ebay advice (1 Viewer)

[jordan]

so, i bought this book (not a bukowski book) on eBay, and the seller sent it with no padding in a cardboard mailer... of course, the upper front corner ended up with a nasty ding. i was buying it as an "upgrade" to a copy i already have, so i definitely don't want it with a dinged corner. my question is if anyone has dealt with filing a "not as described" claim through eBay for shipping damage like this. you can clearly see that the corner is not messed up in the original listing picture, but i'm wondering if something like a bumped corner is severe enough for eBay to consider it "not as described."

the seller is refusing to take it back because the listing states "no returns," although he did offer me $20 off (on a $150 book), which isn't worth it for me. i think my only option is going to be to file a claim, so input from anyone who has past experience with this process would be appreciated. thanks!

 

[bospress.net]

File the claim. You should have luck. Financially, it IS materially not as described seeing as condition determines value and he delivered it to you in a different condition than you ordered it in. You may have better luck sending it back to him insured and disputing it. Also, make sure that you act fast as time is his best friend.

Not sure if you'll have luck, but maybe. If not, then get a friend with a shill account and shut down all of his auctions.

I just looked up the auction. He did state AS NEW. A blown out corner is not AS NEW. Also, he removed the photos, but eBay still has them, but that makes me think that he is expecting a dispute and thinks that he can erase the past...

 

[jordan]

wait, how did you find the book? i thought maybe he had left me feedback and you linked to it from there, but he hasn't.

i can still see the images from the listing in my purchase history, so i took screen captures of them (ebay's image viewer is flash-based now, so it's harder to download the actual images... well, harder for me, at least.)

 

[hank solo]

I expect Bill found it via a Search By Bidder...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/ebayadvsearch?_sofindtype=3

 

[bospress.net]

yep, that is how I found it.

I suspect that part of the reason that he shipped it in such a shitty way is the fact that eBay will only allow him to charge you $4 for shipping. Some people are REAL serious about not putting a penny of their own money into it. It is shortsighted as it is going to cost him a lot more to fix his problem. Reminds me of a certain hardcover release that I bound for a press, only to have most of the run seriously damaged by careless mailing. Same thing. thrown in a WAY over-sized bubble bag.

 

[jordan]

i had no idea about that search by bidder thing. neat. in case anyone is wondering, the tintin box set i got is totally great.

 

[bospress.net]

any luck? I see that you have not left him negative feedback yet, so hopefully you are getting somewhere with him?

 

[jordan]

i started a SNAD case, and he agreed through the dispute resolution to give me a refund. not sure why that was necessary (and i wasn't going to ask for the shipping back, since it was only $4, but he has to refund shipping per the eBay refund process), but i guess i'll get my refund. you have to ship with tracking in these cases so that eBay can verify you actually returned it, and the case updated that it was delivered today, so i guess i'm done with it.

it sucks for the guy, because he's out the money from selling it and is stuck with a less desirable book than when he started... but if you're selling a notoriously fragile book for $150, wrap that shit in bubble wrap, rather than putting it in a cardboard mailer that's a couple inches too big and not providing any padding.

 

[bospress.net]

Clearly it was all his fault and he could have handled it better. He mis-packed it, then he refused to handle the problem that he caused. Maybe he'll learn his lesson and pack better next time.

 

[willrodgers]

You will not lose this case. It is obviously the seller's fault. I sell on eBay, and I go overboard when it comes to packing. I know what happens inside the USPS and UPS warehouses.
And dont forget to leave negative feedback so that other future buyers will be tipped off regarding the type of seller they plan on buying from.

 

[mjp]

Pretty sure he can't leave feedback for a sale that's been reversed, or if he did, it will be removed. In any case, it doesn't really fair to leave negative feedback when you're received a refund, even if that refund was difficult to get.