How long is too long on ebay

[Aussie2B]

My guess is that this thread is just full of people who consider themselves "eBay sellers" and so have some sort of wrong-headed sympathy for other sellers.

Quite the contrary, I'd guess that most people in this topic have extensive experience in both buying and selling, so they know what it's like to be on both sides of the fence.

I don't know how you can think there are way more shady sellers than buyers. o_O I do much more buying than selling, yet while I can only think of a few sellers who gave me some serious problems, there are more buyers than I can remember. I'd say out of every five auctions I list, I get a thoroughly incompetent buyer who I end up having to bend over backwards for just to complete the transaction. In fact, as I speak I'm waiting on a guy who bought something of mine on April 24th who paid for the item but didn't pay for the shipping fee even though it was clearly stated in the listing. The guy is frickin' impossible to communicate with; I've sent at least 4 or 5 emails only to receive one reply in which he said he was receiving them just fine (but I guess he didn't feel like it was necessary to reply to them and let me know what's going on). He claimed he had tried to pay for the shipping cost, yet I received nothing in my PayPal, and he said he would pay for it right away in his last reply but again I haven't seen any money nor heard from him since. You wouldn't think that a measly $4 wouldn't be so hard to get, especially when he paid for the item's value immediately. So yeah... that's the kind of crap I have to deal with nearly every time I sell. :/

[InsaneDavid]

And you can get snippy and stupid in response to his bitching. And I can think you're all idiots.

Nice little sub-hidden flaming attempt.

[wrldstrman]

I think if the seller and buyer are both in the us and the payment is made by paypal there is no reason the item shouldnt be there in 3 days..unless the seller states they only ship once a week..I may offend but I cant stand a lot of ebay store sellers who over charge for shipping and handling then send the item media mail..my postmaster will not let you mail video games media mail..But unfortunitlly just like everything else in this country there is to much demand and not enough supply so people can get away with poor customer service...its not just ebay but about everything in the us.

[Darren870]

I wish you people that are complaining would stop buying on ebay. It would save me and others a lot of time.

[Soviet Conscript]

i bought shineing force III a few years back on ebay and when i got the game case it was empty. i got a nice manual and case though. needless to say i was upset. fortunitly the seller was pretty decent about it and didn't deny anything. he said he probibly misplaced the item and to send the case back. he never ended up finding the disc and i got a refund.

i dunno if thats relevent to the shipping time topic much but it seems ppl are telling ebay stories and i felt like shareing.

[Aussie2B]

I think if the seller and buyer are both in the us and the payment is made by paypal there is no reason the item shouldnt be there in 3 days

You do realize that even if you ship the same day payment has been received AND you use priority mail or such, it will still often take more than 3 days, right? The US is a big country, and if you're shipping from one end to the other, it'll take time. I mean, what's the estimate that the USPS gives on priority mail, 2 to 5 days I believe? And I think UPS ground is something like 2-9 days.

[InsaneDavid]

I wish you people that are complaining would stop buying on ebay. It would save me and others a lot of time.

Agreed, in the case of this item in question - it's been taken care of.

[dankicksass]

Ponyone, I really hope you get your 3DO soon, you're really going to enjoy the system. If you can find the Street Fighter games for 3DO, grab them. They're gold. And happy belated birthday.

Though two weeks may seem like a lot of time to wait for an ebay item, it's really not unheard of. You indicated that the parcel was shipped via UPS - have it tracked. UPS tracking services are amazing. The person on the end of 1-800-PICK-UPS (Hit 0 twice to speak to a live person) will tell you everything, even things UPS.com won't.

[The Manimal]

Damn. 4 days is unreasonable? Some people have jobs and their work hours are from 9-5, the very same hours that the counters are open for service at most post offices (juding NE Ohio).

I hope I never do business with any of you who think this way. I think getting it shipped within 5 days is still acceptable. It's like some people don't think eBay sellers have LIVES, that they are there on their computer awaiting payment, and instantaneously jet out to the post office.

This guy was complaining to my brother who was selling an item on eBay. He mailed a money order, and the guy complained long and hard and threatened a 'neutral' because he didn't receive the item until 11 days later. He said it should have arrived earlier...as if the moment this guy emailed that he mailed a money order, that the item should have been sent. Obviously, only an idiot would mail an item out without actually having received payment. In all of this, my bro didn't receive the money order until 9 days later, he mailed it the next day, and the guy got his item in 11 days. Why did it take 9 days for my brother to receive his payment? The idiot used a stamp dated 1995 in 2006.

[The Manimal]

I think if the seller and buyer are both in the us and the payment is made by paypal there is no reason the item shouldnt be there in 3 days..

3 days is priority mail, and that'd mean that they'd have to get it mailed the very same day you pay.

[hezeuschrist]

Two weeks, meh. I just sent out a hideous email demanding my items show up by June 6th (30 days after auction close, payment sent same day) to some seller.

I'm in the boat of "no sympathy for the sellers." The buyers are the ones putting it on the line with the greatest chance of being dicked, if someone doesn't pay for your auction you just relist. I've been dicked by "dealing" with sellers for too long and then not being able to file any kind of official "get my money back" motions, so you've got 30 days for it to show up on my doorstep or I'm getting my money back, plain and simple.

At two weeks, i sent him an email asking whats up, (auction closed May 7), on may 23 he sends me an email saying he was on vacation in florida, and it'll be shipped tomorrow. I don't care how you ship it, if it was shipped the 24th it'd be here by the second, and it's not. So now it's on the seller to salvage his feedback to only a neutral and not a negative.

And for the record, people are far too conservative with negatives on ebay. Leaving a negative feedback for a horribly packed item will make that seller learn their lesson.

[nebrazca78]

I think if the seller and buyer are both in the us and the payment is made by paypal there is no reason the item shouldnt be there in 3 days

You do realize that even if you ship the same day payment has been received AND you use priority mail or such, it will still often take more than 3 days, right? The US is a big country, and if you're shipping from one end to the other, it'll take time. I mean, what's the estimate that the USPS gives on priority mail, 2 to 5 days I believe? And I think UPS ground is something like 2-9 days.

Priotiy Mail will go to anywhere from anywhere in the U.S. in 3 days max. Unless it gets delayed which happens about 5% of the time. UPS Ground can take as little as 1 day but will never take more than 5 business days to anywhere from anywhere. If you send via Priority Mail the same day you're paid and the destination is relatively close they can get it the very next day. Most likely it will take 2 days, but less than 48 hours. The USPS is awesome, it's one of the only US government institutions left that does what it's supposed to, cheaply, and well (for the most part).

As for my personal expectations, I expect a purchased item to be shipped within three days if it is through package services. Priority Mail packages should be shipped immediately. You can schedule a USPS carrier pickup as late as 2:00 in the morning CMT and the service is free as long as you're sending at least one Priority package. This is available absolutely everywhere in the U.S. If the seller takes 3 days or more to send a Priority package I get pissed. I don't expect much from package services on the other hand. They are cheap but often take two to three weeks to arrive. When I see an item postmarked five days after payment or more is when the neutrals or negatives come out. Neutral or negative just depends on how well the items are packaged and if the seller is a jerk-ass or not. I do have relatively high expectations but I always pay in less than 24 hours.

As for the items I sell, I often ship out in under 24 hours. The only time I take my time is when the buyer takes more than two days to pay. I figure they must not be in a hurry to get the items or they would've paid quicker. The only time anyone complains about my shipping speed is with Media Mail, but most people don't understand how long it can take and still be within the estimated delivery window.

The best way to deal with eBay is as straight business. Keep from getting all excited about stuff (not always easy). There are jerks out there and if you use eBay a lot you will run in to them no matter what. Use Paypal exclusively and make payments with a credit card only. File a claim with Paypal if you don't get your items or they're broken and if Paypal fails you use the credit card to stop payment. Kill people with kindness unless they're real pricks - then let 'em have it.

[The Manimal]

Two weeks, meh. I just sent out a hideous email demanding my items show up by June 6th (30 days after auction close, payment sent same day) to some seller.

I'm in the boat of "no sympathy for the sellers." The buyers are the ones putting it on the line with the greatest chance of being dicked, if someone doesn't pay for your auction you just relist. I've been dicked by "dealing" with sellers for too long and then not being able to file any kind of official "get my money back" motions, so you've got 30 days for it to show up on my doorstep or I'm getting my money back, plain and simple.

At two weeks, i sent him an email asking whats up, (auction closed May 7), on may 23 he sends me an email saying he was on vacation in florida, and it'll be shipped tomorrow. I don't care how you ship it, if it was shipped the 24th it'd be here by the second, and it's not. So now it's on the seller to salvage his feedback to only a neutral and not a negative.

And for the record, people are far too conservative with negatives on ebay. Leaving a negative feedback for a horribly packed item will make that seller learn their lesson.

I hate the feedback system altogether. I avoid leaving it just because of fear of someone slandering me out of nowhere and I have no recourse if I've left it already. I had a guy who ripped me off of $40 and then dropped my only negative on me, after i gave him one. I paid him the same exact day as the auction ended, he took my money, and left me negative. Another auction, a guy sold me something for $220 and it was broken (not shipping damage). Ignored all my emails, then I left him a neutral because I thought it was just damaged during shipping, and he goes and gives me a neutral also, with a short email saying 'tit for tat'. While examining the item further, it wasn't damaged in transit...it had a shirt button stuck in one of the gears and another broken piece.

[kentuckyfried]

I've been waiting for about 3 months for a new battery for my Ibook, the seller shipped it, but it got lost at the Canada/US border no doubt

[The Manimal]

I've been waiting for about 3 months for a new battery for my Ibook, the seller shipped it, but it got lost at the Canada/US border no doubt

That sucks. I sell internationally, but worry about such things, as PayPal will f*ck a seller over since mailing anything w/o some kind of delivery confirmation (registered mail, EMS, etc) can't be proved to be shipped, and you cannot dispute a chargeback. Most buyers won't be willing to pay $8 extra for this, and you just hope that you won't get a chargeback because you have no way to prove you did mail it.

[Darren870]

I think the people that are unrealistic are the ones who don't have a 8-5 jobs, or do and like to wait on line at the post office during there lunch break.

[Aussie2B]

UPS Ground can take as little as 1 day but will never take more than 5 business days to anywhere from anywhere.

No way, man. I've have it take longer than 5 business days LOTS of times. Try having stuff shipped from Florida to Washington state. x_x

[Darren870]

Can take usually up to 14 days when shipping across the nation. I sent something to steve in CA and it took what 10 days? It was only a few snes games too.

[bangtango]

Ponyone:

Just because a seller has an item listed for as many as seven days doesn't mean it is enough time to prepare to ship the item, as you've suggested earlier. The most you can do is box and package it up, assuming you have a suitable box to put it in at the time you LIST the item. How are you going to address it ahead of time and why on earth would you have to tape it up or anything like that?

I am a private individual and it can be a bitch at times to find the perfect box, seeing that I don't always use the free ones at the post office and I might have two dozen boxes laying around, none of which are the proper size. It might take me 2-3 days during the auction to even find a good box, sometimes longer, depending on how busy I am. All I have to go with most times are boxes from purchases I make, boxes from my local grocery store or boxes from retail purchases. I'm not going to rush and use any old box that I happen to find first so a buyer will quit breathing down my neck. I want their item to avoid getting damaged and fit comfortably into the box.

Want to know the truth? I never even box the item until the auction ends. I double-check, triple-check and quadruple check to make sure everything I stated in the auction is included (if it is a few items bundled) and that they are in the condition I described. This is once the item is sold. Then I box it. In case you ask, I also do the very same thing BEFORE listing. I do it all over again afterwards because I am that worried about getting the buyer EXACTLY what he or she paid for.

This is not to mention the buyers you run into who wait a week, two weeks or three weeks to pay you.

I'm damned if I am going to rush and box an item and package it up for an item that either might not sell or might not get paid for, especially when the auction is still running. I don't care if I have seven days to do it. Again, it allows me the chance to check the items one final time after I am paid before shipping, so I don't have to tear apart a perfectly good packaging job. That is a waste of time. Packing a box isn't fun. I used to be a postal worker.

It is especially fitting because I print the completed Paypal receipt after the buyer pays me and include it in the box so they know what the hell they paid for and where it came from, since a lot of buyers bid on numerous auctions and may have trouble keeping track of where (and who) everything is coming from. I can't include that receipt if I've already taped the box up.

Maybe that sounds irrational or careless to you but I haven't had any issues yet.

Would you rather have some klutz rush to ship an item and either forget something or inadvertantly send it to the wrong buyer? When I have received the wrong item (meant for someone else) OR found items missing from my order, it is ALWAYS from a seller who rushed to do things in a hurry, so as not to piss anyone off. And believe me, that has happened to me many times. I don't mind waiting a few days if it means my purchase will be filled accurately and without a hitch.

Any seller will tell you that mistakes happen when you rush. Didn't you make a mistake rushing to read (and bid) on the item?

[The Manimal]

It is especially fitting because I print the completed Paypal receipt after the buyer pays me and include it in the box so they know what the hell they paid for and where it came from, since a lot of buyers bid on numerous auctions and may have trouble keeping track of where (and who) everything is coming from. I can't include that receipt if I've already taped the box up.

I do this also.