The new norm for buying cards on ebay? 19 days and counting
 

Bought a card 19 days ago. Took nearly a week for the seller to "redeem" it from his vault. USPS delay getting it to the authenticator. Several days to be authenticated. Now a USPS delay getting it back to me. I'm pretty patient but sometimes compared to how it used to be this is ridiculous.

Seems like it wasn't that long ago that everyone was praising the importance of fast shipping, and you were pooh-poohing fast shipping as an unnecessary feature.

But maybe when it's your own stuff, time is of the essence.

I received a card that shipped on 12.4.24 today. No authentication.
Things are definitely slower this time of year.

Buying a card on ebay and submitting it for grading, to me, carry different expectations. And 19 days for shipping with no delivery in sight seems a bit long in the purchase category. But carry on.

If memory serves, the earlier discussion was about fast shipping from AH winnings.

And those can routinely take a few weeks.

As you wish. A few weeks, really? I don't recall having that experience.

Our of Curiosity
 

And I know we all want ultra fast shipping, but,,,

Isn't the legal requirement still something like 30 business days.

Just curious

Rich

It took the seller nearly a week to redeem it from his vault? What exactly does that entail, clicking something online?

I didn't word that well. I mean it took the VAULT a week to "redeem" it once the seller made the request.

eBay complaint
 

Any veteran collector who is surprised by the depths of eBay ineptitude has little room to complain. It’s been a train wreck for years. Idea- stop using eBay if it’s that far under your skin. Problem solved! Trent King

Probably depends on how you pay.

But it's not uncommon for some platforms to wait to make sure your payment clears. And then maybe a little longer just for good measure. At length, they ship, because they have lots of stuff to ship, and it takes a little time to get to your turn. Obviously some are zippier than others, but with the slowcoaches of the AH world, it's not uncommon to have to wait a few weeks from payment before you get your stuff.

Trent, I hear that, but for myself anyway there are just tons of cards where ebay is still by far the best source.

OK. When I apparently said I didn't think immediate shipping by an AH was the biggest thing since sliced bread, I guess my point of comparison was 10 days maybe 2 weeks at the outset between payment and receipt. Three weeks or more does seem a bit long to wait.

OK. When I apparently said I didn't think immediate shipping by an AH was the biggest thing since sliced bread, I guess my point of comparison was 10 days maybe 2 weeks at the most between payment and receipt. Three weeks or more does seem a bit long to wait.

Hopefully your stuff comes through soon. If PSA knocks off for a couple of weeks of vacation before getting to your piece, you might get to wait until January...

Another factor people aren't considering here is Santa Claus and his demanding workload as the world's population continues to increase. We have four times as many people on earth than we did a century ago and he's still mostly a one-man show.

Rudolph gets all the glory, but Santa deserves most of the credit for Christmas still being celebrated on December 25th and not sometime in the middle of January.

Brian (Merry timely Christmas to all!)

I'd say it's the other way around. ;)

https://media0.giphy.com/media/xTk9Z...=200w.gif&ct=g

Not that it's relevant, but isn't the parent:child ratio at least twice as high now as it was then?

I empathize with your angst and impatience. I recently bought my first card via the “vault” process. Pretty long and tedious. A key aspect of our participation in this hobby, at least for many if not most of us, is that it plays to our inner little kid. So, after the wait of several weeks, I found the little kid in me complaining (mentally) that I’m tired of waiting and I want my damn card. Long gone are the days when we kids could look forward, after just a few days, to the arrival of the postman.

That’s progress, I guess.

22 days and counting!! lol

I’m shooting for a record in the sans-authentication category. I purchased on the 9th. Incorrect card arrived on the 14th as the seller had mixed up two sales. The other buyer has only just today mailed my card back to the seller.

Also, your avatar is great. Matty’s my favorite.