eBay Customer of the week! Time for a drink!
jmlanzaf
Posts: 34,150 ✭✭✭✭✭
I'm getting a return this week for a set of stamps. The listing read:
Canada - Scott# 249-262 - 249-261 (MNH), 262 (used)
The customer emailed me to tell me that he got 14 stamps, but they are all Canadian and but is no 249-262.
I responded to inquire if I might have sent the wrong set and asked if the stamps he received did not match the photo and why he was saying they weren't 249-262.
He responded that they were Canadian stamps and not U.S. stamps and I'd see when I got them back.
I responded that, if he looked at the very email he sent me - he sent it through eBay so the Item Description was attached - that he bought CANADA 249-262 not the U.S. And if he looked at the photo, all 14 stamps in the photo were Canada.
He responded: Oh, I didn't notice.
LMFAO
Comments
why would they say that? did you have them in the wrong category?
DWB-drinking while buying
Question is at what price range would it worth the hassle to fight the return vs a refund even when the customer is CLEARLY in the wrong?
Nope. Listed under Canada - Mint. In my store under "World Stamps". Just crazy
Maybe, but also drinking while emailing. LOL. I mean, when you message through eBay by going to the item, the FIRST word in the item title is Canada.
He actually didn't file a return. He just mailed it back.
On items under $5 like this one, I don't fight the return. I just refund the money and tell them to keep the item. I only get 3 or 4 per year. Not worth the hassle. Of course, I also block them to prevent a repeat.
I just think it's the funniest return I've ever gotten.
Playing devil’s advocate...
“Canada” wasn’t written in all caps. And the listing did not state “Not U.S.” or “Please read item description”. So I can certainly sympathize with the buyer’s confusion.
😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
LOL. I take full responsibility.
The weird thing is that he must not have looked at the picture either. I know it was an inexpensive item, but if you are neither reading the description or looking at the photos, you must get disappointed a lot.
If you write "Not" in the title, the listing gets tossed, and you can be put in the ebay penalty box for 3 days.
Late night libel.
Has anyone tried the Isn't instead?
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
Or "Ain't"?????
Related true story. We have 2 instruments at the University that need to be left on at all times. There is a note on them that says: "PLEASE DO NOT TURN THE INSTRUMENT OFF" People keep turning them off. LOL.
I finally told the instrument guy that he needs to change the sign to "LEAVE ON" because people don't read all the words and they were ignoring the "NOT" in the original sign and thought the sign wanted them to turn it off.
Reading is fundamental...
It's not what you say, it's how you say it.
My War Nickels https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/nickels/jefferson-nickels-specialty-sets/jefferson-nickels-fs-basic-war-set-circulation-strikes-1942-1945/publishedset/94452
These ebay stories are interesting. I know the retail business can be frustrating (as many here have recounted), but dealing with people through the internet seems to be even more exasperating. Cheers, RickO
What country were the stamps from?
I've received a couple of returns on world coins with the comment "It's not as big as I thought it would be. It looks bigger in the picture", even though all listings include date, denomination and catalog number. Of course, the only thing visible in the image is the coin.
That can be a problem. I always like listings (on ANY coin) that include images of the coin IN the slab.
The most important things when buying a coin are SIZE, SIZE, SIZE.
What if it's raw? Can I do an APMEX photoshop deal where the coin looks bigger?
What if the buyer has never seen a PCGS slab? Should I include a ruler? Calipers for thickness? I may just retire... LOL
I almost always sell U.S. coins in my eBay ventures, but would definitely include the diameter for a world coin.
I find myself comparing the World coins to the nearest sized U.S. coin, because so many people simply can't function in millimeters.
I subscribe to the "bigger is better" formula when it come to the coins that I purchase for myself.
I include images of the slab when the coin is slabbed. Not all coins are.
I....know....that.
I sell inexpensive coins and do not include extensive descriptions. I note the catalog number, anybody who's interested can look up the coin's specifications if it's important to them.
A fair percentage of the possible buyers don't have catalogs. Some are not internet search savvy. I rarely rely on Catalog numbers, except as a double check that the seller isn't somehow kidding themselves - and I have most of the commonly encountered books.
The eBay seller wants an immediate bid, not an excuse for not bidding, however plausible.
I had an eBay buyer return a couple raw 3-Cent Silvers once.
Reason: Because they were 'Too small.'
Dave
You can make all the excuses for a buyer that you like, I'm not taking the time to look up and write up specifications that are readily available for the one in a thousand buyer who is not savvy enough to find them himself, but is somehow able to find my listing.
Actually, there are a lot of internet resources that will give the size, if they care. I'm guessing they had some kind of artsy project or something and weren't really interested in collecting coins of that type.
Darkside and stamps?
Wrong forum by a mile! 😉
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
Exactly. There's a reason Heritage and Stacks don't list $20 coins in their auctions, and why I don't type up the specs for every coin I list for sale on eBay.
Maybe the cat did it.
Collector, occasional seller
It was entirely your fault in not anticipating that your customer would overlook that the stamps are Canaduh. You need to brush up on mind reading as well.
I knew it would happen.
Speaking of cat...
I once had a buyer msg me back an hour after an Ebay sale and paid for thru PP wishing to-cancel the transaction. Saying his daughter did an unauthorized purchase from his computer.
I then knew his daughter's name must be Buyer Remorse.
Foreign coins should be measured in the metric system.
LOL. U.S. coin weights are usually expressed in grams....
Of course, bullion is in troy ounces which is about as unmetric as you can get.
Drams and scruples, please.
They are. Just like US coins are.
I think there're a lot of people on ebay that don't have any scruples.
Crown Royal or sour mash?
Dog ate it.
The poor man route, Canadian club...
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
Once again, Blame It On Canada!
But but but, aren't all coin dealers rich? Maybe not.
So the buyer in the OP "didn't notice".....
It is not like there was a discrepancy between the description and the photos. . He "didn't notice" both the text AND the photos. Exactly what did he notice?
For such a small transaction you'd think he'd just let it go rather than proclaim his total ignorance.
When he contacted me to tell me he sent it back, he still hadn't noticed that the listing said Canada. It wasn't until I highlighted it and increased the font size did he say, "Oh, I didn't notice".
That's why it's so odd. He went into his purchased items (which said Canada) and clicked on "contact seller" which generates an email with the Item title (which said Canada). I asked him specifically if the stamps didn't match the picture (which said "Canada"). But he never noticed until I clipped the text, blew it up and highlighted it.
Congratulations...you've livened up the Stamp Forum.
Take care...
CC