How long should I wait for someone to ship a guitar on eBay?

p90fool · December 2020

Sorry guys, I know this has probably been asked before, but how long is reasonable?

I paid for a guitar from a private seller a week ago and he still hasn't shipped it. I keep seeing similar guitars being bought and sold and am wondering how long is polite to wait before asking for a refund?

I waited a couple of days after I bought it for some kind of acknowledgement of the sale but gave in in the end and contacted him to confirm he had my shipping address, which he obviously did, but I was just lightly breaking the silence.

He said he did and would ship asap, but still hasn't.

Am I being impatient?

Switch625 · December 2020

Depends on what the listing said under “seller ships in x business days”, and what the estimated delivery date was when you bought it.

If the seller is still within those dates then no need to worry. If it’s gone past that then I’d send them a message and ask frankly when will they send it.

Strangefan · December 2020

Waiting for a week plus for it to be shipped with no contact is unacceptable, it's becoming a "thing" where sellers who need money will sell a high value item then not ship it and will then cancel so you get a refund, its like a short term interest free loan

prowla · December 2020

Have they said why they haven't shipped it?

Some people can only ship on weekends, so ebay's "x business days" thing may not be appropriate,

I'd give the seller a nudge and ask them when they're going to send it (and for tracking details).

OTOH, they could be ill or have another valid reason for delaying, but they could tell you that.

Zapple · December 2020

I’d say a week is unreasonable. Unless they’ve been in contact to say why?

JAYJO · December 2020

Go with your gut. Cancel and buy elsewhere. Not worth the stress. Hes not arsed why should you be?.

viz · December 2020

Or email them and ask them to confirm the shipping date. That’s a perfectly reasonable question in a business relationship, and it’s reasonable to expect them to give an immediate answer.

Fishboy7 · December 2020

Absolutely not acceptable and one of my pet hates. Once I’ve taken a buyer’s cash the item is their property and I make every effort to post at earliest possible opportunity i.e. the next working day.

LPManic · December 2020

Fender Fever?

usedtobe · December 2020

A week is plenty of time. If there’s stuff happening at his end, that’s causing a delay, he should be letting you know..

ICBM · December 2020

Anything more than a couple of days and he should be letting you know why and a date that he will. A week with no explanation is unacceptable.

Rich31k · December 2020

Agree with others. A week is too long without a reasonable explanation

mark123 · December 2020

I know i'm being captain obvious but what does his feedback comments say ? item arrived quickly ? were the items he has sold in the past guitars ?
Has he 100% good feedback of 40 plus transactions? any less and i dont go near .

SPECTRUM001 · December 2020

That would drive me frickin’ nuts.

PC_Dave · December 2020

I bought one recently - the sellers page said ships within 3-5 days, but he shipped the day of purchase.

skunkwerx · December 2020

Its not a guitar but I ordered a poker chip last week, the est delivery dates were 4th-7th.. so far nothings arrived. It was marked as despatched but that means nothing as they can do that at any point.

mark123 · December 2020

Just guessing ,could be sellers remorse and he's going to come out with a crock of sh@t,item damaged when packing it etc , or did you get it at a stupid low price and maybe he doesn't want to let it go for that?.

steer · December 2020

The next step is to open an ebay "I have not received my item" complaint. I have had this sort of thing several times before with other stuff, and when a polite message does not elicit a response, taking it to the next level usually either wakes them up, or is the next logical step in cancelling the sale.

The above is assuming that the estimated delivery date has passed already. If the delivery date on the ebay page has not passed then you might have to sit and wait a bit longer.

Whitecat · December 2020

I think if they don't despatch within 3 days they lose their seller protection now too... hmmm.

p90fool · December 2020

Thanks all. The delivery date hasn't passed yet so technically I am being impatient, but the reason it has rung alarm bells is because he has half a dozen or so items for sale and they all have shorter delivery times than the guitar I paid for last week.

He has four cheapo guitars and one moderately expensive one - the four cheapies have delivery dates four days sooner than mine even though they're not even sold yet.

I suspect @Strangefan is right (the seller even says in the ad he needs the money for Christmas) but I've messaged him again anyway.

I don't really feel like being an interest-free lender, and I can't go elsewhere for a guitar while he has my money tied up.

Sassafras · December 2020

I had this with a Berhinger mixer (which was crap BTW).
I'd waited a fortnight and I was getting impatient and annoyed. When I looked again at delivery details, he'd stated clearly that it wouldn't be delivered for at least 2 weeks. My mistake for not reading the fine detail.

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How long should I wait for someone to ship a guitar on eBay?

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