US seller is shipping from Singapore

[patken123]

I recently bought an item from a US seller,thinking it's safer than buying from other countries like China.

After I paid I decided to verify with the seller that he is not tied up with GSP and also he's using USPS to send my item,well to my surprise he says "no GSP" and ") To Canada the item will be registered and tracked but it will come with Singapore post".

I felt (rightly or wrongly) tricked ,contacted the seller and asked why the item is sent from Singapore when he clearly states his location of the item WY United states?His response:

"i am a USA seller but we've got an unexpected enormous amount of orders so we had to start shipping from the warehouse oversea"

So my question is ,is this a common occurrence with some sellers to sell from the US but ship from another country? If so why not be up front with it?

That's really all I 'm curious about ,for all I know he could very well send my item ASAP without any problems so I'm not sure if I should get upset over this at all.

I appreciate your inputs,item#  121159281018

[patken123]

I couldn't edit my post,here is the rest of the story:after my conversation with him over the Singapore shipment he changed his description of the listing and added items may will be shipped from Singapore,but this a copy and paste of the original correspondence: 99.8% Positive Feedback Member since 24-Nov-03 in United States Location: WY, United States

[surplusdealdude]

Technically, the seller should have advised you, but it's really a small thing.

BTW, Singapore is NOT China - it's a former British Crown colony, now independent and the people over there are very honest.  I've never had an issue with any of them.

[pjcdn2005]

He has also changed the item location to Hong Kong.  It seems that most of the listings for that battery are being sold from Hong Kong or China. I find it odd that the word Panasonic doesn't seem to be on those batteries in picture on and off ebay.

He is supposed to have the location of the item on the listing, not his location and if you want, you can report him for that although I have no idea if they can see what was there before it was revised. Perhaps it isn't a huge deal but since you were looking specifically for a North American seller I can see why you would be annoyed. I've heard some negative things about batteries from China/Hong Kong but keep in mind that a U.S. seller could easily buy those same batteries in bulk and then sell them to you from the U.S. so buying from North America isn't a guarantee of anything.

[patken123]

Thank you both for your replies,Surplusdude,I never said Singapore is in China ,LOL.what I meant was when searching for these batteries I noticed a good majority of the "item location" is either Hong Kong or China ,so I purposely looked for a US seller and thought I found one but I guess I was wrong.

What I was curious about  was the difference between item's location and seller's location.can a US seller play this game,make a sale and then say oops ,sorry the item is not here it's in Hong Kong  or China ,or Singapore. We all know how long that would take.

I sincerely thank you both for putting me at ease,I honestly don't think it's a big deal either,for all I know he could be telling the truth about running out of the batteries and had to import them from their Singapore location  .

I hope you both agree that this item location business can be an strike against his performance if  it leads to some complications  with the delivery,condition of the item,etc.,but if I get my order in a timely fashion and a good overall service,it can  be ignored ,so the seller could still get 5 stars all the way.I definitely don't want to cause him trouble.

Thank you again.

Regards.

Ken.

[surplusdealdude]

Actually, shipping from China is often faster than from the US.....

[bmw-north]

This is wrong.  Ebay actually has a policy regarding "Item Location"  

Many buyers will purchase an item based upon it's stated location for a number of reasons:

1. Avoidance of Customs or import assessment and added fees.

2. Speed of shipping (typically domestic shipping is faster)

3. Trust - probably the biggest selling attribute - many buyers prefer to purchase an item located within their own or a specific country and/or sold by a member located within a specific or their own country. 

Often buyers pay a higher price for an item if per say it is only located 50 miles away. They expect delivery faster and no hindrances with international importation regulations or procedures. For this very reason Ebay searches permit sourcing an item based upon it's location and proximity to the Buyer.

Example: Ebay Item 360699933990

I had a recent transaction where the Seller claims he is a Canadian Seller - and the product is located and will ship from Canada.

 Both of these statements by the Seller were false information inserted into the listing to create a false trust and expectation by unwary Buyers. This results in a "Sales Contract" that is not enforceable as it is based on misleading or untrue statements.

Since the conditions of sale are directly attributable to the description of the product (including location) Buyers can request Ebay void the sale (purchase) providing a full Paypal refund without any further reason than the contract was based upon false information.

It is incumbent upon Ebay to remove listings where the Seller location and the product location are known to be false, or they have been informed that the information is false, otherwise they are contributing and abetting the act of fraud. Ebay as the facilitator of this transaction has an obligation to verify minimum statements are true, or once informed they are not, to act to remedy or prevent the fraud from occurring. 

For any Buyer who purchases an item and is unsatisfied with the transaction due to misleading or false information (product location) you should realize that you can cancel the transaction and expect a full refund since the contract is not enforceable as the listing information included false information.

In this example it was easy to prove the Seller had lied about the product location as the shipping (tracking) information showed the item starting from a country other than the country listed in the product location description. 

Extract from Ebay Policy on Product Location

Sellers must be clear and accurate about the location their item will be shipped or picked up from. We don't allow false, inaccurate, vague, or misleading information about the location of an item in the Item location field or description. When listing items for sale, sellers are expected to provide the city, state and country of their item so shipping charges and delivery times can be accurately calculated and communicated to buyers.

Also, if there is a location stated in the item description, it has to match the location in the item location field.