I just received a note from a seller stating they have not shipped the item as it was a consingment item and was unable to get until today.

[wpgsnow]

I received an email from the seller today that the item I have paid for had not been in thier posession as it was a consignment item.

They have just got in contact with the person that has the item and it will be shipped apparently as soon as possible. Where is the guarantee that this item is in fact new, if the seller does not have the item in their posession. The first incident I had a few weeks ago was I bid on an item, I won then received notification the seller cancelled the sale as they did not open the box to see what was in it and the colour was wrong.  Are there not rules that specify you have to physically have the item or know at least what you are selling. They ask you not to give them a bad rating.

How often is this occurring?

[dmil8030]

Hello 'wpgsnow',

It's always a bad idea for sellers to offer an item which they do not actually have on hand at the time.  Fortunately that is not how most of them do it.

If the thing shows up and it does not match the description in the listing, Section 4 of the following link explains what to do about it:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/item-not-received.html

Always contact the seller first to see if something can be sorted out.  You have 45 days to file a Not as Described claim, and you may be asked to ship it back with Delivery Confirmation.  You can then expect a refund of the item price plus orginal shipping fee, but not the return shipping fee.  If it really is not the right item, a decent seller ought to refund the return fee as well. 

All sellers want good ratings, and most genuinely deserve it.  You have 60 days in which to leave feedback.  That gives all parties time to work things out as much as possible.  When leaving your feedback, be as pleasant as you can in stating the facts and you are more likely to be believed by other buyers.

Hope you like your item. 🙂

[femmefan1946]

If you are really upset and disappointed, ask the seller for a refund and a Mutual Cancellation. The MC frees both of you from the transaction and you can still leave feedback. If he agrees, I really think, since he was upfront that he would deserve no worse than a neutral or no feedback.

If you still want the item, ask him to notify you as soon as the item is shipped and to give you the Delivery Confirmation number. Usually a DC# is of no value to the buyer, but in this case it will allow you to confirm that it is on its way.

Sellers have up to 7 days to ship without losing our Seller Protections, but most prefer to have the item on hand and to ship within 48 hours. KISS.