buying smartphones from ebay - an ebay rant

[zeke009]

I was pretty stoked last week when I found a Cingular 2125 on ebay with the key word of "unlocked" hidden away in the description. The seller would end the auction for an offer of $250 immediately, I won the auction for $165 with free shipping and $2 insurance!

That was last Monday (9/18), I paid immediately after winning the auction by credit card via paypal... meaning the seller's paypal account was funded and it would not be unreasonable to expect the item to ship either Tuesday (9/19) or Wednesday (9/20) at the latest.

Wrong... the seller waited for the funds to transfer from Paypal to their personal bank account which can take about 4-5 business days. Which puts a possible ship date of Saturday (9/23) or Monday (9/25).

Am I being impatient?
If the Paypal account is funded, shouldn't the item be shipped?

There has been no response from the seller regarding a tracking number or when they shipped it. I'm seriously considering reporting this if I don't get word or see a package this week.

There was also no mention of the seller waiting for the funds to transfer from Paypal to their personal bank in the auction. I only noticed it in their feedback comments others have left them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&item=120030881866&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Anyone else ran in to issues like this before? I've never been scammed on ebay and I doubt I have here. I might just be dealing with a real stickler for some odd reason.

[Jerry Raia]

I have sold all of my old devices on eBay and have never done that to anyone. Once the money is in PayPal I ship. Period. I would rant if I were you too!

[scottb]

I would be impatient too. If the funds are transferred to my PayPal account, I ship the item. The rest is between PayPal and their customer.

[zeke009]

Got word and tracking number last night that my phone was shipped Tuesday. 8 days after I made the purchase, which I promptly paid.

I have 80 characters to use in feedback... 8 days to ship will be definitely be listed in there. The seller claims they were hunting for everything that came in the box... I'm starting to get nervous I'm going to get a box of mac and cheese with a kid phone filled with chicklets!

[Rocco Augusto]

the moment someone sends me payment via paypal, the item is packed up and ready for the mailman. i can tell you from personal experience, everytime i have ever had a seller that has pulled something like this it was always a sham. the good news is, since the item was more than $25, eBay should step in if it is fradulent. the bad news is it could take more than 6 months to get the issue resolved.

this is why i never buy anything expensive on eBay unless the person has a bajillion, recent, feedback from people he sold the same exact product to.

[encece]

I, like others, always ship upon sucessful PayPal transactions. Once the money is in my paypal account....I consider the transaction done, regardless of how long it takes to transfer to my bank account. PayPal IS a bank account and the seller sould consider payment as complete.

One thing about ebay and paypal though...they will NOT protect you. Ebay has a blanket statement "we do not verify the quality of goods sold" and "you should only buy from trusted sellers". The WORST you can do on ebay is give them bad feedback.

PayPal doesnt help as they dont care about the auction AT ALL. Just the financial transaction. If it was fraud, they'd blame YOU for sending money to someone you don't know.

If there was a widely used alternate service...I'd use it on both the auction and payment. Unfortunately, we're stuck with the ebay/paypal combo.

I bought a $1400 new laptop from a seller with decent feedback. I received a box of junk (broken dot matrix printer, moldy duffle bags and three VW hub caps). Paypal only cared that something was shipped and couldn;t verify the qulity of goods. Ebay did NOTHING. NOTHING!!!!!!! I reported to my local police, San Francisco Police, and FBI online fraud department. I even gave the address of the person who shipped as there was a lable to them UNDER my lable. Everyone did NOTHING.

My personal rules when buying:
- Buy only from people who consistently sell similar items.
- Buy only from people who can provide a REAL photo of the item...not a stock photo.
- Buy only from people who have recently used ebay (within 3 months)
- Buy only from people with 100% positive feedback.
- Never pay with anything other than a credit card (paypal)
- NEVER pay using wire transfer.
- NEVER accept payment via wire transfer. (Western Union)

When selling:
- Ship quickly (within 1 business day)
- Accept PayPal only
- Dont screw the buyer! :)