eBay

sonometrics · ‎02-02-2019

My first question is - should I expect a tracking number for anything I buy from an asian vendor on ebay? My experience so far, even for a single item that would fit into a letter envelope is - yes.

I placed an order 10 days ago with a vendor in China. The order consisted of 50 separate items, and the total cost was about $400. Some items were free shipping, some were a few cents, some might have been $1 to $4. Two or 3 days after the order was placed, 47 items were marked as shipped, but with no tracking link. As of today there is still no tracking link. I have contacted the seller twice, got some sort of response 5 days ago, have not gotten a response to the second contact.

I think Ebay should have something in place to detect when a vendor claims that an order has shipped but has not provided a tracking code for the shipment, and if that condition persists for several days then some sort of internal back-and-forth needs to happen between ebay and the vendor so the buyer doesn't get frustrated by not seeing / having a tracking link.

pjcdn2005 · ‎02-02-2019

I haven't ever ordered directly from Asia but based on posts on the discussion boards, it's not uncommon for there to be no tracking. Since eBay doesn't require that a seller provide a tracking number it is not a good idea to assume that anything is going to have tracking regardless of where it is coming from. I realize that there are some sellers in Asia that use tracking but it definitely isn't guaranteed.

reallynicestamps · ‎02-03-2019

International Tracking is very expensive. While China Post is cheaper than Canada Post, we can send a letter to China for $2.50 but tracking would cost $33.25 or more.

The reason you are frustrated is that you are honest.

Tracking is a Seller Protection.

Tracking doesn't mean the items move faster. It doesn't mean it is treated more gently. It doesn't even guarantee delivery.

If the items are delayed in transit, the buyer can open an Item Not Received dispute in the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page for 30 days after the last estimated date for delivery eBay supplies.

The seller can use tracking numbers to gain a little more time for delivery, but basically, an Item Not Received claim always refunds the buyer unless the seller can prove delivery . Not shipping, DELIVERY.

So if the stuff is delayed, the buyer gets a full refund.

If the stuff shows up later, it would be polite for the buyer to return the refund using Paypal's Send Money service, and more than half will, because most people are honest.

Make a careful list of your 50 items, including transaction numbers.

Free Shipping is the cheapest the seller can find, and it is slow.

Delivery can take so long, the original transaction disappears from eBay. But it will still be on Paypal. You'll need the eBay transaction number though.

As each item arrives, you can check it off your list. I recommend paper lists, because I am old and set in my ways.

Then you can make Disputes, with eBay or if necessary with Paypal, for any that do not show up.

redqube · ‎02-03-2019

I ordered several items from China in the past and I still do at times. Most cheaper items (anything below 50$ mainly) were shipped free without tracking. Personally I have never been bothered by this. I knew very well that if a foreign seller asks me nothing or maybe a dollar or two for shipping, it automatically means no tracking. From memory I do not recall a single item being lost from China. The time to receive them has varied quite a bit. It has taken as little as 3 weeks to about a month and a half. Be patient. If the seller has marked the items as shipped and has numerous and good feedback on average, you will receive your items.

The only items that were shipped with tracking out of China was costly camera gear.

marnotom! · ‎02-03-2019

Knowing the location of your item isn't nearly as important as receiving your item in the timeframe and condition stated in the listing.

sonometrics · ‎02-04-2019

Sorry. When I spend $300, $400 on an ebay vendor, especially in Asia, I expect a tracking number. China post gives tracking numbers for anything, any size package or padded envelope. On Jan 27 (6 days after I placed this order) I ordered a $20 item from different vendor in China. A small circuit board, about the size of a credit card. I have full China Post tracking info on that. On Jan 30 to Jan 31 I have 6 lines of tracking information on that shipment. This is what the first vendor has told me so far:

"one parcel have been sent out but it don't come with tracking number others will send with DHL and we will bear the shipping fee since it is Chinese New Year Holidays
so it will have delay to send out would you mind to wait for few days to get the tracking number?"

The parcel that was sent without tracking number seems to contain 47 out of 50 items I ordered. I think they're telling me that they can give me a tracking number on the second parcel (containing 3 trivial items worth $10 total). I would much rather have a tracking number on the first parcel but it seems it doesn't exist or I'm not getting it. How can you send a good-sized box from China and NOT get a tracking number these days? A letter envelope, sure, maybe no tracking number. But a 10 - 15 lb box?

reallynicestamps · ‎02-04-2019

I'm pretty sure all the posters agree that it is strange that a $400 package would not be tracked.

But we are also entertaining the possibility that every one of those items was sent separately. Because: human failure.

And also that the seller is being sketchy.

Don't assume that because one Chinese seller tracks a $10 purchase that another will do the same. There are over a billion people in China and every one is a distinct personality.

You can wait until the date eBay gave you for delivery and open a Dispute on every item you do not receive then.

Or you can open Disputes on Paypal immediately.

If these were separate purchases (and not multiple purchases of single items) you will need to open a Dispute on each one.

reallynicestamps · ‎02-04-2019

BTW-- your seller might be dropshipping.

He has no stock, but when he gets an order, he contacts his supplier and that supplier ships to you.

There may be multiple suppliers, which could explain why there are differences in the cost of shipping (from free to $4.00).

If the seller did not combine and discount shipping on your orders, to my mind, the orders are being shipped from several suppliers.

There are lots of Canadian eBayers who dropship from China, but it is more than possible that a Chinese seller would do the same.

Hmm. Did the listings all follow a very similar format? Or did they have a different look from one to another? Dropshippers use a 'catalogue' from which they cut and paste their offerings. Multiple suppliers, multiple catalogues.

Your list of items ordered will be very useful.

sonometrics · ‎02-04-2019

The 50 items are from one vendor. Originally I was looking for one thing. Found it on ebay. Went to visit the vendor's "store". Looked through the several thousand items he was selling, page by page, over about a week. Each thing I found I might want, I copied the URL to notepad. When I was done, I copied each one back into my browser, hit "add to cart". Again, this is all the same vendor. I did this very same thing in December (different vendor, different "store"). Again it was in China. I thought it would all come in one box. There were around 20 items, and they came in about 6 different shipments. But they all had tracking info. First one came in about two weeks, and by 5 or 6 weeks I had everything. I think the canada post strike held some stuff up in Vancouver. Canada post delivered that last order (6 deliveries).

sonometrics · ‎02-21-2019

I started this thread, and I have not received my order yet from the Chinese vendor. Order placed Jan 21, showing shipped Jan 23, no shipping method or tracking info, contacted the vendor twice, response was not very clear. This vendor's name is some-name2019. I'm not naming them specifically (don't know if that's allowed here) but their name ends with 2019. Ebay says they've been a vendor since dec. 2015. I find it strange that their name ends with the year 2019 when they've been a vendor since 2015. Can vendor's change names like that? This vendor is showing 50,000 positive comments in past 12 months, 6000 positive comments in past 1 month, with about 50 - 60 neutral and 50 - 60 negative comments for the past 1 month.

Looking at the first 25 negative comments of the last 1-month, about a third of them say they didn't receive, and one or two also say that no tracking info was provided.

This order was for 50 items, total cost about $400 CAD. Estimated delivery (for each item) says Wed, Feb 27 - Tue, Apr 16. That works out to a shipping time of 35 to 83 days. 83 days?

Just to add another data point, on Jan 27 I ordered a single item from a different chinese vendor ($22 CAD). It was shipped the next day using China post, with a tracking number, and I received it Feb 14.

So I can post a link to the vendor's profile page if that's ok and if that will help figure out if this vendor is a scam or what.

ypdc_dennis · ‎02-21-2019

@sonometrics wrote:
... This vendor's name is some-name2019. I'm not naming them specifically (don't know if that's allowed here) but their name ends with 2019. Ebay says they've been a vendor since dec. 2015. I find it strange that their name ends with the year 2019 when they've been a vendor since 2015. Can vendor's change names like that?

Yes. Names can be changed.

Go to their eBay Feedback profile, then click on "View ID history" -- this will show all name changes.

pjcdn2005 · ‎02-21-2019

No you’re not allowed to name the seller at all or post a link. I’m not sure what purpose that would serve anyway. Regardless of what anyone would think about their profile you’ve already made the purchase and there isn’t much that you can do until the day after the last estimated delivery date. Their feedback is only useful before the purchase.

Hopefully the shipping method that they used is just slow and that you will receive the package(s) soon.

femmefan1946 · ‎02-21-2019

Can vendor's change names like that?

Any member can change his name. The feedback and selling account attached does not change, so it will not help the member hide a bad feedback record or lose Defects on a selling account.

This vendor is showing 50,000 positive comments in past 12 months, 6000 positive comments in past 1 month, with about 50 - 60 neutral and 50 - 60 negative comments for the past 1 month.

With that number of feedback, the seller is doing a great job of customer service.

That's about 2% unhappy customers at the highest.

I would ignore any comments about the lack of tracking numbers. A tracking number is Seller Protection against false claims of non-delivery.

It does not speed up delivery or protect the buyer in any way.

And I would guess that those particular negs are from US buyers who do not understand that non-US sellers are not using USPS and its cheap Delivery Confirmation numbers.

In my 30 odd years in mail order, it takes about 20 days for delivery from pretty well anywhere in North America and 30 days from Asia.

Nothing to be concerned about.

Your purchase should arrive in the next four or five days.

sonometrics · ‎02-21-2019

> Yes. Names can be changed.
> Go to their eBay Feedback profile, then click on "View ID history"
> -- this will show all name changes.

OK, I did that. This vendor's ID was originally r****3 from Dec 2015 to Jan 11, 2019.

From Jan 11 2019 to the present the name is what I'm seeing currently (something2019). Is that a coincidence that the name was changed quite recently? About 2 weeks before I happened to place an order from them?

sonometrics · ‎02-21-2019

> And I would guess that those particular negs are from US buyers who do not understand that

> non-US sellers are not using USPS and its cheap Delivery Confirmation numbers.

Everything that I've ever ordered from China in the past has come via China Post and have had tracking numbers and those numbers carry over to Canada Post when the package is handed to them. I use Canada Post tracking portal to see where the package is in Canada. The order I mentioned in my previous post (single item worth $22 shipped on Jan 28, received by me on Feb 14) had spent a week in Mississauga clearing customs. If I do receive this $400 order, it will be very interesting to see how it was shipped (what carrier). I assume I'll see that on the package label or other paperwork.

reallynicestamps · ‎02-22-2019

How many of the unrecieved items have you opened Disputes for?

There is no need to deal with the seller any more.

Open the Disputes in eBay if the last estimated date for delivery has passed.

If more than 30 days have passed since the delivery deadline, you will have to go to Paypal.

Their Resolution Centre is under Tools on your PP account page.

The Dispute is for Item Not Recieved.

Your time would be worth 18 cents a minute at BC minimum wage. Don't waste any more of it.

If some of your orders show up after you have been refunded,you can return the refunds using Paypal's Send Money service.

sonometrics · ‎02-27-2019

An interesting new development. On Feb 23 I get an email from the vendor telling me they received back one of the shipped items, saying it was damaged by the shipper. Why only 1 item out of the 50 in the order? Why a month after it was supposedly shipped? I don't know. They want to know if I want a refund, as that item is now out of stock. I say yes, I'll take the refund. The refund happens within 24 hours.

Yesterday I received a partial shipment of 10 of the items. It turns out there was a tracking number on the shipment (the vendor told me in 4 different emails there was no tracking number). This was a China Post ePacket, as I suspected it would be. I checked the tracking number on-line, and the package was shipped on Feb 14 (!) It was in Canada Customs's hands Feb 23, delivered to me Feb 26. Remember, these were items that were ordered Jan 21 and showing as shipped Jan 23.

I think what's going on here is that the vendor knows the tracking number, and knows there will be a long delay between when they mark the items as shipped vs when they are actually shipped, and does not want me to see that, so they don't give me the tracking number. I think this vendor doesn't actually have the items being sold but must acquire them locally in China (or elsewhere in Asia) after I place the order. What else could account for the fact that they were actually shipped 3 weeks after they claim they were shipped, and their insistence that they have no tracking number?