Please Read: Ebay Pre-Order/Pre-Sale - Letters and discount cards?? *****

Guys, I have just been going through some interesting sessions with eBay sellers, and eBay themselves. I believe that eBay has recently changed its policies around Pre-Sale/PreOrder listings. The new policy states that "Presale listings must guarantee that the item will be posted within 30 days of purchase". This did not always be the case. I had one item on pre-order for over a year. Which I have since cancelled.

However, to circumvent this, eBay sellers, as we know, most are in China for 1/6, have started to send out letters, when the date starts getting close to the 30 day mark. These letters consist of a generic letter stating that the item you have ordered is on Pre-Sale, and that you will receive your item in the order that sales have taken place, when it is released. This is fine and dandy, they also throw in a discount card for any other pre-order item in their store.... Great you think... But wait.

When they send this letter and card. They put the tracking number onto the eBay listing of your purchase. So, when it arrives, eBay will see the transaction as completed. You have received your item. Wrong!!!! You have received a substitute letter in lieu of your goods. 

I have spoken with eBay about this. This is against their Pre-Sale policy. (Policy can be found here for UK buyers, I am sure there is one for US as well: Ebay Pre-Sale Policy (UK) ) I am in the process of cancelling these Pre-Sales that are have either issues letters, or say they are going to.

Now, not only that, if you wish, I can show you a copy of the letter, and even the discount card. They are generic. There is no mention of which items you have ordered. There is no mention as to which store/eBay seller you have ordered from. There is no mention of your name, or eBay account. It is a pre-printed letter, that is completely generic. Not even signed. So means absolutely nothing. The discount card, has no mention of the store who issued it, nor what for. No idea on what discount you might be entitled to, if any. it is also generic. There is a Number on it, I assume that relates to something the Seller might be keeping track of. I don't know. 

To me, this smells of a scam on Presale items. To eBay, it contravenes their policies. 

I am mentioning all this, so that you can all be careful. Be very aware of Presale. One vendor doesn't even mention on the listing that it is Presale until you order it. Then you get a message asking if you noticed it. How could you, when it isn't stated anywhere on the listing, nor heading - also contravening eBay's Policy. 

I've seen notices elsewhere that this is a scam China sellers are doing, even those with very high ratings, and those you may have done business with before. Me, I don't know if it is a scam. I am just uncomfortable with the item purchase saying complete, when it isn't. Fortunately for me, I've been messaging the sellers, and eBay has seen those messages. They have said they will issue a case immediately if I ask for one. I am giving the sellers until tomorrow morning to issue my refund, if they don't, I'll be back on to eBay, and raise a case with both. I've done a ton of business with both of those sellers, and they have been good communicators, and responsive. But I don't like this letter/card business, and neither do eBay.

From my standpoint, I am only buying a pre-sale item, if they can guarantee it will be shipped within the 30 days.

Excellent info! Thanks for sharing the details of your interaction with eBay over this situation. This is a significant and widespread change of tactics on the part of China-based sellers, and definitely something of which to be aware.

I have seen this situation mentioned on other forums. Apparently other buyers are beginning to receive cards in the mail. They have not mentioned the generic nature of the cards, which I think is significant. It shows that many of these China-based sellers operating under different names are all under one roof, so to speak.

Thanks Dave... It might not be the same seller "under the same roof", but the same supplier to those sellers. My experience is that the sellers have no real stock, and they use a supplier, who tells them what they have in stock, or are getting in stock for the pre-sale items. The sellers then list them. Which is why suddenly it appears pre-sale items are all sold out. They use the same supplier, who has over allocated to his sellers what he has... At least, that is my take from conversations I've had with a few sellers.

After one bad experience with pre-order items on e-bay, I vowed never to do it again. I'm not big on pre-orders. I have done a couple with a reputable US dealer (Monkey Depot) and I would feel comfortable doing it with Giantoy, but nobody else, especially e-bay dealers.

I agree Gary. MonkeyDepot, Giantoy, MovieFigures, and pretty much my only trusted sellers... I haven't been happy with eBay, and Aliexpress for some time. At least for pre-orders. In-stock orders seem to be ok, but their prices are increasing rapidly all the time.

I'm not big on pre-orders at all. Mostly that's because I tend to buy either expensive Phicen figures for my important figures or cheap jointed ones for my bad guys and then buy parted out items to kit them out, which gives them a highly individualized look. Stuff I've pre-ordered are: A vintage gas pump, which I have not used very much to this point, a Dragon jeep, still to be built but soon I hope, and a female North Korean officer and unless the body on this figure is seamless, I will probably end up replacing it with a Phicen. My bad experience was an accidental one where I ordered a set of VS female gloves off a Chinese dealer not realizing it was a pre-order item. Now there are plenty of these available in stock from lots of ebay dealers and have gotten three sets for my K-Troop ladies with plans to order more.

I'm kind of on the fence about the Benedict Cumberbatch / Colonel Mackenzie figure that's due to be released around the same time. To be perfectly frank, the British WWI officer's uniform is one of the smartest looking uniforms in history, IMO, and by removal of the cuff rank's and replacement with shoulder ranks, he could easily be converted to a WWII British / commonwealth officer in Service Dress. So it's a thought....