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eBay Transaction gone sour... "Smudge Gate"
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41 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, mattn792 said:

“they are destroyed”

What a drama queen that dude is, definitely do a full refund and get your books back.  And lesson learned, Frank Miller signatures generally aren’t worth the price charged if you just plan to flip them right away.

Not trying to flip them... just completed a 9.8 set... using the money  for my heritage invoice...

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17 hours ago, story cover & art by... said:

Long story short...

I put a set of books to auction... listed them 1-4 etc... sold way under value...

the buyer then shot me a offer for another book way under its value... stating it won't sell for what you want look what your books sold for... I was hesitant to continue this transaction because the vibe of the buyer and the fact it went well under value but I packed the books and sent them...

next I get a case with the buyer asking for a refund.... I wrapped the books in that thick bubble wrap from CGC... but books didn't have the plastic bags on them... causing circles on the outside case... the buyer said books where now damaged... so I initiate a full refund... buyer then wants a partial refund... for getting the books recased... he no longer wants the full refund... I told him what I put into the books and he is now upset because... "it's my loss... I won $2200 value in books for $700 now I have to return them" I told him I was following policy... and I will take the burden of the books... any thoughts please chime in..

 

IMG_5724.PNG

Wow....they usually come in mylar bags? I had no idea.  What kind of account do you have to have with CGC to get that service? 

 

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This is why I don't deal on ebay anymore. As a seller you are always in a bad position. You should have gone with your gut and not deal with this buyer as they were trying to get something for nothing. Always a bad sign. But now you gave them a reason to allow ebay to let them steal from you. Namely not using those plastic bags that come with the CGC comics. I never knew that the bubble wrap could do that to a CGC case but now I do.

 

All the power is with the buyer now. They want the discount as they probably could barely afford the comics in the first place. Now they want them for even cheaper. Yes they are hoping that you think the discount is cheaper and safer than the return and full refund. But can you trust this buyer to send you the comics back in the condition they showed you? They might just throw them in a box and you might get them really damaged. And can you trust them to send the comics back at all? It's just bad and ebay won't care because the damaged or not as described cases are almost 100% guaranteed wins for the buyer.

 

If it was me in this situation I would take the refund depending on how much they wanted. If it's too much of a loss, then I would do the full refund and return. Then watch the condition of the comics if and when you get them back. If anything is wrong, I would report and block the buyer, which you should do anyway after all this is finished. Then comes the difficult part which you'll have to research forums for outcomes. I know ebay will barely care if you get the comics back in worse condition as they don't get in between buyers and sellers on returns. Especially on the not as described cases. But consider whether you should lie to ebay and just say the box was empty. I've read about ebay not caring at times if people receive stones and garbage as returns. But some sellers do get their money back. But this is what you might get into when you deal with bad buyers on ebay and a company that only cares about the buyers continually spending money and not the sellers who put the items for sale on their site.

 

Edited by GeneticNinja
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5 hours ago, GeneticNinja said:

This is why I don't deal on ebay anymore. As a seller you are always in a bad position. You should have gone with your gut and not deal with this buyer as they were trying to get something for nothing. Always a bad sign. But now you gave them a reason to allow ebay to let them steal from you. Namely not using those plastic bags that come with the CGC comics. I never knew that the bubble wrap could do that to a CGC case but now I do.

 

All the power is with the buyer now. They want the discount as they probably could barely afford the comics in the first place. Now they want them for even cheaper. Yes they are hoping that you think the discount is cheaper and safer than the return and full refund. But can you trust this buyer to send you the comics back in the condition they showed you? They might just throw them in a box and you might get them really damaged. And can you trust them to send the comics back at all? It's just bad and ebay won't care because the damaged or not as described cases are almost 100% guaranteed wins for the buyer.

 

If it was me in this situation I would take the refund depending on how much they wanted. If it's too much of a loss, then I would do the full refund and return. Then watch the condition of the comics if and when you get them back. If anything is wrong, I would report and block the buyer, which you should do anyway after all this is finished. Then comes the difficult part which you'll have to research forums for outcomes. I know ebay will barely care if you get the comics back in worse condition as they don't get in between buyers and sellers on returns. Especially on the not as described cases. But consider whether you should lie to ebay and just say the box was empty. I've read about ebay not caring at times if people receive stones and garbage as returns. But some sellers do get their money back. But this is what you might get into when you deal with bad buyers on ebay and a company that only cares about the buyers continually spending money and not the sellers who put the items for sale on their site.

 

giphy.gif

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4 hours ago, Gaard said:

They won't just wipe off?

Any stains, smudges, or marks made by "plastic bubble wrap" on the cases should be easily cleaned off with the right plastic cleaning solution and look good as new :gossip:  I also remove surface scratches from CGC cases all the time, and they look amazingly clear and shiny after a little elbow grease... 

Edited by mosconi
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On 12/14/2017 at 7:21 AM, bababooey said:

 The pictures from the buyer look like azz, pay him the reholder fee if it's reasonable and get on with your life.....you're never going to make back your costs on those Miller_looks_unhealthy specu-sigs from a few years ago either keep them cause you love them or take a loss in today's market.....also pack better, choose an adult e-bay account name, a shorter cgc board name and charge your phone.

:acclaim:

lol  "Miller looks sick specu-sigs"  It only hurts because it's true . . .

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If he doesn' t return the item "they are destroyed" are keywords for ebay customer support,   buyer is hoping ebay decides to issue a refund at their expense and buyer keep the item since "they are destroyed" 

 

Just for the record in my many years selling on ebay I have had buyers complain about the  "junk" or "garbage" or "destroyed value completely" items they received,   I offer full refund, and relist the item at a higher price and 80% of the time sell it for the higher price.

Edited by Ottobord
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I will say again: Offer full refund, and only full refund.

Yes, the buyer might try to be spiteful and damage the book when shipping it back, but don't let that deter you. And, yes, eBay notoriously sides with the buyer, right or wrong, in way too many instances. Still, if there is something screwy about how the item is returned, you DO have an option to appeal the case. I know this because I had a buyer try to scam me, and when she didn't send back the books in the manner she should have, I appealed the case and -- get this -- the appeal was found in MY favor. So, it can happen that eBay does the right thing for a seller... occasionally.

No matter what, simply on principle you should stick to your guns on a full refund. Don't let the threat of negative feedback, or what they might do to the book before shipping it back scare you. I don't let buyers hold me for ransom, so to speak, with threats of negative feedback. I want to avoid complications and conflicts, but I don't believe in letting the buyer scare me into doing what they want when I know I am the one in the right. If eBay still sides with the buyer, I deal with it and move on.

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On 12/14/2017 at 7:21 AM, bababooey said:

 The pictures from the buyer look like azz, pay him the reholder fee if it's reasonable and get on with your life.....you're never going to make back your costs on those Miller_looks_unhealthy specu-sigs from a few years ago either keep them cause you love them or take a loss in today's market.....also pack better, choose an adult e-bay account name, a shorter cgc board name and charge your phone.

:acclaim:

What about his girlfriend?  Should he marry her or move on? hm

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On 12/13/2017 at 10:18 PM, comicquant said:

This is a scam.  I've had a buyer try this on me before and their account got shutdown.  Do full refund or nothing.  All they did was take a cotton ball in vaseline or something and made smudge marks.  This guy is no better than a scammer.

At first I wondered the same thing about whether the buyer had made the smudge marks, but I looked at a shipment I just received from CGC, and the same type of smudge marks were on the bag at the top and bottom of the stack.

That being said, given the sales price, I would just give a full refund, get the books back and relist them at a fixed price twice what they sold for, and I bet somebody will buy them at that price.  And have your first picture be of the entire set, and not just #1, so it is obvious you are selling the set.

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