eBay Issue: Slab returned .... BUT!!

[Michelangelo]

I have a seller who bought an Ultimate Spider-Man 1 CGC 9.8 on eBay and wants a return because there is a line on Spider-Man's left foot. See pic.

 

Most of us on here don't accept returns on CGC graded books and I'm in that camp. I advertised the case as being MINT and he said, " The case is fine, but I'm not buying the case, I'm buying the book. You should have told me in the ad that there was a defect on the cover." To be honest, I never even noticed it.

 

He believed that the transaction was fraudulent because he went to CGC's website and input the certification number and found "No grader notes available". I had to explain to him that he must pay for a CGC membership in order to view notes.

 

Either way, this guy is a total newbie and obviously knows very little (despite saying he "pays top dollar for CGC 9.8's as part of his investment grade collection")

 

What are my options here, as I obviously prefer not to take the return

 

[shadroch]

I don't think you have many options. Sux.

[towards2112]

Make it ez on yourself and buy it back.

Have the buyer take a pic of the condition, and

explain that it MUST be mailed back to you in

the same condition, and received in the same

conditon, then the buyer gets his money back.

If you put it off, sooner or later he'll file a claim

with ebay, call you names and deride you name,

and you'll still end up buying it back.

It's easier to have a bad cheese taste in your

mouth , rather than a bad pooh taste in your mouth.

[cousin itt]

I thought 9.8s frequently don't have notes.

[MadGenius]

eBay is going to force you to take the return whether you want to or not. The best course of action is to accept the return and at least try to get the buyer to pay for the return shipping.

[cousin itt]

Just be on the lookout for the switcheroo game. Make sure the item you get back is the item you actually sent.

[Michelangelo]

Man this does suck. Why do we pay 10% in fees and then get shafted in matters like this.

[mschmidt]

I have a seller who bought an Ultimate Spider-Man 1 CGC 9.8 on eBay and wants a return because there is a line on Spider-Man's left foot. See pic.

 

Most of us on here don't accept returns on CGC graded books and I'm in that camp. I advertised the case as being MINT and he said, " The case is fine, but I'm not buying the case, I'm buying the book. You should have told me in the ad that there was a defect on the cover." To be honest, I never even noticed it.

 

He believed that the transaction was fraudulent because he went to CGC's website and input the certification number and found "No grader notes available". I had to explain to him that he must pay for a CGC membership in order to view notes.

 

Either way, this guy is a total newbie and obviously knows very little (despite saying he "pays top dollar for CGC 9.8's as part of his investment grade collection")

 

What are my options here, as I obviously prefer not to take the return

 

You don't need a CGC membership to buy graders notes - they're available to anyone when you input a serial for a book that has graders notes. Yours doesn't (which makes sense considering there are very rarely notes on modern 9.8s).

 

Anyway, you don't have any options here - you take the book back, issue a full refund minus shipping cost, and block the buyer going forward :thumbsup:

 

 

[Number 6]

Pretty much what others have said:

 

Nothing good is going to come out of debating with the buyer and trying to stonewall on a return.

 

Politely apologize for his disappointment, state that you will gladly accept his return, emphasize as tactfully as possible that the book is packed securely so it returns in the same condition as it was sent and that you'll refund on receipt.

 

Be on the look-out for a switch.

 

And then immediately block him (if you haven't done so already) and realist.

 

I don't know about others but I'd like to know his eBay i.d. I can understand being particular, I am myself. But then there's being unreasonably picky and not accepting responsibility for your own purchase decisions. The defect can clearly be seen in the photo. If you want a "perfect" book you shouldn't bid on something that even looks questionable, even if you think it's just the case.

[jcjames]

Make it ez on yourself and buy it back.

Have the buyer take a pic of the condition, and

explain that it MUST be mailed back to you in

the same condition, and received in the same

conditon, then the buyer gets his money back.

If you put it off, sooner or later he'll file a claim

with ebay, call you names and deride you name,

and you'll still end up buying it back.

It's easier to have a bad cheese taste in your

mouth , rather than a bad pooh taste in your mouth.

In all honesty, he could punch a hole through it with a steak knife and send it back saying that's the way it was when he received it. And the seller has to suck on it and refund him the money.

 

 

 

btw... time to out this buyer, name names.

[Michelangelo]

eBay ID: warthog636

name: Jeff

 

 

You're right Number 6, there's picky and then there's unreasonably picky. This falls into the category of unreasonably for me. Especially since the defect was clearly visible in the picture. If you doubt, don't buy. Don't waste people's time.

 

eBay has to change their return policy to something a little more along the lines of 'buyer beware'

 

I've even read posts on this board where people gamble and say, 'well, if I don't like it, that's what eBay/PayPal protection is for'

 

He paid $190 USD for the book (this included shipping).

I'm going to try and offer a refund, less my exact shipping cost and ask him to cover return shipping.

Considering the defect was visible, I want this guy to think I'm doing him a solid.

 

 

[Gaard]

I don't understand the call to block the buyer. He paid $190, didn't get what he wanted, and asked to return it.

[jcjames]

I don't understand the call to block the buyer. He paid $190, didn't get what he wanted, and asked to return it.

He got exactly what was advertised but is insisting the seller take the return.

 

Now the seller could be on the hook for return shipping (buyer pays return shipping if item is not as described - and this seller insists it wasn't as described). Ebay usually backs the buyer.

 

No matter what - I wouldn't want to be selling to a buyer who doesn't look carefully at what they're buying and then raises a hissyfit that the item wasn't as described when it clearly was. Life's too short for those kinds of buyers.

 

 

 

 

 

[ebtorres]

OP, the best course here is to just accept the return, be nice about it and then block the buyer.

 

I don't understand the call to block the buyer. He paid $190, didn't get what he wanted, and asked to return it.

He got exactly what was advertised but is insisting the seller take the return.

 

Now the seller could be on the hook for return shipping (buyer pays return shipping if item is not as described - and this seller insists it wasn't as described). Ebay usually backs the buyer.

 

No matter what - I wouldn't want to be selling to a buyer who doesn't look carefully at what they're buying and then raises a hissyfit that the item wasn't as described when it clearly was. Life's too short for those kinds of buyers.

 

+1

[Number 6]

I don't understand the call to block the buyer. He paid $190, didn't get what he wanted, and asked to return it.

 

Wrong.

 

He received exactly what he paid for: he purchased a comic that is CGC graded and in CGC's opinion is a 9.8, and that's exactly what he received.

 

The problem with the buyer is that his parameters of what he "wants" changes from pre- to post-sale and he refuses to accept his portion of reponsibility for the transaction.

 

Prior to the sale, CGC's opinion of what constitutes a 9.8 is acceptable to meet his standard of a "perfect" condition comic (even though neither CGC nor industry standard definitions suggest that 9.8 equates to perfection).

 

Also pre-sale he was a aware that there was an anomaly on the front cover but assumed that it was a problem with the case. He never took the opportunity to contact the seller and clarify what the anomaly was.

 

But suddenly after the sale now CGC's opinion of what constitutes a 9.8 is no longer good enough for him, now this white anomaly is a major issue - though it wasn't a big enough deal to contact the seller prior to committing to a purchase.

 

Now he wants to accuse the seller of manipulating the book or some other nonsense when there's no evidence of tampering with the case, when the more obvious and reasonable conclusion is that he doesn't agree with CGC's grading standards and/or expects a 9.9 for a 9.8 price.

 

And now he most likely expects to return it all on the seller's dime even though it's his expectations that are all over the place.

 

See the problem?

 

Yes, a seller needs to stand behind his merchandise. But at the same time buyers need to recognize that they bear a measure of reponsibility for the purchasing decisions they make.

 

 

[shadroch]

While I agree with the above statement 95%, the bottom line is that ebay will side with the buyer making any arguments an exercise in futility.

[musicmeta]

I don't understand the call to block the buyer. He paid $190, didn't get what he wanted, and asked to return it.

He got exactly what was advertised but is insisting the seller take the return.

 

Now the seller could be on the hook for return shipping (buyer pays return shipping if item is not as described - and this seller insists it wasn't as described). Ebay usually backs the buyer.

 

No matter what - I wouldn't want to be selling to a buyer who doesn't look carefully at what they're buying and then raises a hissyfit that the item wasn't as described when it clearly was. Life's too short for those kinds of buyers.

 

 

..and I hope he stated "No Returns" on CGC books!

[kav]

You could explain to him a printing error does not effect grade. But basically he can ram a steak knife thru slab, return a German newspaper or do anything he likes and ebay will still force the refund. Just be polite and refund at least he probably wont give you a neg. Fighting him he still gets refund and you get the neg.

[Number 6]

While I agree with the above statement 95%, the bottom line is that ebay will side with the buyer making any arguments an exercise in futility.

 

Oh yeah, no question that eBay's policies enable buyers to act like self-entitled man-babies. And it seems like the buyer in question is going to exercise that option.

 

My recommendation to the seller was to not fight it and accept the return.

 

My comments above were to address the question 'why does everyone want to block the buyer?'

 

The short answer is: just because eBay allows the buyer to do something doesn't necessarily make it the right thing to do.

[kav]

Any business gets unreasonable customers. It's part of selling. Ya just gotta live with it.