PROBATION DISCUSSIONS 21 21

[jaybuck43]

I'd like to nominate LarrysComics for the probation list. I've informed him of this via PM.

 

I ordered some Phantom variants from him in February and followed his ordering instructions to the letter. When I payed him with Paypal, I included the following message:

 

"Hi Larry. Here's $49.99 for 3 copies of the Spider-Gwen #1 Phantom variant (color) + shipping to Canada. I'd really appreciate it if you could pick out copies with 9.8 potential for me. Thanks!"

 

On February 19, I received a tracking number for my order. A few days ago, my comics still hadn't arrived, so I went to track my books to see where they were. When I did, I discovered that the most recent tracking information still dated from February 19 when a shipping label was created. I e-mailed Larry to see what was up and didn't get a response. I tried to get in touch with him again today by PM and was successful. I told Larry about the situation and to his credit, he got right on the case to see what was going on.

 

Shortly thereafter, I received a refund from Larry and the following PM:

 

"Yes...

 

You requested 9.8's

That in my experience is BAD news.

 

I just refunded you, thought I did it that day. Apologies.

Not getting roped into that game.

 

Sorry."

 

Larry then proceeded to remove himself from our conversation.

 

I was going to let this go, but after some consideration, I felt it necessary to bring this to the board's attention. If this had happened to another boardie, I would definitely have wanted to be made aware of it so that I could actively avoid doing business with the seller who wronged him.

While not a great transaction, I'm not seeing anything Probation List worthy. You contacted him about the issue and he refunded your money. He broke the transaction because you asked for books with 9.8 potential, when he hadn't advertised books as 9.8s and didn't want to get into an issue over grade potential when they shipped. Is it a person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed move? Yes. Is it PL worthy in light of the fact that you were made whole? Not in my mind.

[comix4fun]

I'd like to nominate LarrysComics for the probation list. I've informed him of this via PM.

 

I ordered some Phantom variants from him in February and followed his ordering instructions to the letter. When I payed him with Paypal, I included the following message:

 

"Hi Larry. Here's $49.99 for 3 copies of the Spider-Gwen #1 Phantom variant (color) + shipping to Canada. I'd really appreciate it if you could pick out copies with 9.8 potential for me. Thanks!"

 

On February 19, I received a tracking number for my order. A few days ago, my comics still hadn't arrived, so I went to track my books to see where they were. When I did, I discovered that the most recent tracking information still dated from February 19 when a shipping label was created. I e-mailed Larry to see what was up and didn't get a response. I tried to get in touch with him again today by PM and was successful. I told Larry about the situation and to his credit, he got right on the case to see what was going on.

 

Shortly thereafter, I received a refund from Larry and the following PM:

 

"Yes...

 

You requested 9.8's

That in my experience is BAD news.

 

I just refunded you, thought I did it that day. Apologies.

Not getting roped into that game.

 

Sorry."

 

Larry then proceeded to remove himself from our conversation.

 

I was going to let this go, but after some consideration, I felt it necessary to bring this to the board's attention. If this had happened to another boardie, I would definitely have wanted to be made aware of it so that I could actively avoid doing business with the seller who wronged him.

While not a great transaction, I'm not seeing anything Probation List worthy. You contacted him about the issue and he refunded your money. He broke the transaction because you asked for books with 9.8 potential, when he hadn't advertised books as 9.8s and didn't want to get into an issue over grade potential when they shipped. Is it a person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed move? Yes. Is it PL worthy in light of the fact that you were made whole? Not in my mind.

 

 

I guess it depends on how much weight you put on the fact that the market for the books is 50-100% higher than the agreed sale price and the refund wasn't made until nearly a month after acceptance and after the aforementioned market movement. And the buyer didn't demand 9.8's, he asked for care in choosing the books which isn't an outlandish request given the hobby we are discussing.

 

Lots of incentive to come up with an excuse um... reason to invalidate the deal.

[DR.X]

Poor communication and making up rules on the fly?...from Larry? Shocking.

 

 

[Tiger Topher]

When I said "I'd really appreciate it if you could pick out copies with 9.8 potential for me," I simply meant that I'd like it if Larry (or whoever packs his books) could just take a second to make sure that the books that were being sent to me looked good. Shame on me for wanting nice copies.

[CAHokie]

Is he really made whole though? He thought he was getting them at a certain price and will now have to pay double to get those same books since he was never notified of the cancellation in time to find alternatives.

 

edit: as usual Comix4fun and I are on the same page but he is a faster poster!

Edited March 12, 2015 by CAHokie

[comix4fun]

Is he really made whole though? He thought he was getting them at a certain price and will now have to pay double to get those same books since he was never notified of the cancellation in time to find alternatives.

 

edit: as usual Comix4fun and I are on the same page but he is a faster poster!

 

 

 

All opinions are welcome..especially if they validate mine.

[EC ed]

We get on this carousel so frequently, I can't remember if what I'm thinking actually happened, but I swear I recall a discussion not too long ago about someone (else) putting something about wanting 9.8s in their PayPal payment line...the seller shipped the books, and the books didn't come back as 9.8s, and the buyer made a big stink about it. There was some discussion about whether the seller's acceptance of the payment with that wording in the PayPal notes created an additional obligation, even though the books weren't initially advertised as 9.8s. I seem to recall that there were actually some opinions that favored the buyer's logic. Am I imagining that? I'll try to find it...

[Kevin76]

Hey I sent Larry $155 for a Silk 1 and Spider-Gwen 1 set on 2/18...nothing. I emailed him and told him about it, of course he told me it was all my fault then he said his printer isn't working so he'll write it out and send them right away. I live in CT and he's shipping from MA, so unless he's mailing them slow boat, I should have gotten them either the next day or day after, I told him to email me a tracking number, that email when ignored. How this guy stays in business when he blames everyone else for his mistakes is beyond me. Haven't had a chance to go to my PO Box today but I'll check it tomorrow to see if he's trying to scam me.

[Kevin76]

Poor communication and making up rules on the fly?...from Larry? Shocking.

 

See that would be all you're fault, it's never his fault

[EC ed]

I miss that discussion about whether being an unmitigated doosh is enough to get you on the PL.

 

What ever happened with that, anyway? (ducking and covering )

Edited March 12, 2015 by edowens71

[Jimmy Linguini]

If someone is selling NM / NM+ books and you add a "please put 9.8 potential book" notes - the seller is going to think the buyer is someone they should avoid.

 

I don't understand the argument / what you're looking for by putting Larry on the PL.

[wombat]

So he waited a month with your money, gave you a tracking number and then blamed it on you for what you wrote on the payment? And the price for these books has gone up?

 

[HarveySwick]

If someone is selling NM / NM+ books and you add a "please put 9.8 potential book" notes - the seller is going to think the buyer is someone they should avoid.

 

I don't understand the argument / what you're looking for by putting Larry on the PL.

 

This would make me concerned as a seller as well.

 

Seems to be implyng - I'm really not going to be happy unless I get 9.8's [and you might be dealing with a request for a refund at some point.]

 

Would the situation have been better had Larry just ignored this and sent out three copies without any real effort to look for 9.8 candidates?

 

Then we're close to what had been done in the past regarding a presale of a Con Variant SS where the buyer wrote in "for a CGC 9.8" in the notes of PayPal and the seller sort of said by saying nothing when those expectations were expressed and should have been tempered.

 

I think Larry should have replied - "sorry, can't do that. If you want a refund, I'll give it. Otherwise, no guarantees."

 

Bottom line - don't do business with him in the future, but I don't think it's Probation List worthy.

[EC ed]

Then we're close to what had been done in the past regarding a presale of a Con Variant SS where the buyer wrote in "for a CGC 9.8" in the notes of PayPal and the seller sort of said by saying nothing when those expectations were expressed and should have been tempered.

 

That was it! Ah, so I wasn't imagining it...you remember it too...

[HarveySwick]

Yup. The seller in that case is a frequent flyer in this thread.

[EC ed]

This would make me concerned as a seller as well.

 

Seems to be implyng - I'm really not going to be happy unless I get 9.8's [and you might be dealing with a request for a refund at some point.]

 

Would the situation have been better had Larry just ignored this and sent out three copies without any real effort to look for 9.8 candidates?

 

Bottom line - don't do business with him in the future, but I don't think it's Probation List worthy.

 

Sucks, but I think if the buyer here had simply put "please send your three best copies" in the PayPal note, we'd be having a different discussion. Just semantics, perhaps, but sometimes semantics are important, especially in this litigious environment we live in

 

 

[Red84]

The buyer was not made whole. He lost out on "the benefit of the bargain." It's pretty simple; the buyer is owed either the three books he ordered or the difference in price between the agreed upon price and the current price to acquire those books.

[CAHokie]

I agree with Swick that he should have replied with a message saying "I will do the best I can but no guarantees. Do you still want them?" But to keep the seller's money and not tell him his order was cancelled until the seller inquired a month later is a bit shady.

[Tiger Topher]

Semantics was definitely a factor here, but given that Larry is a seller who has more than one occasion proclaimed himself to be someone who looks after readers and collectors, I didn't think my request would be misunderstood or even an issue.

 

And yes, if Larry had simply got in touch with me to say that he can't guarantee that I'll get 9.8 copies, there wouldn't have been a problem.

[PIR8]

I gotta agree with Jay and Harvey. Seller could have handled it much better, but because the statement was added to the PayPal payment requesting 9.8 candidates, I think it can be said that the buyer was asking for something the seller wasn't offering.