What would you do with this situation?

[gadzukes]

I had someone purchase a comic from me about 4 years ago off of ebay.

 

The comic came to over $3000 (maybe $3600?). When it came time to pay he told me he couldn't come up with all the money right then and asked if he could do time payments. After grumbling a little bit I agreed to it. He made one payment and then I never heard from him again. I tried many times to contact him to finish the transaction but it was like he disappeared off the face of the earth.

 

I held the comic for a year and a half just in case he contacted me again. After a year and a half I decided to put the comic up at auction again and ended up selling it.

 

Long story short.... I got an email yesterday from him wanting to complete the deal if I still had the comic.

 

My dilemma is, I know that he gave me some money but I don't know how much. He claims he gave me over $1000 but that doesn't sound right to me.

 

I've decided I'm not going to refund him any money, but I would like to send him a comic(s) as a form of reimbursement. I just don't know what value to send.

 

Remember, this is from a transaction that happened 4 years ago. That's a loooooong time.

 

Any ideas?

 

What would you do?

[Junkdrawer]

what was his excuse?

 

[Garlanda]

By what method did he send the payment? PayPal records go back pretty far. Bank records do too; perhaps he could get his cancelled check (digital version), or you could pick out the deposit?

 

If all of this was a bust, and given the circumstances, I would try to offer him other comics worth the approximate dollar value he thinks he paid. Chances are you paid less for the items than the current trade value, so you would basically be refunding him the cash value you think he sent but given him the merchandise value he thinks he sent. If you paid $500 for a comic that price guides for $1000, sending that should fit both your needs.

[GACollectibles]

Goosebumps?

[slym2none]

This is why the first payment should be non-refundable in any time-payment transaction. If you didn't state that the initial down payment was not refundable, it's on you.

 

 

 

-slym

[thunsicker]

I'd keep the deposit (10%? 20%? of book value) for your trouble. I'd refund the rest or find some book for the rest if he can prove amount paid.

[gadzukes]

This is why the first payment should be non-refundable in any time-payment transaction. If you didn't state that the initial down payment was not refundable, it's on you.

 

 

 

-slym

 

That's a great idea, but I doubt I did that. I had no experience in time payments. That was probably the 1st one I ever did and have maybe done 2 more since then.

[1904 Comics]

wow, 4 year time payments (just kidding)

 

to be honest, I would have refunded the money a long time ago since he never paid in full and you would have never been in this situation. but since you are, offering books of value based on the history of his payments sounds like a hot mess of back and forth debate. since you've already declared you aren't going to refund him the money, I would contact eBay first and foremost to establish what the policy would be on unpaid claims greater than 4 years. At least you'll have some validated seller protection on whatever the eBay representatives advise you.

[gadzukes]

I'd keep the deposit (10%? 20%? of book value) for your trouble. I'd refund the rest or find some book for the rest if he can prove amount paid.

 

I think that's what I'm going to do.

 

I will try to figure out what the price was, take 20% as a deposit, and then refund him the rest with a comic book of the value of whatever is left.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

Goosebumps?

 

closed

[gadzukes]

wow, 4 year time payments (just kidding)

 

to be honest, I would have refunded the money a long time ago since he never paid in full and you would have never been in this situation. but since you are, offering books of value based on the history of his payments sounds like a hot mess of back and forth debate. since you've already declared you aren't going to refund him the money, I would contact eBay first and foremost to establish what the policy would be on unpaid claims greater than 4 years. At least you'll have some validated seller protection on whatever the eBay representatives advise you.

 

This is great advice too. I don't want to get in a back & forth situation with him.

 

But he did pay me something, so I'd like to give him something.

[comicjack]

I'd keep the deposit (10%? 20%? of book value) for your trouble. I'd refund the rest or find some book for the rest if he can prove amount paid.

 

I think that's what I'm going to do.

 

I will try to figure out what the price was, take 20% as a deposit, and then refund him the rest with a comic book of the value of whatever is left.

 

Sounds like a fair deal to me!

[1904 Comics]

This is great advice too. I don't want to get in a back & forth situation with him.

 

But he did pay me something, so I'd like to give him something.

 

i'm curious, but what book was it? that's another thing to evaluate given the 4 year gap. (ex. AF15 cgc 7.0 4 years ago versu a FF48 cgc 7.0 have completely different scales of value worth interpreting

[slym2none]

wow, 4 year time payments (just kidding)

 

to be honest, I would have refunded the money a long time ago since he never paid in full and you would have never been in this situation. but since you are, offering books of value based on the history of his payments sounds like a hot mess of back and forth debate. since you've already declared you aren't going to refund him the money, I would contact eBay first and foremost to establish what the policy would be on unpaid claims greater than 4 years. At least you'll have some validated seller protection on whatever the eBay representatives advise you.

 

This is great advice too. I don't want to get in a back & forth situation with him.

 

But he did pay me something, so I'd like to give him something.

 

You are a good man!

 

 

 

 

-slym

[Davenport]

But he did pay me something, so I'd like to give him something.

Four year old eBay transaction is insane.

 

Might be best to explain he disappeared after making a non-refundable deposit, and after an extended time you closed it out.

 

Send him a "gift" if you want, explaining you feel terrible things didn't work out. But re-rengaging the transaction might open yourself up to even more bizarreness. It's 100% on him if he disappeared and defaulted on the payment agreement.

[The_Drek_Police]

Sorry if I'm the bad guy but honestly, 4 years is a long time. A lot can happen in that time. Granted, no time limit was stated in which the item was to be paid for but if they guy lacked communication, that's on him.

 

If I had dropped some change on a book and had time payments, I would at least keep in touch once a month just to let you know what's up and make sure the book is mine.

 

I think you're going above and beyond in compensating him some monetary value back for his deposit.

 

 

[Erndog]

This is one of the weirdest things I've read.

 

[Erndog]

I'd want to know what happened. You said you tried many times to get ahold of him. Maybe he was in a coma? Maybe he was deployed overseas? Maybe he was teleported into another galaxy? But for someone to come up 4 years later asking for the book or a refund? Ridiculous. Totally past the best before due date.

[mrwoogieman]

Tell him you'll get right back to him on the refund as soon as he provides proof of the amount he paid you. Then wait 4 years to contact him.

 

 

[slym2none]

Tell him you'll get right back to him on the refund as soon as he provides proof of the amount he paid you. Then wait 4 years to contact him.

 

 

::

 

 

 

-slym