You win an auction. Seller mails it out, tracked, insured, signature confirmation. Assume the package isn’t delivered on the day it was supposed to be and the tracking details simply say “awaiting delivery scan.”
How long after this point do you wait before you click the button that says “I didn’t receive it” and initiate an Ebay case?
Personally I wait until USPS resolves it. If it takes a long time it takes a long time. Maybe a week after this status stays the same thing I start calling USPS and trying to figure out what is going on.
What do you do? One extra day? A week? A month? Do you even try messaging the seller first or do you instantly go through Ebay’s system? I’m genuinely curious.
I would wait at least a couple weeks before initiating a case (but make sure that you don’t wait too long, or you will lose buyer protection). If your not able to figure it out by then, that is when you should think about making a claim. If your concerned it was never shipped, I would definitely send the seller a message first before opening a case. Generally speaking, opening a case is not the first course of action and you should try working things out with the seller before forcing their hand by opening a case.
At least 2 weeks, occassionally some items (even 1st class) were taking 2 weeks in the UK during the restrictions.
I recently sold some cards on ebay for £25 so I just used a postage stamp untracked. 3 days later the person started complaining on ebay even though the estimated delivery was 1 week, it was very suspicious like he’d done it as soon as he realised I’d sent it untracked. Then he opened a case and I had to refund before 2 weeks was even up from the payment date
In the scenario I’m painting a picture of the item was shipped and tracked all the way to the point before delivery. Literally the scan before it. From there it goes missing or is in limbo waiitng.
I would give it about 5 minutes and message the seller, if he doesn’t respond within the next 5 minutes open a case with eBay, PayPal, your bank, and the post office. Wouldn’t hurt to contact your lawyer as well.
In that case I would still wait a week or 2. Its most likely just post office delays. What you don’t want is to force the seller to issue you a refund and then have the card show up after receiving a refund.
As a seller, I am in this exact situation but on the opposite side of the transaction - shipped a package purchased by a buyer in an auction with insurance, tracking and signature confirmation via registered USPS mail. Buyer has simply disappeared. Sent 3 messages over a 2 week period with instructions from USPS - no response. So I called the post office - they attempted delivery, and then has left multiple notices at the buyer’s residence to schedule delivery and/or pick it up from his local post office. No response. Called eBay about this absurd situation - apparently I am fully protected as a seller here under their seller protection policy as the post office attempted delivery (per tracking records) and I subsequently contacted the buyer multiple times about picking up his item with no response. So, at this point, even if the card comes back to me via USPS, the buyer will not be eligible for a refund from me. I of course intend to fulfill my end of the bargain here. Funny, huh? Ignoring reality does not make the issue or the transaction go away - it just makes it worse. Maybe this example will give you a different perspective on your situation from the seller’s side …
I personally would never open a case without contacting the seller first, especially in a situation where they mailed it out and it’s USPS just screwing up. I wouldn’t feel right opening a case against a seller over matters completely beyond their control.
Even if it’s the seller that is holding things up by taking forever to ship out the item, I’ll send a message first. If they don’t respond to that one, I’ll send another message within two days. If they don’t respond to either of those two messages, then I’ll open up a case.
Opening a case is always the last resort for me. I think I’ve actually only done it once my entire time on eBay.
I usually wait 2-3 weeks (if it’s international even longer) then send a message asking what’s up. Usually it’s resolved or I just have to wait longer for shipping to update. One time I asked a new seller what’s up and he said he was waiting for Paypal to release the money before he shipped so I had to explain the new seller limitations and he mailed it the next day. I’ve canceled some orders that didn’t ship at all on both eBay and Mercari because the seller never shipped nor replied when I said what’s up.