It has recently dawned on me, that a parcel that was so called lost by Australia Post may of not been sent. Please Be Aware that many online sellers, are drop sellers, and sell items that come out of a warehouse, that they have no control over. I had ordered a car part off Ebay, and it was rendered that it was lost in the post. I did get a refund, but only a couple of days ago, the same seller was selling more, saying that he had 10 in stock. I had called him, to make sure that he had physical stock, which he didn’t would be coming from a warehouse, I asked if this warehouse is the Australian Distributor of this product, he said yes, I said well how come are they advertising stock which the so called distributor says it does not have any stock and will not be available until late December, and or January, to me on the never ever, as they have said to me so many different dates and still advertise that they have stock when they sure do not, I thought this was illegal to say you have stock when you do not, and take people;s money. Too many businesses operate this way, even if they are drop selling, so be ware.
Welcome to the community @jaysblueaus,
Yours is a good observation. While ebay and similar seller marketplaces are known to preference their paying clientele (eg advertisers) it never hurts to lodge a complaint through their processes. As a number of community members posted ebay, for one, seems to care little about dodgy sellers using various dodgy tactics.
Unfortunately there is no way to tell the good from the poor from the dodgy beyond whatever user feedback or online reviews (suspect/managed on some platforms) are shown, and in recent times that seems to be evolving to make relevant negative feedback more difficult all the time through posting it or finding it. Yet it is what is available to we customers to assess an online merchant.
I find some sellers (on ebay) say they have sent something even if its the middle of the night where they are. I never believe its on the way until I get a notification from Auspost that its coming.
Hi & welcome to the community.
I have moved your post to an existing thread which covers issues with eBay.
Unfortunately, we consumers at the very bottom tip of the eBay iceberg, and unfortunately due to a lack of transparency don’t get to see or know what actually goes on.
Thanks for your timely pre-Xmas warning
I bought the item on ebay, leather shoes. I haven’t worn them in a while, and when I put them on, I saw that the skin was crumbling, that it was faux leather. I demanded a refund, but the seller refused. ebay closed the complaint. The seller said with the help of a lawyer will do his best not to return the money to me. Paypal wrote that I have 10 days to send the package to the seller. I sent tracked. The seller did not accept the parcel. And Paypal says I sent it to the wrong address. I presented a check with the city name and index, photographed the parcel with the correct address, that returned. Paypal still says I sent it to the wrong address that I need to send the certificate to. I wrote, that I can to receive a certificate, but not in English. Paypal wrote to send the parcel again to the correct address. There is no real help.
Welcome to the community.
I have moved your post to an existing thread which covers issues with PayPal and eBay.
Have a read through the preceding posts to see that you are not alone.
Usually, there is a limited “warranty” period in which you can make claims. From what you have written it is likely that you exceeded that period.
Not necessarily. It may be that the outer very thin layer is leather bonded to synthetic materials. You have to read the descriptions and look at the pictures very, very carefully. I have found that on Chinese products the term ‘leather’ is used very liberally to cover a broad range of things.
This is a very common complaint, and as you have found out, eBay & PayPal are very difficult to penetrate to get any real assistance. Getting to talk to a human being in these organisations is nigh on impossible for mere mortals like us.
I would be guessing that the seller is from overseas which means that products can be a lot cheaper than in Australia, or you can find products not available in Australia. The downside is that if the seller being overseas, it severely limits your avenues for assistance and any sort of recompense.
I think that you have to chalk this down to experience and next time make sure firstly that the seller has a very high approval rating, and secondly that the description of the item is EXACTLY what you are wanting to buy.
Paypal – 1800 073 263 (within Australia, landline only) or +61 2 8223 9500 as listed in
As for ebay, a year or two ago I ventured through the resolution pages, got a ticket number, and talked to a human. This page goes through the how to get there - unless it has changed.
Whether a human will provide a more sympathetic ear is a secondary matter.
More than likely it is what is called bonded leather. It is known to crack and fall apart. Since it is leather not all sellers call it bonded leather but it should be a requirement although not.
We unknowingly bought a bonded leather tub chair sold as ‘leather’ from a reputable furniture shop. It started peeling at about 5 years. Considering the low original price we decided it was not a good purchase but we got our dollars worth of utility from it. We put a cover on it and kept it another few years. That was our introductory encounter with the product.
Another issue with modern shoes is they often have shelf lives after which the high tech materials start decomposing. It is most common in sports shoes but can happen with any.
I would only use paypal if dealing with an individual who cant take a credit card. It is easier to dispute a transaction via a bank than via paypal.
It was really synthetic leather. The description and photos were good, with only one negative review about the seller. I sent the item for a refund on time as said paypal. But an ebay seller wrote in a message that with the help of a lawyer, he would not refund me anyway. So he did not accept the parcel either. Ebay and paypal have seen those posts. But accused me of sending it to the wrong address. Probably a lawyer tried to put pressure on paypal.
Isn’t one part of the business model for online marketing and payment platforms based on trust? Blind faith that every one out to sell to a consumer is impeccable and honest.
At least that would appear to be the positioning of EBay and PayPal. This leaves it for consumers purchasing the marketed services or products to be the front line. To be the ones verifying which suppliers are not worthy of being on the platform.
To some it must seem it’s akin to paying to volunteer to be a random victim in a game show. In a twist those who are not selected as victims get a prize equal in value to their fully paid entry fee.
For a more informed and balanced view.
- Are there reliable figures on the numbers of disputed sales, customers, and sellers?
- What’s the total value of the claims and what percentage is reimbursed?
- How many consumers just write of a poor experience as not worth the trouble?
I am the opposite: I do not want my credit card details to be held by a couple of hundred different sellers, hence Paypal works for me. There are alternatives in other countries. For instance, a company called Privacy lets its (US users) create virtual credit cards per merchant and put other limits on how the virtual card can be used.
