How often is your ebay purchase or sale “Lost”?
Aspie_Rocco
Posts: 3,259 ✭✭✭✭✭
I had another cherry pick not arrive this week. It seems to be once a month or every other month that I order some thing on eBay, the seller creates a label and then nothing ever happens after the tracking is uploaded.
This seems to happen only with Auctions I win, and more commonly as a single bidder. It has happened with various sellers more than 6 times this year.
Typically I would chalk it up to the numbers and averages, however, I sometimes have the paranoid thought that they never actually mailed the coin and or figured out it was a variety.
As a seller I have never had a package have a disappearing scenario like I have been experiencing. I do pay at the counter and hand over packages in person 90% of the time.
Thoughts?
Among the lost this year
First class packages
Pcgs CAC seated dime, 45 P ddr nickel, 43 P DDO
Raw nickels 1930 ddr, 43 P DDO, 39 DDO, 31 s ddr
5 ebay tracking packages never arrived in addition to the above numbers
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/publishedset.aspx?s=142753
https://www.autismforums.com/media/albums/acrylic-colors-by-rocco.291/
Comments
I have never had a package disappear. USPS is awesome BTW
I have had a very few lowlife sellers cancel the sale after I have paid and always with some super lame lying ass reason.
Bad sellers.
USPS does not lose that many packages. I ship over 1000 per year and they never lose more than one and I just dump them in the package bin
Never.
Although three times in the last 6 months I've had the seller tell me, after the purchase, "I can't find the coin(s)".
If we were all the same, the world would be an incredibly boring place.
Tommy
Never here as well. I've also never gotten the lost coins treatment.
Of course, I probably buy fewer coins so my percentage would be lower. I still think its only a matter of time though.
Coin Photographer.
Hardly ever. Perhaps your seller not coming thru on deal.
I have had this happen twice. Cherrypick on ebay, brag about it here and suddenly the seller can't find it or sold it at a show. So I am trying to not say anything until I get the coin, but it's so hard. lol
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
I’ll echo the rest of the comments on here that it’s most likely bad sellers. I had one default on me two months ago for a Morgan than I won at $40 and he wouldn’t send it to me because he claimed it was worth $500. Extra annoying because it was the very last Morgan that I needed to complete my date/mint mark set lol. I reported him to eBay and got a refund but he’s still selling coins right now on the site so IMHO that goes to show you who eBay values between buyers and sellers.
I bought a coin on eBay that was a rare variety and paid immediately by PayPal. The dealer claimed he couldn't find it and quickly returned my payment. He really squealed like a stuck pig when I gave him a negative and ruined his 100% positive rating.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
That's just silly. Based on posts on this forum, buyers abuse eBay policy at least as often (if not moreso) than sellers. And if you have any doubts about who eBay might favor, take a look at who can get negative feedback and who can't.
My loss rate is comparable. The USPS does lose things, but not that often and I'd bet a fairly large percentage of those "lost" shipments went to the wrong address and the recipient didn't return the item to the post office.
Anything like buyers would squeal over getting a neg for doing something stupid back when feedback for buyers actually meant something?
I have ordered through eBay hundreds of times since 2019 and had one lost, which was for three Lincoln Cents. The seller refunded the small amount, all is good.
@Aspie_Rocco Very bad luck for that to happen so many times.
I suspect the sellers probably did not discover the varieties. When this has happened to me, it has usually been with very inexperienced (low feedback) sellers, and it was my impression that they were just unsatisfied with the final sale price due to ignorance & unrealistic expectations.
The few packages I have lost shipping I strongly suspect the buyers were just taking advantage of the USPS failing to scan a package as delivered. The last one the buyer filed an item not received in less than a week! He actually said he has lost 25 packages in the last year! Go Figure! The only package I have lost on the receiving in was a blankety blank return on a properly graded and imaged PCGS graded coin. My PO had some newbies and they obviously but in the wrong box of a dishonest person who did not return an item that wasn't theirs.
Twice in 10 years on international packages. The packages were both lost in customs. I have also had one domestic package (books) and one other international package lost in customs but not through ebay. None were "cherry-picks". I have hundreds of successful international purchases to offset these.
I had a similar situation occur where the buyer said he never received the shipment. I took a look at the buyer's feedback left and nearly half of the most recent 25 feedbacks he left were for sellers where the item was "not received".
Perhaps I haven’t been on this forum enough to see all the posts on buyer abuse. What percentage of active posters on here would consider themselves eBay sellers vs buyers though? In any event I wish that eBay had a zero tolerance policy on failure to transact for both buyers and sellers.
Many are both like myself!
I just got a refund today for a coin today that was shipped on the 5th. It was a BIN purchase. And it made it from the post office to a distribution center before the trail went cold. The seller said he called the hub twice. If it ever shows up I'm going to let him know.
I also sold a coin in May that disappeared. I think the customer may have eventually gotten it, but I can't say for sure.
Prior to that I had never had usps lose a coin.
As for the OP's situation, if they created a label and there was never an update of it even reaching the post office, I would say it probably never got shipped out.
Twice since 2004 I've had two sellers tell me they couldn't find the coin after I paid. One was for a Feuchtwanger cent, the other one I forgot. Always on an auction. I'm pretty sure if the ending price was higher, the coins would have never gotten "lost". In both cases I never left feeback and was nice about. The seller even sent me a thank you card for my understanding.
Don't know- couldn't say.
The seller claimed that he "lost" a coin that I bought and paid for. Should I have given him positive feedback?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Not just here,, but in many places nowadays I notice that a lot of people assume everyone is dishonest (except themselves of course). I also notice that a lot of these same people "cut corners" when it suits them.
You didn't answer my question.
Sorry. I thought it was a rhetorical question. If 'I were a buyer and got a negative that I deserved, I wouldn't whine but I'd learn from my mistake, and try to do better next time. That said, I always be sure to pay promptly and I have always gotten excellent feedback. The guy that I gave the neg to probably gave me less than stellar feedback but I never bothered to check.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
No, the answer was intended to point out that it's not just sellers who are unhappy to get negative feedback (not that that is an option for buyers anymore). In the situation you described, if he deliberately didn't send the coin, he deserved a neg. If he actually did lose it, he didn't deserve a neg. JMO, of course.
Interesting. It must have been worth a lot. What was its true MV vs what U paid?
I did lose one this year via usps, that I had forgotten about. I sent a pair of blue 1961 Jefferson Nickels to crazyhounddog to photograph and when he got the envelope it was torn open and one was missing. Rats.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Please...spare me.
The sellers all think eBay favors the buyers. The buyers all think eBay favors the sellers.
I also learned that hard lesson here a few years back. Never talk about a pick here until it arrives.
Also, use extreme caution posting live ebay listings here, someone will snatch it out from under you.
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/publishedset.aspx?s=142753
https://www.autismforums.com/media/albums/acrylic-colors-by-rocco.291/
Somebody can forget to remove a coin they sold at a show the eBay listing later sells and they get negged by an angry buyer. Of course 4 sure somebody should not say they shipped a coin and they did not.
I had a return hassle where they never returned it or provided tracking so they lost their case (14 day return period) and kept trying get me refund money. I simply told them “no refund per ebay decision.” My policy - all online sales final after the 14 day return period. Sight seen (shows) all sales final. They sent emails asking if I got it - I had not received it back and never have so replied no each time. Finally they gave up. Lots of nut cases out there.
I've sold somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 million dollars worth of coins on eBay over the years. Every buyer got the coin that was pictured/described and none have lost even a penny dealing with me. The only negs I've received have come from people with a very loose grasp on reality ("Coin looked bigger in the picture", anyone?) And yet- in every dispute that's been initiated by a buyer, eBay assumes the problem is due to something I did/didn't do.
Just sayin'.
Like I said, it’s my opinion and as such it’s obviously biased and shaped from my own experiences as a buyer. I agree with your statement above but I have a right to express my opinion and you can feel free to agree, disagree or eyeroll as you please.
No question, it is a one sided affair, like most things these days, but still the best coin venue next to a large coin show and still with better long run results. There will, most likely, always be sellers, but not true of buyers, so I guess ebay protects them regardless of the issue.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
I'm not arguing otherwise. I've done well selling there but eBay's coddling (read: allowing buyers to violate eBay's stated policies) has cost me money. The OP didn't get the coins he expected but I'll bet he won't lose any money on the deals.
Buyer will no doubt get his refund, but a cherry pick's value is not refundable, if so.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Not every rare variety is worth a lot of money. Where did you ever get that idea? It was an 1854 Type II gold dollar with a sharply double punched date in an early small ANACS slab. I thought it was very cool variety and I wanted to add it to my collection. I have no idea what the market value premium is for this variety but it is listed in Breen's Encyclopedia of US coins. I'm a collector and not a dealer looking for a coin to flip for a profit.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Pretty similar for me. But I think ebay is a little more balanced than a lot of other sellers.
About a year ago I found on eBay a rare War Savings stamp affixed to a vintage savings stamp folder. I won it for a bargain price and paid immediately. Shortly after, the seller refunded me and sent me a message stating that their dog had chewed it up. They literally used the "dog ate my homework" excuse.
I messaged them back and stated:
"If you don't want to sell it then just say so. Fabricating a lame excuse makes you a liar. Send me a photo of the mangled item or it didn't happen.".
I was never able to get a reply from them after that.
Isn't it still ebay policy that the seller doesn't get paid until they ship? As long as they print a shipping label they get paid, doesn't mean they shipped it.
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
I had a problem a couple of months ago. I was never given a tracking number. It never showed up. At 30 days I filed it as never delivered. I feel like it was never shipped. I got my money back in two days. Item was an airbrush for another hobby.
I don't know of any eBay sellers that will ship before they get paid.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I hope you gave them a negative. Bad sellers need to be exposed.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
This is incorrect.
I do not buy much on ebay.... I did years ago in the early times (late nineties, early '00's), but not now. I will say that the purchases I have made this year (probably eight or so and perhaps only two coins), all went extremely well. Cheers, RickO
When I first started selling coins on eBay all went well for quite a while. But in the past few months, several of my packages have been lost in postal transit. Seems like they all reach the PO where they going and disappear from there, never reaching the buyer. This is happening more and more lately.
We ship out somewhere between 45,000-50,000 packages a year, so we actually have a fairly decent sample size.
First, you need to break it down further by the type of package.
International shipments inherently have a higher likelihood of going missing, especially in higher risk countries.
Secondly, if we are talking about eBay specifically, the eBay Standard Envelopes which they introduced last year have a much higher rate of not showing delivery. Many times, these simply do not receive all of the scans they are supposed to along the way. Sometimes these arrive without receiving a single scan along the way!
If we are talking about just Priority and First Class mail, rate of shipments going missing for the last year is around 1/800. There are also certain areas where mail seems to just disappear- Have a client who orders multiple times a week in Kentucky and he had 3 separate packages disappear at the Louisville facility in the span of a month. Other 'black holes' seem to be Cincinnati, Springfield MA, Baltimore, and Phoenix.
Justin Meunier
Boardwalk Numismatics
Correct- this is incorrect. I don't print labels for everything. Sometimes, I use stamps.
I’m curious, the OP said lost First Class with tracking correct? What happened to the parcels?
If they show any scans then it has nothing to do with Ebay…
Haven’t had anything go missing, but three to four weeks from shipment to delivery is getting to be the norm. God help anyone who has to go through a Seattle area hub.