Ebay purchase.... did I get scammed?

vyacheslav

Senior Member
Greetings and thanks for readng/listening.

I have been an ebay member for over 20 years and I have never had this happen before. My purchase was a Used Gretsch Catalina Jazz kit (12/14/18/14SD) in Blue Satin Flame (current version/generation) with some hardware and accessories. To my surprise, I won the auction with a winning bid of only $271.66! Tax and Shipping was $175 though, so not as great of a deal as it appears on the surface, but still good enough. It was a normal, 7 day auction (not a "Buy It Now") and it had other multiple bidders, all of which had at least 100 feedback scores, so the auction itself seems legit. Anyway, when I paid on July 16th, I noticed that the estimated delivery date was between August 12- to August 27th. I did notice the auction said the item had an extended handle time. It seems weird though. The seller kept saying he would ship when he bought the boxes he needs. Why would you list (and expect to ship) an item if you didn't have proper boxes for it?

Anyway, here is what I posted to the ebay member help forum in italics:

July 26th, 2022:

Greetings,

I paid for my purchase on July 16th. The seller keeps sending me emails saying he will send me at the end of August when he has time to get boxes. Seriously?

The auction says it does have an extended handle time. But 45 days? That seems extreme, especially when the buyer has already marked it as shipped? Am i getting scammed? I paid with Paypal so I am protected.

Any hints on how to deal with this?

Thanks!


Updated Info August 3rd, 2022:

The seller originally marked it was shipped as USPS. Today he told me that he sent it via UPS and he gave me the tracking number. When I tried the tracking number on the UPS website it says that it is an invalid tracking number. I asked him to double check and he replied "It's valid. it's just not active yet". I've never heard of that. Even if it's not in UPS possession, at least it should say "Label Created" or something like that. Also, when I try to reply to the seller via "My Messages" through ebay, every time I click "Reply", it says "Question Already Deleted" and it won't let me reply. I have to choose the "Contact Seller" button from the item itself in "My Ebay Summary" to send him a message, thus starting from scratch and not having an email "thread" of our previous communications. This all seems very strange to me. I've been an ebay member for over 20 years and have never had this happen.

I still can't contact ebay because the estimated delivery date is August 13- August 27th. That is more than 30 days after I paid with Paypal (July 16th). I can't open up a claim with ebay until August 28th (the first day after the expected delivery date window). What should I do?





I'm hoping I am not getting scammed. I hope if I don't receive it, ebay can and will step in. It's just been frustrating. Again, as you can see from my other post about a Reverb scam, I'm really good at spotting BS. I have good spidey sense about these things. The auction photos were "real" photos and not stock images. Also, the seller is in St. Paul, MN and the photos show a Minnesota Wild Hockey Team Pennant on the wall, so it doesn't seem like he is using someone else's photos.

This is just strange. Who knows, it could be legitimate, but I'm not getting that vibe. I'm going to check the UPS Tracking number tomorrow, but I don't have high hopes.

Thanks for listening and any advice is welcomed.

V
 
Last edited:
I hate to say it, but the phrase "I'll need to get a box first" is not the first time I've had to deal with such nonsense. You are right; the seller should have secured boxes and packing materials before the auction even hit the site.

Wait a day and see if a tracking number pops up. If it doesn't process in a day or two, I'd look into getting your money back.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm also checking the ebay Member Help Forum, but I believe I cannot file a claim or open a case until after the Expected Delivery Date, which isn't until August 28th. According to members on the ebay forum, If I open a claim on August 28th, the seller has three days to either show a tracking number with proof of delivery or issue a refund. If he does neither after three days, apparently ebay steps in and will automatically refund me.
 
If you paid by credit card (a good reason to always pay with a credit card), you can always go directly to the credit card company and file a dispute on the transaction and possibly get charged back what you paid because you didn’T receive the item.
 
I'm not saying it's not a scam, and I hope it isn't, but sometimes it does take a day or two for a tracking number to be searchable within UPS's or FedEx's (or whoever's) system. That's happened to me when I've shipped something, then come straight home and check the tracking number to see "no results" or something to that extent.

Also, since I live in LA, I'll often wait to get boxes until after my auction ends because there's a real possibility that it could sell locally. But then again, I always get my boxes (assuming I need them) within a day of it selling and ship within a 2-3 day window. 45 days is a bit ridiculous.

Again, I hope it's not a scam. In either case, it sounds like a pretty shitty seller.
 
Thanks for the advice. Another thing I wanted to mention is that the Seller has 100% Positive Feedback with over 1500 Feedback scores and has been an ebay member since 2009, so everything on the surface would appear legitimate. Fingers crossed. Thanks for all the responses. You guys' are the best! I'll keep you updated as I check the UPS Tracking.
 
Thanks for the advice. Another thing I wanted to mention is that the Seller has 100% Positive Feedback with over 1500 Feedback scores and has been an ebay member since 2009, so everything on the surface would appear legitimate. Fingers crossed. Thanks for all the responses. You guys' are the best! I'll keep you updated as I check the UPS Tracking.
I think you got a seller who's legit ...... but flaky A.F. !!!

His shipping time ...... July 16th to Aug 1st - 3rd ..... that's 2 weeks. He might have been on vacation ....... he might have had Covid. "Having to get boxes" is a pretty lame excuse, but because he stated there was gonna be an "extended shipping time" ...... well ....... he stated there was gonna be extended shipping time in his auction. So he sort of covered his butt, there.

Those drums are on Reverb, with asking prices (with shipping) of $700 - $900, so you got a steal, at $446. Hopefully, it lands by the end of the week, and all will be good.
 
I agree with everything @harryconway said. Not to say it isn't a scam but it sounds more like a less then prompt seller. At the end of the day you can always file a direct complaint under ebay's buyer protection. eBay pretty much always sides with the buyer, I personally took many financial hits in cases where I was an honest and prompt seller but was being scammed by buyers and still 'lost' simply because ebay's support of the buyer is one step below 'no questions asked' and is why I stopped interacting with eBay all together.
 
Greetings and thanks for readng/listening.

I have been an ebay member for over 20 years and I have never had this happen before. My purchase was a Used Gretsch Catalina Jazz kit (12/14/18/14SD) in Blue Satin Flame (current version/generation) with some hardware and accessories. To my surprise, I won the auction with a winning bid of only $271.66! Tax and Shipping was $175 though, so not as great of a deal as it appears on the surface, but still good enough. It was a normal, 7 day auction (not a "Buy It Now") and it had other multiple bidders, all of which had at least 100 feedback scores, so the auction itself seems legit. Anyway, when I paid on July 16th, I noticed that the estimated delivery date was between August 12- to August 27th. I did notice the auction said the item had an extended handle time. It seems weird though. The seller kept saying he would ship when he bought the boxes he needs. Why would you list (and expect to ship) an item if you didn't have proper boxes for it?

Anyway, here is what I posted to the ebay member help forum in italics:

July 26th, 2022:

Greetings,

I paid for my purchase on July 16th. The seller keeps sending me emails saying he will send me at the end of August when he has time to get boxes. Seriously?

The auction says it does have an extended handle time. But 45 days? That seems extreme, especially when the buyer has already marked it as shipped? Am i getting scammed? I paid with Paypal so I am protected.

Any hints on how to deal with this?

Thanks!


Updated Info August 3rd, 2022:

The seller originally marked it was shipped as USPS. Today he told me that he sent it via UPS and he gave me the tracking number. When I tried the tracking number on the UPS website it says that it is an invalid tracking number. I asked him to double check and he replied "It's valid. it's just not active yet". I've never heard of that. Even if it's not in UPS possession, at least it should say "Label Created" or something like that. Also, when I try to reply to the seller via "My Messages" through ebay, every time I click "Reply", it says "Question Already Deleted" and it won't let me reply. I have to choose the "Contact Seller" button from the item itself in "My Ebay Summary" to send him a message, thus starting from scratch and not having an email "thread" of our previous communications. This all seems very strange to me. I've been an ebay member for over 20 years and have never had this happen.

I still can't contact ebay because the estimated delivery date is August 13- August 27th. That is more than 30 days after I paid with Paypal (July 16th). I can't open up a claim with ebay until August 28th (the first day after the expected delivery date window). What should I do?





I'm hoping I am not getting scammed. I hope if I don't receive it, ebay can and will step in. It's just been frustrating. Again, as you can see from my other post about a Reverb scam, I'm really good at spotting BS. I have good spidey sense about these things. The auction photos were "real" photos and not stock images. Also, the seller is in St. Paul, MN and the photos show a Minnesota Wild Hockey Team Pennant on the wall, so it doesn't seem like he is using someone else's photos.

This is just strange. Who knows, it could be legitimate, but I'm not getting that vibe. I'm going to check the UPS Tracking number tomorrow, but I don't have high hopes.

Thanks for listening and any advice is welcomed.

V

Ebay doesn’t release the money to the seller until you receive it “in good shape”
 
Well, I'm happy to report today that the UPS tracking shows "In Transit" and the expected delivery date is Friday August 5th! What a relief!
That's great dude! Sometimes ebay sellers are a pain in the neck!
 
Back
Top