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After the Auction: Dealing With Deadbeat Sellers

Let's say you just won a hard-fought auction for that coveted signed first edition of William Gibson's Neuromancer. You eagerly send off your payment. Then you wait. And wait. The book doesn't arrive. Your attempts to contact the seller prove fruitless. Unfortunately, as days turn into weeks, you realize you've been scammed. Don't despair--there are some steps you can take when a seller turns out to be a deadbeat.

Paper Trail
First of all, as a responsible buyer you should document all of your auction buys. Be sure to print out hard copies of the auction listing itself, the end-of-auction notice from the auction site, and any email correspondence between you and the seller. Also consider keeping a log of all your bidding activity--go ahead and jot down your impressions or anything that seems out of the ordinary. All of this might seem cumbersome and time-consuming, but if you run into any complications with sellers, this information and documentation will prove to be invaluable.

Watching the Detectives
Once an auction closes and you are the high bidder, you'll want to contact the seller via email and iron out the transaction details. At this point, a shady seller might still seem legit by being helpful and promising to send the item. Once you've sent off your payment, though, don't get impatient if you don't receive your merchandise within a few days. If you've written a check, the seller might be waiting for the check to clear, or perhaps you are dealing with a high-volume seller who has lots of merchandise to process and ship.

That being said, it's OK to send a follow-up email once an appropriate period of time has elapsed (around a week after the seller would have received your payment). State that you have already mailed payment but not received the goods, and that unless you receive the item by a certain date you will begin to take appropriate action. Keep your comments professional and to the point. Do not make any threats or personal attacks. And do not post a neg yet--it's too early. The seller might still come through.

If the follow-up email fails to elicit a satisfactory response or no response at all, request the seller's user registration information from the auction site. On eBay, this will provide you with more info about the seller (including a phone number). Be aware that it will also send an email to the seller notifying him or her of your request--who knows, this might get the seller to shape up and ship your item. Still nothing? Next try a phone call (sometimes all it takes is a good old-fashioned conversation to jump-start a slowpoke). If, however, a few weeks pass and your messages haven't been returned, or if the seller makes promises that are continually broken, it's time to take action.

Get Up, Stand Up
Post your negative feedback so that other buyers will know they're dealing with a deadbeat seller. Do what you did in your emails with the seller: state the facts and avoid lashing out at the seller. Contact the auction site as well, submitting the appropriate claim form and providing copies of the email correspondence between you and the seller. This is a good start, but there are other ways for you to fight back.

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