Sold factory sealed packs on ebay, buyer doesn't like what he pulled, wants refund

ndleo

I just got this case opened up against me on ebay. I sold some box topper packs from a case I broke. The buyer says that 3 of the packs contained cards he did not expect. I don't know what he could have got since the cards a in factory sealed cases by Topps.

Do I have a chance on this one? If not, this will change how I sell unopened product on ebay.

tsalems1

WOW, what packs were these?

gemint

This is always my concern about selling unopened on eBay. Lots of fraudulent sellers of resealed packs on eBay so how can you challenge someone if they claim your packs are resealed? Really no way to prove it, especially after the buyer already opens the packs.

ndleo

These are box topper packs that Topps inserted into Topps Chrome FB. The packs are sealed in a tight tin wrapper and the card themselves are sealed in a Topps factory holder.

I asked the buyer what he actually pulled since he wasn't clear on what he did not expect in the packs. I've sold a bunch of factory sealed boxes in the past and this is the first time I've had to deal with this.

If I lose this case, this might be it for me when it comes to selling boxes or packs. I will let you know how it turns out.

WhiteTornado

Best of luck, hope it works out.

Meatloaf

<< <i>I just got this case opened up against me on ebay. I sold some box topper packs from a case I broke. The buyer says that 3 of the packs contained cards he did not expect. I don't know what he could have got since the cards a in factory sealed cases by Topps.

Do I have a chance on this one? If not, this will change how I sell unopened product on ebay. >>



I dealt with a similar situation about 18 months ago with a case of 1989 Upper Deck low series packs I broke and sold on Ebay. The buyer bought a single box and did not get a find any Ken Griffey, Randy Johnson, or Gary Sheffield rookies in the packs...so he accused me of selling him fraudulent items..basically said I searched them, pulled all the RCs our, and dumped junk in his lap. My initial reaction was to scratch my head and say out loud: "Serious?"

The buyer immediately filed a case, quoting statistics and odds on finding the RCs he wanted. I was unsure how I would be able to prove the packs were legit, of which they were from the get go. Anyway, he had zero "proof" the packs were tampered and I won the case with ease. During his initial communication, he threatened to give me negative feedback unless I gave him a full refund; of course, I refused to give him anything because he claims were bogus. Once the case was settled in my favor, he left the negative feedback. I reported his extortion attempt via ebay and about 2 weeks later it was removed. After all of this drama, I busted open every pack in the case on my own and vowed never again to sell unopened on ebay unless it was in a PSA holder. Random Note: I pulled 5 x PSA 10 Ken Griffeys and 9 x 8s....no 9s or no lower than 8.

Bottom Line: There is pretty much no way to prove a pack was tampered with in the eyes of ebay. Packs are a total gamble from the get go....you don't know what you are going to get inside. You will be fine as long as you are polite, honest, and stay on message that you did nothing wrong. Unless he posts a video of him opening each pack and pulling hockey cards from football packs, you are fine IMO.

Alex in NC

ndleo

Thanks a lot Alex. For all I know what he says is legit, but these specific packs have two levels of security so whatever may have happened came from the factory.

If I lose this case, I will have fun over the holidays ripping the boxes in my inventory.

cjaccardi

you wont loose a case. Just say that what the buyer is claiming is buyers remorse. make sure you say its buyers remorse. Say buyer bought unopened packs did not get what he hoped for and now is suffering from buyers remorse.

Meatloaf

<< <i>you wont loose a case. Just say that what the buyer is claiming is buyers remorse. make sure you say its buyers remorse. Say buyer bought unopened packs did not get what he hoped for and now is suffering from buyers remorse. >>



Agreed, just be polite and professional in your statements. You will be fine...

MiniDuff

Not necessarily. I lost a case recently when a buyer opened a factory sealed 84 Topps Football set I sold him and found that he didn't just get 528 gem mint cards as he expected. I was forced to accept a return on the set, which was case fresh, from my own case and as clean as can be. I was so aggravated that I sold the rest of my sets to BBCE rather than deal with another idiot/ebay again on unopened.

EAsports

<< <i>Not necessarily. I lost a case recently when a buyer opened a factory sealed 84 Topps Football set I sold him and found that he didn't just get 528 gem mint cards as he expected. I was forced to accept a return on the set, which was case fresh, from my own case and as clean as can be. I was so aggravated that I sold the rest of my sets to BBCE rather than deal with another idiot/ebay again on unopened. >>



Did he send you back junk cards?

What got me away from eBay was selling a lot of 300ish 1972 Topps. I conservatively graded them as VG (for the lot), but realistically most of the cards were EX to EX-MT, with maybe 10% of the lot VG (or lower.) Of course, I described this in detail, and scanned about 30 cards to show the overall card quality. Some dingleberry bought the lot, filed a case, wanted a partial refund due to card quality. I declined, and offered a full refund when the cards were returned. He returned them - after swapping out most of the EX-MT cards for filler cards. I got a negative for my efforts, eBay told me to get stuffed, and I had to refund him, plus shipping costs.

Aaaaaaand I quit selling on eBay.

MiniDuff

I got a complete, razor sharp, 70/30 centered set back. In his case he claimed the cards were damaged and so on, so it could have been worse. Originally he demanded another factory sealed set to crack, to which i said hell no. I did offer him a really nice raw set i had, which he wanted no part of.

JHS5120

Hahaha you think that's bad! Well, I had 4 1978 Topps vending boxes on ebay BBCE sealed and a man bought one from me. After opening the box he didn't pull any GEM MINT 10's of any stars or rookies (from vending? shocker) and demanded a refund. I told him no, he opened the box and already left positive feedback. He eventually went away. Well, the SAME GUY bought another box from me! I told him I didn't want to sell him it and I promptly asked him to cancel the transaction. He declined, he paid AND left positive feedback before I could even message him to go away a second time. I told him it must have been a bad case of cards that Steve had and if he opened the box I cannot be held responsible. Well, the man promised me and I shipped him the box. This was the message I got 5 days later:

Excuse the language (and content).

Dear simonds_sports,

Now I know what a YOUNG GIRL FEELS LIKE THAT HAS BEEN RAPED BY A BUNCH OF SCUM PIGS. I've opened 13 boxes of 1978 and 1979 in the past two months and I have come to know Topps factory sets very well. And the two you sent to me aren't them. YOU pulled everything good and I feel like a stupid fool to have not taken one second to realize there is no other person...it is Topps to BBExchange, to YOU and then to me. BB Exchange got mad when I confronted them about having pulled all the good cards, and they certainly should be upset. They don't do such things. But YOU do. Don't you? Don't waste our time by making a lying denial. You even took all the centered commons! Boy have I been f**ked,. People that are so low in our socioeconomic strata do such things. I am out $700 and am not sure if I have any recourse. Your warnings just show you took a lot of money for something you knew was garbage. Some honorable person you ....are not. I want 1/2 refunded and you can have the box.


I told him no and I ended it there.

JoeBanzai

I always wondered about selling unopened on ebay. I am glad I don't have any to sell!

Good luck to one and all!

hyperchipper09

This sort of thing is one of the reasons I have zero interest in eBay. It takes a complete and utter jackwagon to want a refund, open a dispute/ case, whatever on something like that.

otwcards

Ask him if he also returns scratch-off lottery tickets to the convenience store if they're not winners...

cjaccardi

<< <i>Hahaha you think that's bad! Well, I had 4 1978 Topps vending boxes on ebay BBCE sealed and a man bought one from me. After opening the box he didn't pull any GEM MINT 10's of any stars or rookies (from vending? shocker) and demanded a refund. I told him no, he opened the box and already left positive feedback. He eventually went away. Well, the SAME GUY bought another box from me! I told him I didn't want to sell him it and I promptly asked him to cancel the transaction. He declined, he paid AND left positive feedback before I could even message him to go away a second time. I told him it must have been a bad case of cards that Steve had and if he opened the box I cannot be held responsible. Well, the man promised me and I shipped him the box. This was the message I got 5 days later:

Excuse the language (and content).

Dear simonds_sports,

Now I know what a YOUNG GIRL FEELS LIKE THAT HAS BEEN RAPED BY A BUNCH OF SCUM PIGS. I've opened 13 boxes of 1978 and 1979 in the past two months and I have come to know Topps factory sets very well. And the two you sent to me aren't them. YOU pulled everything good and I feel like a stupid fool to have not taken one second to realize there is no other person...it is Topps to BBExchange, to YOU and then to me. BB Exchange got mad when I confronted them about having pulled all the good cards, and they certainly should be upset. They don't do such things. But YOU do. Don't you? Don't waste our time by making a lying denial. You even took all the centered commons! Boy have I been f**ked,. People that are so low in our socioeconomic strata do such things. I am out $700 and am not sure if I have any recourse. Your warnings just show you took a lot of money for something you knew was garbage. Some honorable person you ....are not. I want 1/2 refunded and you can have the box.


I told him no and I ended it there. >>




haha to me thats a typical ebay buyer. They know all the ways they can get over on you. I have opened several 78 and 79 vending boxes and posted on here and I know how tough it is. I cant stand Ebay, if there was another market place it would be better. I do not like COMC because they rape you over fees. It would be a good alternative otherwise.

But when you sell there are all kinds of crazy people out there unfortunately Ebay is no place for selling vending boxes and stuff like that.

soundgard

I dont sell unopened on ebay, but if i ever do i would be a nervous wreck.

Raulsmaster

I don't always sell wax, but when I do...I get chargebacks. Couldn't help myself...

Guru

I once sold the rest of the packs that were unopened from an Allen and Ginter box after I got all the hits. Read carefully here...I put in the description that all the hits had been pulled from this box and the likelihood of finding anything was slim to none. I had one guy buy all the packs, open them, and then cuss me out because there were no hits. I never said they were "hot" packs, because I don't do that kind of stuff and I also explained that there would be no hits.

However, there are apparently a lot of people who can read to navigate eBay but can't read when it comes to descriptions. I've never sold another pack on ebay since then. That was 2007. I just stay away from that.

Edit to add: Back then eBay was on the side of the sellers.

jeffcbay

<< <i>

<< <i>I just got this case opened up against me on ebay. I sold some box topper packs from a case I broke. The buyer says that 3 of the packs contained cards he did not expect. I don't know what he could have got since the cards a in factory sealed cases by Topps.

Do I have a chance on this one? If not, this will change how I sell unopened product on ebay. >>



I dealt with a similar situation about 18 months ago with a case of 1989 Upper Deck low series packs I broke and sold on Ebay. The buyer bought a single box and did not get a find any Ken Griffey, Randy Johnson, or Gary Sheffield rookies in the packs...so he accused me of selling him fraudulent items..basically said I searched them, pulled all the RCs our, and dumped junk in his lap. My initial reaction was to scratch my head and say out loud: "Serious?"

The buyer immediately filed a case, quoting statistics and odds on finding the RCs he wanted. I was unsure how I would be able to prove the packs were legit, of which they were from the get go. Anyway, he had zero "proof" the packs were tampered and I won the case with ease. During his initial communication, he threatened to give me negative feedback unless I gave him a full refund; of course, I refused to give him anything because he claims were bogus. Once the case was settled in my favor, he left the negative feedback. I reported his extortion attempt via ebay and about 2 weeks later it was removed. After all of this drama, I busted open every pack in the case on my own and vowed never again to sell unopened on ebay unless it was in a PSA holder. Random Note: I pulled 5 x PSA 10 Ken Griffeys and 9 x 8s....no 9s or no lower than 8.

Bottom Line: There is pretty much no way to prove a pack was tampered with in the eyes of ebay. Packs are a total gamble from the get go....you don't know what you are going to get inside. You will be fine as long as you are polite, honest, and stay on message that you did nothing wrong. Unless he posts a video of him opening each pack and pulling hockey cards from football packs, you are fine IMO.

Alex in NC >>



I broke a box of these before (1989 Upper Deck Low) and had the same result... zero Griffey/Johnson/Sheffield cards. I honestly can't remember if the box was sealed or not, but I do recall later hearing that these boxes were sequenced somehow where the top RC packs could be filtered out. I barely pulled any RCs of any kind. I'm sure someone else can shed more light on this, but I vowed never to buy a box of these again.