# eBay help - I sent payment, but package hasn't arrived **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158 "2003-06-24T22:25:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/1 "2003-06-24T22:25:39Z")
I tried looking through eBay’s FAQ for help with this, but I’m a little confused. I won an auction last week for some DVD’s - the first season of Deep Space Nine, actually. Good price, too. Anyway, I won the auction on a Sunday night, sent payment immediately, and the seller said they shipped the item Tuesday, Priority Mail from LA to St. Louis. It’s now a week later and the package isn’t here. E-mails to the seller, who has 200+ feedback at 100%, haven’t gotten replies. I paid the two dollars and change for shipping insurance. What should I do now? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/2 "2003-06-24T22:48:08Z")
Wait another week. With all that positive feedback & insurance you should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/3 "2003-06-24T22:53:24Z")
For a Priority Mail package? It should have been here no later than last Friday. ---
**Author:** ![Amberlei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Amberlei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amberlei)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/4 "2003-06-24T22:55:48Z")
I’d give it another week also. If nothing then, report it to e-bay. Did you pay via PayPal? If so, report it to them also. You only have thirty days from the date you make payment via paypal to file a complaint, btw. The correct site for reporting this to at e-bay is as follows. ebay \> help \> resolving trading concerns \> ebay’s buyer protection programs \> did not receive item. best of luck! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/5 "2003-06-24T23:13:01Z")
If the seller has a phone number listed, try calling him. It’s possible he got the address wrong or something like that. The not responding to emails is troubling, but I would give him the benefit of the doubt since his feedback rating is high. Perhaps he hasn’t responded because he’s been out of town for a few days. (I had that happen to me once). ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/6 "2003-06-25T01:45:40Z")
Yes, definitely contact the seller BEFORE contacting eBay. Something might have happened, and they deserve a chance to fix it first. And I’ve had Priority Mail shipments take longer than advertised, alas. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/7 "2003-06-25T03:46:10Z")
I got a regular-8 projector from eBay a couple of years ago. It was shipped Priority Mail, but it didn’t show up for weeks. The Post Office explained that during the Christmas season they had a lot of Priority Mail packages and that they try to get the larges number of packages delivered. This means that larger, heavier packages get a lower priority. I was a bit steamed. I absoultely hate, HATE, _ **HATE** _ UPS because of the poor customer service I’ve had with them. That’s why I always choose USPS. Up until this instance, USPS has been very, very good – and it has been since. Just some sort of a cock-up. But a set of DVDs in a not-very-heavy-shipping part of the year wouldn’t fall under the large package/heavy traffic scenario. That’s one thing I’ll give to UPS: tracking. (FWIW, I had tracking on the USPS package that was “lost” for a while; but tracking is more in UPS’s bailiwick.) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/8 "2003-06-25T15:32:31Z")
“For a Priority Mail package? It should have been here no later than last Friday.” Priority mail isn’t guaranteed to get there in a certain amount of days… It only means ‘priority’ & that usually refers to them throwing it in the truck first. Anyway,I use confirmation on my packages so it would confirm if it got to the person or not. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/9 "2003-06-25T15:38:14Z")
FWIW: I’ve had one item that USPS indicated as being delivered but I never received it. It was evidently left oustide our door and subsequently stolen; I’m not the only one in the complex that has had this problem. This is why I now have my eBay winnings sent to my work address. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/10 "2003-06-25T15:57:03Z")
Ah. I thought Priority Mail meant two to three days. I could swear they used to run ads to that effect, comparing it to the FedEx and UPS two-day services. I guess it’s my priority, and the seller’s priority, just not the post office’s. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/11 "2003-06-25T21:11:24Z")
I’ve won a fair number of auctions. 2 times I have experienced shipping delays. Both times I contacted the seller (via email). One had simply forgoten to ship my package, the other had mailed it with whatever the USPS offers that let him track it. I ended up receiving both items and both sellers were very apologetic and polite. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-help-i-sent-payment-but-package-hasnt-arrived/184158/12 "2003-06-26T04:57:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SanibelMan \* > \*\*Ah. I thought Priority Mail meant two to three days. \*\* The fine print says something about an _average_ of two to three days. I had a priority package go missing one time and went to the post office to have them track it down. It turns out they won’t start a trace until it’s been gone for 30 days.