Selling on Ebay

[auburnseeker]

5 minutes ago, 39BuickEight said:

I do free shipping and 10% on tax isn’t much, so that’s probably why I don’t see a difference.  I sold 2 items last week and have no idea what the “managed payments” thing is you are talking about.  They went just like every other sale I’ve ever done.  I also don’t see a difference in searching.  I have my reminder set and they work just like they always have.

They are corralling sellers into the payments.  As it was they had a hard deadline they were trying to push most to meet.  So much that they even offered $150 toward my bill if i joined a few days early.  Well it rolled out on the 15th and seems they have had to extend things as the system was having all kinds of issues verifying bank accounts as mentioned.  With free shipping you are still paying 10 percent on the shipping,  you are just eating it in a higher completed value fee because we all know shipping isn't free.  That 10% doesn't sound bad until you sell alot.  If you sell 100,000 a year on there and it's your only business all these little fees add up to a $1000-$3000 bump here or there.  As much as people say pass it on to the customer,  a $100 item is still only $100 item,  That's all the bid all in,  including tax and shipping so there is only one pocket it comes out of,  that's the sellers. 

I wish I had a way to give myself a $1000-$3000 bonus for doing nothing,  spread that out over thousands of sellers and it adds up to Millions of dollars extra for  ebay.   Even them holding your money for a few days or longer with the new managed payments I'm sure will net them money some how.   Also the new managed payments gives them direct access to your bank account to play with as they want.  They add funds when they feel like they have cleared and take them at will if a customer so much as hints at a problem or is just having a bad day.  The whole reason I have opened a brand spanking new isolated account.  It's going to be a nightmare just keeping track of what's in there.  Atleast you can opt for weekly payments instead of several every day.

I use my pay pal as a purse to buy inventory,  so now when I am waiting to make a big purchase and pay,  I'm not sure how long I will have to wait to get enough funds to make that $2000 or more purchase,  where before with pay pal,  as soon as the customer paid,  it was there to send. 

 

If you don't believe me,  just talk to my wife who gets the first hand Xrated account of how the new changes are going that they institute. 

 

[39BuickEight]

I mark up my listing prices to cover the fees.  Since my approach is that if it sells great, if it doesn’t, oh well, I have a different view of it than someone like you who sells a lot more.

[Jim Bollman]

Been a buyer since almost the beginning of eBay and sold for a few years around 2005 to get rid of stuff. Was good for awhile and I would take Summers off. Then sales dropped off till it didn't seem worthwhile and when I took the next Summer off I never restarted. Have some friends that sell a lot on eBay so last year I offered to supply them with stuff to sell, they do all the work and we split the profits after fees & shipping 50:50. They have sold a bunch of stuff for me that I was thinking of donating to a charity auction just to get rid of it and my split is a bit over $1000 so far and I do nothing. Still have a big pile that didn't sell to donate to charity. Works for me.

[Bhigdog]

1 hour ago, auburnseeker said:

They are corralling sellers into the payments.  As it was they had a hard deadline they were trying to push most to meet.  So much that they even offered $150 toward my bill if i joined a few days early.  Well it rolled out on the 15th and seems they have had to extend things as the system was having all kinds of issues verifying bank accounts as mentioned.  With free shipping you are still paying 10 percent on the shipping,  you are just eating it in a higher completed value fee because we all know shipping isn't free.  That 10% doesn't sound bad until you sell alot.  If you sell 100,000 a year on there and it's your only business all these little fees add up to a $1000-$3000 bump here or there.  As much as people say pass it on to the customer,  a $100 item is still only $100 item,  That's all the bid all in,  including tax and shipping so there is only one pocket it comes out of,  that's the sellers. 

I wish I had a way to give myself a $1000-$3000 bonus for doing nothing,  spread that out over thousands of sellers and it adds up to Millions of dollars extra for  ebay.   Even them holding your money for a few days or longer with the new managed payments I'm sure will net them money some how.   Also the new managed payments gives them direct access to your bank account to play with as they want.  They add funds when they feel like they have cleared and take them at will if a customer so much as hints at a problem or is just having a bad day.  The whole reason I have opened a brand spanking new isolated account.  It's going to be a nightmare just keeping track of what's in there.  Atleast you can opt for weekly payments instead of several every day.

I use my pay pal as a purse to buy inventory,  so now when I am waiting to make a big purchase and pay,  I'm not sure how long I will have to wait to get enough funds to make that $2000 or more purchase,  where before with pay pal,  as soon as the customer paid,  it was there to send. 

 

If you don't believe me,  just talk to my wife who gets the first hand Xrated account of how the new changes are going that they institute. 

 

Personally I don,t know how you put up with it all. I would rather, and often have, given stuff away rather than deal with the general public......bob

[1937hd45]

Just got a note from an eBay member that asked about combining postage on three items that will fit in the same box, sure no problem. Newest note asked when he should pay? Hope this isn't the first of eBay Managed Payments........... Bob 

Edited August 2, 2020 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

I made it my business,  so you have to put up with it. Doesn't mean it's good.  Just think of your boss at your job changing things up for the sake of changing them.  We also have all had those bosses that know best and nothing we say is considered,  yet we are the front line and see what would make things run smoothly or more efficiently.  I have always thought ebay should hire a few regular sellers to work on improvements.  I swear the people that create them have never bought or sold anything on ebay.  Yes I could go get a job elsewhere but all seem to have their pitfalls and I like being mostly self employed as there are alot of perks to that,  unless Ed needs an Apprentice.  

[Robert G. Smits]

I can't thank everyone enough.  Fortunately I don't have to make a living doing this.  Ninty percent of my inventory was purchased before 2000 and 50% before 1990 so inflation (meaning the dollar isn't worth $hit) should make my risk minimal.  Any profit will probably go to our favorite charity in the end anyway.  Better than having the kids send it to junk..You would think that out or four kids, one Doctor, two MBA's and one flunk out someone would have inherited a interest in Cars, Advertising, Breweriana, Art Glass or Art.  No such luck.  Reminds me of the old saying, "you can crap in one hand and wish in the other hand, guess which fills up first"

[1937hd45]

Robert, Nobody mentioned packing your items once they are sold, be sure everything is packed well. The world if full or bubble wrap and newspaper that can be reused. I like to use a few pieces of tape over address labels just to be sure they stay in place. Local bicycle and auto body shops are good sources for large boxes, I custom cut them to size on a table saw.  Hope your stuff sells and you have fun. Bob

Edited August 2, 2020 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[nick8086]

If you want to get rid of it..  Ebay it... 20 percent Cut.. Price  it 20 percent higher...

[Billy Kingsley]

I remember when ebay put in the policy of of no negatives available to sellers...the listings literally halved overnight. 

 

I've been thinking about thinning some of the duplicates out one of my collections...and thought about ebay. Not sure if I want to go that route after reading the thread. It's not a small number of items- I estimate it at roughly 80 thousand-, with most under a dollar. (would put many into lots). It's mostly not car related, with the majority being sports cards. I'll probably just continue to store them for now. 

[pkhammer]

8 hours ago, Robert G. Smits said:

I can't thank everyone enough.  Fortunately I don't have to make a living doing this.  Ninty percent of my inventory was purchased before 2000 and 50% before 1990 so inflation (meaning the dollar isn't worth $hit) should make my risk minimal.  Any profit will probably go to our favorite charity in the end anyway.  Better than having the kids send it to junk..You would think that out or four kids, one Doctor, two MBA's and one flunk out someone would have inherited a interest in Cars, Advertising, Breweriana, Art Glass or Art.  No such luck.  Reminds me of the old saying, "you can crap in one hand and wish in the other hand, guess which fills up first"

If you have advertising signs purchased 20-30 years ago you will do well. Gas and oil, soda, bread, tobacco, etc has increased in value dramatically in that time period.

[Robert G. Smits]

7 hours ago, Billy Kingsley said:

- I estimate it at roughly 80 thousand-,

Always nice to know I am not the only one with a "hoarding" tendency

[rustybottom]

I can disagree with many on this thread..in 20 years, and 1500 transactions, I have had great results with eBay..It is the "blue book" for prices on anything..why pay more locally, or on Amazon, if you can get a better price on eBay?,,,  Similarly, when I list something, I will list it somewhat less than what it has previously sold for...for something that I no longer need or want, and it doesn't sell on Craigslist or Marketplace, why take it to my grave?

 

I have 6? unpleasant experiences buying and selling in 20 years.  2 examples...a buyer didn't like what I sent; he returned not what I had sent, requesting refund--I called eBay, sent them pics of the items, they agreed and refunded the buyer from their funds.  Similarly, I did not receive an item; seller could not provide shipping info; eBay paid me for my loss.

 

As far as 10% fees--peanuts compared to tripping over stuff you don't need.

[auburnseeker]

Ebay has NEVER!!!!  refunded a buyer from their funds.  From my funds,  sure they have no problem and they have only done that twice since I always take care of my customers but I am required even with tracking uploaded to guarantee the customer gets the item in their hands and is happy with it for whatever reason. I use all 12 photos every night if the brochure has 12 pages or more.  I really get tired of taking 200-300 pictures a night but I want to make sure the customer knows exactly what they are buying.   You must have some special in that us power sellers don't have and I carry 100% feedback. Some of the members here are my repeat customers.   

Edited August 2, 2020 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[rustybottom]

you maybe correct, but the refund funds didn't come from me--the buyer got his money from somebody

[auburnseeker]

Ebay has gotten so stingy they don't even offer me free listings any more like they used to a couple of years ago and that was once in a blue moon. 

[rustybottom]

 

2 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

Ebay has gotten so stingy they don't even offer me free listings any more like they used to a couple of years ago and that was once in a blue moon. 

ok--what is your alternative?

[auburnseeker]

That's the problem when one has a monopoly, there isn't yet.  If they chase enough sellers away though in their quest to flood the market with crap from China and chase Amazon so they eliminate the people that sell old stuff,  the market will be ripe for a new contender to come along and hopefully stay true to what ebay started as.  It's just like the swap meets that used to have great old parts,  that slowly turned into diecast , T shirts and crafts with little old stuff to be found. 

[F&J]

17 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

If they chase enough sellers away though in their quest to flood the market with crap from China and chase Amazon so they eliminate the people that sell old stuff,  the market will be ripe for a new contender to come along and hopefully stay true to what ebay started as.  It's just like the swap meets that used to have great old parts,  that slowly turned into diecast , T shirts and crafts with little old stuff to be found

I agree with every post you've made so far.  

 

In the above post, the swaps started to change as the "longer distance traveled" old car people seeking parts stopped going because of the rising piles of flea market junk.  Then the vintage parts-only vendors were not getting as many buyers or even lookers, so they stopped going.

 

This is what the hell I meant about ebay chasing the "lookers of old stuff" away, then that leads to flippers/sellers not getting the view counts, sales, or same prices...because the drop in now frustrated, former buyers.  Then many vintage-only sellers no longer list, so it snowballs to extinction ....eventually.  

 

I've been on there for 22 freaking years (as hobby only amounts) and don't need to see someone else post on this thread, "ignore them"....to have the gall to imply to the board that only HIS opinions matter? 

 

Btw Randy, you run a top shelf business there.  Your near instant email saying it's going right out today, to the specially manufactured $$ packages apparently made for literature, then the item itself is in a water/rain proof ziplock, etc etc.  That's what I left in my feedback..."Top Shelf Seller"

 

Another BTW, I said previously that the brochure I did just get from you....I said I'd seen the exact same brochures through the past decade that I passed on....But I didn't say, that yours had a final shipped price at least 1/3rd less than just five years ago.  That backs up what has been eluded to by many here...it's not what it used to be.

[John348]

This has been a very interesting and informative thread. I am like many of the others that posted here, I just don't want to see the stuff getting tossed, but I would not mind making a few bucks at it as well (not a living!) 

[pkhammer]

  I did have a couple of shipments that were going overseas thru the ebay international shipping program. Both were carburetors and I received a message that said the parts were a "restricted item" and could not be delivered. They went on to state that the final value fees were being refunded to me and the purchase price was being refunded to the buyer but the funds never came out of my account.

  Overall I have done very well on ebay and continue to do so.

[auburnseeker]

3 hours ago, pkhammer said:

  I did have a couple of shipments that were going overseas thru the ebay international shipping program. Both were carburetors and I received a message that said the parts were a "restricted item" and could not be delivered. They went on to state that the final value fees were being refunded to me and the purchase price was being refunded to the buyer but the funds never came out of my account.

  Overall I have done very well on ebay and continue to do so.

That might be the one exception to them not taking funds from the seller,  but since I refuse to use Ebay's international shipping at the request of many long standing customers I have never had to deal with it.  It's not hard to pack my items,  which I want done by me and not repacked by an ebay employee and fill out the customs forms.  I usually do it 3 or 4 times a week and very often it's repeat customers.  I have one on the floor now for Norway and one for Germany.   Both large orders.  One i think has well over 100 brochures in it. 

 

Now unfortunately your customer never got the part they needed either.  

[1937hd45]

We will never know how many Overseas buyers were turned off by the Grossly over charged eBay International Shipping boondoggle. Most likely made America in general look less trust worthy. I personally enjoy selling and shipping overseas, most buyers know what the actual postage will be before bidding. I'll never get to visit the places I send things to, but enjoy knowing that some widget got a car on the road again. Sold a car to Italy once, FAR easier than selling an old Ford van to a guy in the next town over. Bob 

Edited August 3, 2020 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[rustybottom]

9 hours ago, 1937hd45 said:

We will never know how many Overseas buyers were turned off by the Grossly over charged eBay International Shipping boondoggle. Most likely made America in general look less trust worthy. I personally enjoy selling and shipping overseas, most buyers know what the actual postage will be before bidding. I'll never get to visit the places I send things to, but enjoy knowing that some widget got a car on the road again. Sold a car to Italy once, FAR easier than selling an old Ford van to a guy in the next town over. Bob 

you can always ship without using that overseas service

i have shipped using USPS international priority

[1937hd45]

3 hours ago, rustybottom said:

you can always ship without using that overseas service

i have shipped using USPS international priority

 

 

That is what I do after finding out how badly overseas buyers were treated by eBay. Getting the overseas buyers to know you plan to treat them to the best deal possible on postage is the trick. Guys in Australia and New Zealand must have a special love for their cars to put up with the shipping costs. Bob 

[Big Beat]

I have been selling on eBay for almost 20 years now. People always complain about eBay changing their rules over the years, and I too have been angry with them a few times. I can think of quite a few features that I wish they still had, and some that should have never been introduced. But they are really still the only game in town if you wish to market your stuff to the widest possible audience worldwide. So I suck it up and consider it the cost of doing business. Ranting about never using eBay again may feel good for three minutes, but it doesn't help if you still have stuff you need to sell. 

 

Over the past few years I stopped doing auctions. I price my stuff high, but not unreasonably so. If it doesn't sell within a few weeks, I either lower the price or add a "Best Offer" option. But often the item just sells at my asking price. Buy-It-Now adds urgency that someone else may beat you to it, and many people are too impatient to wait a week for the auction to end and risk being outbid. While I may miss out on an occasional bidding war, in the long run I found I make more with set prices. I also list everything with free shipping. It is not "free" of course, but added to the total price. But it looks good, saves time calculating for various zones or risking eBay's own shipping calculator screwing up, and dealing with idiots who complain about you charging them 25 cents more than they think you should have. Since eBay started charging sellers a percentage of shipping, there is no longer a need for separating the two charges. I never list anything with a reserve. The reserve should be the starting price. I refuse to bid on anything with a reserve myself. I find it a waste of time and in my experience, "No Reserve" is far more attractive than a low starting price with a reserve. I have also stopped listing anything that will net me less than $20 - I consider that a minimum return for my time spent. Anything too big or too fragile to easily ship, I sell on Craigslist. Once a year I do a yard sale and blow out stuff that refuses to sell. Anything still left over is donated or junked. It works for me. 

[1937hd45]

Auctions work well for items you just have a gut feeling are worth more than you think. If you start to get offers a few days in, just politely turn them down and let the auction run it's course. That guy will wind up the top bidder or ran the price up to his max and was beaten by some one else. It is rare, but a few a year are fun. $20.00 it the average eBay sale these days, but a don't mind sticking a $5.00 item in an envelope. 

[auburnseeker]

It all depends on what you sell but now a days if you are trying to make a living and only selling items over $20,  you are going to lose alot of sales and have little opportunity to buy enough quality merchandise .  I have found the only way to do it,  is to buy lots and break them down,  selling them all individually.  I price stuff so low it sells,  well atleast over 99%.  

I don't run a museum so I want my inventory to be fresh and priced so I only have it for a short time.  I would say all the crappy sales  actually pay my bills and the good sales are what my play money comes from.   I must be doing something right except maybe passing on that $30,000 lot I just missed out on. 

[Robert G. Smits]

When I initiated this post I hoped to get a reply from Randy and maybe 3 or 4 others.  I am overwhelmed by the response.  Thank you again.  I will be listing 5 or 6 items this week end    

[1937hd45]

Good luck Robert, have fun with it, 99.9% of the people out there are fine. Good photos and an honest discretion is all you need. No need to get over wordy with the description, if you see a flaw mention it. Mint & cherry are ice cream flavors, I never use them as adjectives. Bob 

[auburnseeker]

Even my near pristine pieces of literature I list as decent shape with wear.  My grading goes from Decent, to Fair to Decent, to Fair, Then Poor to fair and finally poor shape which is usually a brochure that has water damage loose pages tears etc.  I usually only sell stuff like that when it's something I have never seen before or maybe had a very nice example that sold well, so I put it out there and usually even mention it's a filler piece until you find a better example if you ever do. At  99 cents you can't argue with the price for a filler piece.  Saves it from the trash can atleast and that's my goal with alot of it. Usually guys put it in their order so shipping is essentially free on that piece.  Helps build buyers as well knowing there is always some sort of bargain if they are looking.

I wish I could only sell pristine pieces but then again you have to pay so much for them that you can't give anyone any kind of a deal to make them want to buy it. 

 

Good luck.  With a few sales a week it's not too bad and can even be fun if you don't have much invested in the items you are selling,  My wife does it occassionally with my extra crap that comes in.  She lots it up and i tell her how to list it,  then she keeps the money. Keeps my bins cleaned out so I don't turn into one of those sellers with tons of crappy material they will never sell or get around to selling.   When you pound it every day and devote alot of time to using it as your sole source of income,  you experience more of the frustrations. 

[sligermachine]

I HAVE LOTS OF OLD BOOKS AND MANUALS I WOULD LIKE TO SALE BEFORE I MOVE ALL STACKED UP LIKE 4 FOOT TALL  ALL OLD CAR STUFF I WAS PLANNING ON TRYING ON E BAY SOUNDS LIKE THAT NOT SO GOOD NOW 

[auburnseeker]

Shop manuals usually sell,  but often for the $10 I start them at for fairly common 30's-50's ones.  That's about the only thing I start that high as they often don't get alot of bidding but I figure any guy looking for one is willing to pay $10 for an original shop manual.  Car books I'm not sure about.  You would need to do a completed listing search.  Some may have value,  others if alot were made probably don't.  

[1937hd45]

I wish I had a perfect eBay item storage system. Sure there are "eBay Shelves" but every time that $4.99 item with free postage goes missing, after being listed & relisted for a year I start to wonder. Bob 

Edited August 4, 2020 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Just now, 1937hd45 said:

I wish I had a perfect eBay item storage system. Sure there are "eBay Shelves" but every time that $4.99 item with free postage item goes missing, after being listed & relisted for a year I start to wonder. Bob 

That's why I do auctions.  I am so glad that I only have around 6 items in my store now.  It was frustrating to look for a part I listed 5 years ago where I had since sold my house and shop and relocated both.  Except for a couple of tail light assemblies and a few random bits I let everything time out and it didn't hurt my feelings one bit.  The new system is a very organized set of shelves and literature storage boxes. Now after 90 days,  the box gets pulled and all the unsold gets put back into literature to be sorted and freshly listed.  It has really helped keep from mis placing stuff.  Now the only problem I have is once in a great while a single page sheet of something gets stuck to a brochure on the back side and gets sent off with a wrong order.   It's very rare but it has happened a couple of times.

[auburnseeker]

You have to love being a seller.  I just had a customer contact me because his order got damaged / destroyed in shipping.  Actually considering how the package looks,  I think the brochure faired very well,  but I think he wants his money back, though he said it really didn't look like my fault as he could see how it was packaged. 

Look at the multiple layers of cardboard that are bent and shredded.  The brochure is actually shrunk wrapped to another piece of cardboardthat you can't see as he didn't unwrap it.  I almost wonder if he opens it,  if it wont lay flat if you press it between a couple of books,  but regardless you can't pack to prevent this from happening. 

 

 

[60FlatTop]

Years back I sold a small Mobil Pegasus. I packaged it and took it to UPS for shipping. I was told the package was odd shaped and would have to be carried around their machine processors by hand and there was an extra fee for that. I paid. That was fine. A few days later the enraged buyer called. The wing had been folded over, porcelain shredded into fibers, and messed up pretty bad. He blamed me and UPS denied ever providing such a service. I made a full refund and paid shipping back. I relisted it as a damaged sign, without a whisper of how it happened, just how in was. I took a couple hundred dollar beating on the deal but still made a profit. Lots of abuse from the first buyer though.

We now have a local UPS that is run by better people, if you can read body language. I sold four aluminum wheels and hub caps to a guy who sounded like a bitter, nasty old man over the phone. Multiple times he demanded insurance on the wheels. UPS packaged them for me. I told the counterman about the buyer and told him there was probably going to be a damage claim. He smiled and said "We get that all the time". A claim for a broken hubcap was filed and paid, as expected. About $75 for a new hubcap.

Every time you start thinking they aren't all that bad another one pops up.

Bernie

[Str8-8-Dave]

I am a typical example of a "Daily Searcher", I search 1931 Buick primarily, daily, often expanding to 1930 and 1932 as often parts listed for those years are appropriate.  I use the All category on the left side of the page and Newly Listed or Best Match search filters on the right. and hardly ever wade thru all the listings any more because there will be 6,000 listings for 1931 Buick under the All category 5,000 of the listings are for aftermarket tilt steering wheels for the hot rod crowd marked "Fits 1931 Buick" or seat belts, or other such nonsense that has nothing to do with 1931 Buick.  

 

Selling is a losing proposition because E-Bay extracts 10% final value fees above and beyond an "Insertion fee, fees for reserve pricing and on and on and Pay-Pal extracts another 5% seller fees of the final selling price BEFORE E-bay gets done whacking you.  It seems like Hemmings and Buick Bugle classifieds are a better way to go or as other's have suggested, this forum or Craig's List is a better way to go.  I'm not a big fan of Facebook period, so Market Place is not my thing.  We recently sold a 2018 Jayco 5th wheel camper that was listed on RVT for 100 bucks, E-Bay for 100 bucks, Facebook Market Place for 5 bucks a month on Craig's List whose fee was 5 bucks until sold.  Turned up a customer who was a plant manager at Precision Mold & Machining Services Inc. who was as honest as the day is long and made for a great selling experience.

[John348]

12 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

You have to love being a seller.  I just had a customer contact me because his order got damaged / destroyed in shipping.  Actually considering how the package looks,  I think the brochure faired very well,  but I think he wants his money back, though he said it really didn't look like my fault as he could see how it was packaged. 

Look at the multiple layers of cardboard that are bent and shredded.  The brochure is actually shrunk wrapped to another piece of cardboardthat you can't see as he didn't unwrap it.  I almost wonder if he opens it,  if it wont lay flat if you press it between a couple of books,  but regardless you can't pack to prevent this from happening. 

 

 

 

As an owner of a Mirage I am surprised that someone has interest in them,  there are not many left.

[Str8-8-Dave]

1 hour ago, John348 said:

You have to love being a seller.  I just had a customer contact me because his order got damaged / destroyed in shipping.  Actually considering how the package looks,  I think the brochure faired very well,  but I think he wants his money back, though he said it really didn't look like my fault as he could see how it was packaged. 

Look at the multiple layers of cardboard that are bent and shredded.  The brochure is actually shrunk wrapped to another piece of cardboardthat you can't see as he didn't unwrap it.  I almost wonder if he opens it,  if it wont lay flat if you press it between a couple of books,  but regardless you can't pack to prevent this from happening. 

 

USPS has had some reliability problems in the past for me.  I sent a motorcycle jacket back to the mfr in Duluth MN a few years ago and it was priority mail, insured in a sturdy box.  The post office tracked it to the Detroit distribution center, then it disappeared.  I beat on them for weeks to no avail, had to wait 21 days just to turn in an insurance claim.  I was ready to do that but decided just to make sure it had not gotten to where it was supposed to go so I called Aerostich in Duluth.  They had my jacket.  I made them send it back UPS.

 

More recently stuff has really been slow arriving, lost for weeks on end, one item I bought on E-bay was MIA for 45 days and the seller gave me a refund because the item was still at "Label created, USPS is awaiting arrival of the package".  That status never changed and the item showed up on my doorstep one day.  Sender beware- they are having big funding problems now.