E-bay blackmail

[supapimp]

they had to get the out before "bonnie" Q's wife in the move comes home from work. like Q's character said to sam and john's character...."is there a sign outside my garage that reads dead ni**er storage?"

[garthgantu]

Here is a scan of the book by the way...

 

 

Is this a Betty book? If so, he's full of it. Ask him to open a couple of pages and the printing binding at the bottom of the pages will stick together proving they are unread.

 

I'd demand the book back if he's giving you trouble and report it to eBay immediately before he starts negging you.

 

Of course, he wants to keep the book....they are quite nice.....

 

Jim

 

I'm a bit confused here. Rocketeer, why would you describe a VF- book as "unread" ? Even if it IS unread and in VF-, those two terms generally don't appear in the same sentence when describing a comic...? Sure, a VG book could be unread, but that's almost never the case. I can see where the use of "unread" might lead someone to believe the book is in high grade.

Moving on... in this case, however, the buyer isn't harping on that particular point, and is arguing that the book is not in VF- but in FN+ or so. It's a tough call, 'cause there's not that much difference between VF- and FN+, especially in a BA book. I think you could conceivably make an argument for FN/VF 7.0 with this book - there appear to be a number of minor creases on the spine, and some moderately significant wear (and/or creasing?) on the Punisher's lower torso..?

At any rate, I would also note that I can identify somewhat with the buyer ... while I would never start ranting at a seller at this point in 'negotiations,' I have on a few occasions contacted a seller after the fact and said "I think you overgraded this book(s) and I'm wondering what the options might be for resolving the situation - how would you feel about a 10-20% refund?" I do this because I really don't like returning books, even for full refund incl. shipping. It's just a hassle, especially for someone who doesn't ship many comics.

 

All that said, this buyer is being a PRICKly pear and is only taking this aggressive stance because they know you've already left feedback. Extremely frustrating, to say the least.

[mrwoogieman]

Two questions:

 

1) Is the buyer right? meaning, did he point out any defects you may have overlooked or omitted from your listing that would drop the grade down from where you had it?

 

If he's right, I would try to arrive at a mutually agreeable partial refund. If he's not right, don't give in to him: it's either return the book for a full refund or don't.

 

If you do decide to refund, keep the following in mind:

 

2) Was it an auction format or BIN/Store listing?

 

The reason I ask is, in an auction environment, the price is set by competition as much as by the inherent value of the item, so it's not really fair to deduct a static amount from the winning bid based upon a perceived disparity in the condition of the item. In other words, guide value is formulaic (e.g., VG value is twice Good and half Fine), but auction results do not follow the same regimented pattern as the guide, so be careful what you agree to refund based upon guide values. With BIN/Store listings, however, you set the price for the book in that grade; it should be a matter of simple mathematics to arrive at your price for the book in another grade.

 

I have had this situation come up a few times, and finally added some verbiage to my auctions that may be of some help in your situation: in my description of the defects, I've been adding the phrase "...and other [minor/general/slight] wear consistent with the grade given". This is specifically for those buyers who get the book and email you grousing about the fact that you didn't mention some minor problem that fits into the overall grade given for the book, such as interior page 15 has a 1" top right corner crease, ON A BOOK YOU GRADED VG!!

 

Some buyers fully expect a detailed listing of every defect, significant or otherwise, in each auction, regardless of the amount of listing time that involved. My first response is always 'what did you find that I didn't point out in the listing that drops the grade from the one I gave it?' That usually cuts to the chase as to whether you actually did miss something, or if they are taking the squeaky wheel approach.

 

Good luck.

[JMcD]

Oh yeh, that was a great film .

 

About the feedback I would tell him to be off, get the bad feedback and then on the feedback response I would write that he blackmails peolpe into giving him money.

[awe4one]

I'm a bit confused here. Rocketeer, why would you describe a VF- book as "unread" ? Even if it IS unread and in VF-, those two terms generally don't appear in the same sentence when describing a comic...? Sure, a VG book could be unread, but that's almost never the case. I can see where the use of "unread" might lead someone to believe the book is in high grade.

 

The original seller's copies have evidently been sitting in a warehouse stacked and bundled for years. It's not uncommon to get some that have the creases shown similar to this one because of it. I should know......I have long boxes of copies I've bought from the seller...

 

Jim

[Rocketeer]

I listed it as unread cause it is,.....I got a whole bunch of remainder copies of this book,.....they ranged from 7.0-9.4 in grade.due to various defects, mostly bindery marks or overspray.......the books have never been opened or read.

[tilleycs]

I agree, report him to ebay. If you're willing to give him a refund if he returns the book, that is completely fair. But to argue with you over a book that had a scan in the auction...sorry, I don't think he has a leg to stand on. I also agree that it sounds like a case of buyer's remorse, which is NOT your problem. You owe him NOTHING. If he negs you, use the "Reponse" option on ebay.

[Rocketeer]

I listed it as having a few small stress marks by the spine,...not on the spine, and those were the crease lines that are evident by the punisher's torso,....so I really don't feel I didn't disclose them...I didn't define them as creases because to me a crease is a fold and these are not folds,....and he did hit the BIN within 2 hours of the auction start,...and to me that's indicating that he wants his cake and eat it too,...that I'll buy it so no one else gets a chance but if I don't like it I'll make him give me some money back,..thats BS....If i had a tiny scan I could see his reasoning, but i don't think he's right here,...plus now he's calling me dishonest and that really ticks me off....

[burntboy]

first; i think the book grades very closely to what you described. (was the scan that you included a decent sized one?) if so, the buyer should be happy as the book appears to be just about spot-on with your grading and he had the opportunity to see for himself.

 

i have found myself in the same position as this buyer believes he's in but the books i got each time were CONSIDERABLY worse than what was described and the scans were pretty tiny. each time the seller willingly agreed to a partial refund and i went away satisfied. another time a bunch of books got slightly damaged due to crappy packaging and i told the seller. he wouldn't consider a partial refund - just a full return and left it in my hands. i kept the books - they were still pretty nice.

 

point to all this; you've stated your position as willing to make a full refund - he needs to accept your position or keep the book and just close the deal. you are in no way obligated to bargain with him. (besides he grades too strictly) IMO.

[garthgantu]

Understood re: the "unread" label... but I would still humbly submit that many eBay buyers see that word and think "NM" - because many eBay sellers use "unread" to mean "like new." Not your problem per se, but using that word might be inviting trouble...?

 

And yes, this buyer is really pushing it with his emails to you... it's all about the feedback, and him feeling like he's got you over a barrel.

[Rocketeer]

the scan was the same size as the one used in the auction....

[Rip]

Its difficult to say, the buyer COULD be right with regards to the grade. It very well could be a F+. We don't have a pic of the backcover nor can we see everything on a scan. You seem honest, but the buyer came off like a jerk. I'd wait a day until everything cools down and work out a solution.

[143ksk]

I think you're dealing with him fairly. Grading is subjective and based on your scan I don't think you're that far off. The bottom line is that if he's not happy with the book he can return it. End of story! Lord knows that Spiderman 129 is not a tough book to find--he can just keep looking for one that fits into his grading requirements.

 

 

[Aces]

Was that the same 129 that was in the comic grading forum a few weeks ago?

 

I bumped the thread there.

[supapimp]

here's my observation so far:

 

buyer does not want a FULL refund only a partial refund

buyer POPPED the BIN within two hours of listing

buyer most likely feels like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person for his IMPULSE buy

buyer most likely got caught up in the SPECULATION of high prices currently

 

don't worry about it if you get a neg, hell we're not perfect, i've got them before, but i was the buyer not the seller. you didn't or haven't done anything wrong thus far.

[Rocketeer]

Was that the same 129 that was in the comic grading forum a few weeks ago?

 

I bumped the thread there.

 

Nope...those were different books...I sent those to CGC..should be graded on Wednesday....

[WillFury]

I would say he doesn't have a leg to stand on. The scan seems large enough for a buyer to make a reasonable determination of the books' condition. If he had questions about your grading, he should have asked while the auction was ongoing. To me, asking for compensation at this point is disingeneous and tells me that this buyer is more interested in getting one over on you than completing this transaction under the agreed upon terms.

 

 

Often times when I list books on Ebay, the description is intentionally vague to an extent. This helps me avoid situations like the one in which you now find yourself. In my listings I make a point to encourage potential buyers to ask any questions they may have, and then I respond quickly to any inquiries. IMO, it's a lot easier to field questions than to try to guess everything potential buyers would want to know about a book and stuff that info in a description.

 

 

Good luck to you on this, I think you're wholly in the right.

[garthgantu]

And let's be realistic here - if the book was described as "VF-" and is in fact FN/VF, that's close enough for eBay!! Anyone buying on eBay and expecting sellers' grades to jibe perfectly with his/her own grading, is out to lunch. If the guy felt the ASM 129 was a FN-, he'd have some leg to stand on, but I'd say you're 1 grade off AT MOST, and probably no more than 1/2 grade.

 

As to his concern that you might not refund his $ after (if) he sends the book back, you could point out to him that if you were a thief, you'd have not sent the book in the first place...

[Rocketeer]

Its difficult to say, the buyer COULD be right with regards to the grade. It very well could be a F+. We don't have a pic of the backcover nor can we see everything on a scan. You seem honest, but the buyer came off like a jerk. I'd wait a day until everything cools down and work out a solution.

 

Back cover...

 

 

 

[OldGuy]

Got any more VF- graded copies of this book you want to sell for F+ price?