Out of Stock items...keeping them listed anyway

[hommesc]

Recently purchased and paid for an item, only to be told a week later that the seller has no stock.  I filed for PP refund and received the refund. 

I was also interested in another item from this seller, so asked if he had stock.  His answer was that he didn't know, but he would check with his supplier AFTER I pay. 

I got fed up with this seller, and not happy with the time that was wasted.  Not to mention that a refunded payment does NOT make me whole, since I lose a little with 2 transactions due to the currency exchange rate. 

Seller is giving me excuses for why he refuses to remove listings for items that he knows he has no stock to support.  These are a few of his excuses:

"We did not remove the item link on eBay, because to remove the item link would empty our sales records and lower our sales rank."

"we do not remove it from ebay,for if we remove it,our sales record will be
erased"

These excuses only make me more angry about the current state of ebay.  Is there any truth to what this seller is saying? 

I have left NFB because of the time and money I lost due to his dishonesty at listing items he doesn't have, and taking money for items that he knows he can't get.  Now he's begging me to remove the FB. 

Royally ticked at drop-shipper sellers.

[pierrelebel]

"Is there any truth to what this seller is saying? "

NO

"Now he's begging me to remove the FB. "

Do NOT.  You did the right thing.

Did you tell your seller about your actual out-of-pocket money due by the currency exchange caused by his refund? Any comment from him?

[pierrelebel]

Considering your seller already has 518 negative feedback, you are wasting your time with him.

[tabithabeaton]

I just had the exact same thing happen to me with another seller. I waited several days assuming my order was being processed and then got the "out of stock" transaction cancellation request. Unacceptable, and poor customer service to offer products not actually available for sale. I also left negative feedback. 

I just bought the exact same item from another seller with comparable pricing and twice the customer service. Received a nice note almost immediately that the item had shipped.

Fortunately, I haven't run into many sellers like that, but I'm happy to give them appropriate feedback when their practices are out of line with basic customer service principles.

[brandeentertainment]

All you people that buy from china .... Deal with it you the cheap person who bought it from china.. alot more likely to be fake or broken or out of stock ... nothing new there you buy from china and hope for the best that is how it works..

You feedback is deserved but don't act surprised you bought it from china

[nuvistors]

All you people that buy from china .... Deal with it you the cheap person who bought it from china.. alot more likely to be fake or broken or out of stock ... nothing new there you buy from china and hope for the best that is how it works..

You feedback is deserved but don't act surprised you bought it from china

There are NO cameras manufactured in Canada.  All are imported, most from China.

You can purchase the same Chinese made item at a  high end Canadian camera store  for 20 times what it would cost to buy from China.    Or you may purchase it from China and get bured once in a while.

The same with computers.  None are manufactered in Canada

[hommesc]

To brandentertainment:

Your comments have nothing at all to do with my complaint. 

I am aware of what I buy, and where it's coming from.  I don't have unrealistic expectations. 

It shouldn't matter where the seller is, be it China or Canada or the South Pole....if a seller lists an item up for sale, that item should exist and be available for purchase.  Period.  If you're out of stock, take your listing down.  Don't re-list until you have stock to back up your listing and to justify the money you are accepting from people. 

[rosscd57]

The same with computers.  None are manufactered in Canada

Sorry you are wrong there. ADM computers are made in Vernon BC, are sold by London Drugs among others and are a very good product.

[femmefan1946]

The problem here is dropshipping. The OP's seller had no way of knowing what was or was not available from his supplier because he is ordering from a catalogue-- pretty much what you are doing-- the second seller probably ordered from the same catalogue, a few days later when stocks had been replenished. Or the second seller may find that, in fact, the item will not be sent out and have to react to the same situation as the first.

Dropshipping might work out for some sellers, but since he cannot see what he sells, cannot control the supply, cannot be sure of the quality of packaging or the time of shipping, it can also lead to... 518 negative feedback.

[Anonymous]

As a seller I don't dare to list any photos (printed from original transparencies/negatives/slides) that I haven't make any prints in case I may not be able to go to the photo lab to have prints made in a timely manner.   It is a no win-win situtation for me.  I had some prints made to be ready on hand for eBay to be sold and too often, they are not sold, sitting gathering dust (not literally!!).

If eBay didn't set up those insane policies like we need to ship like the next day or a few days, I may be able to list many images or if the buyers could be more patience and wait at least about 7-10 days.  So I choose not to do that, only listed what I have on hand.

I would be pissed off if I bouught something only to find out they are not in stock when in fact, they could have keep the inventory up to date.   I noticed those are happening are the ones with a huge inventory that cannot keep track of everything like books, DVDs, etc.

[nuvistors]

Sorry you are wrong there. ADM computers are made in Vernon BC, are sold by London Drugs among others and are a very good product.

It was very  difficult to find ABM computers.   They have no website, no advertising , and are listed with 8 employees.     This is typical of a  "Canadian"  company that assembles Chinese parts  to make a  " Canadian "  product.

If you know of any information on this company please post it.

2231

[egzatek]

Just curious about 2 things.

As it is very hard to find definitive answers on e-bay's website, I have 2 questions as a buyer, and it is related to topic.

If a seller has no pic of product on his listing, meaning he only has his logo or copy of a product page from catalog, can he do that ?  Would I be in my right to ask for a picture of the product ?  Thought E-Bay rules changed regarding listing without actual pictures in them.

2nd question, can someone sell something if he clearly has no stock and says as much ?  I mean there is a item I am intersted in buying, but standard delivery is 31-33 business days and in the listing it says

[dipmicro]

There is certain merit to what seller is claiming as he would loose some of the ranking on Ebay and Google. Some sellers solve this by temporary dramatic increase of the price, e.g. $8.49 item increase to $849 - so nobody even looks at the item.

This particular seller who keeps item listed at regular price and refuses to check stock level before buyer makes purchase simply deserves negative feedback and should be driven out of ebay. Unfortunately, this seller is doing quite well on Ebay. Interestingly, the worse sellers treat buyers here, the more sales they get, should not it be the other way ?

[femmefan1946]

EBay actually supplies stock photos of some items. I am constantly deleting these from my book listings because I sell used books and they don't look as pretty as the pictures.

But for new prepackaged items it's legitimate.

Nothing wrong with asking sellers if the item is in their possession and basing your decision on the answer.

 I am intersted in buying, but standard delivery is 31-33 business days

Business days are usually Monday to Friday. No weekends.

But the PP/eBay deadline is 45 calendar days.

You could ask the seller if a faster service is available and how much it will cost. Air Mail can be quite pricey.

You could be prepared to start an Item Not Recieved claim on Day 35-40 after purchase, no matter what the seller says.

And remember that while Delivery will take longer, the seller has only seven days to get the item into the mailstream. After that, he cannot change the speed of delivery. He is still responsible for delivery though.

[egzatek]

Hello Femmefan,

So if I understand

#1 not having an actual photo (logo or print screen of part number) of the product (not talking about generic E-bay picture of pre-package or website photo) is ok ?

#2 Selling products you do not posses but can order from another vendor is ok ?  interesting 🙂

Very good point about the 31-33 business days, it would indeed bring him out of the 45 days.

Thank you

[pjcdn2005]

#1 not having an actual photo (logo or print screen of part number) of the product (not talking about generic E-bay picture of pre-package or website photo) is ok ?

No, I don't think that it is ok. If it is a new product they can use a stock picture if it is used, they should be showing a picture of the actual item.

#2 Selling products you do not posses but can order from another vendor is ok ? 

Generally no...they are supposed to have the product on hand if it is listed. Some sellers do use drop shippers in which case they don't physically have the item but they have a specific supplier that they order from and the supplier sends the item directly to the buyer. But that shouldn't take 30+ days. If it takes that long, it sounds as if the seller waits for a buyer to purchase an item, then sources the product, orders it and has it sent to their own address and then sends it to the buyer. I don't believe that is 'ok'. Even if it is allowed, (I'm not sure if it is) a seller doing should expect a lot of negatives because of the wait time.