Ebay etiquette
I won an amp on Ebay on Friday. I immediately posted a message to the seller basically just opening communication and asking her to get in touch so we could sort out the practicalities prior to payment. She's never responded. She doesn't have a heavy ebay track record (nor have I). Meanwhile I'm getting prompts from Ebay to make payment, which I'm a little reluctant to do until there's been some contact.
Am I overreacting to think this is a bit odd (I appreciate it's only 3 days)? I can imagine the winning bid price didn't thrill her so I'm wondering if she is hoping if she ignores me the deal will fall through? If that's her state of mind I'd rather cancel the deal - the bid was on a whim anyway so I won't be heartbroken if I don't get the amp.
Bit unsure what to do next.
If you're paying by Paypal then you're in safe hands. They sorted me out recently when I was getting a bit of static from a business (not much, but enough to warrant raising questions).
So in short pay up and if your purchase doesn't turn up then let Paypal do the leg work for you.
"You do things your way and you put your life in God's hands. You do things someone else's way and you take your life in your own hands." Confucius
Yeah I'd be using Paypal. It's not a super expensive item (a little over £200). But I'm not keen to get into a bunch of hassle where I'm having to push Ebay/Paypal to put pressure on a reluctant seller.
What do you need to sort out prior to payment?Originally Posted by Blueingreen
Anyway some people are just lazy and rubbish communicators on ebay, but as said above you should be OK and protected with a paypal payment.
Hmm I've just had contact from the seller. She says she is on holiday for three weeks and that she explained that on ebay but looking at the listing I can't see that being made clear. In fact it says the item will be despatched within 3 working days of payment. She says she will despatch on return. I'm assuming I'm within my rights to hold off payment until she returns and is able to despatch the amp?
If ur happy to wait that long then you could email the seller and just politely say u will make the payment when she returns and get her to confirm shes back by emailing u 1st, if they got funny about it then just mention the fact the listing says it will be posted within 3 working days of payment would mean she'll be breaching her own terms etc
In terms of etiqutte, I always think it is right to make immediate payment. As others have said, you have protection from paypal and if you hold back or dont make a payment, you are not keeping to the terms of ebay.
As a seller (i've been active on ebay for over ten years), I have never had a delay in payment and expect buyers to have the means to pay as soon as the auction finishes.
I understand your question regarding payment with her going on holiday, but I personally would still have made payment as soon as I had won the auction.
just pay for the item .
You have 40 days to open a dispute should you experience any problems But I tend to wait at lest 2 weeks for delivery .
Any other transaction I've involved in there's usually been an exchange of courtesies before payment. This normally takes place within an hour or two of the auction concluding (in fact often a few minutes after) so there's never been any delay in payment. I guess I had come to regard this as "normal".
However now that she's been in touch I find I'm reluctant to make a payment on a item that's going to take around a month to arrive, not the 3 days the listing promised. I may be in breach of ebay terms, but she will equally be in breach if I make payment now.
I think it's reasonable to hold off paying until she returns but I don't want to get into trouble with Ebay over it.
I sold something on ebay just before christmas and within minutes ( if not seconds) of the auction closing had a message off the buyer wanting to know when it was being despatched ( hello, auction closing sunday afternoon, with the best will in the world not today!).And then two messages a day until it was recieved. And then several messages about the item itself (he was dissapointed, although only in the difference between what he had imagined and the reality of the item, nothing at all to do with my description). Drove me barmy. Yes, I would expect the odd courtesy message either way but there is a healthy balance to be had.
And timing an auction to finish for when you go on holiday for 3 weeks? Either stupid or dodgy.
Breeding mammals with insects is my personal bugbear.
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