Back on the 17th, I "won" a couple of questionable eBay listings (Indian gold eagles for less than melt). I corresponded a little bit with the seller after hitting BIN, and he seemed legit, but tracking info wasn't forthcoming. This evening I got an email -- not from eBay as usual, but from PayPal, containing a USPS tracking number for one of the items. (Just one, but depending on how the enter-tracking-info widget treats the seller, it might be difficult to combine two items under one number.) The twist: when I hit the number, the USPS says it's only received information for the shipment -- and it received that information on July 10, a week before the auction even appeared! Now, I'd love it if the stars had foreordained that I was going to receive a pair of Indian eagles (one of the types I don't have yet) at less than melt before I even saw the listings, but this really isn't the way I see it unfolding. No big surprise, buyer protection, yadda, yadda -- but a pre-dated tracking number is a new one on me!
I guess he just entered a previous tracking number in the hope it would keep you off his back a little longer. It sucks - I hope you are feeling better now and you get your money back safely. There are always bad people out there who will use whatever means at their disposal to make money or take advantage of others. Because of the internet, we know a lot more about it and they have far more methods to try.
Follow-up: yes, the listings were bogus; yes, I won the disputes. But no, I actually haven't gotten my money back yet -- follow the link to see a new twist on eBay payments and refunds. In brief, because I paid directly using a credit card instead of through PayPal, there's going to be an up-to-7-business-day delay before I see the credit. So, no July sub-melt gold for me.
