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Ebay buying question? (1 Viewer)

Todd Stout

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Hello all,

I bought a Yamaha DSP-1 on Ebay on Monday, 2/24/03 using the "buy it now" feature and have as of yet received the item. I paid $105 for the item ($75 for the unit and $30 for shipping/insurance) using Pay Pal the very next day so I assumed I'd have it by now. I emailed the seller a few days ago asking what method of shipping was used to see if I could track the package online but I have not received any responses as of yet either. All of the feedback for this particular seller has been posistive so I assume I'm worrying for no reason but I'd like to know what's going on.

My question is, how long is a person supposed to wait before going through Ebay's process of trying to ramp up attempts at contacting the seller and finally leaving negative feedback? A month? Six weeks? I think I saw somewhere that Ebay will refund my money minus $25 if I do happen to get the shaft but I hope it doesn't come to that.

Thanks for your input.
 

Carl Johnson

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Hearing nothing after two weeks on a buy it now paypal auction is unacceptable. Best case scenario if the product arrives tomorrow at best I'd give the seller neutral feedback. Since the weekend is approaching I'd send the seller another email saying that if you don't at least hear from him by Monday on Tuesday you'll look into filing a complaint with Ebay.
 

Todd Stout

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I just emailed the seller again asking if the unit had been shipped yet and when I can expect to receive it. I figured for $30 shipping, it would have been here last week but I guess I was sadly mistaken. I just looked at the seller's feedback again and there are 34 positive feedback messages left in the past six months and no negatives or neutrals at all. The last few responses were posted about two weeks after the auction closed so maybe this guy is just slow. I'd think he would at least respond to emails to ease my mind but so far that hasn't happened.

I sure hope this thing arrives okay. I have wanted a DSP-1 since I first played with one at a Federated Group store back in 1986. I really couldn't afford the $1000 price tag back then (like I'm sure most 16 year olds) so I never picked one up.
 

Nathan*W

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I would send the next email flagged "high priority" with a read receipt, and would say that if he doesn't respond ASAP with the info you want, you will get his phone # from ebay to contact him directly.

The threat of a phone call has always worked with the slow sellers for me. If he was actually out to defraud, that's a different story...
 

Tim Morton

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I know its hard to do, but try and be patient for another week or so..check out what he has currently for sale or what just sold and try and contact others who may be currently in the same boat as you are. I recently sold 6 or 7 items last month and they all sold on the same day and everyone paid that day as well...it overwhelmed me as a seller and i had a few of the items lag almost 3 weeks before i could get time to ship them...plus you are on the west coast..where is the seller? Although I 100% agree that contact should be made within 72 hours of a BIN..no contact is unexcusable and reason for concern. I was in contact with the buyers of my stuff several times letting them know i was just very busy and hope they would understand.
 

Leila Dougan

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I bought something from Ebay BIN last summer and after waiting 2 weeks and multiple attempts at contact, I requested help from PayPal. They, too, could not contact the seller and they ended up refunding my money.

Todd, I hope you get this resolved. My new rule is that I NEVER send money until I have first been able to contact the seller. That way, if you win an auction at least you won't lose your money.
 

JohnRice

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Have you not heard from the seller at all? You are supposed to hear from the seller within three days of the completion of the auction.
 

Prentice Cotham

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I would suggest contacting some of his recent positive feedbacks and see how long it took for them to receive their items.



These are days of automatically generated invoices and emails, I don't think the seller has to make a personal email to the high bidder. I sell things that and I hardly ever personally contact the bidder.
 

Todd Stout

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The only messages that I have received from the seller are the two that were generated through Ebay with information that I had won and how to pay. I had actually emailed the seller directly immediately after buying the unit asking about how to pay but never received anything directly from him, just the automated responses (there was a personal "congrats" in one of the messages so I assume the seller initiated it). My main concern is that three direct emails to the seller have gone unanswered.

The seller is located in New York so that may be a factor in what is taking so long to receive the item but lack of responses has me very concerned. I have just emailed the last five people to buy things from this particular seller so let's see what they have to say. This seller does not have any other items on sale at this time. Is New York still experiencing bad weather or something?
 

Todd Stout

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Just a quick update:

I received an email from the seller today and he says he had an accident at work and has not been able to drive since last week. He told me he's having someone send out a few things that he sold on Ebay for him tomorrow morning. Whew... I do feel a lot better now.
 

nolesrule

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Yeah, life does happen.

One time, a buyer on one of my auctions was killed in a car accident the day after we initially exchanged emails (back in the days before all the automatic emails, where you had to manually send out a notice to winners). About 3 weeks went by before his wife sent me an email to explain.
 

Todd Stout

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Oh man... that is rough. I was wondering if something had happened to this guy and I guess it did.

You're not from California are you? I knew a Joe Kauffman here in Rancho Cucamonga (Alta Loma) for several years back in the late 1980's and early 1990's but I haven't seen him in about 10 years now. I doubt you're the same person but I had to ask.
 

nolesrule

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Not me. I've lived in Florida all my life.

The closest I've ever been to Cailfornia was a 10-day trip to Phoenix, AZ in 1996 to visit some relatives.
 

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