renaldow

About 3 days ago I win an auction on Ebay. I go to the 'Pay Now' button and the seller only lists an email address. I want to send a money order (which is accpetable payment per the terms of the auction) but can't because I don't know who to send it to, or where to send it. I send an email to the seller asking him for this information. He doesn't send me a reply, but sends me an Ebay invoice, which of course doesn't list his name or address on it anymore than the 'Pay Now' feature did.

Repeat that same process 3x. I've sent him email explaining that his invoices do not have contact info and that I need that to pay. It's like he doesn't believe it or doesn't bother reading what I've written and just keeps sending me an Ebay invoice with no information on it.

He's running other auctions right now for the same item, it's not unique so I don't think there is any foul play there. He has put minimum prices on the auctions that were higher than my winning bid though. I'm wondering if he's basically ignoring me because it sold lower than he'd wanted.

What I'd really like an opinion on is should I keep emailing him everyday, and how long should I wait before leaving negative feedback?

Heat

Send him one last email saying that you need his mailing address to send him a money order, that you really want to mail the money order to him (and you have it), but the invoice doesn't have an address to send it to.

If he ignores it or just sends you an invoice, wait until ten days go by and then leave him negative feedback. Something along the lines of: Ignored 5 emails asking for address to send payment to. Avoid. F-

PeMo

I would also let him know in the next email you send to him that you will leave him negative feedback if he doesn't send you his address. That way he can't act surprised when you do it.

And keep a copy of all correspondence between yourself and the seller in case of a dispute - most likely he/she will leave you negative feedback if you do for them.

renaldow

I think I will do that. I'll send 1 more letter tomorrow restating everything and advising him that I'm going to leave negative feedback if I don't hear anything.

rdodolak

You may want to try contacting some of the winning bidders for his previous auctions to see if they have any info. The only way to do that though would be to send an email through ebay mail system.

BigT

Are you certain that the address isn't listed in the invoice? In an auction I just ran, I sent an invoice (which I received a copy of) and it did list my address. It was about 3/4 of the way down.

Anyway, I certainly wouldn't use feedback as a negotiating point - it's against Ebay rules for one thing. Negative feedback is always implied when dealing with someone you're having problems with, but I wouldn't come right out and threaten the seller with it.

Ebay used to allow buyers to look up the sellers address, but this option apparently has been taken away (at least I can't figure out how to do it).

renaldow

Yes, I'm sure it's not there. In your auction it was on the invoice because at some point you told Ebay to actually list it there. Here's what it says on his under address:

The seller has not provided their payment address. Please email the seller for this information before continuing.

As for tracking the seller down through previous bidders, that's a good idea but I would never do that. It's enough that I won the auction and want to give him money. I shouldn't have to play detective to figure out who I'm sending the dough to. If he doesn't want to give an address then he's telling me he doesn't want the cash and he wants negative feedback.

UPDATE: I sent 1 last email to him before calling it good, no threats, etc. just basically said, "look pal, I need to know who you are to send you the money. I've got the money right here, it wants to be mailed to you." I actually got a reply back. It's in Engrish and I think the seller is more ESL and Ebay handicapped than anything else.

Thanks for the help!

tasha99

Sounds like this is over, but for future reference, if someone isn't responding to emails, call them. In this day and age long distance is no big deal, and it's worth it to try to work things out amicably rather than give up and leave bad feedback when one method fails.

tasha