Would you report this seller? - poll

eyoung429

Purchased a common 1921 -S w/VAM 6. Coin arrived in a standard envelope, inside were 2 punch cards with the coin taped to one side...the 2 punch cards were stapled together. Seller charged $3.50 for shipping but postage was $.65c. Coin arrived with 2 new hits.

I sent the seller the following email and received their reply.

Received coin yesterday. I am quite unhappy about the fact you charged me $3.50 to stuff a coin between a couple of punch cards and then put it into a standard envelope and paid only .65 cents for shipping. There are now 2 nicks in the coin from shipping and I am asking for at least $2.50 of my shipping back. If that is unacceptable, you can refund me for the auction and shipping.

Thank you



WHEN I FIRST READ YOUR NOTE I WAS GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY NORMAL RETURN POLICY AND HAVE YOU SHIP IT BACK. THEN I REVIEWED THE TRANSACTION.

MY SHIPPING CHARGES COVER ALL OF EBAYS FEES AND PAYPALS FEES AND MY TIME FRANKLY THEY ARE NOT EXCESSIVE. PLUS EBAY PRICES AREN'T THAT GOOD. THEY ARE BELOW GRAY SHEET ON MOST ITEMS.

HOWEVER IT APPEARS YOU LOOKED AT THE SCANS AND BID COMPETATIVELY. SO I BELIEVE YOUR CLAIM IT PICKED UP SOME NICKS EVEN IF I CANT SEE HOW. CHECK MY FEEDBACK I SHIP FAST AND GENERALLY PACKAGE PRETTY WELL. YES I DO TRY TO DO IT AS CHEAPLY AS I CAN, WITHOUT RISKING THE COINS. BOTTOM LINE IT MAY TAKE A DAY OR TWO BUT I'LL MAIL YOU 2.50 THIS TIME.

THANKS FOR TRYING ME, SORRY YOUR NOT A HAPPY CUSTOMER

notwilight

If he charged what he said he was going to charge then you have no beef on the price.

Inadequate packaging is something I've struggled with on ebay for a long time. I used to buy hundreds of pounds of machine tools on ebay and I've had sellers throw a bunch of sharp carbide 5lb cutting tools in a box of peanuts together. When they got there they had beaten each other to death, chipping the carbide until it was useless. IIRC, the seller who did this sent me more tools of a different kind to make up the loss. I started providing shipping instructions with my payment.

As for coins, I haven't had any shippers send coins in a manner that didn't protect them. they put cardboard on both sides of the flip usually. If that is what you're describing the I wonder how it could have gotten a new ding?

Anyway, feedback is about all I ever found you could do for inadequate shipping. "Good Product, Needs to improve shipping Packaging" or something like that.

--Jerry

ajaan

<< <i>MY SHIPPING CHARGES COVER ALL OF EBAYS FEES AND PAYPALS FEES >>


Isn't this against eBay rules?

lathmach

He's agreeing to do what you want done, by sending you the $2.50 you feel you have coming. Why not drop it?
Just don't buy from this seller again.
If you leave him negative feedback, expect him to retaliate with the same, unless he's already left feedback for you.

Ray

coinguy1

<<Should I send this to ebay to notify them of collecting fees through shipping>>


No way. The shipping fee covers time and effort too and was not unreasonable.

StrikeOutXXX

<< <i>Anyway, feedback is about all I ever found you could do for inadequate shipping. "Good Product, Needs to improve shipping Packaging" or something like that. >>



That's what I would do. Even if the post office only charges me .65 for the postage, it costs me over $1.00 in gas to drive to my post office, and my time is certainly worth more than $1.50 for a 20 minute trip to the post office. I don't have any problem with the $3.50 shipping - especially if it was stated ahead of time, but it does seem like he skimped on packaging. He is misguided if he thinks shipping is suppose to cover paypal/ebay fees though.

I've gotten stuff from the BST packaged like you mentioned without problems before - it isn't an unheard method of shipping, but it is unfortunate your coin got some dings.

ABC123

Was the $3.50 shipping disclosed prior to sale ? If so, bid or don't bid ! Deal or No Deal ! Your Choice. Get over it !

Shamika

I can understand your frustration, but you should let it go.

Barndog

you asked for specific recourse to your concern...so if the seller meets that demand, no further action warranted.

eyoung429

Yes, the shipping was stated in the auction.

I am ticked off that the person disclosed in the email regarding "ebay and paypal fees"

numisma

I don't care at all about the small shipping fee. The big issue here is the ongoing problem of coins being damaged or destroyed on a daily basis due to careless packaging. It makes me sick to my stomach.

I know of a Detroit collector who purchased an Unc. 1795 Cent and an AU 1794 Cent from an old time dealer. I saw the coins and they were the real deal (and very expensive). The dealer had the coins carelessly packaged, although they were in a box. The coins came out of the cardboard mailer, then eventually came out of the flips and banged around in the box for who knows how long. Damage was done. I will never forget this real life story that just happened a few years ago.

PerryHall

<< <i>I don't care at all about the small shipping fee. The big issue here is the ongoing problem of coins being damaged or destroyed on a daily basis due to careless packaging. It makes me sick to my stomach.

I know of a Detroit collector who purchased an Unc. 1795 Cent and an AU 1794 Cent from an old time dealer. I saw the coins and they were the real deal (and very expensive). The dealer had the coins carelessly packaged, although they were in a box. The coins came out of the cardboard mailer, then eventually came out of the flips and banged around in the box for who knows how long. Damage was done. I will never forget this real life story that just happened a few years ago. >>



What did the collector do? Did he return the coins?

notwilight

<< <i>

<< <i>MY SHIPPING CHARGES COVER ALL OF EBAYS FEES AND PAYPALS FEES >>

Isn't this against eBay rules? >>



Technically yes, or at least it used to be. but reasonable "handling" fees are allowed and it has become a common practice to make handling fees cover such fees. This guy just needs to call it a handling fee and be done with it. I agree that his shipping is quite reasonable.

I just bought a camera with $15 shipping/handling. I expect it to show up with about $6 of postage on it. But the $15 was stated up front and I'm fine with it. I always compare total price, not price before shipping/handling. --Jerry

numisma

What did the collector do? Did he return the coins?

No, he kept them. He called me immediately and was nearly in tears. I told him to call the dealer and work out something with insurance, but he never did. He did submit the coins to PCGS and they did grade, although not quite as high as the grade he paid for. I remember that the damage done was a couple of small rim ticks and a couple of light hits to the fields; pretty fortunate actually. I finally got to see the coins at the ILNA show after they were graded. Beautiful early coppers, but a crying shame that laziness and lack of commonsense resulted in the damage to such beautiful early Americana.

BobaFett72

<< <i>you asked for specific recourse to your concern...so if the seller meets that demand, no further action warranted. >>

bhartman35

This is something I struggle with when I decide to hold an auction: What kind of shipping is appropriate for what kind of coin? You don't want to charge too much for shipping, but you also want the coin to get there intact. Personally, I think the seller made the wrong decision. If you're worried about recouping your fees, you've got two options: Start the bidding at what you'd be willing to take for the coin (or maybe just below that) or else set a reserve. Charging $2.50 for 65 sents of shipping costs seems excessive -- especially when there's ways he could've shipped it for cheap and it wouldn't get hits.

Having said that, if he didn't specify how the item would be shipped, but only how much he would charge, then you don't have a leg to stand on in that regard. He wasn't being dishonest -- just cheap.

I might give him feedback like "Item arrived with damage due to inadequate packaging, but seller refunded postage." That's if you want to keep the coin. If you wanted to be a hardass, you could just inform the seller that you're returning the coin for a full refund because it's not in the shape you were promised. If it was me, and I felt like the nicks did sufficient damage to the value, that's what I'd do.

Baley

report? no

but I'd leave a tepid feedback like "coin almost as described; slight damage by flimsy packing material- rec'd partial refund of excessive shipping"

Outhaul

The seller is complying with your wishes and offering an apology, what more do you want? I could see you still being pissed if he told you to go pound sand, but that's not the case. If you wanted more or if what you asked for wasn't going to satisfy you, why didn't you just ask for more?

Time for you to move on.

Cheers,

Bob

TwoSides2aCoin

I'd accept the coin and be thankful. Unless there is proof that it was damaged in shipping and you didn't insure the item, there is no cause for negative feedback. I am sorry you are ticked with his PAYPAL and ebay FEES being incorporated into his auction, but you ought to be grateful he is so honest with you.
Also, from his response, you should leave a positive. He sounds as though he'd take the coin back and take it on the chin.


Get that cup of coffee, now and tell him thanks. You'll feel better !
Write him back instead of the forum and bridge a gap instead of creating a greater one.

BlindedByEgo

I'd just put the guy on my "do not buy from" list.

Craton

<< <i>

<< <i>MY SHIPPING CHARGES COVER ALL OF EBAYS FEES AND PAYPALS FEES >>


Isn't this against eBay rules? >>



Yes it is and I WOULD report him for it.

Dog97

Go get a cup of coffee & forget about it. I understand your point and feel the same way. SleazeBay shipping is a pet peeve of mine. The shipping while substandard wasn't really excessive, IMO. When you renegotiated the terms of sale after the auction ended the seller agreed to refund you $2.50. So you only paid for the actual shipping and that's what your complaint was.

BUTT if you tell me he charged you for Priority Mail with Insurance, Delivery Confirmation etc but only used a 65¢ service then I would tell you to hang his sorry ass out to dry.

Coinhog

<< <i>Yes, the shipping was stated in the auction.

I am ticked off that the person disclosed in the email regarding "ebay and paypal fees" >>



Why????? We all hate ebay fees and paypal fees. Most if not all major auction houses charge a buyers premium. The majority of us sellers would probably love to see ebay allow us to put in a line item charge that is disclosed in our auctions as a percentage of selling price to cover fees. The buyer can then decide his bid. The seller then can not gripe about fees.

SamByrd

Frankly when shipping is stated you make a choice to bid or not, I think the seller was way more then fair with you, he was being reasonable and I would be happy to buy from him. The seller should recieve positve feedback imo. The seller also made a good explanation of the shipping charges which are compleatly reasonable, many charge much more. I myself put a coin in a bubble mailer and always use delivery confirmation I charge at least 3.50 and yes it is shipped first class. and yes it is a fair and reasonable charge.