Warning: China/HK Ebay sellers LYING re: location and shipping

[Rock]

There is an easy way and a complicated way to do most things.

Winston could have gotten the stuff he needs most likely at Guang Hua Market in Taipei or Guadalupe Market in Metro Manila, and probably not that expensive in either place. But he chose to go through a time consuming ordering process from overseas to save a couple bucks and end up having to invest lots of time and energy writing to ebay plus the sellers and waiting even much longer than he expected. But it's all the fault of external forces and Murphy's Law.

Sometimes spending a slight bit more for speed and convenience can pay back in spades. I almost never have anything shipped to me in Asia. I learned a long time ago it's just too fraught with uncertainty. Sometimes it gets held up in customs or even can get returned after a couple failed delivery attempts. It's just not worth the hassle. There are much simpler, easier, and faster alternatives. Look at the bigger picture and you will see that counting pennies may end up costing you bucks if your time and energy have any value at all.

[Winston]

But Rock, you are FORGETTING the fact that I've used Ebay for many years and always had good experiences. Never had a problem until now. It's not like I had any weird experiences like this in the past. You are falsely assuming that Ebay is an uncertain process but it usually is not. 99.99 percent of the time things go smoothly. It's only when I'm in a rush to get things so I can get out of Taiwan does Murphy's Law kick in. Never have a problem usually with Ebay and my products usually come fast. You FORGET that and are selective in your memory.

And we both know Murphy's Law is real. You've admitted it but you don't like to because you don't want to attract it. It's definitely a real force for sure. We've all experienced it to some degree. Even Ghost and you have complained about it affecting things. There's even a book out about it called "The Peter Principle" which acknowledges that it is a real phenomenon.

[starchild5]

But i dont get why shipping takes 5 or 6 weeks now. In the US when i send a package from US to Asia by economy shipping, it usually arrives in a week and a half. So if the US postal service takes a week and a half to ship a package around the world via economy shipping, why would any shipping company take 5 or 6 weeks? Whats the logical reason?

The logical reason is, THEY BULK TRANSFER IT...They add up all the orders they have for one or two weeks and then mass ship it to that country,.....It saves them shipping charges. Dropshipping is the culprit plus VAT and Taxes...They are trying to save pennies.

eBay is Jewish company, so eventually they will f*ck you.

The mail you got was not from eBay but from Philippines call center. It words sounds more like written by a Filipina... ..I can 99% assure you...nothing will happen to the sellers because eBay is losing market share and people do not use it anymore..so they cannot afford to loose sellers anymore.

Close the Philippines Call Center...Please!!

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/C ... p/23517580

eBay moved Customer Support to Philippines?

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/e ... p/22637289

The Call Center Company that takes care of Customer Care is Based in Mandaluyong.

Sutherland Global Services.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Suthe ... 747401.htm

This place was close to where I lived. So I knew few girls who worked for ebay and PayPal department.

I also worked in call centers when i graduated, so I know a thing or two about them.

99% of all mails you get from "Customer Care" is actually a filipina..Who knows may be the mail was written by someone you dated ..Its that common. Philippines is the number 1 call center destination in the world.

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

I totally agree with Rock...I think you went for discount, bargain prices..The same product you could have had it in Taiwan or Philippines itself at any mall or shop.

Even though many Indians are considered cheap..I never go for Discount Products, never bargain unless they are ridiculously been unreasonable.

Why bother with so much hassle and wait even for few days ? when you can buy the products in the city you are in..

Seeking Discounts and Bargain...slowly kills your soul.. ..Some of my friends, parents are super bargain hunters but I see them eventually losing out big money in other ways...

What you need Winston is...JUST BUY THE FREAKING THING...and move on..do not put too much thoughts into mainstream products...Your mind is precious...your time can be used for more productive things

[Winston]

But starchild, i only buy from ebay what i cant get in stores. In this case, batteries for old laptops and specialty items. You cant get that at a mall. Come on now. Im an expert bargain hunter and shopper. Rock may know some electronic bazaar in manila. But its not guaranteed that they have it. Plus its legwork to get there and traffic moves slowly in manila. On ebay i can buy something in a few minutes. Its super easy and convenient. So it saves me time and money. No contest.

Plus like i said ive used ebay for years and never had a problem. Ask others here. They will tell you the same thing. US sellers usually ship fast. So if you live in the US, ebay is ideal as long as you buy from highly rated sellers.

So i am not making an illogical decision. Also when you are in a rush, the universe likes to slow you down.

What does drop shipping mean?

[starchild5]

But starchild, i only buy from ebay what i cant get in stores. In this case, batteries for old laptops and specialty items. You cant get that at a mall. Come on now. Im an expert bargain hunter and shopper. Rock may know some electronic bazaar in manila. But its not guaranteed that they have it. Plus its legwork to get there and traffic moves slowly in manila. On ebay i can buy something in a few minutes. Its super easy and convenient. So it saves me time and money. No contest.

Plus like i said ive used ebay for years and never had a problem. Ask others here. They will tell you the same thing. US sellers usually ship fast. So if you live in the US, ebay is ideal as long as you buy from highly rated sellers.

So i am not making an illogical decision. Also when you are in a rush, the universe likes to slow you down.

What does drop shipping mean?

Drop Shipping mean...You become the direct seller for the manufacturers...There are no middle men...You open a eBay store and if someone buys an old laptop battery from your store...You pass that information of customer to the Manufacturers NOT to Distributor or shops etc..

The product is sold directly from the Manufacturers to the customers home. So if a laptop battery cost 100 USD, the original price would be 80 USD...so the ebay seller made 20 USD profit.

It has become quite a big thing in America and is slowly catching up in Asia...but with anything as usual...there is lot of issues, delayed shipping, etc as its the original company that sends not the person you brought products from, hence the delay.

The best way is to ask them...if they are into drop shipping...which usually means DELAY...because it has to come all the way from original manufacturers...The local distributors, shops do not own the product.

[Johnny1975]

But starchild, i only buy from ebay what i cant get in stores. In this case, batteries for old laptops and specialty items. You cant get that at a mall. Come on now. Im an expert bargain hunter and shopper. Rock may know some electronic bazaar in manila. But its not guaranteed that they have it. Plus its legwork to get there and traffic moves slowly in manila. On ebay i can buy something in a few minutes. Its super easy and convenient. So it saves me time and money. No contest.

Plus like i said ive used ebay for years and never had a problem. Ask others here. They will tell you the same thing. US sellers usually ship fast. So if you live in the US, ebay is ideal as long as you buy from highly rated sellers.

So i am not making an illogical decision. Also when you are in a rush, the universe likes to slow you down.

What does drop shipping mean?

Dropshipping is when you buy something from me, and I then buy it from someone else and have it sent to you. As far as you're concerned, the product is from me, but in reality, it's from wherever I get it from. And that's why you're getting items from places other than Hong Kong. If you buy something from Ebay or Amazon, most likely you're buying from someone who is doing dropshipping. For every time you notice something a bit unusual, there will be many other times when you won't notice anything.

You've almost certainly purchased from dropshippers countless times without even realizing. It's highly unlikely that these people in Hong Kong are siting on a pile of products. They're getting them from other sources. These people are running businesses. They have to get their products from somewhere. If someone told you that an item you ordered is no longer available, I'm sure you'd be disappointed. Be thankful that these people are willing to get your products from wherever they may be.

This is why you should stop wasting your time on this.

[Teal Lantern]

But i dont get why shipping takes 5 or 6 weeks now. In the US when i send a package from US to Asia by economy shipping, it usually arrives in a week and a half. So if the US postal service takes a week and a half to ship a package around the world via economy shipping, why would any shipping company take 5 or 6 weeks? Whats the logical reason?

The logical reason is, THEY BULK TRANSFER IT...They add up all the orders they have for one or two weeks and then mass ship it to that country,.....It saves them shipping charges. Dropshipping is the culprit plus VAT and Taxes...They are trying to save pennies. (snip)

Welcome to the new normal. In the last few years there have been a LOT of changes and few for the better.
I bought an item where the seller (allegedly in HK) gave me a bogus tracking number (to a french site) and, long story short, the item arrived after 9 weeks. I had given it up for dead.
My guess is the item was handed off 2 or 3 times before getting to me. What they can't hide is the shipping time.

More and more often, I'm filtering by item location. As more buyers do this, sellers will have to pretend they are shipping from places buyers haven't soured on. I'm already starting to see where you buy from someone supposedly in CA or TX and the payment goes to someone with straight up chinese characters for a name.
There's probably already a few threads about this on the trading forums.

[Winston]

Yeah that happened to me too. They gave me a fake tracking number and two websites to look it up. One gave an error message and the other said it was from israel. Lol. When i asked the seller about it, he changed his story and said that wasnt a tracking number. It was just a transaction number. So why did he tell me it was a tracking number that i could look up using two websites? Weird.

If ebay does nothing about this, we should report this to the BBB or ripoffreport.com.

[Rock]

Yeah that happened to me too. They gave me a fake tracking number and two websites to look it up. One gave an error message and the other said it was from israel. Lol. When i asked the seller about it, he changed his story and said that wasnt a tracking number. It was just a transaction number. So why did he tell me it was a tracking number that i could look up using two websites? Weird.

If ebay does nothing about this, we should report this to the BBB or ripoffreport.com.

Why don't you just vote w your feet the way most consumers do when they don't like a product or service?

[Teal Lantern]

Why don't you just vote w your feet the way most consumers do when they don't like a product or service?

I tried this (briefly) years ago. There ARE plenty of other venues, but most are too niche or introduce other limits and risks.
For all its fees & frustrations, if you're looking to trade something old, obscure, OOP, bulk industrial supply (often way cheaper than buying local), parts, etc., and have door to door service, ebay & amazon are where most of the action is.
It's great when it works. I do make more use of the Item location: US Only button, though.

[Mr S]

That email reply is totally the same way a Filipino resolves issues, apologizing profusely, puffing up the complainant, yet resolving absolutely nothing. A perfect job for a Filipino to do. Sounds like they resolved your issue without changing or doing anything ! This is what I deal with every time I call customer service in the Philippines, especially GLOBE, those incompetent bastards!

They do this to your face as well when there is a customer relations issue....

You basically have to call them on their bull shit and not let them get away with just flowery words to close out the complaint...

[Winston]

I just receieved this message from ebay customer service where they acknowledge that most sellers are using drop shipping.

Hello Winston,

A pleasant day to you!

Thank you for getting back with eBay Customer Service. I understand that you have concerns with some eBay sellers are they are not specifying the exact location from where the item came from and it is obvious that they are using drop shipping. I know how motivated you are to have this addressed as the delivery takes time and the estimated delivery dates are quite long. My name is Claire and it would be my pleasure to help you further today.

I would like to acknowledge you for being proactive about this issue to us and a behavior that we want all our members to have.

Winston, we are actually aware that most eBay sellers are using drop shipping and we are allowing it as long as the seller can guarantee that the item will be delivered in the time frame required by eBay. Sellers who choose to sell using this method are still responsible for the item and your satisfaction.

You'll find more information about product sourcing on this eBay help page:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/product_sourcing.html

Now, as the sellers you mentioned on your previous messages were already reported to our Trust and Safety team, reset assured that their selling activities will be reviewed carefully. And, if we found out that they are not following our guidelines then we will take the necessary actions to reprimand them.

Winston, I trust the information that I’ve provided has been both helpful and clearly explained things that your report matters to us as it helps eBay a better place for all online shoppers. Thanks for your kind understanding and cooperation. I wish you all the best on eBay!

I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to assist you today and for joining eBay since March 28, 2000. Wow! This year marked your 16th year with us. Thank you for your continued patronage and we look forward to more fruitful years of partnership with you!

May you have a wonderful day and wishing you and your family good health! Take care!

Thank you for choosing eBay and we truly value your business.

Yours sincerely,

Claire U.
eBay Customer Service

[Teal Lantern]

Looks like you may be left with shopping "earlier" than you need an item and/or asking sellers where the item is located.
I just remembered, sometimes when you ask the seller a question, they can see your zip code.

[xiongmao]

Buy on Amazon instead of eBay. A lot of stuff on Amazon is shipped from their own warehouses which saves time. Also if you order stuff that turns out to be junk, they normally side with the buyer. I just had a refund on something and I got to keep it.

[Winston]

Buy on Amazon instead of eBay. A lot of stuff on Amazon is shipped from their own warehouses which saves time. Also if you order stuff that turns out to be junk, they normally side with the buyer. I just had a refund on something and I got to keep it.

I love amazon too. But they are only good in the US. If you do international shipping it will cost a lot with amazon. eBay has lots of items with free shipping from asia. Or cheap shipping at least. Plus eBay has a lot of stuff that's outdated and hard to find. Amazon only has newer stuff. If you need a special battery or part, eBay is better for that.