eBay Feedback Question - Advice Needed

I'm looking for some input on a recent ebay transaction, and I will defer to the wisdom of the org.

On 10/21, I purchased a figure with Buy It Now. I paid immediately by Paypal. The item was to ship from Canada to the US. The seller advertised a three day handling time, with delivery to take another 8-13 business days. EBay listed the estimated delivery between 10/31 and 11/7.

On 10/25, the seller marked the item as Shipped, but did not enter a tracking number.

On 11/7 (the last day of the estimated delivery window), I asked if he could provide a tracking number or estimated delivery date. The response I got was: "Hi, you'll have it soon. sometimes at the customs there's a hold. please give it a little time you'll get it soon. thanks."

On 11/19 (just as I was considering filing a dispute), the package finally showed up at my door. I looked at the postmarks, and he never shipped the item until 11/12. I double checked the labels to make sure it wasn't a customs delay. Everything on the package says he didn't hand it to the postal service until 11/12... five days after I e-mailed him for an update, and a full 18 days after he first claimed it was shipped.

So my initial thought was... I got what I ordered, but it just took a long time. These are first world problems. I thought neutral feedback would be appropriate.

But the more I think about it, the more it burns me up that the guy had an opportunity to come clean when I e-mailed him about it, but instead he was dishonest (or at least withheld the truth) about not shipping the item yet. If he had just said, "Hey, I'm sorry, I made a mistake," it would have been no big deal. So should dishonesty warrant negative feedback?

What would you do? Positive? Neutral? Negative? I welcome all input, and I'll go with whatever the majority opinion is.

I've sold a lot of stuff, and there's been a few times when I wasn't able to get a package out on time. If the item arrived to you in good condition and the seller never kept you waiting for email responses, I wouldn't make a big deal of it. You should absolutely note in your feedback about the delay in shipping, but it's not like the guy did any real harm to you, and is only guilty of being lazy.

Uh...

there is no tracking number for items being shipped outside of the US unless it is by EMS.

Now that is messed up about the shipping time, but you got the item, so I definitely do not think you should leave a negative. Negatives should only be used when the seller does not give you the product. I would say leave a neutral at the most, or ask him first why he said he shipped itin Oct when the label says Nov 12th. It could have just been an honest mistake that he mixed up orders or something.

Where are you located? I can tell you for a FACT that shipping was greatly delayed around that time period because of Hurricane Sandy.

If the postal marks are from the PO itself then yea he didn't get it there when he said it did, but if he printed the label himself it's VERY possible that it just got hung up due to the storm and just took forever to update.

I personally had packages that I mailed on 10/26 which would normally only take a weekend to get just about any where in the U.S., but took a good two weeks to even show an updated status in the system and some were only going to the next state over.

The storm hit on 10/28 I believe and after that all hell broke loose. It's quite possible that Sandy could of had some thing to do with it especially it it were coming from Canada as every thing was backed up.

I'd just suck it up and give him a positive. I mean afterall your package arrived in one piece.

He is in Quebec and I am in Florida, so I had considered the potential impact of Hurricane Sandy since we're both on the East coast. However, you can tell from the labels on the package that he didn't actually go to the post office until 11/12, and he never mentioned the hurricane as a possible reason for getting the package out in a timely manner. The e-mail he sent led me to believe the package had already been shipped and everything was going smoothly, which turned out not to be the case. Once he actually shipped the item, I had it within seven days, which is a perfectly reasonable delivery timeframe.

I'm a pretty patient guy when it comes to Ebay. I'm never "in a rush" to get what I bought. I've waited over 20 years (or longer)for most of the stuff I buy on Ebay so a few more days don't matter to me. As long as I get my item in the condition it's described in, I always give positive feedback. The only thing I rate lower than 5 stars on is a) items not as described (which I bring up to the seller personally and they always offer me refunds or partial money back) and b) shipping costs. I wait until the item comes in and if the guy charges me $9 to ship an item (comic book or cards) and I see postage is media mail with no packing then I deduct stars.

I say give him positive feedback. Just on the comment section explain that the item took a bit longer to get to you than expected. That's it.

If you do determine that the guy delayed things and not the post, since you never really had to go through Ebay to resolve the issue, I'd either go with positive feedback with a mention of the shipping delays or I'd go with neutral. Honestly, I'd probably go with neutral myself. Had the guy just sent an email that said he was delayed in sending out your package or something, I'd be more willing. Imagine if it had taken you that long to pay for the item: I dobut the seller would have been as forgiving.