Back on March 20, some guy was selling some MT autoracks, and so I bid on two of them and won. I noticed the seller lived driving distance from me, so I sent him a message asking if it would be cool if I can pick up the items (his ad said the cars do not have jewelboxes, but I do have some spare jewelboxes for MT autoracks), and pay him in cash. This has happened many times before, and all sellers who lived local to me have always been more than willing to do an in-person transaction. I never got a reply, so I sent him an email with the same message to the address provided to me from eBay. No response! I haven't even paid him yet, and certainly if I'm a delinquent buyer he'd obviously try to contact me regarding that issue, but he hasn't even done that! No response from this seller whatsoever!!!! I don't know what's going on...either he's on vacation or I almost got ripped-off here?
Give it a coouple of days. Seller may very well be out of town, vacation, family emergency etc.... I've had it happen to me before. In my case, seller was on vacation. A couple of quick Email exchanges after that and all was good. Only once did I get ripped, for over $100 on a coule of display shelves that I never recieved, and a refund I also never recieved. Ebay and PayPal both refused to provide me with information, even when I got to the point of looking into legal actions. Turns out, that particular seller had ripped off quite a few people! Anyway........Enough of my useless rambling right now!
I always continue sending my queries until I get a response acknowledging or answering them, going as far as sending one message every day. Start the messages with something like "I sent this question on date but haven't seen a reply yet..." There could be an innocent explanation (like a medical or family emergency), so I always tend to assume good faith until I have evidence pointing to another reason. If you can figure out a street mailing address for the seller, it might not hurt to send a post card explaining that you have been trying to reach him and haven't seen a response yet.
Don't you just love sellers who list things and then go on vacation? Very poor planning. Some even list things with the caveat that they will be unavailable to answer emails. Stay at home if you list items or wait until you return!!! Sheesh. Ben
I dunno, it's been like two weeks already. I did win anb Atlas SD60M from another seller around Christmas/New Years and it took a few days for the guy to respond, but that was only within the same week, I kind of figured it had something to do with the Holidays, and no problem after that. The seller's phone number was given to me in the eBay win notice, so I'll try calling him at last resort.
Probably scared that you know where he lives. There are a LOT of loonies out there, so personal safety should be a consideration...
Why wait, call now if you have the number. In the last week, that seller has been getting positive feedback on other cars that he sold in the same time frame, so it appears he has been delivering the goods. The way spam filters are set nowadays, a lot of emails don't get through. I get lots of bounce-backs, especially if they were sent through the Ebay or PayPal system. (Earthlink and AOL addresses are the worst for this) As Tony pointed out, a lot of people are afraid to agree to meet a complete stranger.
I bought some stuff from a guy on Ebay last year and didn't hear from him for about 3 weeks, and then got a message that a virus had struck his computer and wiped it out. There could be a perfectly innocent explanation. I'd give him a few more days. YMMV.
Uh, both parties get the address of each other when a bid is won. So he knows where I live as well. Even before that, his city, which is some 40 miles from me, was clearly listed on the auction. Here in the SoCal area we have Craigslist transactions and even The Recylcer (classified ad newspaper) which stretches back before the Internet era so in-person classified ad transactions are not a new phenomenon here. I guess people who live in more rural areas are more of the paranoid, secluded type but in a big metropolitan area I've actually made friends with a lot of eBay sellers who are local to me. The seller lives in Orange County, which isn't exactly a Kansas farm.
Metro, Sorry, but I'm going against the grain here. If the auction ended before you communicated your desire to change the terms, then you should probably follow his original auction instructions. Being an ebay seller, it drives me crazy to have an auction close, and then the buyer contacts me and wants something different than was offered, like a different way to pay or ship or whatever. Those requests need to be asked and answered BEFORE you bid. The seller has every reason to believe you should be paying per terms of the auction. He may not be able to answer you for a legitimate reason, and is wondering where the heck his money is.
You need to be sure that he even got the message. If you reply to a members message, be sure it is going to THEIR email adress. The reason I say this is because I responded to an inquiry, and found out much later that they never got the message, because when I hit "reply", it sent it to the Ebay system that just notifies that a person emailed you. I guess if they choose not to reviel their email address for whatever reason, and you reply to that, your reply simply goes off into cyberspace somewhere. Sometimes people click on that and not mean to. But at any rate, the person never got my reply, because of that. If you get a message like that, it might have a button on it to "click" on so the ebay system will forward your reply back to them. If you simply hit "Reply" it goes back to some automated response thing at Ebay that probably not even monitored. Soo. that said.. be sure you are sending HIM/HER the replies.
That's true. I would rather send something through the mail than have someone show up at my house. You never know what you're getting into. As you said, you get a shipping address when the auction ends. It is not any kind of an invitation to appear there. Although that would not be sufficient reason for the guy not to answer your e-mail but you never know what people are thinking. Yes, if you have the number, give him a call. Also something that I would do. I grew up in Kansas. We're not exactly unknowledgeable bumpkins. Charlie
Um, I'm not stupid enough to show up at his doorstep at 2:00 in the morning. I merely sent him emails and messages asking IF IT WAS OKAY. For anyone whom I wish to deal with in-person, I ask first. I don't even expect to meet him at his house. If he wants to meet at a public place, like Starbucks or something, no problem. If he says no, then he says no, and I'll PayPal him and have him ship it. Us city slickers aren't all uzi-toting gangbangers.
Had one of those a couple years ago - selling a collection of N structures. Never heard back from the winning bidder. No responses. Nothing. Got the contact information and called him. Got his daughter. He had died. No kidding. Day after the auction ended. Time to relist... Had another one where my son won a used videogame, paid PayPal for it, got nothing. And no responses. Got the phone number on the contact information, called. Woman answered. A what? From WHO? SCREAMED the individuals name - this was apparently her teenage daughter selling her brothers used videogames on Ebay without him (or Mom) knowing it. Mom had a major bird, right then, right there. Mom later sent me a brand-new videogame. Had another used-parts computer deal where the part arrived, and was essentially DOA. "warranty" was for 24 hours from delivery. No exchanges, no returns, 'tough luck' was the response. Threw negative feedback, got a protest, took it to Ebay arbitration. I won, with my rating intact. Got a good part for it, too. Nothing against you here, but considering the number of scams out there where somebody could show up claiming to be the winner and take the item for cash? I'd never do it. There's been similar stunts done where you get an e-mail from the 'successful bidder' saying that the Ebay e-mail system has an error and they are reaching you this way.... And PayPal LOCKS YOU OUT producing a shipment label to anyone but the registered winner and their address, as a safeguard. I've done pickups too, but only when it was notified in advance of auction close I was going to be getting it that way.
I sent messages via both eBay AND email (using the address that was provided to me from the win notice)
Sure, but my email address matches the one registered on eBay, and I've even referenced the auction numbers. I've also notified him via eBay messages.
For just shy of ten years, I've used a post office box address. This allows me all of the privacy needed. Whenever doing any communicating, always do it via eBay. Using the "My Summary" function. eBay does not like it when there's a problem, and you're going outside their system. Using their process puts all activities 'on the record.' As you've been provided the requisite winning bidder information, if this has not yet been paid, it could easily go against you. Boxcab E50
Another question on an ebay sitchy... I sold something on ebay recently. They buyer never checked out,sent me an email, nothing. Payment was required within 10 days via MO. I send the guy a few emails, nothing. I send him one final one telling him----again---I haven't heard from him ,etc. I finally do get a response from him saying "yeah, I already sent the payment." Payment finally arrives a few days after the 10 day requirement (and was actually posted the day of his reply), but it is a company check from his small company drawn on a little podunk bank. In with the check is a scribbled note "please ship to x address." Now this address is different from his official ebay address. Also, he elected NOT to take insurance and it is a +$200 item. I've already called the tiny bank and can get them to verify payment. I'll verify with mine and still wait a few more days. But I sent the guy an email saying I won't ship to his alternate address, particularly without any insurance/tracking. I haven't shipped yet. What do you guys think about where I should ship his item to?
Um, I never said you would. I simply stated that this would be a fear that a lot of people would have. Charlie
Hey Broadway, I have had that happen several times, usually the buyer wants me to send to their work instead of home. I usually send the buyer an email stating that the address is not his confirmed address and is he/she sure and I will even ask the buyer to go and add the account if possible as a confirmed address. I let the buyer know that if he/she is sure they want it shipped to such and such address that you will not be held responsible and that by replying to your email he/she is agreeing to such. Or / and you could state that because this is not the confirmed address you have to send with insurance and tracking. Just ideas.
