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Beware of This eBay Buyer

Started by Comicdave,

38 posts in this topic

Comicdave

Comicdave

Posted
Posted

I would like to give you guys a heads up on eBay buyer Erstockton. Don't know if he's a forum member or not, but just had a bad experience (thanks in part to eBay) and needed to vent.

 

Here's the situation. I put up a Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #8 on eBay that I graded a 9.6 with an outside shot at a 9.8. I had a buy it now of $35. erstockton hit the Buy It Now and paid right away. I shipped it out between 2 thick pieces of cardboard in a manila envelope and added a 3rd piece of thick cardboard to make sure it couldn't bend. I cut out the cardboard and leave about an inch all around the comic in case the envelope is dropped.

 

When he received the comic he messaged me saying the comic was not as described and wanted to return it. He sent a picture saying there was a noticeable crease in the spine. The pic he sent had a big glare spot in it so I couldn't quite see the crease. Thinking maybe he was being ultra picky, I told him I'd take the book back only if it was returned in the same condition I sent it in. When I received the book back I saw the crease he was talking about. I checked the scan I took of the comic to first see if it was the same comic and not switched out. It was the same comic, but I couldn't see any crease in the scan. So just in case the crease wasn't visible in the original scan, I re-scanned the book and low and behold there was the crease plain as day. My next thought was maybe it was damaged in transit. He sent the comic back using the same cardboard I had shipped it in and put all of that in a box. I examined the cardboard and saw know evidence that it was damaged. Based on the size of the crease to the comic book, the cardboard would have had to been nearly bent at a 45 degree angle. The cardboard showed know creases to it. So my conclusion was the comic was damaged in his possession, and since it was no longer worth what he paid for it, he asked for a full refund.

 

I immediately called eBay and told them the situation. The only thing they suggested I do was message him back, that way it would show communication between the buyer and seller for when it came time to make a ruling on the return case. I messaged the buyer letting him know what I had concluded and that I couldn't refund him. I offered to resell the comic and refund him whatever the comic sold for. But I received no response at all from him.

 

So I just got a message from eBay letting me know they sided with the buyer and issued him a full refund. I called eBay to plead my case one more time and was basically told "you're SOL".

 

Out of curiosity, have any of you had a similar experience? How do you handle returns when you know the comic was not damaged when you shipped it?

 

I wanted to include pics of the 2 scans, but don't know how to insert them from my computer. Do the photos have to be hosted in order to post them?

Anyway thanks for letting me vent.

 

 

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kav

kav

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I also do not grade anything I sell. I just describe meticulously and hi res pics. That way there's never any 'this doesn't look like a 9.6 to me'. Saves on heartache. Buyers can view item and make their own determination. Listing no grade gives them nothing to latch onto. No buyer is gonna say 'well he didn't post a grade so I'm not buying it'.

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Junkdrawer

Junkdrawer

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Its the sellers obligation to assure the book is delivered as described. The seller is also responsible for choosing the shipping company. The seller takes all the risks getting the book delivered safe and sound. Insurance is an option any seller can/should exercise should they wish to not deal with such a situation. When a seller elects to not buy insurance, thats when they become the insurance company.

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miraclemet

miraclemet

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even if you point out that the packing materials had not damage, his argument will be that the comic was bent prior to shipping, or the books pictures did not show the crease.

 

either way you cant win this one.

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Gatchaman

Gatchaman

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This is something that I tried to bring to light around a year ago in that there are buyers that will swap out books. They claim the high grade one that you sent was damaged, when it really wasn't, or they damage it themselves, and send you back their lower grade one for a refund. Interesting how that since I tried to bring this out that more people are starting to show up with the same problem, or was it the same book? Karma gave me another NM/M Nyx #3 for only 33 cents.

 

This is a serious problem and the way eBay and Paypal are set up makes the seller the eat it almost all the time.

 

Now, I chose to sell my higher valued books on a different venue and haven't had that problem since.

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budsbundy

budsbundy

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Why would he deliberately bend the comic, and then send it back?

You said it's the same one you sent, just with a crease now.

 

I don't see any kind of a scam here

 

Unless he accidentally bent it while unpacking it, and decided to blame it on you and get a refund.

 

 

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kav

kav

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Put a tiny dot somewhere in the book. Take a pic. If buyer sends back different book-present this evidence to ebay.

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Comicdave

Comicdave

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Why would he deliberately bend the comic, and then send it back?

You said it's the same one you sent, just with a crease now.

 

I don't see any kind of a scam here

 

Unless he accidentally bent it while unpacking it, and decided to blame it on you and get a refund.

That's what I was concluding. I'm not saying he bent it on purpose. Just saying that the comic wasn't bent when I shipped and there was no evidence it was damaged in transit.
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Comicdave

Comicdave

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How do you know he used the same cardboard that you used? Was your name written on it? Did it have distinguishing marks? How often does cardboard look different?

I'm not siding with anyone, I just want a little clarification.

I have several large pieces of cardboard that I got from where I work. I have to cut it down to the size I want. I could tell it was the same cardboard. Various details.

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cd4ever

cd4ever

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Just to interject....while I have no idea what transpired in this situation, I have both bought and sold from erstockton many many times without a problem. For years. Don't know him or anything about him but of the long list of users I do 'beware' of on Ebay, he is not one of them.

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fmaz

fmaz

Posted
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Not to take sides here, but just to illustrate how tough issues like this are... you could very easily see this post having been written by the buyer, saying "watch out for this seller"... claiming he bought a book, it came creased, and then the seller tried to dispute this and challenge his claim and not offer a refund.

 

My point is that both people are the hero of their own stories, and that the book honestly might have gotten creased accidentally and unbeknownst to either one of them at some point. I don't think there's any reason to assume someone is trying to pull a fast one here.

 

I am sorry the OP had to deal with this issue and take a loss though, that does stink. But Kav is correct. Only course of action in these cases is to smile, issue a refund and move on.

 

 

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PurpleZeke

PurpleZeke

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Not judging the seller or buyer on this one. Granted I only ship in boxes and avoid bubble mailers/envelopes even with cardboard. Received a CGC graded book once in a padded envelope that I had to pull out of my mailbox as it was stuff in at an angle which led to much damage on the case. Boxes get delivered to my door!

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