An Interesting eBay Buying Experience

Nolawyer

I'm putting together a circulated capped bust half dime set and I won an ebay auction for an ICG problem-free EF40 bust half dime about 2 months ago. I was contacted by the seller shortly after winning asking me to call him. I called and he told me that the slab had been badly damaged prior to shipping. He said he would send it in to ICG for a reholder and mail it to me when he got it back. I said that would be fine.

I contacted the seller today to see if the coin had returned, yet. He said that they had decided to submit it to PCGS instead thinking that would be better for me anyway. Well, the coin was put in a Genuine PCGS holder. In the seller's defense, I think he deals mostly with bullion and not as much with numismatic items. I just wish he would have told me about his decision to submit it to PCGS - I would have tried to talk him out of it.

The seller has offered to send me the coin and give me a full refund (about $90.) I believe the offer is more than fair, but I always feel uneasy getting something for nothing.

How would you handle it? Take the offer, ask for a refund and let the seller keep the coin or take the coin and request a partial refund?

JamesMurray

If i wanted the coin enough i'd work out the deal accordingly or i'd walk away and take my refund.Its a generous offer he has made which is the mark of a good seller , it's up to you what kind of buyer you want to be.

lasvegasteddy

"great ebayer in the end here"
let him send you the cash and coin to appease his conscience of it all
no reason why you couldn't send him some bullion afterwards in surprise gesture too...

mingot

that poor guy. coin + refund + grading fees.

personally, if i still wanted the coin, i would pay him.

if i didn't i would give him the option to cancel the sale and recoup some of his dough selling the item to someone else.

Ahrensdad

Clearly you have a good seller. If I still wanted the coin, I would simply pay for it, accepting a small discount. I would not take advantage of his fear that he will be neg'd to get the coin for free, regardless of his offer. IMHO, I believe his offer was based on fear. When everyone plays fair, everyone wins. BTW, I am not implying you are not playing fair is taking advantage of the seller--it is he who made the offer.

-Andrew

seanq

Were you buying the coin or the holder? Because the coin is still the same, just the holder has changed. If the former, take the coin and let him keep his money. If the latter, take the refund and let him resell the coin, and maybe you'll want to bid on it again to a level where you're more comfortable.


Sean Reynolds

Russ

If the coin had some back from PCGS in a problem-free XF40 or better holder, (much higher value), the story you'd be hearing instead would be "So sorry, it got lost in the mail on the way back from ICG".

Russ, NCNE

Nolawyer

Thank you for your replies. I agree that the seller is a good one and I hope that my original post connoted that. I do empathize with the seller and that is why I did not want to take his offer. I just spoke with the seller on the phone and tried to work out a partial refund, and the seller refused. He said that it was his mistake and he still wanted to send me the coin and a full refund. To thank him, I thought I would share his ebay ID: cinpin18

ricko

Interesting situation and the seller seems to be genuinely sorry... Cheers, RickO

shorecoll

You did the right thing. Send him a gift back (assuming there's a return address on the package). Something neat, exonumia or something inexpensive, but that you don't see every day.

ebaybuyer

if it was damaged in shipping is that the sellers fault ? i would think it was the po's fault. take the coin or the refund, but not both. no matter what way you look at it, its just not right.

Nolawyer

The seller damaged the slab before it was ever shipped so the USPS is innocent in this case. I offered to take only a partial refund, but the seller insisted that I accept his generous offer.