I buy a lot of things on eBay. I have a TON of excellent transactions through there. Sadly, many times I have purchased items that were photographed a particular way to hide things, bought auctions that have been flatly misrepresented and even ended up getting things that were completely different than what I bought.
The latest is really driving me nuts. The seller sold a belt buckle stating specifically "The only one I've seen". I have myself seen a few, but not very many. I bought it at a price that seemed reasonable for the way it was represented. It gets shipped and immediately the seller lists a second.
Wait... what?
I was out of town when it arrived, so it took a few days for me to inspect it. I rather expected that it was a cast copy that the seller was manufacturing new. I have received cast copies of antiques before, sometimes they are good copies, and it is hard to tell, sometimes they are poor copies and the proof jumps out at you (Pockmarks in silver coins, etc)
When I finally got to inspect it... it could go either way. Great. I'll assume that it is genuine, but the auction was listed in a directly deceiving way. I feel lied to.
Now, about the purchase price. It was around $30. I didn't make an offer, it was the buy it now price. The new auction lists the new one at $40. If I were at an antique store and spotted one of these at $30, I might give it a look and buy it. If I spotted four of these at $30 or $40, I would likely pass and keep going, maybe come back in a few days to a month and then make an offer for them at $20. I'd be just as angry as I am if I would buy the single buckle at $30 with a tag attached that stated "Only One" from a showcase full of buckle stuff and been back a couple days later to find another in it's place. It's just flat out lying.
To digress; In all the auctions I have bought stuff in that the photos don't show one thing, the damage is hidden, etc... I always contact the seller. I've had rare coins that ended up being cast copies where the seller themselves was flummoxed and upset... and apologized. I have always refused any form of return payment when I feel the person made an honest mistake. Everyone screws up sometimes. When, after contacting the seller, I determine that they were intentionally hiding the defect, I sometimes accept a partial return. I only do that when I figure that the selling price would have been lower had the damage been made apparent.
I have received things a few times only to discover damage that I was not expecting and investigated only to find out that it was my own fault for not reading the listing. In those cases, I feel like an idiot and leave positive feedback.
So far I have never had to leave negative feedback for anyone. There were a few times that the seller was so nasty to me during the process that I simply never left feedback even though I felt like leaving negative... but the fact that they finally worked it out
Anyway...
I contacted the seller through the live auction by mistake and asked how many of these "only one I've seen" they had.
Dear domminigan,
I think I have a couple more
- Seller Not Named.
Dear Seller Not Named,
I cannot help but to feel extremely deceived. To say in your listing "the only one I have seen" yet have at least three of them?*
- domminigan
*I was not counting the one that I already had.
Dear domminigan,
if you want a refund is fine these are hard to find they are from 1976 but my job is to buy them anytime I do see them which is not to often some times in goes in spurts I will buy 3 in a month and not see another for 2 years so if you feel wronged send it back I will give you a full refund
thank you and sorry your not happy what can we do to make you that way
- Seller Not Named
I had had a day to cool down by this point. I still liked the belt buckle, but was still angry at being lied to.
Dear Seller Not Named,
I like the belt buckle, but per your ad, thought it to be much more rare than it is. I feel that I have slightly overpaid for it. Rather than request a refund or such, I would prefer to buy a second at the price I just offered.
- domminigan
At this point I had just made an offer on the other belt buckle. $20, shipped. That would bring the cost of each down to $20 + shipping. I had also done my homework. Past sold and completed prices of the specific belt buckles show the average price to be $15, shipping included. I knew that I was offering to pay $10 above the going cost, but that is the price I would have paid at the time I bought it, knowing the facts.
Continuing...
Dear domminigan,
I feel it might be better if you send it back for a refund I said it is rare not the only one but if you can find another let me know the offer you made is less than I bought it for the best I can do is 32.5 and I aint making that much at that
- Seller Not Named
Except they had sold the first one to me for less than $32.50 at their own set price point... and did they just try to lie again about what the TWO auctions said? Any reasonable seller would look at their own auction when someone accused them of deceit and respond with either proof or an explanation... unless they already knew they were trying to lie about it.
Dear Seller Not Named,
I am sorry, but you DID say it was the only one you have seen. Here is a screen shot of my auction where you stated that specific thing.
- domminigan
I attached a screen shot of the listing proving that while they did say it was rare, they really did state that it was the only one they had seen.
Dear domminigan,
itsd fine its all my fault my job it to pick up rare (Deleted) stuff it might be the only one I have seen in 2 years. They made more than 1 you don't see them very often at all go look but I know you are going to give me negative feedback no matter what I do. it is rare I am sorry I have 2 rare belt buckles that has taken me 3 years total to find so I can always have one to offer. so I will accept this insulting offer and take a loss and move on and you will have 2 rare belt buckles that you would have taken 3 years to find
thank you have a great weekend and god bless you
- Seller Still Not Named
I gave up trying to talk to this person. Technically they HAD 4 identical buckles and now only have two, so maybe that's how they were thinking of it when they said they had two. eBay searches turned up 6 previous sales, the top selling price was still less than the aggregated prices of the two that I bought. I could have sent this to the seller, but better to pay and leave well enough alone.
But wait... they continued to email me...
Moments after I paid:
Dear domminigan,
you got want you wanted give me that feedback
thank you
- Seller Still Not Named
Seconds later...
Dear domminigan,
no response
- Seller Still Not Named
It is at this point that I now am. I started typing this just before they accepted my offer for the buckle, the rest has been coming as I write it. I intend to keep one of them and do something else with the other. I didn't really want or need two of them, but why not. When the second one gets here... as it was a condition the seller agreed to in the sale of the second buckle, I intend to leave positive feedback. I still believe that they fully intended to deceive everyone with the way it was written, but if and when the second one gets here (Provided they do not do anything strange to the package or the buckle...) I will just take it as contract fulfilled and walk away.
I've left out just enough details that it should be hard to figure out who the seller is. I can always add screenshots and such later if things go wrong with the second shipment.
So, questions for everybody:
What are your experiences in the wild world of eBay?
What would you do in my situation?
The latest is really driving me nuts. The seller sold a belt buckle stating specifically "The only one I've seen". I have myself seen a few, but not very many. I bought it at a price that seemed reasonable for the way it was represented. It gets shipped and immediately the seller lists a second.
Wait... what?
I was out of town when it arrived, so it took a few days for me to inspect it. I rather expected that it was a cast copy that the seller was manufacturing new. I have received cast copies of antiques before, sometimes they are good copies, and it is hard to tell, sometimes they are poor copies and the proof jumps out at you (Pockmarks in silver coins, etc)
When I finally got to inspect it... it could go either way. Great. I'll assume that it is genuine, but the auction was listed in a directly deceiving way. I feel lied to.
Now, about the purchase price. It was around $30. I didn't make an offer, it was the buy it now price. The new auction lists the new one at $40. If I were at an antique store and spotted one of these at $30, I might give it a look and buy it. If I spotted four of these at $30 or $40, I would likely pass and keep going, maybe come back in a few days to a month and then make an offer for them at $20. I'd be just as angry as I am if I would buy the single buckle at $30 with a tag attached that stated "Only One" from a showcase full of buckle stuff and been back a couple days later to find another in it's place. It's just flat out lying.
To digress; In all the auctions I have bought stuff in that the photos don't show one thing, the damage is hidden, etc... I always contact the seller. I've had rare coins that ended up being cast copies where the seller themselves was flummoxed and upset... and apologized. I have always refused any form of return payment when I feel the person made an honest mistake. Everyone screws up sometimes. When, after contacting the seller, I determine that they were intentionally hiding the defect, I sometimes accept a partial return. I only do that when I figure that the selling price would have been lower had the damage been made apparent.
I have received things a few times only to discover damage that I was not expecting and investigated only to find out that it was my own fault for not reading the listing. In those cases, I feel like an idiot and leave positive feedback.
So far I have never had to leave negative feedback for anyone. There were a few times that the seller was so nasty to me during the process that I simply never left feedback even though I felt like leaving negative... but the fact that they finally worked it out
Anyway...
I contacted the seller through the live auction by mistake and asked how many of these "only one I've seen" they had.
Dear domminigan,
I think I have a couple more
- Seller Not Named.
Dear Seller Not Named,
I cannot help but to feel extremely deceived. To say in your listing "the only one I have seen" yet have at least three of them?*
- domminigan
*I was not counting the one that I already had.
Dear domminigan,
if you want a refund is fine these are hard to find they are from 1976 but my job is to buy them anytime I do see them which is not to often some times in goes in spurts I will buy 3 in a month and not see another for 2 years so if you feel wronged send it back I will give you a full refund
thank you and sorry your not happy what can we do to make you that way
- Seller Not Named
I had had a day to cool down by this point. I still liked the belt buckle, but was still angry at being lied to.
Dear Seller Not Named,
I like the belt buckle, but per your ad, thought it to be much more rare than it is. I feel that I have slightly overpaid for it. Rather than request a refund or such, I would prefer to buy a second at the price I just offered.
- domminigan
At this point I had just made an offer on the other belt buckle. $20, shipped. That would bring the cost of each down to $20 + shipping. I had also done my homework. Past sold and completed prices of the specific belt buckles show the average price to be $15, shipping included. I knew that I was offering to pay $10 above the going cost, but that is the price I would have paid at the time I bought it, knowing the facts.
Continuing...
Dear domminigan,
I feel it might be better if you send it back for a refund I said it is rare not the only one but if you can find another let me know the offer you made is less than I bought it for the best I can do is 32.5 and I aint making that much at that
- Seller Not Named
Except they had sold the first one to me for less than $32.50 at their own set price point... and did they just try to lie again about what the TWO auctions said? Any reasonable seller would look at their own auction when someone accused them of deceit and respond with either proof or an explanation... unless they already knew they were trying to lie about it.
Dear Seller Not Named,
I am sorry, but you DID say it was the only one you have seen. Here is a screen shot of my auction where you stated that specific thing.
- domminigan
I attached a screen shot of the listing proving that while they did say it was rare, they really did state that it was the only one they had seen.
Dear domminigan,
itsd fine its all my fault my job it to pick up rare (Deleted) stuff it might be the only one I have seen in 2 years. They made more than 1 you don't see them very often at all go look but I know you are going to give me negative feedback no matter what I do. it is rare I am sorry I have 2 rare belt buckles that has taken me 3 years total to find so I can always have one to offer. so I will accept this insulting offer and take a loss and move on and you will have 2 rare belt buckles that you would have taken 3 years to find
thank you have a great weekend and god bless you
- Seller Still Not Named
I gave up trying to talk to this person. Technically they HAD 4 identical buckles and now only have two, so maybe that's how they were thinking of it when they said they had two. eBay searches turned up 6 previous sales, the top selling price was still less than the aggregated prices of the two that I bought. I could have sent this to the seller, but better to pay and leave well enough alone.
But wait... they continued to email me...
Moments after I paid:
Dear domminigan,
you got want you wanted give me that feedback
thank you
- Seller Still Not Named
Seconds later...
Dear domminigan,
no response
- Seller Still Not Named
It is at this point that I now am. I started typing this just before they accepted my offer for the buckle, the rest has been coming as I write it. I intend to keep one of them and do something else with the other. I didn't really want or need two of them, but why not. When the second one gets here... as it was a condition the seller agreed to in the sale of the second buckle, I intend to leave positive feedback. I still believe that they fully intended to deceive everyone with the way it was written, but if and when the second one gets here (Provided they do not do anything strange to the package or the buckle...) I will just take it as contract fulfilled and walk away.
I've left out just enough details that it should be hard to figure out who the seller is. I can always add screenshots and such later if things go wrong with the second shipment.
So, questions for everybody:
What are your experiences in the wild world of eBay?
What would you do in my situation?
