posted on January 2, 2001 02:01:45 PM new
Christmas week I sold a vintage (1970) game for just over xxx.xx. The buyer wanted it as a christmas gift. Wanted me to ship it before I received payment. NO! Couldn't figure out paypal. Western Union cost too much. This person called me 4 times at work in one day. On the phone from across the country, 3 days after auction ends, the buyer on the phone asks if the item is new!! Description had 5 pictures, explained thoroughly what the item was. Still okay but needs it for christmas.
They finally get PO Money order to me Friday before christmas. Hubby rushes to PO with it. It arrived christmas eve.
Today she emails that both she and her son were disappointed because it wasn't as new and clean as pictured. The only thing missing to make this new was the original box. I even ate $15.00 worth of shipping to get it to her on time. She wants to know if there is any refund because of all the work SHE put in this!!!!
I almost forgot, this is a newbie with 0 feedback, her first purchase on ebay and she got into a bidding war with a collector of these widgets and won it!!! ggrrrrr.
posted on January 2, 2001 02:44:55 PM new
If I bought a vintage game from the early seventies and all it needed was a new box, I would be very happy with it. Maybe she doesn't understand a game that old isn't going to be in perfect, just bought at the store kind of condition. Maybe let her know that you did all possible to get the game to her by Christmas eve and ate a chunk of the shipping cost?
posted on January 2, 2001 02:57:12 PM new
How did you describe its condition in the listing? Why, in other words, could she have claimed that (as you say) it "wasn't as new and clean as pictured"?
posted on January 2, 2001 03:01:56 PM new
When the buyer phoned you to ask you if the game was new, what did you tell her? If you told her it was as per your listing (i.e. you did not give her a direct yes/no answer), that could be construed (by her) as avoiding the answer she wanted to hear.
posted on January 2, 2001 03:10:08 PM new
In my description I said the game was vintage in good condition, all parts were there (true). When she asked if it was new on the phone, I said "It is vintage from 1970". She then asked, "Does it look new?". I said "It is in very good condition for a 30 year old game."
She knew that I was paying half the shipping, she was already whining because she had bid so much. She didn't want to pay extra shipping. She wanted me to ship before her payment arrived and trust her.
She outbid the collector by $2.50. Why?, when she obviously didn't know what she was bidding on.
posted on January 2, 2001 03:28:43 PM new
I think the correct term for this person is :IDIOT:
I get these folks all of the time. The more you do for them, the more they will crap on your shoes.
The best thing is to learn from this experiance.
When you add in all the extra time you spent on this one sale I bet you ended up losing on the whole transaction only to either end up with NF or refunding their money.
posted on January 2, 2001 04:49:22 PM new
Would I be out of line to contact the collector and see if was interested in buying it from her? He was really interested and told me a lot more than I knew about the game, such as the actual year it was made.
I think I would feel more like a refund if she had contacted me a week ago. I emailed that I was glad to see it arrived on time after all our frantic work. No answer at all until today.
posted on January 2, 2001 05:10:38 PM new
As I see it this is a case of buyer remorse.
The item did not live up to their expatations,as I see it they knowingly bought a 30 year old game in a box that is not mint (by what you have told us) and I do not see why you would refund their purchase price; ebay auctions are not
Wal-Mart (we all know) and the quicker these people learn this the better for all sellers.
posted on January 2, 2001 05:22:13 PM new
Sounds like my idiot of the day, but at least you may have gotten a decent price. I've been running all day over a lousy $5 book that was billed thru Billpoint at the USA rate and now this (+1) customer tells me they are in England and didn't think they had to contact me like my ad said because they were willing to pay the postage.
Now it turns out they don't like my postage terms which I got from the PO and want me to get them a cheaper rate, and I don't think we can rebill thru Billpoint. What a headache! If these people could only read"we do not ship books internationally".
posted on January 3, 2001 01:20:04 AM new
I even included a printed copy of the auction itself in the box. I had a feeling I would hear from her again. I haven't answered her email yet, I'm just not sure what to say to her.
posted on January 3, 2001 05:17:16 AM new
If the collector is still willing to buy it, would you be willing to refund her money in return for her paying return shipping? If so, shoot her that offer. I'd certainly play "middle man" here--you're dealing with a newbie who's apparently a few pixels shy of a full screen. Trusting that she'll get the unit shipped to another buyer seems pretty risky to me, and I wouldn't ask someone else to deal directly with her (as in having the collector contact this buyer to buy the item).
posted on January 3, 2001 01:03:16 PM new
yes pickersangel, if the next highest bidder still wants it I will refund her money, not shipping, and sell it to him. She has already cost me in shipping, the shipping is on her. I did email the next highest bidder and let her know that, we'll see what happens.
