How I (difficultly) resolved a lost parcel issue in five weeks of disputes

[onlyfreeman]

My case is an evidence of what you are saying. The seller's position in a mess created by the delivery service becomes crucial. If the seller refuses to cooperate and to investigate the loss, you get sunk into Kafkian loops.

Yeah basically, been there myself before, fortunately the item wasn't too expensive.

 

[JasonTheBirder]

Ah, the joys of eBay.

I've never used them, never will. Stories like this help me to feel vindicated.

I've bought dozens of items on eBay. There are some risks to it. But as long as the total loss is less than the total amount saved compared to buying elsewhere, it still makes sense to shop there as long as you can emotionally detach yourself from the problems. For example, I've definitely saved over a thousand dollars compared to shopping elsewhere. So, if every once in a while a hundred dollar package goes missing, I might not even care that much about it due to the positive expected value. (But just as an example, I've never had a problem in my roughly fifty transactions).

Of course, if you can't emotionally detach yourself, and become tormented over a problem, then that's a different story.

 

[onlyfreeman]

Pretty much, I've not had a problem with eBay as a buyer, their system is very protective of buyers.

Just follow all the eBay rules, notify the seller quickly of any problems etc, eBay will eventually sort out your problem in most cases.