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What should I do?

Started by TelePlay, January 21, 2012, 04:35:27 PM

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TelePlay

I won a BIN phone on eBay on January 1st. To date, it has not shipped. A UPSP tracking number was assigned but no tracking available. Seems the seller attempted to print an eBay USPS post paid label but it would not print because funds were not available to the seller.

I've contacted the seller numerous times and the seller says they will ship when the money I paid through PayPal becomes available. My PayPal account shows the payment completed. The seller confirms the PayPal payment was sent to the right account but they can not get the funds from PayPal to ship the phone.

This is a new seller (account opened November 2011) that has sold less than a half dozen items to date. Nothing currently listed.

I could file an issue with eBay Resolution Center but I really want the phone and the seller seems willing to ship but can't for some reason beyond my scope of knowledge. I could get my money back through eBay but I really want the phone.

I think eBay has a 30 day window to file complaints. I have no experience with selling.

For those of you who have selling experience, what should I do?

-------------------------

The messages I got from the seller in response (to my questions) follow.

(Where's the phone?)

1-10-12: I have your phone ready to ship, but I have to wait until the funds are available! Thanks!

(When will it ship?)

1-10-12: I really have no idea. I feel bad, but it says I can't use the money. I'm sorry! PayPal must have some flaw. I will get it to you ASAP.

(My PayPal account shows the transaction completed.)

1-11-12: I see that you have paid! that is my account! it just says that they haven't fully been transferred to my account. don't worry, it's happened to everyone, even the people I've bought from. I'm going to see if I can still print the shipping label. I'm so sorry. I'll get it out soon!

(Glad to know it wasn't on my end, I'll wait.)

1-11-12: I don't think it's me, because I believe it's PayPal! I am going to just take the money out of pocket to pay for the shipping, and I will hopefully be reimbursed once the transfer is complete! So sorry for this. It's frustrating on my end and I'm sure yours! I appreciate your patience! I'm having a hard time!

(When will the phone ship?)

1-20-12: I've been trying to get with PayPal about it, but apparently I have to wait until the money is available. I promise it will be soon! So sorry! I feel terrible about it!

bingster

That's all nonsense.  You're being given the runaround.  It may indeed be the case that the person's paypal account has been frozen, but that's usually done because other claims have been made against the account.  None of that matters, though.  The person should pay for the shipping, and ship the phone.  Additionally, the "print shipping label" excuse is bogus, because one doesn't have to print one out from paypal.  All it takes is a blank USPS shipping label, a pen, and a trip to the post office.
= DARRIN =



twocvbloke

I'd open a dispute case against them with ebay, you've paid, you've waited, and you've got nothing but excuses, time you got your money back...

Phonesrfun

There will always be another phone.  File a claim and get your money back.  My two cents.
-Bill G

wds

With new Seller accounts, the seller does not receive the funds until several days after delivery confirmation.  If the package is never mailed, the delivery is not confirmed and the seller never receives the money.  I would file a complaint to get your refund, and leave the appropriate feedback.
Dave

AE_Collector

Quote from: TelePlay on January 21, 2012, 04:35:27 PM
I think eBay has a 30 day window to file complaints. I have no experience with selling.

45 days I believe. So you do have some time yet. Try pointing out WDS comments re new sellers to the seller just in case they had no idea.

Terry

wds

If you're a new or Below Standard seller

While you're establishing a successful selling history on eBay, funds from your sales will be pending in your PayPal account for a period of time.

Follow good shipping practices to help access your funds from each sale sooner:

    Funds will be available 3 days after we can confirm the item was delivered when you use eBay or PayPal to print labels or upload tracking information from UPS, USPS, or FedEx.

    If we don't have tracking information, but you mark the item as shipped and we can calculate a delivery date, your money should be available 7 days after your latest estimated delivery date.

    If we don't have tracking information, and you don't mark the item as shipped, or we can't calculate a delivery date (for example, if the item was shipped internationally), the funds should be available 21 days after the buyer pays.

Note: In some cases, such as international shipments, we can't calculate a delivery date or confirm delivery. It may also take longer to get your funds if your buyer reports a problem.

New seller status ends once you've met all the following criteria:

    It's been more than 90 days since your first successful sale.

    You've completed more than 25 sales transactions.

    You have more than $250.00 in total sales.[/b][/font]
Dave

pbghmike77

Quote from: TelePlay on January 21, 2012, 04:35:27 PM
I won a BIN phone on eBay on January 1st. To date, it has not shipped. A UPSP tracking number was assigned but no tracking available. Seems the seller attempted to print an eBay USPS post paid label but it would not print because funds were not available to the seller.

I've contacted the seller numerous times and the seller says they will ship when the money I paid through PayPal becomes available. My PayPal account shows the payment completed. The seller confirms the PayPal payment was sent to the right account but they can not get the funds from PayPal to ship the phone.

This is a new seller (account opened November 2011) that has sold less than a half dozen items to date. Nothing currently listed.

I could file an issue with eBay Resolution Center but I really want the phone and the seller seems willing to ship but can't for some reason beyond my scope of knowledge. I could get my money back through eBay but I really want the phone.

I think eBay has a 30 day window to file complaints. I have no experience with selling.

For those of you who have selling experience, what should I do?

-------------------------

The messages I got from the seller in response (to my questions) follow.

(Where's the phone?)

1-10-12: I have your phone ready to ship, but I have to wait until the funds are available! Thanks!

(When will it ship?)

1-10-12: I really have no idea. I feel bad, but it says I can't use the money. I'm sorry! PayPal must have some flaw. I will get it to you ASAP.

(My PayPal account shows the transaction completed.)

1-11-12: I see that you have paid! that is my account! it just says that they haven't fully been transferred to my account. don't worry, it's happened to everyone, even the people I've bought from. I'm going to see if I can still print the shipping label. I'm so sorry. I'll get it out soon!

(Glad to know it wasn't on my end, I'll wait.)

1-11-12: I don't think it's me, because I believe it's PayPal! I am going to just take the money out of pocket to pay for the shipping, and I will hopefully be reimbursed once the transfer is complete! So sorry for this. It's frustrating on my end and I'm sure yours! I appreciate your patience! I'm having a hard time!

(When will the phone ship?)

1-20-12: I've been trying to get with PayPal about it, but apparently I have to wait until the money is available. I promise it will be soon! So sorry! I feel terrible about it!
Tell the seller to call Pay Pal direct and have them release the shipping amount. Typically for new accounts they will release that much. I have 2 top rated seller accounts and trust me Pay Pal and ebay are not going to make a buyer upset. I think if your seller does a little pushing he can get the funds released. If not do yourself a favor and and get the ball rolling to get your money back.  Good Luck

mariepr

If he says he can't or won't take money out of his pocket to pay for shipping (how much can that be?), then he's probably selling through a DBA or LLC account.  If he's going to run his businss in a business like manner that means learning the rules of his selling forum.  

Copy and paste what wds has posted into the ebay messaging system.  If he still won't ship then you have to file a complaint.  You'll be caught in a vicious circle where he won't ship because he cannot access payment and he cannot access payment because he won't ship.  

TelePlay

Thank you everyone for all the great feedback. I sent the post from WDS and the other tips to the seller. Will be interesting to hear back from the seller now. That will be telling.

After reading all of the replies, it all fits. The new seller must not have known about the hold on funds until delivery. The seller put a estimated delivery range of Jan 6th to Jan 20th. It's now the 22nd so the funds should be released soon.

That was a good tip about asking PayPal and eBay to release only the shipping amount ($15).

I don't know how the seller is doing business but one would think $15 could be paid out of pocket and invoiced into the business as an expense payable back once the funds were released. Just speculation by me on that.

Again, thanks to all. At least now I have a much better understanding of the selling side of eBay. And with a bit of luck, and a few more days, another phone or my money back.


TelePlay

Final update on this issue.

I really wanted the phone so I decided to take a chance and wait. I also sent the new seller info from WDS and a few other comments to the seller. This is the seller's reply to that information.

"oh wow. thank you so much for that. I feel terrible. I'm new to this and now I'm having to face the fact that I did it wrong. I'm so sorry!! I really hope that you understand that I didn't mean for this to happen. I do want to thank you for helping me figure that out. I had no idea because I just got all the phones at an estate sale and just decided to put them up & I've never done it before. I will get it in the mail first thing Monday morning. I apologize."

The seller shipped it Monday morning and it arrived today, packed well and in good condition. I left very good feedback.

If I ever get around to selling on eBay, this will come in useful. We both learned a lot of good things about being a seller thanks to the great comments left in reply to my original post. Thanks a lot, everyone.

ESalter

Another tidbit about this fund withholding stuff...  I've used my dad's ebay/paypal account for years.  I got my own set of accounts a little over a year ago.  I use them mostly to buy, but I do also sell.  I had the funds in paypal withheld the first couple sales I made, which I thought was fine.  I always posted the tracking numbers, and the funds were released a couple days after delivery, or when the buyer left positive feedback.  After my first 2 or 3 sales the money wasn't withheld anymore.  ...until a couple months ago.  I determined it started again at the 1 year anniversary of my sign-up date.  I'd say they withhold my money probably 80% of the time.  It isn't consistent at all.   I can sell two identical items at the same exact time to different buyers and one could have the funds withheld and the other might not. 

I meet all of the criteria to no longer be considered a "new seller", so why withhold my funds?  I have a 100% positive feedback score of 75.  All 5 star ratings for sales.  I came to find out my seller status was changed from "Above Average" to "Standard" simply because I don't have at least 100 transactions per year.  Point being, even if you do everything exactly right, they'll still hold your money unless you make Ebay a full time job.  I feel better now :)  ---Eric

Doug Rose

Quote from: TelePlay on January 25, 2012, 10:06:27 PM
Final update on this issue.

I really wanted the phone so I decided to take a chance and wait. I also sent the new seller info from WDS and a few other comments to the seller. This is the seller's reply to that information.

"oh wow. thank you so much for that. I feel terrible. I'm new to this and now I'm having to face the fact that I did it wrong. I'm so sorry!! I really hope that you understand that I didn't mean for this to happen. I do want to thank you for helping me figure that out. I had no idea because I just got all the phones at an estate sale and just decided to put them up & I've never done it before. I will get it in the mail first thing Monday morning. I apologize."

The seller shipped it Monday morning and it arrived today, packed well and in good condition. I left very good feedback.

If I ever get around to selling on eBay, this will come in useful. We both learned a lot of good things about being a seller thanks to the great comments left in reply to my original post. Thanks a lot, everyone.

John....pictures!!....Doug
Kidphone

TelePlay

Quote from: Doug Rose on January 26, 2012, 10:37:09 AM
John....pictures!!....Doug

I know little about sticks but I think I found something interesting. How interesting will be left up to the experts on this forum. I have a play with 3 phones starting next Friday so will be busy with tech work from tomorrow through then so no work on the phone until next week other than taking it apart to see what I got.

It's a black candlestick that was painted with a swirly gold paint. A lamp base was welded to the perch to make it into a lamp. They used the hook switch to turn the lamp on and off. The receiver cap has two cracks. The mouth piece is damaged on two sides (looks like it hit the floor face first). The dial works well. The receiver cord in is good condition and looks original. The hook switch works well.

So, what did I find?

The base is stamped 329. The perch is a 151AL. The dial was a #2AA but the second "A" was "X'd" out and a "B" was added making it a #2AXB. The 635A transmitter is stamped in yellow 2/47. The back of the dial has 46 written on it in pencil. The bottom felt is in bad shape and the base plate is corroded on the inside (not enough to be a problem though). One of the 3 base plate screws are missing. I think I can cut the welded lamp base off of the perch and return it to near original - if not, replace the perch.

$15 plus shipping.

TelePlay

More photos.