What are some of the problems and what do you do?

What are some of the problems that you can encounter on ebay?

Well, you can buy something and not receive it.

How long should you wait for your item to arrive? I generally send things out either the day I am paid (if I haven't gone to the post office yet) or the next day. When I am in NY or away from home I do let the buyer know where I am and when I will be home. I let them know when their item will go out. I ship MOST everything via USPS Priority Mail. It is fast (2-3 days and sometimes if people live in the Northeast, the item is received the day after they have paid for it). So people are very happy with me in that regard! But when I buy something on ebay I know that I shouldn't expect things that quickly. Well, it seems that I should - but I know that not everyone ships the way I do.

The post office is down the road from my house - that gives me a big advantage. I pack things up at night - pile them up at the front door and if I'm going to work on a particular day - my dear husband does me the favor and takes the packages for me.

Not everyone has that advantage and perhaps don't go to the post office everyday. I understand that and do try to have patience while waiting for my purchase. Oh - the need for immediate gratification!

BUT after I've waited a full week since my payment (and I pay immediately upon purchase) I email the seller and ask where my item is. If you don't get an answer - that is generally a sign of a problem and I suggest you go to the page of the item you have won. You can go to MY EBAY - look on the left side - for items WON and click on the item in question.

First - go to CONTACT seller and send an email through ebay asking where your item is - even asking for the tracking number. If you don't get an answer within 24 hours I suggest the next step.

You can click on SHOW PAYPAL PAYMENT. I always suggest that you use PAYPAL - I will talk about that in another post......after you have logged onto PAYPAL you will see the page that shows your payment. As you scroll down you will see the following:

Need help? If you have problems with a transaction or would like assistance settling a dispute with your seller, visit the Resolution Center. PayPal strongly recommends attempting to resolve this issue directly with the merchant or seller whenever possible.

Go to the Resolution Center by clicking on Resolution Center on that PayPal page.....and follow the steps from there.

I use this when a person doesn't pay me within 7 days and I generally get paid within 24 hours.

You should also put in a complaint with EBAY. Also on MY EBAY page on the left hand side all the way at the bottom is DISPUTE COUNSEL. Click on that and you can fill in the information and ebay will send the seller an email. I have used this approach and it has usually worked.

I will admit that eBay is a fabulous market place - but you do want to become buyer savvy - don't bid on big ticket items until you have really bought lots of little things first. You really don't want to get burned buying something expensive. There are things that you must learn and the best way to learn is by buying some little things - things that you want or use or will be buying someplace else anyway....get the experience that you need and then GO FOR IT! It's fun, you can find really great value and then perhaps you'll even start selling things yourself!

Don't forget to check my items.......

The link to my ebay items is: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZilovemygirls3QQhtZ-1