Elusive Sellers GRRRRRRRR!

[redmerlin777]

Yet again I have bought something oneBid. Yet again I have had to chase up a seller all over the internet!
OK! I only paid £ 3.99. OK! This time I forgot to ask for an invoice before paying.
Yup! I sent a question to the seller. "Have you posted my item"?
Yup! I checked their "About Me" page and sent them an eMail asking the same question (Of course I put in all the sales details and a link to the sales page)
Yup it is a "Run until Sold" item (I should have known!!!)
Yup! I found them on Facebook and posted on their wall, the same details.
Then , of course! Silly me! I had forgotten to check if they have actually logged into eBid recently.
NOPE! last visit was Sun 23 Oct 2011 07:53
Sigh!
Next step if I don't hear from them is an email to support.

These elusive and forgetful sellers are doing us conscientious sellers a huge amount of damage.
One bad experience will put a buyer off for good and eBid will have the reputation of not coming up with the goodies! I suspect this reputation is already being mumbled about.

Would it be a good idea if sellers who have not logged on for a while get a gentle prod from support? or "run until sold" items get removed after a set period of time. I wouldn't mind if it had only happened once... but it's happened several times now to me. I really get fed up chasing these people round the WWW !!!!

[HerMajesty]

I've found the best bet is to ask a question first. If I get a timely response, then I buy, ask for invoice, and wait. When I get the invoice, I pay. ....all this if the seller has not been seen selling recently.

I agree with the 'gentle prod' from support, or putting items in a holding pen for awhile pending log-in or activity. It is a turn-off to potential buyers, whether they are new or old here.

[redmerlin777]

I've found the best bet is to ask a question first. If I get a timely response, then I buy, ask for invoice, and wait. When I get the invoice, I pay. ....all this if the seller has not been seen selling recently.

I agree with the 'gentle prod' from support, or putting items in a holding pen for awhile pending log-in or activity. It is a turn-off to potential buyers, whether they are new or old here.

Very sound advice Your Majesty... I will do all this in future ( Unless I know the buyer comes in here regularly)...But what a hassle!!!

[HerMajesty]

Red....I agree with my own advice, funnily enough, but I think eBid powers that be should try to figure out something to limit these occurances. Once you have been here awhile, you might be aware to do the question routine.........but newbies don't, and shouldn't really have to know to do that, IMHO.

[BAGHAG999]

Well if they have the time to mess about on Facebook it shouldant be a problem to reply to a simple query by mail.

This problem does need resolving.

[astral276]

Recent posts (and the help file) would indicate that RUS items are removed if the seller does not log in for a period. That period is unclear; I thought it was originally set at 356 days (which is too long), the help files said (until recently) deleted 180 days after last seller login - but that suddenly changed to 'an extended length of time' (whatever that means).

The only way to totally get rid of the RUS problem is to get rid of RUS itself. However, used properly, it is a very useful option for some sellers. So why should they be penalised? Maybe restricting its availability to Seller+ Lifetime accounts would help, by requiring a commitment from a seller before they can access it.

It is a subject that has been beaten to death before though, so I don't see any quick fix to the absentee seller/RUS issue.

[florida33549]

Sigh. Thought this problem would have been addressed by eBid admin by now, but apparently not. I do wish they would fix this problem as it does the site harm. Newbies should not have to go through the leaps and bounds you have encountered to purchase an item. As we all know, the buyer will not come back.

[BLOXBOOKS]

I think the last item I bought was an auction, I asked for an invoice just to make sure the seller was active.......I asked again a couple of days later.........and then again........and then again......after about two weeks I give up.......

[Sciworks]

The problem isn't logging in, it's that the seller isn't checking their email address registered to eBid.

I have email alerts and (because eBay has one) app alerts on my X10 Android and I check my mail at least once a day on the PC.

These alerts always tell me if I have sold something on eBid, eBay or my website, I don't have to log on to any of them to check for sales.

I have purchased items from eBid over the past three months, the first seller took over a week to send the item, with no communication in the mean time. The other items I purchased where sent reasonbaly quickly, but I get the feeling communication on eBid is treated as a chore.

I am a top rated seller on eBay and communication with the buyer is what I get praised for all the time. I even keep a track on their items and tell them if a delivery attempt has been made and that the item is in the sorting office, a tracking app on my Android helps with this. I do this becasue 'tried to deliver' cards are not always left and the item will come back to me.

[florida33549]

I think the last item I bought was an auction, I asked for an invoice just to make sure the seller was active.......I asked again a couple of days later.........and then again........and then again......after about two weeks I give up.......

Well I hope you left appropriate feedback for the seller and let eBid admin know about the seller so they could take appropriate action.