. I bought several other guides and some promo DVDs (Metal Gear Solid Saga vol 1 & 2 among them). I just mentioned the Twilight Princess guide because that was my main interest in getting the items from this particular seller since no other seller had it new and offered worldwide shipping.

If he hadn't had the TP guide I would have cancelled the transaction. Thankfully everything worked out in the end.

vulcanjedi

03-09-2010, 10:52 AM

What a thread to follow. In my 10 years on paypal I have only had one hold like that. And it was 6 months ago for a donation to my daughters accident fund from a guy with a non US address who paid by echeck. I got email from paypal saying I should wait till it cleared before I shipped anything. The stuff I read from them led me to believe the hold was to make sure the payment was valid not the merchandise.
Wow.

vj
p.s.
gametrader on ebay. Currently have a final fantasy tactics guide on auction. Seen them BIN for 80 :) hope it gets something good.

unwinddesign

03-11-2010, 01:15 AM

That's too bad for the seller. What's he/she going to do? Fly out to the US and beat up izarate? No, of course not. He's just going to be pissed, send him the 'fuck you, remove the feedback' email, and izarate can promptly ignore him from that point out.

The point of the feedback system is to rate sellers on their performance. Since izarate DID get his items, the most generous thing he could do is leave the seller neutral feedback.

The point wasn't that he was entering some sort of dangerous or horrible situation by leaving negative/neutral feedback. It's just potentially more of an annoyance than it's worth. And the seller's performance, while not tremendous, was ultimately ok. I've left positive feedback for much, much worse sellers than this. Not saying I'm right, not saying it's what he should do, just my two cents.

Probably the easiest thing to do, as darkslime suggested, that will actually have an impact is to leave him the 1 star shipping DSR, which will probably get him on the way to Paypal holding his payments etc. Which will force him to clean up his shipping act.