I don't think that's the right choice either.
I just know if I was in the buyer's position, there's no way I accept keeping the book and 100% refund. Doesn't that make A-DONIS look like such a great seller and the buyer is in the wrong.
I think a refund of some sorts and keeping the book would have been fair since A-DONIS had several opportunities to correct the buyer's 9.8 expectations and failed to do so.
a) return the book for full refund - A-DONIS clearly wins
b) keep the book and full refund - buyer clearly wins
c) partial refund since A-DONIS clearly misled the buyer, whether intentionally or unintentionally, by failed to correct the buyer's assumptions of "this is a 9.8, right?"
I would think "c" is the only fair solution here.
Not necessarily true. wytches NYCC have a lot of data points - $275-$400 or so in 9.8. I don't know what the data shows in 9.6. In fact, I'm not sure that any 9.6s have sold. Adonis pre sold them so cheaply that once the nycc variant blew up, it was a disaster waiting to happen. I don't think anyone can say there Is right or wrong solution, because there was never a clear deal.
I actually lean more toward the idea that JTT knew or should have known that he was getting the best copy Adonis could find. Not a guaranteed 9.8. The whole transaction was a poorly communicated mishmash of expectations. I am certainly not bothered by the Seller taking it in the shorts. I think it is lame that the buyer gets a huge windfall, but that is probably the lesser of two evils.