eBay seller help required please

[JadeSeahorse]

Really at a loss what to do here.

Bought a "Buy it now" brand new with tags item well over a week ago where delivery date was listed as 4-5 days following purchase.

Item so far has never arrived and expected delivery date has been changed 3 times now and not due to arrive for another week at which time I will have left on holiday for 2 weeks and the item will be useless as it was bought as a gift for someone who will have left the country by the time the item arrives if it ever does.

Can anyone explain what is happening as the seller - who has 100% feedback from around 90 sales is claiming all innocence and blaming the post. Assuring me it was posted second class the day following the purchase but how has the estimated delivery date on eBay changed 3 times and to almost 2 weeks later if the seller is being honest?

Feel like I'm going mad! I know I'm covered so long as I report it within 30 business days from ordering but if it does arrive when I am away, as it will be useless by then anyway, do I have any rights?

Has it been despatched with tracking?
Just report it as item not received

You can’t change the given delivery date once an item has been sold. So slightly baffled how the seller could be doing this, unless they are messaging you and pushing the date forward.
Have they posted the item yet and do you have tracking.

Who is it supposed to be delivered with? I think Yodel are having some issues at the moment if that helps, I ordered something from somewhere else and I have a delivery window of between today and the 3rd July!!

Mega thanks to everyone who has replied.
Really appreciated! I buy loads on eBay but have never sold anything.

Delivery was Royal Mail second class signed for.

Seller never offered to forward me a proof of postage slip just said it was posted the day after I purchased the item.

Can't really report to eBay as item not received as yet as I will probably be advised automatically to wait another week but I will be away by then. Won't be back until end of first week of July.
Also, not sure how it works when the expected delivery has been changed 3 times.

Ebay works with the main carriers and they use their data to provide estimated delivery dates, the seller can’t change them. It sounds like an issue with EBay’s systems, or there are reported issues with delivery times coming from Royal Mail.
sometimes delivery estimates are way off.
I would maybe checkout a plan b present, but the order may still arrive in good time.

Anothercrappyusername thanks for this info.
Have sorted an alternative gift now. Don't know what I'll do with the other if it does arrive as it is pretty useless to us.☹️
Strangely, I bought several items from eBay lady week and everything else has arrived fine. This is supposedly coming via Royal Mail so not a problem with a courier.
The seller seemed as if he/she couldn't care less hence my suspicion.
Oh well, looks like the charity bag will get a very nice gift if it does arrive.🙄

Every item I sell on eBay is sent by Royal Mail and the procedure is quite straightforward.
Once the item is paid for eBay notifies me of the date it has to be posted by. From memory this is within two of three days of the sale.
As soon as it’s been posted I mark the item as despatched and eBay passes this info on to the buyer.
I have no idea what happens if a seller doesn’t despatch within the allotted time but wonder if eBay might push the date back on their behalf if it sees something hasn’t been marked as sent. I can’t imagine that this is the case because as a general rule eBay doesn’t make anything easy for sellers but I don’t know of any way that the seller can change posting dates him/herself.
I never send anything, even items that sell for next to nothing, without proof of posting so I’ve always got proof that I have done what was supposed to do should a buyer let me know something hasn’t arrived
It seems very odd to me that the OP’s seller (who has plenty of feedback so must know how things work) has made no attempt to prove to her that the item has been posted
In her shoes I’d be contacting eBay now for advice especially as the estimated date of delivery is changing as time goes on.
Despite what I said before about eBay not going out of their way to support sellers I have always found them very helpful when I’ve managed to navigate it’s contact us link and actually speak to human

Well I've just bought some shoes from eBay. The seller has dispatched them via Royal Mail and given me the tracking ref but it gives me the estimated delivery date as 10 days after posting!!

I reckon seller buying postage, isn't getting round to posting, cancels label, buys another, repeats, and that's how the date is being pushed back.

With the delivery date changes, is this something you are seeing by going back onto the listing and viewing the estimated delivery date info there? If so this isnt related to your purchase and is just the details for the live listing which shows the delivery estimate if bought at that particular moment, so will keep changing. (hope this makes sense!)

You can see the particular details for YOUR order by going to My eBay - Purchase History and clicking on the 'Order Details' for the item there. Sellers have no way at all of changing the delivery dates for an item already purchased.

However if this has been sent via Royal Mail 2nd Class Signed For there WILL be a tracking number so i would be asking the Seller for that, you can then use the Royal Mail website to trace it. If the Seller doesnt respond simply open an INR case as soon as possible. :)

if this has been sent via Royal Mail 2nd Class Signed For there WILL be a tracking number so i would be asking the Seller for that, you can then use the Royal Mail website to trace it

This.

There should be a tracking reference.

It depends re ebay. For cheaper items (not sold for a while) just did proof of posting. More expensive always RM signed for registered or recorded post so trackable.

Open a case if not received by a certain date.

I did have one item where the seller said it had been sent to a location and every time I went there (on a daily basis) it wasn’t there. I have no idea if she lied, she did sent proof of posting and to this address (a shop) but they never had it when I went there and eventually it was returned to her sitting office/address. Seller just refunded me. It was also over covid but was trickier to do click and collect in shops with masks/sanitiser etc. I then decided just to use post.

I’ve had this with a couple of items. Really irritating if you want it eg for special occasion or holiday.

Often they don’t even state this when bidding and won’t refund if you want to cancel. Therefore I won’t give neutral feedback but could do and also state this for delivery.

Agreed with all of this and experience similar or same.