eBay seller, unhappy with sale price, claims 'damaged in mail' and then re-lists

[Doohickamabob]

A comics collector I know was high bidder on this Mad Magazine lot: 300 Mad Magazines auction on eBay....

 

Looks like a pretty good score for a Mad magazine fan, right? 300 issues for only $64 plus shipping? Not bad!

 

Well, evidently the seller thought it was pretty bad, because a few days after receiving payment, the seller gave the winning bidder a refund along with the following message:

 

[name and email address redacted] has issued a full refund for your payment.

 

Message from merchant: magazines were shipped and returned to me damaged, I cannot in good faith deliver these in such poor condition. my apologies

 

This explanation makes no sense. First, neither eBay nor the buyer ever got a tracking number from the seller. Second, even if the seller had shipped, it wouldn't make sense for him to get back the "damaged" package just 2 or 3 days after he shipped. The excuse is obviously a lie.

 

The winning bidder responded with:

 

Hello, I saw no tracking number.

It's okay if they aren't in mint shape -- I don't care. I bought these to read.

Send them anyway please and I will refund this refund.

 

The seller ignored this message. Instead, the seller is now relisting the Mad magazines in smaller lots .

 

Ugh....

 

I've seen this happen way too many times. What's aggravating isn't just the backing out on a deal aspect, but also the fact that the seller feels free to treat the buyer like a gullible fool who will accept the flimsiest excuse imaginable, and has the temerity to base his excuse on "good faith" (!!!)

[WEBHEAD]

[kav]

report this fool to ebay

the pics are conclusive - they are the same books

Seller jameson213 has some splainin to do.

[sd2416]

Are they damaged? He should bid on them again if he can get them even cheaper.

[Phantalien]

It's not like there are any key issues or even remotely old or hard to find issues. Bummer about your friend, but there will be more MAD magazine lots out there.

[kav]

seller is unlikely to get more than 50c an issue for these no matter how he slices it

Theyre just not in demand

I never heard of the post office returning to sender a damaged parcel....

If you're gonna lie make it a good lie

My cat pissed on em or something

[Junkdrawer]

Now the guy can buy all the lots and Neg him a multiple amount of times

[kav]

Now the guy can buy all the lots and Neg him a multiple amount of times

[Wally's Comics]

"what, me worry?"

[kav]

Mad's ebay seller tactics we wouldn't like to see

[CAMPER49]

How coincidental...I just unloaded this lot of 207 MAD books for $230 USD including shipping. Couldn't find a box big enough so I shipped them in two separate boxes, cost me over $100 CDN to ship, yikes!

These really are a great read.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAD-MAGAZINE-1-lot-of-207-129-157-166-180-193-196-200-SUPER-SPECIAL-5-6-7-9-/251669932829?rd=1&ssPageName=STRK:MEAFB:IT

[Doohickamabob]

How coincidental...I just unloaded this lot of 207 MAD books for $230 USD including shipping. Couldn't find a box big enough so I shipped them in two separate boxes, cost me over $100 CDN to ship, yikes! These really are a great read.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAD-MAGAZINE-1-lot-of-207-129-157-166-180-193-196-200-SUPER-SPECIAL-5-6-7-9-/251669932829?rd=1&ssPageName=STRK:MEAFB:IT

That's how the other guy should have sold his -- as a Buy-It-Now (or with a reserve, etc.).

 

I like the way you set up all those photos with thumbnails. I might have to copy that approach on some of my listings.

 

I agree, Mads are still a great read... I can watch a classic movie (like "The Godfather") and go back to read the Mad satire, and it still holds up very well, with both funny gags and smart criticisms of the storyline and scenes.

 

[kav]

Yup Mort Drucker could capture any likeness....wish I had some OA

Mad was funny until they started putting in ads and the old gang of insufficiently_thoughtful_persons died off...

[Chris_Skeleton]

My friend bought a lot of New 52 Flash 1-11 with some variants for like $15 or less. A week passes by and no tracking number or word from the seller. My friend messages him to ask and the seller responds with "I had them packaged and was on the way to the Post Office and they got water damaged. I have issued you a refund." He asked for pictures and even told the seller to go ahead and ship them, but we never heard from him again.

 

If he packaged them correctly, I would think the only way they could get water damaged ON THE WAY to the post office is if he drove his car into a lake.

 

Ether way, he never relisted them either so no telling what happened to them. Maybe they are still at the bottom of the lake.

[Tony S]

Leave negative feedback and then move on. I've had 4-5 similar purchases fall through. All but one claimed to ship but the "post office lost the package". The other sale the guy refunded my money with no explanation. I asked why and he said he was afraid I was going to rip him off and claim he shipped me an empty box??

[goldust40]

How coincidental...I just unloaded this lot of 207 MAD books for $230 USD including shipping. Couldn't find a box big enough so I shipped them in two separate boxes, cost me over $100 CDN to ship, yikes! These really are a great read.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAD-MAGAZINE-1-lot-of-207-129-157-166-180-193-196-200-SUPER-SPECIAL-5-6-7-9-/251669932829?rd=1&ssPageName=STRK:MEAFB:IT

That's how the other guy should have sold his -- as a Buy-It-Now (or with a reserve, etc.).

 

I like the way you set up all those photos with thumbnails. I might have to copy that approach on some of my listings.

 

I agree, Mads are still a great read... I can watch a classic movie (like "The Godfather") and go back to read the Mad satire, and it still holds up very well, with both funny gags and smart criticisms of the storyline and scenes.

 

I remember reading the Godfather and Exorcist spoofs in Mad back in the early 70s (Drucker and Torres were always great), when I was about 10.

 

The trouble is, this was before I got to see the movies (about six or seven years later). Still great reads as you said.

[KDUK]

I've just offered him $64 for his Chevy.

 

 

Think we should all do the same.

[J. Morrow]

Sorry about that! I had a similar issue earlier this year where I had won a CGC book on an Ebay auction. However, the seller could not locate the book after the auction was over. I ended up with a refund, so no problem; but, I noticed that the seller re-sold the book later at a "Buy It Now" price that was quite a bit higher than my auction win. So, he either found the book after giving me the refund or he was just not happy with the original auction win/price and decided to sell it at a higher price.

[roulette44]

I've just offered him $64 for his Chevy.

 

 

Think we should all do the same.

 

No, you should offer him 98% of his asking price.....when he accepts and thinks he's hit the jackpot, you break the news.

[Doohickamabob]

Sorry about that! I had a similar issue earlier this year where I had won a CGC book on an Ebay auction. However, the seller could not locate the book after the auction was over. I ended up with a refund, so no problem; but, I noticed that the seller re-sold the book later at a "Buy It Now" price that was quite a bit higher than my auction win. So, he either found the book after giving me the refund or he was just not happy with the original auction win/price and decided to sell it at a higher price.

How convenient! I would think "the ability to locate items within your own home from one day to the next after making them publically available for auction" should be a requirement for any eBay seller, but perhaps that is too demanding on my part.

 

Several years ago I won an auction lot of a couple dozen comics, one of which was much more valuable than the others. The seller claimed he left the comics sitting on a desk, and his toddler son had walked up and pulled down the valuable comic and tore it into pieces. But not to worry, the seller would refund the fraction percentage cost of that one comic and send me all the other ones...

 

I also had a friend (a different friend than in the original post story) who won a very nice deal on a box of comics. The seller claimed that his basement flooded and all the comics were ruined. My friend asked to see some photos of the flooding for verification, and naturally the seller became completely irate with an attitude of "HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ME! DON'T YOU REALIZE I AM DEALING WITH A FLOOD?! I DON'T HAVE TIME TO PROVE MYSELF TO YOU! THIS COMMUNICATION IS OVER!" Sure enough, a week or two later, the seller was relisting the comics...