Last week I won an auction for a Steiff toy cat I plan to give to my lady friend Miss Linda. The seller sent me an invoice, and I e-mailed back through the eBay website, making it clear I was looking forward to receiving the cat, but asking how it would be shipped, and if it was possible to arrange for insurance.

That was last Thursday. No answer, so on Saturday I sent her another e-mail, not through the eBay site.

Still no answer.

Now I haven't paid for the item yet, so I guess there's no harm done. But I'd like to get the item before the end of this month!

Should I simply wait for a reply? Is this likely to bite me regarding feedback, esp. seeing I'm not the one delaying, she is? (She has a 98 % positive rating.)
.

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-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino

Some of these jokers don't even read their e-mails. They simply want to accept the money and send the item.

It can get exasperating at times.

Pay with a credit card via Paypal. If it doesn't arrive, you're not obligated to pay and the credit card company must give you a refund.

I do alot of E-bay shopping, I'd go back thru the site where you "ask seller a question" and ask something about shipping etc. I usually ask something about the item before I bid so I know I can communicate with the seller without waiting too long.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Most sellers reply within a day or so.

I've had a few that took longer...they all had positive feedback, and apologized for replying late...many have automatic auctions, and may be away on vacation for a weekend or so.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

If you really want an answer, then ask again. I recommend contacting the seller through the link provided on the auction page - less chance of getting caught up in someone's overly aggressive spam filter. If your patience is wearing too thin, you can also request the seller's contact information through eBay (the seller would, as part of that process, also be given YOUR contact information). Sometimes a telephone call can be just the solution.

As already mentioned, it could just be someone who's away for a long weekend - or even on vacation. It could even be genuine trouble with the seller's computer, internet access, or e-mail account. Family crisis? The list goes on...

Without more information, it's hard to determine if the seller is habitually a less than stellar performer. A careful look at feedback might be informative. It's the nature of eBay culture that less-than-outrageous seller performance problems are more likely to show up as neutrals or "soft positives" than as outright negatives. If it's the case that the seller has significant sales volume and a lot of transactions under her belt, then a 98% rating is actually not very good!

Savvy sellers send their packages with insurance (or with appropriate "declared value" for liability, depending on the shipper). Savvy sellers see to it that the buyer pays for it, whether it's expressly charged or whether it's part of a flat-rate shipping charge. If the buyer opens a dispute through PayPal claiming that an item wasn't received, then the seller had better have some acceptable (to PayPal) proof of delivery to the buyer's confirmed address if he wants to hold on to the money. "They didn't buy insurance" won't cut it! If you look at it that way, you might just make the payment now and be done with it (as already mentioned, preferably through PayPal, and funded by a credit card) .

If you're concerned about official bad eBay things that could happen to you if you wait on a response before paying, then keep in mind that, even if she were to wish to, the seller couldn't initiate an "unpaid item process" until 7 days after the close of the auction. If I couldn't get a response by then, then yes, I'd be concerned!

Feedback? I wouldn't sweat it. What's to worry about?

Eskimo gives a good answer. Without seeing the specifics of her feedback etc it is hard to give you any specific advice. It is always better to ask the question before the auction ends. Yes, 98% is actually pretty bad, but it depends on the total # of transactions and what the specifics were. You really can't go by that, you always should look at the feedback responses even if it is 100%. I learned that the hard way with a guy that had 100%. Then he ripped my off and when I actually looked at his feedback he had "bad neutrals". In the end you have agreed to to terms stated and have an obligation to pay. If I could see her specific info I could tell you the % probability she is a bad apple. Some Ebayers just aren't too smart and can only do things one way, you ask them to ship a different way or whatever and you might as well be asking them to fly to the moon.

Mike

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Thanks, all,

I've sent another polite request through the eBay website. She has 2 neutral items and 2 negatives (over the last 12 months) out of 158 total, going back to Feb. of '06.

It has been almost 7 days; now that I look back, I see that the auction closed on August 1. You'd think she'd be after me for her money by now!

__________________
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-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino