Accidentally destroyed a card I just sold on eBay...

A761506

A new first for me... need some advice as to how to go about handling this...

This past week I sold a banged up Kahn's card of Frank Robinson for $30 on eBay... no big deal - cheap card...

The buyer has not paid yet - also no big deal...

I'm packing an order to send some stuff to PSA this morning, the Robinson is in my safe, standing upright at the very front in a group with a few other cards, leaning against a set box... it slides forward as I'm closing the door, I don't realize it until after the door is shut, it's been caught right in the seal and now has two huge creases going right through it. It had some creases before this, but these are much more noticable and they actually now ruin the image...

I've already contacted the buyer and told they that I was sorry and they can back out. If they've mailed me a check, I'll mail it back to them. Have I handled this correctly? Anyone else dealt with anything like this before got any advice... I don't want to wind up with a neg.

Thanks, Josh

MorrellMan

Josh
You did the right thing by notifying the buyer immediately.
Sounds like you took the only honorable action available to you.
If you get a neg for that, I would be seriously disappointed in mankind. But, just to make sure, I wouldn't post feedback until he did.

bobsbbcards

Josh,

I think I'd send the destroyed card to them along with their refund. That way they'd know there is nothing shady going on.

Bob

jrdolan

I agree. What else can you do? Other than maybe offer him a different card that's worth a little more.

I've had sellers tell me that they'd "lost" or "damaged" a card that I'd just won for 30% of SMR and can we please mutually cancel the sale? I just roll my eyes and mutter "yeah right," but really I have no choice. Obviously that's not the case here with an already creased and beat-up card, and I don't see how they can think so.

studentT206

I bought a card from a seller that I paid with PayPal and they ran it over with a rolling chair. The card was ruined. They refunded my PayPal and sent me the card anyway. It was about a $50 item. I thought that this was above and beyond, but the best possible way to handle.

Stone193

<< <i>Josh,

I think I'd send the destroyed card to them along with their refund. That way they'd know there is nothing shady going on.

Bob >>


Josh
I was thinking the same thing as Bob - if the card is not worth much now anyway - you will look like a hero!
What better customer service can one give than that!

mike

milbroco

I also agree to send the card at no charge. But I also agree you should not leave feedback until he does, just in case.
Bob

Boopotts

"I was thinking the same thing as Bob - if the card is not worth much now anyway - you will look like a hero!
What better customer service can one give than that."

I wouldn't go that far. Just send him a scan of the card in it's present condition.

bobsbbcards

I'd leave feedback immediately. The buyer did nothing wrong. If the buyer decides to give Josh a negative, that's his prerogative. The last thing Josh should do would be to give the buyer a retaliatory negative if that happens. I'd respond to the possible negative with:

I accidentally destroyed the card after auction ended. Totally my fault. My sincerest apologies.

If I was reading somebody's feedback and I ran into that kind of mature response to a negative, I'd have no hesitation buying from such a seller.

Marketing rule -> every problem is an opportunity to secure a customer for life. Worse the problem, better the opportunity.

WinPitcher

I agree with bobscards.

WarHoundR69

I sell a lot of stamps. I had an incident, several months ago, where I was preparing some packages for mailing. My 11 year old daughter came over, and proceeded to drip Ice Cream all over a British 1 Pound Postage Due stamp. The stamp was ruined. I didn't have another mint copy of the stamp but I did have a used one. The buyer paid via PayPal. I sent the buyer the ruined stamp, the used one and a full refund ( I paid the postage). The buyer gave me a positive. Hope it works out for you.

cdchanger

In my view you MUST send the buyer the ruined card.
It is the ONLY way to "prove" that you are acting
in good faith, in a marketplace that is more paranoid
than ever.
Good luck.

Cher

A761506

Thanks for the responses... the buyer replied this afternoon that he was no longer interested in the card in the lowered condition and that he had not yet sent payment, so that takes care of it, and I'm out $30 plus the $4 for the listing and fees... a loss I can certainly live with.

Yet another reason to have cards graded, takes the accidental damage factor almost entirely out of the equation.

Not the first card I've accidentally ruined, probably won't be the last... we are only human after all.

MooseDog

You can get a refund of the final value fees...the form is part of the Non-Paying Bidder/Disupte section on eBay. After you put in the item number choose "We Both Agreed Not to Complete the Transaction" from the drop down and you'll get instant credit.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CreateDispute