Oleg23

Do not buy from amazon market place it took 7 days for the seller to tell me item Is out of stock and it was removed from seller's website (eforcity.com) so what do you call this: http://www.eforcity.com/014381898125.html

Still waiting for over 7 days for other seller to ship my movie.

DisneyDVDFAN

I sell on Amazon marketplace I always ship my orders out same day or next day So it is who you buy from READ FEEDBACK ratings before buying ...

Oleg23

I did and feedback was good.

DisneyDVDFAN

hmmm sorry sometimes those bigger merchants who sell on amazon and their own online website do this all the time ... not in stock etc...
Sorry your experience was bad ...

You can file with amazon for your money and remember to leave feedback so other folks can know before buying...

kintnerboy

I sell on Amazon Marketplace and ship orders in 12 hours. Unfortunately I have done 30+ transactions and not a single person has left feedback, which doesn't help me at all.

When I buy from Amazon, I look for someone who took the time to type the dvd title or UPC code in their description.

Most people who's descriptions say "Plays great!" or "Brand New" and little more are probably drop-shippers who don't store inventory and don't pay any attention to in-print or out-of-print titles.

There are lots of good people on Amazon, but I avoid the bigger companies.

DisneyDVDFAN

yeah same here no feedback from most of the BUYERS very annoying sometimes ;( they get there product fast and well described and still nothing ...

Oleg23

I have contacted the seller about other item should not take long to ship from TN to AL.

abintra

And then the ones that do give you 4 out of 5 and say everything was great.

I used to give free priority upgrades for nearly everything but got tired of no feedback and 4 out of 5's even with going all out.

Ginwen

I've purchased about a half dozen things from Amazon Marketplace, and all have arrived very quickly. Everything I've purchased has had multiple sellers--sometimes I pay a bit more to buy from someone with better feedback.
I had a CD arrive in two days this week, which was really surprising.

And yes, I've left feedback for all of them.

Oleg23

Too bad amazon can do nothing about an order before 20 days or so expire for shipping.

movielib

Yeah, my book/music/video store sells hundreds of items a week on Amazon and I cannot understand those. If they were teachers the highest grade they would give would be a B, I guess.

But worse are the ones who give you a "1" and claim they didn't get it. They don't contact the seller first (as they are instructed to do by Amazon). Then when I get feedback like this I check the tracking and it says it was delivered three days after you sent it out on the very day they ordered it. Or someone blames the seller when the packages disappears into the post office's system (in which case I always issue a refund even though it's not our fault).

Anyway, these things do happen very seldom but it necessitates my writing an email of explanation including a request that they remove the negative feedback as, whatever it was, IT WAS NOT OUR FAULT AND THEY SHOULD HAVE CONTACTED US BEFORE LEAVING FEEDBACK BECAUSE AMAZON TELLS THEM TO (not to mention I send everyone a shipping confirmation email and ask them to contact me if there is any problem whatsoever and I will do everything humanly possible to make things right). Of course I must do this in the most polite and diplomatic terms rather than telling them they are idiots.

In any event I figure we send out more than 100 items a week, well in excess of 10,000 items total and gotten maybe about eight negative feedbacks like the ones I describe above. In almost every one of these instances I have been able to get them to remove their feedback and about half of those actually apologize as well. We always have been able to maintain a 99% (it's actually above 99% but Amazon rounds it) positive rate which, I can tell you, is not easy when you have a volume such as ours and a small staff that also has to run a B&M store.

I can tell you, customer service is hard.

As far as priority or first class mail upgrades I do it when the packages are light (especially for CDs and DVDs when first class is about the same as, a little more or sometimes even less than media mail) or when they order multiple items and I can fit them into a priority mail flat rate envelope.

Oleg23

I agree with you movielib,but In my case I did not even get an e-mail from another seller saying item was shipped still waiting or maybe not every seller sending confirmation email.

Ginwen

Most won't send you a shipping mail. Amazon warns you they won't in the checkout process (that the only mail you get may be from Amazon that they've processed your payment). I've gone about 50/50 on the emails. So just because it has been a week doesn't mean it hasn't been sent (and even if it wasn't sent yet, they have like 20 days, and not everyone selling on some place like Amazon Marketplace is going to go to the post office every day--they may only go once a week on the weekend or so which to me is perfectly reasonable).

tonyc3742

I'm not a huge seller on Marketplace but i do sell some. I have started sending "your item is sent' emails, but not consistently.
I have noticed that it seems to be the 'bigger' sellers who are more willing to blow off one transaction.
You're supposed to ship within two business days, at least that's what it's always said on my "sold" emails.
If I'm selling a DVD or CD or video game I upgrade to 1st class for free, it's not much more expensive, if at all, than Media Mail. I sold a dvd set to a guy in Australia once, now *that* sucked for shipping.
People are reluctant to give fb on marketplace, for some reason. I guess because it's through Amazon, maybe they think it's a 'store' and not private sellers like ebay, or small shops.

movielib

As dtcarson said, you are supposed to ship within two business days. We always ship same day except for orders that come too late in the day. Then it goes out the next day. We go to the post office every day. Every day but Sunday, anyway.

Amazon tells buyers that media mail may take up to 14 business days from date of shipment to arrive. Of course it's not often that long (most arrives within a week in my experience) but it's good to have that time period because the USPS doesn't give media mail a high priority and it can be quite pokey occasionally. It's good to have that to fall back on when that happens.

To anyone selling on Amazon Marketplace or Half.com or the like: I strongly urge you to get delivery confirmation with everything you send out. If you use an approved postal program (we use a company called Endicia; you can also get it through usps.com) it's $0.14 for a media mail piece and free for priority or first class. It's worth its weight in gold to be able to give buyers a tracking number and tracking history, especially when there's a problem, either real or imagined.

Ginwen

I didn't know that--when I fill out feedback, it gives a date I should have expected it by and it is always around 3 weeks after the order so I assumed they had more time (for example the item I ordered on the 7th says "Did it arrive by November 29th on the feedback form which to me implies that's the deadline for me to get it). Good thing I don't sell as going to the post office every day or two is not really convenient for me Funny that Amazon asks Marketplace sellers to send stuff out in two days when they often take much longer.

Anyway, it's still good to be patient--I end up happy even when it takes 2 weeks to get here, and Oleg23 is causing himself all this stress for something that may end up working out just fine.

Edit: 2 days it is. Here's what it says in my email when I bought something:
The seller has agreed to ship by 09-November-2006. This message serves as
advance notification of your shipment--most sellers will NOT send a
separate shipment confirmation.

Your order will be shipped via the standard shipping method (usually
regular surface mail). The arrival expectation is 4 to 14 business days. In
some cases, this may take 21 business days or longer to arrive. If your
shipment does not arrive by 28-November-2006, please contact the seller to
check the status of the shipment. Your seller should provide the same level
of customer service you expect from Amazon.com.

Oleg23

I always like to get "Delivery Conformation" but the seller seems to have no idea what it Is when I have asked tham to do so.

Mosskeeto

I helped a writer friend of mine purchase a few copies of hard to find OOP books of his from Marketplace sellers in "used" condition and none of the items he purchased listed any issues with the condition. Well, the first copy to arrive was a library circulation discard with all the condition problems you would expect. When I told him he should complain or leave negative feedback, he said he'd do it later, but 6 weeks afterwards he still hasn't done a thing. So certainly, many justifiable complaints never get posted.

movielib

It's true that some justifiable complaints don't get posted. But it's also true that many wonderful jobs by sellers never get feedback. I'd say much more of the latter than the former don't get feedback for the simple reason that an unsatisfied customer is far more likely to complain than a satified customer is to give his or her praise - it's human nature. I'd say we get feedback from only about one in five sales.

It's also true that many unjustified complaints are made. Sellers are blamed for USPS delays or complaints are made about allegedly unreceived items that the tracking shows were delivered. Almost all the negative feedback we have ever received are in those categories.

The important thing for a buyer to do is to always attempt to resolve any issue by contacting the seller before leaving negative feedback. Amazon tells buyers they should but many buyers ignore or simply never read the information they are sent regarding their buys.

In your friend's case, I wonder what condition was listed for the book. It's not just "used" that the seller lists, he must say whether it's "like new," "very good," "good," "acceptable" or "unacceptable." If one reads Amazon's guidelines you can get a good idea of what each may entail, even in the absence of further description. Personally, I often do not add further information if I list an item as "like new" or "very good" because , well, such items must be in excellent condition pretty much across the board to be listed as such. If there is one small but obvious flaw and I list it as "very good" I do add that to the description. Plus I am very conservative and always lean toward a lower as opposed to a higher condition. If it is listed as "good" or lower, I always list flaws although I can see how not everyone may. But everyone should realize that a "good" listing is not going to be very good (see the Amazon guidelines to see how much can be wrong to qualify as "good").

tonyc3742

When I do sent the 'your item has shipped' email, I ask that if they're satisfied, that they leave positive feedback, if there are any problems, contact me directly so we can work it out.

As long as the item was shipped securely, via the method paid for, and postmarked on or before the date it was supposed to, I think there's no reason for negative feedback regarding the shipping.

movielib

So do I. I also put such a note in with the shipment.

I absolutely agree 100%. Of course, sometimes the post office screws up. The buyer should and is supposed to contact the seller in such a case so the seller can track the package, find out what went wrong and work it out with the buyer.

I would also add that no seller is immune from errors. We are very, very good but we do screw up occasionally (wrong edition of a book, two identical or similar titles and the wrong one gets sent, item sent to the wrong buyer). In such cases we do everything to make things as right as humanly possible but we can do so only if the buyer contacts us and tells us the problem.

starman9000

So, how long do people wait to contact amazon after contacting a seller about a bad item?

I ordered a box set that was advertised as Like New, but came mangled with scratched discs, I contacted the seller about an exchange or refund (they sell a lot of the same), but haven't heard a response in a couple of days.

Funk

They have delivery confirmation, which, get this, confirms delivery to the address.

starman9000

Great, so to get a replacement or refund I have to send the package by on my dime. That sucks.

abintra

Since the item was materially different from what was listed and you ordered, the seller would be required to refund your return delivery amount.

If the buyer is at fault for the return (ie. changed mind, etc.), then they would incur the return costs (which still sucks for the seller because Amazon forces them to either return 100% of the purchase price including shipping or, if they don't refund the original shipping, are charged the listing and closing fee costs which are nearly the amount they charged to ship the item so that either way the seller loses money due to a buyer changing their mind and a non-sale).

Amazon pretty much takes advantage of both buyers and sellers when it comes to shipping anyway since they charge the buyers a set amount but then take a cut of that and pass along less than the actual shipping amount to the seller (if the seller is a business and has access to some of the pay online printing programs perhaps it is closer to being a wash though).

Typically media mail/first class plus delivery confirmation is greater than the $2.20 they reimburse. A lot of sellers also will ship in padded envelopes for DVDs since adding the weight of a box can sometimes push the weight above 1 pound media mail or 13 ounces first class and cost even more. Not to mention if the item is larger than a single disc movie, boxset, or one of the odder shapped releases.