eBay Sellers Lying about Delivery Times for More Sales

yomn on 24/06/2017 - 02:52
Last edited 24/06/2017 - 18:09

What do people do when realising the eBay seller lied about the location of the item and delivery time to jack up prices and generate more sales?

When I was younger and more acquiescent, I'd always just accept that I'd been duped and try to remember the seller, to not buy from them in future.

Lately, however, I've noticed this occurring more and more. As a result, I've just opened a case on eBay for the first time. I wonder if it's going too far.

The item in question was ordered on the 13th of June with an estimated delivery of 16th to 22nd. "AU Stock," item location: Darwin.
I asked about it on the 23rd to see if it was on track to be delivered soon, but was told that it would take 20 days to deliver to "my country."

UPDATE: Told them to post the item express and I'll close the case. We'll see how this goes.

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Comments

  • shmoney on 24/06/2017 - 03:07
    +6

    Very common issue with Chinese sellers, generally just stay away from listings that have "Darwin" listed as its item location.

    It's also best to check the feedback of the seller beforehand, to see if there's any issues with the delivery time.

    There is an actual eBay policy regarding it and you can report the listing for this, but it seems eBay don't really care as they don't do anything about it.

    • yomn on 24/06/2017 - 05:12

      Since the location and delivery time are technically part of the item description, an intentionally misleading one can be troublesome for the seller if reported. The problem is that the choices are really binary: get duped and just cop it, or open a case for refund.

  • PJC on 24/06/2017 - 03:52
    +1

    Name and shame the seller.

    • yomn on 24/06/2017 - 05:10
      +1

      I have no moral quandaries doing so, but is it against any of the OzB rules?

      • tomsco on 24/06/2017 - 07:26
        +2

        Nope. Just keep it factual and there's no issue.

      • PJC on 24/06/2017 - 10:40

        None that I know of.

  • msmhw on 24/06/2017 - 05:25

    In general, just avoid any items located on Darwin. Or when you click on The seller username you see he is based in China. Otherwise you can not really do much about it. If eBay block the seller or remove their listing they are most likely creat new user name.

    • yomn on 24/06/2017 - 05:34
      +1

      I'm not sure if I want to be so vindictive as to pursue the matter to the point of getting their account blocked. They've got 243,769 points.

      • gummibear on 24/06/2017 - 08:44

        There's nothing wrong with getting their account blocked if it's based upon dishonest practice which puts genuine Australian sellers at a disadvantage.

      • PJC on 24/06/2017 - 10:44

        They took your money.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/06/2017 - 08:01
    +2

    +1 YES! YES! YES! You stole my thunder. I was just about to post this topic too.

    In the ebay eofy sales of the last few weeks I bought several item. ALL of them lied about delivery times by AT LEAST a week. Having being burned before after waiting up to 2 months for a delivery! this time I made sure I chose those with CnC usually at Woolworths. No difference in delivery times. Still lied.

    They lie about POSTED day too. One said posted 3 days after the sale, said tracked by auspost, but after I asked for the tracking number they said it was too expensive to pay for tracking. I waited 10 days after the time they quoted at the sale time.

    Absolute liers! Caveat emptor.

  • afoveht on 24/06/2017 - 08:02

    Just yesterday I went to buy something and noticed a supposedly local (Sydney) seller had it a bit cheaper. Delivery was quoted from 1 to 2 weeks by Couriers Please. The combined product and shipping cost was $8. That barely covers the courier, let alone the product.

    Lies. Damn lies. Avoided and paid the few dollars more for local and delivery by auspost next week.

    That said I've also bought from a local seller with a worldwide listing and international phone number a few times and the delivery was next day. So it can be hard to tell.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/06/2017 - 08:07

    Name and shame? Sure 1. hiaowei-bestshop 2. hstore2013. Both said item location Darwin, both promised CnC in 5-7 days, but turned out 2 weeks.

    EXCELLENT: Elite Electroncs (Deer Park, Melbourne). Got email that afternoon. Picked up goods the next day. Sure a iot more expensive being local,, but worth every cent.

    • [Deactivated] on 24/06/2017 - 08:08

      Sorry typo: a BIT more expensive, not a lot :)

  • Clear on 24/06/2017 - 09:00

    Always click the username before buying. It'll show their real location.

  • Ocker on 24/06/2017 - 09:12
    +1

    Ebay standards are slipping very rapidly. Seems they are only increased with sales volume, no doubt because they fear increased competition when Amazon arrives.

  • coco1458 on 24/06/2017 - 09:34

    What's worse is probably the return addresses.
    Buying a product that is supposedly in Australia and then having to return it to an address in China.
    eBay don't give a damn either, they'll just say as long as the address is in English, you have to ship it.

  • Baebs on 24/06/2017 - 09:51

    Few tell-tale signs should be obvious enough: the delivery courier, the location (usually Botany Bay or something obscure), the country stated on their profile and lastly, their negative feedback.

  • Savas on 24/06/2017 - 10:02
    +1

    Never had this problem, always thought this skill was common sense - especially for an OzBargainer.

  • naplutetium on 24/06/2017 - 12:13

    I bought a few times from Chinese sellers where the items were located in Darwin. All arrived less than a week later. So it's not that black and white. Sometimes the same seller has the same item for half the price located in China/HK. I try to pick only Chinese sellers with a feedback score over 99% (not the actual points) and do check the comments of other buyers. If the cheapest seller has less than 99% positive feedback, or has lots of negative feedback in the last 30 days, i look for the next cheapest item. Worked for me so far.

  • kaos on 24/06/2017 - 12:20

    I ordered something that had free delivery but asked about extra postage for faster delivery as I need the item before I go overseas in 2 weeks. Didn't respond, just marked as sent. I understand that this is my problem for buying first, but annoying as I'd have preferred to have the option to cancel…..

  • JoFord63 on 24/06/2017 - 12:34
    +3

    Please keep this in mind when buying from real Ebay sellers living in Australia:

    • Ebay sorts search results based on various criteria, including whether or not the seller offers free shipping. If a seller offers free shipping, the item get placed higher in the search results.
    • So effectively, if a seller doesn't offer free shipping they get penalised by being placed lower in the search results, regardless of other criteria like price, quality etc.
    • The problem for a seller is that if they tick free shipping when writing their ad, there is no way to specify delivery time. EBay automatically places the "Fast and Free" logo on the ad and automatically offers fast shipping e.g. 1-3 days.
    • As you know, it is impossible for Australia Post to meet the fast shipping timeframe displayed by Ebay.
    • So what's a genuine part-time Ebay seller to do? I write in all my ads that Aust Post may take longer than expected, and I offer express options and tracking options. And I do my damndest to post orders urgently, e.g. if I get an order at 9.00 pm, I post it on the way to work the next morning.
    • But for me as a seller, it comes down to crossing my fingers and hoping that orders don't get lost in the Aust Post mechanical sorters at Chullora or Granville, or bounce repeatedly between NSW and VIC etc.
    • Savas on 24/06/2017 - 13:44
      +1

      Can we have a link to your eBay store?

      • JoFord63 on 24/06/2017 - 14:54

        The makeup one or the patchwork one?

        • Savas on 24/06/2017 - 14:58
          +1

          Oh lol actually not that interested then, would still check out the links though.

    • Third_Gear on 24/06/2017 - 17:07

      Change your handling time for the default setting to 2 days and fast and free will disappear. Might be 3 days I can't remember. Give it a go.

  • whodidthat on 24/06/2017 - 17:36

    I never take notice of the estimated delivery time as it is ebay generated and absolute rubbish, even for domestic sellers. There is no way for any sellers to be specific for any delivery times as it is a third partty action (ie Australia Post). Things like express post CAN be specific to a degree, but that depends on if both buyer and seller postcodes are within the guarantee network.

    But, you have come across one of many China based sellers who manipulate search results by specifying item location as being in Australia (Darwin is the most common but they also use Sydney and Melbourne).
    I have reported sellers like this in the past (as have others I know) but ebay generally ignore those reports as China is a big deal to them.
    However, I have heard just this last week of two sellers reporting other listings like this and those listings ended up being amended to the correct item location of China. It is worth reporting, just in case.

    ebay is getting desperate as they are losing ground, as well as the Amazon threat, hence all the deals and discounts lately - so maybe they are more willing to listen to reports.

    • yomn on 24/06/2017 - 18:14

      eBay keeps pulling this BS with impunity because there are no consequences. Can't even express how much I wish Amazon was established in Australia.

      • whodidthat on 24/06/2017 - 18:21

        ebay is a bully and like a spoilt brat taking a paddy.
        If you openly criticise them, they make sure you are punished somehow.
        You cannot rely on anything they say and customer service is hopeless.
        They do not support their customers (the sellers) as they should.
        They definitely need bringing down to earth.
        Damn shame they stopped us doing petitions on their forums (like we did in fee hike 2006, LOL)
        However, as far as being a seller on Amazon, that also has it's problems.

  • elliebargain on 28/06/2017 - 08:49

    Even Dick Smith does this now! We bought a "new" phone from them and it said "Ships to you in 1-2 day" in bold prominent text, but apparently that just meant it leaves its overseas warehouse in a couple of days and you get a dodgy used phone a couple of weeks later with text messages on it already from a few months earlier and an incorrect charger. It's also happened a lot on Aliexpress (says the item is sent from Australia, but really overseas and takes weeks to arrive- although I always expect items will take a long time from Aliexpress).

    • tomsco on 28/06/2017 - 09:08

      Well considering Dick Smith is now Kogan, that's not too surprising.

      • elliebargain on 28/06/2017 - 14:59
        +1

        Yeah - I must've been living under a rock! - I knew they went out of business, but somehow didn't realise Kogan bought them (I'll just hand in my OzB card now). My little brother was trying to buy a phone for himself and he sent me a link to the DickSmith.com.au page and I was like "looks legit - guess they opened up an online business!" - So so stupid in hindsight, but they finally let us return the dodgy phone after some persuasion from my credit card company.

        I should clarify - I don't have a problem with imported phones or goods at all - I buy a lot of imported stuff - but when they don't specify and pretend to be Australian stock so they can charge a lot more money to give you a product that won't be covered here in Oz it's annoying, especially with a high value product like a Samsung Phone. If you buy it in Australia it will be covered for faults for 2 years under consumer law.

    • SirFlibbled on 06/07/2017 - 12:12

      "Ships to you" is different to "delivered to you"

      • elliebargain on 06/07/2017 - 12:25

        I know - I guess it's because in the context of this discussion - most online sellers in my experience advertise their delivery times, not shipping times. Things like "next day delivery" "sent to you in 1-3 business days", which I know is not the same as shipping, but it seems a lot of retailers are being deliberately misleading to the consumer, hiding how long an item which appears to be from Australia (but is being sent from overseas) will take to be delivered to the buyer. It might not be technically illegal or false advertising to omit the information that the item is coming from overseas, but I think they should display some kind of delivery estimate to help buyers make an informed decision.

        Like if you were going to catch up with a mate who lives down the street from you, and they called you and asked you to come over, and you said, "yep, on my way!" but you didn't mention that actually you are overseas and by "on my way" you mean you are on your way to the airport and will see then in a day or so. Like technically they didn't specifically ASK you. But still - It would be a dick move.

  • BargainPower on 04/07/2017 - 22:51

    Hi Ozbargainers,

    I would like to know how long should it take to deliver an item using "Standard Delivery" from Regents Park, Sydney to SE Melbourne suburb. I am also wondering if this ebay dealer is using Sydney location to increase it's price and sale. I ordered the item yesterday (3/7). It says that the Item is on it's way today. Expected delivery is 12/7. That's 6 business days from the day the item is sent off. Is that too long from Sydney to Melbourne? I recently ordered a dash cam from China and it arrived in about 7 business days.

    • doweyy on 04/07/2017 - 22:53
      +1

      Would you mind sharing the purchase listing or seller? Or go and check the seller's feedback, seller's have been known to fake locations from overseas to get more Aus sales.

      • BargainPower on 05/07/2017 - 18:56

        If I know for certain that it does not take that long to send an item from Sydney to Melbourne and if I'm allowed to name the seller, I would be more than willing to share so that others don't fall for their trap. I'm hoping others here could tell me how long it takes to deliver the item.

        • tomsco on 06/07/2017 - 09:14

          I ordered something from Brisbane on Friday (30/6) and it arrived on Tuesday (4/7). 2 business days or 4 calendar days. Your example with crazy.

          And as long as you are keeping things factual (ie. you've listed what the listing says) there is no issue with naming/linking to the seller.

  • SirFlibbled on 06/07/2017 - 12:14

    I give them low stars in their feedback to communication and delivery time. Also depends on the delivery dates they provide. If they deliver in the estimated time they originally indicated, then there's not much you can do.

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