xfilekr

Greetings!
Need an opinion on a recent ebay purchase.
I bought the following, mainly for the SW blu and considered the DC movies bonus.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blu-ray-Lot-...vip=true&rt=nc

With only 1 picture, the listing does very vaguely state 'Blu-ray only lot' so none of the dvds from the blu/dvd combos were included.
Ok. So they arrived today, and under the SW slipcover is a generic blue blu-ray case with only the movie disc. No cover art insert or bonus feature disc.
Getting SW was the main reason I bought this auction, so I was dissapointed and messaged the seller: "Greetings!
Blu's arrived today, thank you for the quick shipping.
Quick question: I realized from the description that these were only the blu half of these blu/dvd combos, but I hadn't read that Star Wars (main reason for the purchase) wasn't including artwork, the 2nd blu disc, or original case?"

The response: "Yes that is correct, the auction was only for the movies in blu-ray format. I have other Star Wars auctions now and in the future that will have the content you are looking for if you are interested."

I responded that the listing should have more clearly stated that more than the dvds were missing, and I would not have bid if it had been clear. Waiting for a response. I'm trying to be polite, and am not looking to get negative feedback, but if he doesn't offer a return or discount do I go forward with an e-bay claim?

I appreciate opinions, thank you!

Josh-da-man

The seller absolutely should have been more clear about what was missing.

If that was my listing I would have clearly stated that the Star Wars blu-ray did not include the DVD, second disc of bonus features, and cover art, either in the wording or a picture. The picture of the slipcased SW blu among the DC blus with covers gives the impression that you're getting more than the movie blu-ray in a coverless case.

If I received that I would probably try to get a return or file a claim. And, unless eBay has changed their feedback policies recently, sellers cannot give buyers negative feedback. They can leave a negative message as a positive feedback, but I believe that's a violation of eBay policy and nobody reads positive feedbacks anyway.

jjcool

Agreed that that auction is not as clear as it should have been. His other auctions now specifically say "This listing includes...
Star Wars The Force Awakens (Blu-ray movie only) with case, sleeve, and art work."
So he knows that he fucked up. If I was in your position, I would think of what dollar amount I would need refunded to keep the items. If he doesnt give that much back to you, file a claim for item not as described. And of course once it is all settled, the appropriate feedback.

xfilekr

Thanks guys, after some messages he sent this:
I understand what you mean. I thought that writing "blu-ray only" was sufficient. I'm sorry didn't realize it at the time.

Would like me to send you a cover art and the blu-ray bonus disc? I should have some available.

Cardsfan111

Nice to hear the seller seems reasonable and understands the mistake. I think the worry we all have in dealing with these situations is that the other party intends to "stick it to us" and things will get ugly.

jjcool

Which is very silly for a seller, because if a buyer wants to be a dick he can get his money back, keep the product, and leave the seller negative feedback.

orangerunner

With eBay, the deck is always stacked in favor of the buyer.

As a seller you are vulnerable if you get an OCD client "You never told me there was a 1/16 inch nick on the slipcover!!" but for the most part it works well.

I'm sure there is some abuse with "I didn't receive the item" and having to refund the item because there is no proof either way but sometimes that's the cost of doing business.

It may violate the sales instinct to want to make everything sound amazing but it's always best to describe the item accurately, warts and all.

Goat3001

It's nice to see a bad buyer/seller situation turn out positive. Kudos to you for remaining polite. It definitely goes a long way. I recently put something up with a "best offer" choice. I got two offers, one $5 higher than the other. I wasn't able to get to it right away and by the time I did, the higher bidder sent me a very rude message demanding that I respond to him right away. So I took the other offer. Worth $5 to me to not have to deal with a dipshit.

TheBang

Actually, for an Item Not Received (INR) claim, it's pretty cut-and-dried. If the seller can provide a tracking number showing a package was delivered to the same zip code as the provided shipping address, the seller will prevail. If not (no tracking number, doesn't show it was delivered, etc.), then the seller will lose.

I once had a buyer claim they didn't receive a DVD. My tracking number said it was delivered. I told them to look around, talk to their postman, etc. They said they didn't get it. I stuck to my guns, and the buyer escalated it to a claim. eBay ruled no fault, courtesy refunded the buyer, but didn't take anything out of my account, because I had fulfilled all the criteria for the seller protection policy.

Obviously, for digital goods and services you can't have a tracking number, so if you sell those, you're always at risk of losing if a buyer claims INR. I've sold dozens of digital items though and fortunately never had that happen yet.

xfilekr

Quick update that the cover art and bonus disc arrived this weekend, making all good. Thanks guys!

SterlingBen

I listed a broken macbook pro not too long ago. Said broken in the title and broken in the description a number of times and that it did not include a hd. Once the buyer got it he messages me something like 'hey I put a new hd in here and it doesn't work!'

Edit: looked it up and I made it literally the first word of the auction title.

Josh-da-man

Maybe the buyer thought the word "broken" referred to the fact that it was missing the HD and was not expecting the MBP to have problems beyond that.

TheBang

Some good advice I heard about creating listings once, when taking pictures of your item, take pictures as if you have no words to describe the item. And when writing the description of your listing, write as if you have no pictures to show.

Goat3001

Had a friend of mine complaining to me about a recent Ebay transaction.

He was the seller. He owns a pawn shop so he buys stuff and sells a lot of it on Ebay. He listed a lot of 12 video games. He noted clearly in the listing that he had bought the games used and that he was selling them "untested" because he didn't have the system available to test them.

He sells the lot and a while later gets a negative feedback. The buyer didn't contact him at all (though the buyer claims he did) before dropping the negative, which really pissed my friend off. He reaches out to the buyer and he says that two of the games didn't work and that "saying the games weren't tested isn't an excuse to sell games that don't work."

The buyer threatened to open a Paypal/Ebay claim if he wasn't refunded for the two games. Instead of dealing with the hassle, and most likely having the powers that be side with the buyer, he refunded him the amount for two games which came out to a hearty $4.

The whole situation pissed off my friend enough for him to complain about it to me, though he was more angry about the negative than the $4. I have to side with him, I think it's bullshit. If you're buying an item "untested", you're taking the risk that it may not work. That risk is mitigated by the idea that the item will sell for less than it typically would if the games were tested and working.

TheBang

Since your friend made good to the buyer, he can submit a Feedback Revision Request, and the buyer has that one opportunity to change his Negative feedback to Neutral or Positive:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/feedback/...ns/remove.html

Josh-da-man

I wouldn't buy anything that a seller sold "as-is" or "untested."

Just seems like trouble.

orangerunner

I'm not sure about the US Postal Service but in Canada the cheapest rate to get a DVD to a customer in the US is $5.70 and it does not come with a tracking number.

Want a tracking number? It's about $16.

Luckily it very rarely happens but when a package gets "lost in the mail" I just chalk-it-up as the cost of doing business. The default is to assume people are going to be honest.