General eBay Question

If the seller has a business, and sells items on eBay, they may have been closed till Monday... If they are orginized you should get an answer today or tomorrow. I'd give it till Thursday or so...

Longest I've waited is about 2 days, but deal mostly in the states, and have no idea what day or time the auction ended. ...To long ago... I've only made one foriegn purchase... from the UK.

At least you've still got your money and the problem isn't the other half of the transaction.

I'm assuming a wire transfer was one of their payment options?

@ Puppy Raiser: Thanks for your reply! No, it's not a professional or Power seller, but a private person (by my best guess). Wire transfer was not one of the payment options offered. Most payments in Germany are done - forgive my lack of proficiency with technical terms - directly from account to account. Money transfer? Direct deposit? I am not really sure what the English term is. It's very secure, but it requires the seller to contact the buyer via e-mail to submit the account information. (eBay Germany will store it for you, but many people do not seem to feel entirely at ease with leaving their account information for buyers to access.) I hope I'm explaining this comprehensibly...

What I'm worried about is getting negative feedback if, in case of some cosmic coincidence, the seller has not been able to reach ME. I have a clean slate (100% positive); on the other hand, I have already exchanged correspondence with the seller whose auction I won yesterday via Auction Sniper - it went smoothly as ever...

I know I should be more patient; I know that my concerns are probably silly and that the problem will vanish into thin air - so thanks for bearing with me!

streak

That's what I was calling a wire transfer. Seller supplies bank routing number and account number, and you do an account to account transfer.

You can get his/her contact information through eBay. Name and address, even their phone number. Under search Find members.

When I sell something, I always want my money as quickly as possible. I would never put off replying like they have done.

Wire transfer. All right. Got it. Forgive my ignorance, and thanks for the clarification! Unfortunately, the seller has not left his or her account details.

Apart from that, we are thinking the same thought - somehow you'd think the seller would want his or her money right after the auction. Then again, there could be a lot of plausible reasons why they're not answering.

On a completely different note and just out of curiosity, may I be permitted to ask what breed of dogs you raise?

I raise German Sheps, Labs, and Goldens for Leader Dogs for the Blind... Labs and Goldens for Paws with a Cause (Wheelchair assistance dogs).

WOW! (Enough said. I am the happy owner of a mixture between a Black Lab and a Dalmatian, in case you were interested.)

Most sellers seem to contact me right away, but I have a had a couple that took a week. I would not wait longer than that, especially if I had requested a total.

Welcome, Streak!

well, here's two reasons why I didn't respond right away to winning/selling in the past couple months. The firs time I ruptured a disc in my neck and was stuck in the hospital for 10 days. (had my hubby bring in my laptop so I could send some emails-but still couldn't pack/ship them until I got home... sure didn't plan on thathappening!! The second thing was when our basement office flooded and my main puter drowned (still grieving that one....backup your puters..backup your puters...backup your puters )
In other words sh!t happens!! Orrrr, if you got the item for too cheap they may just be ignoring you hoping you don't pay. I won an auction a while back and got it very cheap. Well, the item got "lost" in the mail,and the seller was way to anxious to refund my money. In reading her feedback this happens alot. I think she got an offer of more money and used "lost in the mail" as an excuse.

quote:

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I won an auction a while back and got it very cheap. Well, the item got "lost" in the mail,and the seller was way to anxious to refund my money.

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Mg, I just had that happen today. She said she would just refund to my paypal rather than me waiting for HER to collect the insurance for me in 30 days. Maybe she was being kind?

Streak

Could be that the seller bought the item from eBay US relisted on eBay UK but in between time is waiting for his stateside item to arrive.

It happens, bet you there is another similar item for sale somewhere on ebay anyway.

I'd definately give it a week, things do happen and sometimes life just gets in the way of this ebay stuff.

Way Way Way too many things could of happened to keep them offline.

What you could do though, is watch their feedback and userid and see if they post, send or leave feedback for any other auction winners around the same time

Hello everyone,

thank you so much for all your suggestions and comments! I wouldn't be so impatient; however, the item in question is a video I have been looking for for quite a while. It's the German edition (the seller is based in Regensburg, Germany), so I don't think it would be imported from the US or from the UK.

The video has come up for auction again by a different seller; the auction is due to end about four days from now. I am currently wondering whether or not to set a snipe...

@ Bartelby: I followed up on your suggestion, thank you very much! There seems to be a pattern - the seller last left feedback on March 24, a week ago. However, he or she has been receiving positive feedback for the past couple of days, with sometimes as much as three weeks between the end of the auction and the receipt of the feedback. Should've done my homework, shouldn't I?

As long as it still works out, I'm not going to be cross with the seller; if only they'd FINALLY send word. It's been five days, and I'm pretty cranky about it at the moment. So everyone, thanks for being here and holding my hand!

Mrs.M, well I thought that until I read her feedback. Too many lost items, and several negs. and neutrals. And she didn't even give me the tracking number or anything. I think it was deliberate in my case.

If she does this all the time, then I would not be too merciful, MG!

What if - in any of the cases mentioned - the seller retaliated by leaving negative feedback? I have 46 positives under my belt; a negative sure would hit me hard.

streak

Did you have a look and see if they have left negatives for others? Use >>this<< tool.

I wouldnt be too concerned with a NEG, you can reply with your side of the story and if you were buying off me, a Neg for that reason wouldnt bother me.

Unless there are numerous negs, all to do with the same issue - I dont worry too much

If you are a buyer, I would not be to concerned about having a negative added. A seller is covered, because they still have the item till it's paid for.

I am much more concerned about feedback of those I buy from, than the ones that buy from me.

If you get a negative, keep a level head... (no name calling now... be professional...) respond and say what really happened. Those that look at feedback will be able to see for themselves.

Believe it or not, I just wanted to let all my supporters here know that the deal HAS FINALLY BEEN CLOSED SUCCESSFULLY! It took six weeks, but I DID receive my video today!

So, everyone, thanks for seeing me through this with your kind and abundant advice!

Streak

Sorry to get off of the subject, but Streak - what part of Germany are you in? I lived there for about 5 1/2 years and I'm just curious.

Crafty

Craft, you there service related?

@ Crafty: I'm from Bamberg, in the Upper Franconian area of Bavaria. It's about 40 miles north of Nuremberg. (Let me know in case you need another point of reference!)

Where did you live? I hope you enjoyed your stay in Germany!

Yes, I was in the Army while I was there.

I was stationed in Hanau, worked in Buedingen and lived in a REAL TINY town of Mittelgrundau. I returned back to the states for about a year and then got stationed in Augsburg.

My oldest daughter was born in Gelnhausen. I loved it over there and I would go back in a heartbeat.

When I lived in Mittelgrundau, my 18 m/o son used to walk to the the "grocery" store (for lack of a better term) to get himself a piece of candy, then to the meat market for some bierschienken (can't spell - sorry) and would finish his trip by stopping at the biermeister to get 2 bottles of beer for him and Opa. We were the only Americans in the town at the time and we were very well known. It was probably the only reason that Frank got away with his "shopping{ trips. Every 2 weeks I made the same rounds to pay off his tab! lol

I lived next door to an SS officer. He was a really sweet man and I always baked him chocolate chip cookies. Senility had set in for this man and according to his daughter, up until he passed away, the only thing he ever talked about was the American who would bring him cookies.

We loved it over there and once we realized that as long as we "TRIED" the German people were the friendliest people around. Germany has some of the mos beautiful lands and the best people. We were acutally (not literally) "adopted" by a German family and we later found out that this was the highest compliment that could be paid.

Guess I better ush, once I start talking about Germany - I never know when to HUSH!!

Crafty

I was also in the army. As an MP, I once spent three days in Hanau, at the 709th batallion's post there. I did not do much, since we were on our way to Grenada.

Wow, lots of veterans around here. I served with the German Army's 1st Mountain Division in Kempten and Ingolstadt, put in for a transfer to the II. German-American Corps in Ulm and was lucky enough to be accepted as a medic in their Military Police (four years altogether). Originally, I wanted to join the Navy, but since the German Navy exclusively accepts nonswimmers, I was kicked out of the running right then and there. I am now some sort of "weekend warrior" or reservist, mainly publicity stuff, but every once in a while I get a chance to train German and American recruits in first aid. Our partnership outfit is the Bamberg garrison's 72nd Engineer Brigade, by the way. I have fond memories of all those joint operations.

I greatly enjoyed your accounts, Crafty - what with your son going shopping and all! And I am glad you had a good time in Germany. Augsburg is not too far away from where I live, neither by American nor by German standards. The Fugger Merchant's Guild lends quite a history to the city. I know Hanau, Buedingen and Gelnhausen, but I have never heard of Mittelgrundau. There are a lot of American officers and their families around the suburb where I live.

Chatter, one of my boys, in the AF, was also involved in Grenada.
Streak, are you familiar with Weimer , Germany?

@ Mrs. M.: I don't mean to be a wiseass, but could that be "WeimAr"? A friend of mine lives only about 20 miles away from there, if that's the place you have on your mind. It's where Goethe and Schiller did the most significant portions of their work. However, I don't really know if a lot is going on there with regards to Armed Forces personnel. (There's more of a presence in the bigger cities of the area, such as Dresden and Leipzig.)

Streak, yes and no... both are correct.
("Gauforum Weimer"), Weimer, Germany...both spelling are correct, depending on the era.

I am in the military, I've been to Germany and I once bought some petrol at Exeter's Granada Services but I don't like to talk about it in this section of the forum...

Flame away...

R2

Right, lets drop it down to General!

@ Mrs. M.: Like I said before, I am extremely sorry in case I have given the impression of being a smartass. Would you happen to know the state of Germany your family is from? I tracked down a WeimEr in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, while WeimAr is located in Thuringia, about three hours north of the Bavarian border. Do you speak any German?

@ region2: I have nothing to hide! My tours of duty were not exactly the "Black Ops" kind!

Here I go again -

Chatter, my husband was an MP. He was the desk sergeant in Gelnhausen. I didn't mind it too much, except when all of the terrorists threats came down the line and kept putting certain areas off limits. There was one night that there was "threat" that Fulda, Gelnhausen, Hanau, NCO clubs and a couple of other places were all set to be bombed at the same time. Thankfully it never happened, but the MP station in Gelnhausen was next door to the NCO club! Were you there the night that "Jaws" and the "Muppets" kept playing over the radios?

Crafty

I am afraid I was at Hanau only for three uneventful days in 1983, on the way to Grenada. I mostly slept and wrote home.

There were 2 MP battalions out of Hanau - can't remember the numbers, but one of the groups were ROYAL dirtbags and had a very bad habit of going out somewhere and going to sleep during the graveyard shift. My husband got tired of it and when he was on one of his "breaks," he made a cassette tape that had the theme froms "Jaws," "muppets" and some other really crazy songs. One night he proceeeded to play this cassette over the MP radios. It was a clear night and sound traveled for miles! Hubby said that he got a couple of calls over the radio from Fulda wanting to know if anybody had heard all of the strange music playing? Hubby said "yes," but that he didn't have any idea of where it was coming from! lol

Crafty

Streak, ich spreche einige Deutsche, aber nicht, sowie Sie sprechen Englisch! Ich werde nach dem Zustand fragen. Danke!

@ Mrs. M.: Das ist grossartig! Ich bin sehr gespannt, aus welchem Staat Ihre Familie stammt. Sprechen hier alle ein wenig Deutsch?

@ Crafty: That's hilarious! I had a funny experience with an American sergeant in Ulm: We were on guard duty, with the guard post set back about 200 yards from the actual gate. A greenhorn private was at the gate and would call in every couple of minutes with yet another question - which is a good thing in general, of course, it's just that the sergeant was a bit ticked off with him after about two hours. So the next time the phone rang, the sergeant picked up and, instead of giving his name, said, "What the f*** is it now?" The voice that came back from the other end asked, "Do you know who this is?", to which the sergeant truthfully responded, "No." The caller said, "This is Lieutenant General [name withheld]." The sergeant replied, "Well, do you know who THIS is?"; the general said, "No." To which the sergeant answered, "Good", and hung up. He then turned to me, suggested that we call in an early replacement and go grab something to eat quickly. Luckily enough, the private at the gate was too dumb to remember our names when the general showed up about half an hour later.

The post that we visited was the 709th MP batalion.

Streak,Meinen Sie auf dem Forum oder wo meinen Sie, dass wir ein kleiner Deutscher sprechen?

For everyone else... he wants to know if we all speak a little German...I think! I asked, did he mean here in the forum or?

@ Mrs. M.: Ihr Deutsch ist prima! Ich meine generell, nicht hier im Forum. Ich frage, weil so viele Mitglieder hier schon in Deutschland waren!

I mean in general, not here on the forum. I asked because so many members here seem to have been to Germany!

Not me... ... but I've been to Canada.