A cheap attempt at deception?!

[Boboset]

No grade, no scans, no back cover photo, and a front cover photo with much of the book obscured. In the future, I would save yourself likely headaches and buy from more professional sellers.

 

 

[calcnerd]

at Ebay the buyer is king, you can do whatever you want and he'll just have to say "thank you sir, may I have another"

 

Unfortunately this is so true. I've bought and sold on eBay for years and never had an issue. I recently sold an item on eBay. Either in transit (which I doubt since I packed it well) or after the buyer got it, there was some damage to the box of the item (it wasn't a comic). Whatever happened to it, I don't know but of course eBay sided with the buyer and forced a return with full refund even though my auction policy was listed as no returns. I went back and forth with eBay on the phone numerous times with no luck. It seems like no matter what, the seller is always at fault. Now I have a damaged item that I have either keep or to try to resell. After all this, the buyer left me negative feedback and the real kicker is...I can't do the same! Sellers can't leave negative feedback for buyers. It's not an option. All I can do is reply to the negative feedback left for me. Ridiculous.

 

[W16227]

Not to excuse this guy's behavior, but what was your response to him?

 

You say you "confronted" him about it and that's when the bizarre behavior started on his part. Did you bring up the issue politely or did you come at him guns ablazin'?

 

I think a lot of these issue can be avoided if people act rationally and politely.

 

Hard to comment on any behavior - as nobody here has all of the info.

 

original listing

 

Listing has no grade - and really look at the photo. Most of the left spine is not even pictured. The seller is a bad picture taker. Look at their other auctions - many pics that miss some of the cover.

 

 

You paid ~ 7.5- USD for the book - and the chip is what - 1/4" x 1/16"?

 

compare to this one

 

This listing went for more - and has a popped staple. That tiny chip is a much "better" flaw than a detached cover.

 

 

 

If anything - look at the sellers listings and realize that there will be risk with any purchase. They use photos - do not care about framing them properly (or even getting a cheap scanner to show detail), do not post back cover pics .... and just list the books as "used".

 

Item not as described - while ebay may force the return - does not really apply as I fail to see anywhere that they described the book as anything but used. Item not described as well as you would like it to be? - definitely so but that is not what is required.

 

What would you have done if the rear cover had a tear?

 

Better yet - why did not not request an image of the rear cover and a full image of the front cover. Again - a LOT of the spine is missing from the image - would that not worry you?

 

Buyers - have some level of responsibility too. Just the fact that there is no back cover pic = AVOID. That is a REALLY BIG WARNING SIGN that the seller may not be one to buy collectables from.

 

The guy looks like a poor quality seller - but this does not make them a deceptive seller. Many many many better sellers out there. This one - like a garage sale. Hit or miss. Find one that takes returns by default, shows decent images, front and back cover scans, and is a consistent grader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sauce Dog]

I zoomed way in on the picture and the pixel size seems consistent.

 

Could it simply be a thrown shadow during photography?

 

Specifically the compression level across the image is consistent. At the very most this image was re-saved a few times (and MAYBE the colours were slightly adjusted to fix over/under exposure or low saturation).

 

The seller did it via a shadow - wither his intent was to deceive, that I cannot tell.

 

[Boboset]

at Ebay the buyer is king, you can do whatever you want and he'll just have to say "thank you sir, may I have another"

 

Unfortunately this is so true. I've bought and sold on eBay for years and never had an issue. I recently sold an item on eBay. Either in transit (which I doubt since I packed it well) or after the buyer got it, there was some damage to the box of the item (it wasn't a comic). Whatever happened to it, I don't know but of course eBay sided with the buyer and forced a return with full refund even though my auction policy was listed as no returns. I went back and forth with eBay on the phone numerous times with no luck. It seems like no matter what, the seller is always at fault. Now I have a damaged item that I have either keep or to try to resell. After all this, the buyer left me negative feedback and the real kicker is...I can't do the same! Sellers can't leave negative feedback for buyers. It's not an option. All I can do is reply to the negative feedback left for me. Ridiculous.

 

 

That does suck, but in the world of eBay there is no such thing as no returns. Also, shipping damage falls upon seller by way of shipping insurance.

[W16227]

at Ebay the buyer is king, you can do whatever you want and he'll just have to say "thank you sir, may I have another"

 

Unfortunately this is so true. I've bought and sold on eBay for years and never had an issue. I recently sold an item on eBay. Either in transit (which I doubt since I packed it well) or after the buyer got it, there was some damage to the box of the item (it wasn't a comic). Whatever happened to it, I don't know but of course eBay sided with the buyer and forced a return with full refund even though my auction policy was listed as no returns. I went back and forth with eBay on the phone numerous times with no luck. It seems like no matter what, the seller is always at fault. Now I have a damaged item that I have either keep or to try to resell. After all this, the buyer left me negative feedback and the real kicker is...I can't do the same! Sellers can't leave negative feedback for buyers. It's not an option. All I can do is reply to the negative feedback left for me. Ridiculous.

 

 

One of the common misconceptions of buying/selling and shipping. Damage occurring during shipping is the responsibility of the SELLER.

 

In your case - if the buyer damaged after opening and used this fact to screw you over - they are a tool. If there was shipping damage - you are actually responsible.

 

I have seen many times where people complain that the buyer did not "purchase" the shipping insurance so they are at fault. Never do this or consider it. As a seller in a transaction, you are responsible for delivering the item in the condition as described. Any seller (yes even those who are collectors and only sell a few items a year) - has "insurance" on a shipped item. If you insure through the carrier or collectinsure (or other carrier) - then you have someone else that will cover damage. If you have no secondary carrier - then you are SELF INSURING by default.

 

I had a statue order through Amazon - arrived broken. They took back and paid for all shipping. Why? - because they had to. The other option for them was a charge back from the credit card company as the item I ordered NEVER ARRIVED (I ordered a new statue, not a broken one). Same thing applies to a small time seller.

 

This is also a REALLLLLLYYYY good reason to NEVER do the paypal gift transfer - as this does remove that protection level for the buyer. The seller never even has to ship you anything.

 

Strong sellers accept these facets - and either insure separately - or self insure.

 

 

Note that ebay does go over the top with many of their "not as described" claims. They should investigate a bit more - but that would cost them more $$$ and time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wombat]

There has been more detective work in this thread than Chip has gotten for his stolen books.

[Doktor]

We're nerds killing time on something we enjoy. They're public servants that making little over minimum wage & are constantly under pressure to perform to metrics that they might not even care about on issues they don't care about.

 

Plus, we have more fun with it.

[Guardian Comics]

No grade, no scans, no back cover photo, and a front cover photo with much of the book obscured. In the future, I would save yourself likely headaches and buy from more professional sellers.

 

 

Gotta agree here. When an auction description is "Superman vol 1 issue 209" and that's all, why are you rewarding someone that their laziness is tolerated and acceptable by bidding on their items?

 

They didn't even take the book out of the bag, did you really expect this was going to be a perfect and smooth transaction? There were a ton of red flags before even looking at the picture.

 

Jim

[the blob]

isn't $50 in insurance automatic now when purchasing a shipping label via paypal?

 

much beyond that and i factor insurance into the price or i accept that i am self-insuring.

 

frankly, getting a claim paid is such a huge PITA it isn't worth it for something not so big.

[W16227]

isn't $50 in insurance automatic now when purchasing a shipping label via paypal?

 

much beyond that and i factor insurance into the price or i accept that i am self-insuring.

 

frankly, getting a claim paid is such a huge PITA it isn't worth it for something not so big.

 

 

priority mail - you get 50 included. For some reason if I buy the label though ebay - I get 100 from time to time on regular priority. Probably because they want you to use them over paypal....

 

Like you I self insure but will pay the extra for big purchases.

 

 

[budsbundy]

Any chance we could see the original listing?

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/superman-vol-1-issue-209-/141711609012?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20feab8cb4

 

look at all his other listings, this is the only one with a dark shadow on the corner, and it just so happens to be over a defect.

Hmmmmmmm

[shadroch]

Any chance we could see the original listing?

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/superman-vol-1-issue-209-/141711609012?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20feab8cb4

 

look at all his other listings, this is the only one with a dark shadow on the corner, and it just so happens to be over a defect.

Hmmmmmmm

 

He had a more expensive book with a similar defect that he made no attempt to hide. I don't understand hiding a defect on a $5 book but not covering up the same thing on a hundred dollar book.

[W16227]

Any chance we could see the original listing?

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/superman-vol-1-issue-209-/141711609012?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20feab8cb4

 

look at all his other listings, this is the only one with a dark shadow on the corner, and it just so happens to be over a defect.

Hmmmmmmm

 

He had a more expensive book with a similar defect that he made no attempt to hide. I don't understand hiding a defect on a $5 book but not covering up the same thing on a hundred dollar book.

 

and on the same book - the entire lower left spine is cropped

 

that chip is also TINY - seriously - guy is just not that good of a seller - plenty of other quality ones out there that give -front and back SCANS - declare a grade - and are consistent with their grading

 

and offer returns

 

 

 

 

 

[shadroch]

I would avoid him, but I also wouldn't go to war over a $5 book.

[rodan57]

I would avoid him, but I also wouldn't go to war over a $5 book.

 

I agree. To add perspective, I wish all my mispurchases of comic books were only at a cost of $5 apiece.

 

I convince myself that the cost of purchasing disappointing books is tuition in the comic book school of experience.

[thunsicker]

Unless there was also a lot of damage on the lower third of the spine and the top right corner of the book (the other two parts which were obscured) I would guess he's just a bad photographer. His response is a bit bizarre, but I'd have to know how you 'confronted' him to be sure. Box up the comics and send them back.

[Lavaman-migration]

Interesting discussion and some good points made. Cheers lads.

 

What I'm gonna do is; nothing at all. That is, unless he opens unpaid cases against me... In that case I'll pay for the second order and when they arrive, fire back with return requests for all 14 books and hit him with negs.

 

Clearly the guy has deceived me but at the end of the day I've not exactly lost much, and the other books I got from him are pretty sweet and filled some gaps in my ASM run.

 

Definitely need a good reliable seller over here, problem is I loathe using B.I.N's! I like finding private sellers off loading personal collections.... They're few and far between but I find some nice bargains that way.

[kav]

He has to open cases to get his ebay fees back I wouldn't hold that against him.

What I would do is just pay for the books and move on and leave pos FB. Just to be the bigger man. Save your outrage for someone who really screws you.

[Dick Pontoon]

Interesting discussion and some good points made. Cheers lads.

 

What I'm gonna do is; nothing at all. That is, unless he opens unpaid cases against me... In that case I'll pay for the second order and when they arrive, fire back with return requests for all 14 books and hit him with negs.

 

Clearly the guy has deceived me but at the end of the day I've not exactly lost much, and the other books I got from him are pretty sweet and filled some gaps in my ASM run.

 

Definitely need a good reliable seller over here, problem is I loathe using B.I.N's! I like finding private sellers off loading personal collections.... They're few and far between but I find some nice bargains that way.

 

Are you saying you'd hit him with 14 negs over the Superman 209, even if the other books are okay?