Negging: When do you do it?

[easyt63]

Here is the message I wrote the seller on 12/22:

 

Dear nyfrankny,

 

Hello,

 

I just wanted to give you a heads up. The ASM 136 I purchased from you isn't even close to a 9.4-9.6 like you stated. I figured you were high balling as it is (as I figure most people are), so I thought this may be a 9.0-9.2. In reality, it's more like a 7.5-8.0.

 

I would have sent it back to you if I had not received it the day before I left on vacation. And truthfully, I don't want to deal with going to the post office around the holidays. Point being, I'm pretty unhappy with the book. I paid over $50 for a $20 book in its actual condition.

 

 

 

So--Yes, I should have wrote exactly what I wanted, but at the time I really wanted to vent my frustration and see if he had the courtesy to reply, which he hasn't shown yet.

 

 

[blazingbob]

Ok, but the seller is clearly identifying via the scans that he CAN'T grade.

 

Only way I'm bidding on raw books on ebay on my phone is if I know the guy.

 

How is he not honest? I've made numerous posts that I feel the biggest problem in this hobby is the fact that very few people are taught how to grade. Read a book if they are lucky and off they go. If ebay is their sales channel then feedback either confirms their ability or not.

 

You come along and it looks like you can grade and expect him to be honest in his ability? And not to be rude but why should he take your ability over his? He probably chalks you up to be one of those "tight graders who is never happy".

 

And by the way AS #136 in VF is $49 in guide, you paid $1 over guide for the book as a 8.0. CGC 8.0 per GPA is $49

 

 

 

 

[easyt63]

Last thing so we can wrap this up. Do I leave any form of feedback? The seller obviously over grades to the point that it's a bit scammy. I think people should know, and he should no he is doing something wrong and deceitful (at least he is in my eyes). So, do I:

 

A. Leave Positive feedback

 

B. Leave Neutral feedback with a comment that he over grades

 

C. Leave Negative feedback

 

D. Leave no feedback, fly to Colorado and smoke some legal weed.

[rjrjr]

Last thing so we can wrap this up. Do I leave any form of feedback? The seller obviously over grades to the point that it's a bit scammy. I think people should know, and he should no he is doing something wrong and deceitful (at least he is in my eyes). So, do I:

 

A. Leave Positive feedback

 

B. Leave Neutral feedback with a comment that he over grades

 

C. Leave Negative feedback

 

D. Leave no feedback, fly to Colorado and smoke some legal weed.

 

 

D. based on the steps you've take to remedy the situation.

 

Not to come off as an , but you've spent more time here talking about this than you did attempting to rectify the situation with the seller. You are absolutely correct in thinking this is overgraded and wanting your money back or even a partial refund if the seller suggests it, but I don't think you are correct in saying the seller is a scammer. The pictures are pretty clear that the book is not in NM or even NM- condition. And yes, the seller is wrong for not replying to your email, but that doesn't change things.

 

Your expectations of listings on E-Bay are awfully high. You'll need to lower them or you'll be spending all your time going through this turmoil.

[bababooey]

Last thing so we can wrap this up. Do I leave any form of feedback? The seller obviously over grades to the point that it's a bit scammy. I think people should know, and he should no he is doing something wrong and deceitful (at least he is in my eyes). So, do I:

 

A. Leave Positive feedback

 

B. Leave Neutral feedback with a comment that he over grades

 

C. Leave Negative feedback

 

D. Leave no feedback, fly to Colorado and smoke some legal weed.

 

E. Leave no feedback lest anyone find out your e-bay ID & end your "phone buying" of comic books from anyone here

 

 

Cool SSM cover on your CAF...

[rjpb]

I don't blame the OP for waiting to see if the seller offers a way to rectify the situation, as sometimes you may not want to go through the hassle of a return, but don't want it to come across as demanding a discount either. It's a bit passive though, and when they got no response, they should have made an effort to return within the listed window or let it go, maybe leaving a neutral if they felt it was warranted.

 

I'm feeling a bit sympathetic, as I've lately had a few purchases, where I felt the seller didn't adequately list notable defects ( brittle pages, huge H2O stain that went through book, "taped tears" that turn out to mean the back cover had completely separated and been taped back on.) Sure they were listed as lower mid-grade copies, and I'm generally prepared for grades to be soft on ebay ( and bid accordingly), but these were all from dealers who should know better, and it does get tiresome having to pay to mail stuff back.

[Tony S]

Last thing so we can wrap this up. Do I leave any form of feedback? The seller obviously over grades to the point that it's a bit scammy. I think people should know, and he should no he is doing something wrong and deceitful (at least he is in my eyes). So, do I:

 

A. Leave Positive feedback

 

B. Leave Neutral feedback with a comment that he over grades

 

C. Leave Negative feedback

 

D. Leave no feedback, fly to Colorado and smoke some legal weed.

 

E: Decide for yourself. Because ultimately, it depends on how you feel.

 

I feel your email - that you posted up - is a bit snooty. "I figured your were high balling...". And what the heck is this about the hassle of returns? If you don't want to ever have to return something by mail then don't buy stuff by mail. Haven't you ever purchased something from Target that didn't work and have to take it back? Did you call Target and expect them to come pick it up?

 

Besides, I've already mentioned how you can avoid going to the post office.

 

But then as a seller, I go out of my way to make buyers happy so snooty or not I would have politely replied to your email, said I was sorry to hear the book didn't meet your expectations and offered a partial refund or offered to take it back. Which is just the way I'd want to be treated. It's how everyone would want to be treated.

 

The deal is I've been selling comics for 25 years. A lot of people on ebay have been selling them for 2.5 months. Maybe some people are great sellers and great graders right out of the gate, but that's probably not the norm.

 

I think life is too short for me to teach sellers on eBay how to grade. It's too short to get worked up over stuff. Return it or don't return it, neg or don't. It's really up to you and should be based on how YOU feel.

 

"D" is tempting though.

 

[Walt_Flanagan-migration]

ebay feedback has become quite the joke. on my private handle I never leave feedback (good or bad) anymore.

 

10 years ago (when I actually cared) I would have bothered to leave negative feedback for a bad seller, but these days with the place of a phone call the negative feedback can be erased. so what's the point and why bother?

 

What pushes your buttons enough for you to push the negative feedback button on eBay?

 

The reason why I ask is I'm in a conundrum. I think I'm nice. Maybe too nice. I recently bought a ASM 136, advertised to be a 9.4. Now, of course I took that at face value and figured it would be a 9.2 or worst case a 9.0. I won the auction at $52.

 

When I get the book, well packaged, it's no more than an 8.0. So, I sent the seller a message telling him how unpleased I was and that I really don't want to deal with holiday crowds at the post office to return the book. Plus I was leaving for Hawaii two days later.

 

No response. That was December 19.

 

Do I neg him or just leave a neutral with a nasty comment?

[Buzzetta]

Leaving a negative.. the last negative I left involved a Transformer I wanted as a desk toy. I bought the item and upon inspection all of the inner components were rusted not allowing the piece to transform. I only wanted a big toy robot for my desk at work. This guy though he was putting a fast one on me.

 

I tried to settle it nicely but the seller put up a fight saying not his problem and refused to take it back. him. I returned it, got my money back and left him a negative.

[Gunnz]

I leave negative feedback if sellers are rude, not cooperative or do not reply. I consider ebay like the mall. Lots of stores, but they each need to consider customer service. I do like ebays gaurantee even though disputes may take a while to complete.

 

I haven't had any real negative experiences and i havent had to leave a bad review yet. just one guy who took forever to ship the book by the slowest means necessary despite paying for faster shipping. In the end, the book was in graet condition and i was happy. I just didn't leave feedback.

 

And even if negative feedback is erased, for that time it appears on the sellers account, many people area ble to see it before it's gone. May not save the many, but do something for the few.

 

 

[The Kaptain]

If you have to file a claim with Pay Pal or eBay to get your money back, it's time for a Negative.

[The-Collector]

The ebay feedback mechanism is intractably flawed. I think that buyers know this and that is why many never leave feedback. Depending on whether you adopt the mindset of the seller or the buyer totally different answers can be justified for when it is appropriate to leave a negative.

 

In my opinion negatives and neutrals are not used frequently enough and often poor sellers have very high feedback.

 

Conversely given that most buyers would shy away from a seller with even a few negatives I can see why negatives/neutrals should be reserved for serious failures.

 

I would much prefer a more granular review system that allows for a greater accuracy of review. I know DSRs give this in part, but as they are not public they are little use to buyers.

 

Aggregating feedback as a percentage of positives provides an easily understood measure, but I would argue that it so overly simplifies the data it is measuring that it is of little use.

[FineCollector]

Many years ago, I bought a wrestling video off a guy who had a picture of the original, and sold me a duplicate. Very misleading, but I contacted him right away, and threatened a negative feedback. He emailed back right away, apologized, and sent me a refund. I left Neutral feedback, saying we couldn't close the deal. If I negged him, I would've received a neg back, and it wasn't worth it.

 

I don't think the phone excuse is valid. The picture clearly shows spine ticks. We know eBay is a minefield of liars and people who think their trash is treasure, so you have to do your diligence. No consumer protection program will side with you if you don't even look at the picture provided.

[Bosco685]

If you have to file a claim with Pay Pal or eBay to get your money back, it's time for a Negative.

 

I can see this being one of the motivators for a Neutral or Negative. Especially depending on some of the responses from the seller.

[towards2112]

Here is the message I wrote the seller on 12/22:

 

Dear nyfrankny,

 

Hello,

 

I just wanted to give you a heads up. The ASM 136 I purchased from you isn't even close to a 9.4-9.6 like you stated. I figured you were high balling as it is (as I figure most people are), so I thought this may be a 9.0-9.2. In reality, it's more like a 7.5-8.0.

 

I would have sent it back to you if I had not received it the day before I left on vacation. And truthfully, I don't want to deal with going to the post office around the holidays. Point being, I'm pretty unhappy with the book. I paid over $50 for a $20 book in its actual condition.

 

 

 

So--Yes, I should have wrote exactly what I wanted, but at the time I really wanted to vent my frustration and see if he had the courtesy to reply, which he hasn't shown yet.

 

 

What is your ebay user id ? And do you have a habit of wanting sellers

to offer a cut in price after you have already commited to buy it ?

[easyt63]

Here is the message I wrote the seller on 12/22:

 

Dear nyfrankny,

 

Hello,

 

I just wanted to give you a heads up. The ASM 136 I purchased from you isn't even close to a 9.4-9.6 like you stated. I figured you were high balling as it is (as I figure most people are), so I thought this may be a 9.0-9.2. In reality, it's more like a 7.5-8.0.

 

I would have sent it back to you if I had not received it the day before I left on vacation. And truthfully, I don't want to deal with going to the post office around the holidays. Point being, I'm pretty unhappy with the book. I paid over $50 for a $20 book in its actual condition.

 

 

 

So--Yes, I should have wrote exactly what I wanted, but at the time I really wanted to vent my frustration and see if he had the courtesy to reply, which he hasn't shown yet.

 

 

What is your ebay user id ? And do you have a habit of wanting sellers

to offer a cut in price after you have already commited to buy it ?

 

I've never asked for a refund or returned a book on ebay. I'd say this book finally peeked my curiosity to come on here and ask your opinion/advice on what's it take for you to leave a negative. Needless to say, this thread didn't go exactly as planned. Sad. Be a bit nicer people. Life is too short.

 

Have a good Saturday.

[thehumantorch]

First off, you should stop buying books after shopping on your phone. It's causing you grief and it's not really fair to a seller. Yes, he should grade better but that the pics of that book showed that it was over-graded.

 

Second, I can't understand the hate directed at you in this thread. Seems like you were truly asking for advice. Guys, if you were discussing this in person would you be so direct, and frankly rude?

 

Third, be more direct. When you're unhappy be firm, fair and direct. Don't beat around the Kate Bush.

 

Last, it's important that you leave accurate, helpful feedback. If he ignores your emails or doesn't want to fix the problem neg him. If he reluctantly handles it give him a neutral. If he is very responsive and bends over backwards to resolve the issue you could consider leaving him a positive feedback like 'book was over-graded but seller fixed the problem'.

 

 

 

[rjpb]

Here is the message I wrote the seller on 12/22:

 

Dear nyfrankny,

 

Hello,

 

I just wanted to give you a heads up. The ASM 136 I purchased from you isn't even close to a 9.4-9.6 like you stated. I figured you were high balling as it is (as I figure most people are), so I thought this may be a 9.0-9.2. In reality, it's more like a 7.5-8.0.

 

I would have sent it back to you if I had not received it the day before I left on vacation. And truthfully, I don't want to deal with going to the post office around the holidays. Point being, I'm pretty unhappy with the book. I paid over $50 for a $20 book in its actual condition.

 

 

 

So--Yes, I should have wrote exactly what I wanted, but at the time I really wanted to vent my frustration and see if he had the courtesy to reply, which he hasn't shown yet.

 

 

What is your ebay user id ? And do you have a habit of wanting sellers

to offer a cut in price after you have already commited to buy it ?

 

I've never asked for a refund or returned a book on ebay. I'd say this book finally peeked my curiosity to come on here and ask your opinion/advice on what's it take for you to leave a negative. Needless to say, this thread didn't go exactly as planned. Sad. Be a bit nicer people. Life is too short.

 

Have a good Saturday.

 

Don't let it get to you. One thing boardies like to complain about as much as ebayers who can't grade, are the buyers that purchase from them and are unhappy with the results.

[PEP]

Never had a problem in years.