eBay Question

nightcrawler335

Okay, so last Friday I won an eBay auction for an Xbox 360 + controllers (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=230132585114&rd=1&rd=1)
The seller responded to my initial message with questions before I sent payment, and then messaged me saying he received payment and would be shipping via UPS around 4 pm on Saturday. I live in Houston, his eBay auction said it would be shipping from Austin. It's only a 2.5 hour drive between the cities, so I imagine that a ground shipment would only take 2, maybe 3 days for it to arrive. I have not yet received said package, and the seller has not responded to my message I sent on Tuesday asking for a tracking number. Now, this is only my 2nd eBay purchase, and I had no issues with the first one. How long should I wait before filing a claim or whatever I need to do with PayPal to ensure I don't get ripped off here?

skeldare

I think this is more of a UPS issue. I'm pretty sure 'Ground' with UPS is actually a full business week.

onceling

I can't advise you on how long things take to ship (I don't know). I wouldn't be too worried yet, but I do recommend keeping a close eye on the time frames. If things go any longer:

1. You should always contact the seller before filing any kind of dispute:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/find/search_members.html

2. The time frames for dispute are (via eBay) 10-60 days after the end of item:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/inr-snad-process.html

3. Via PayPal, 30 or 45 days from the date of the payment I believe:

https://www.paypal.com/row/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_pbp

To protect yourself on eBay I recommend PayPal and/or credit cards. Then you know you have some protection and always trade safely by checking feedback and if the seller usually sells these types of items. eBay is a good place, just protect yourself.

EggyToast

Send another email tomorrow. Say that you haven't heard from him and that you're just making sure everything is OK, and that since you're only the next town over you figured UPS would've delivered it by now. UPS will sometimes hold on to things but not usually -- I get things sent ground from New Jersey sometimes and they're here the next day.

If he doesn't respond by next Friday, contact eBay and tell them you can't get ahold of the seller and he's got your money but hasn't shipped the item. They'll escalate. Paypal and eBay tend to side with the buyer in most cases.

nightcrawler335

Great, thanks for the advice everyone.