eBay auction - what would you do?

plattech

So I won a cheap auction for a 1981 Donruss lot of 412 with stars (yes I know not the most sought after cards but 1981 is when I first collected so all brands that year are special to me).

I get the cards and count 296, they shorted me 116 cards. I did get all the stars as the auction listed and the lot is worth more than I paid for it. I messaged the seller and this is their explanation:

"Hello xxx we made a typo with the title, we figured the price was fair for the lot, we are willing to work with you, in the end we make $ 6 to $10 on these transactions, please let us know your thoughts, we need you to be happy, thank you xxxx"

Really? A typo? I have never experienced this before on eBay and have actually used this seller previously. Given they'd probably send 116 more commons which won't be worth the postage to send I am not sure how to respond.

Thoughts?

UncleTwoPillow

You could give them the red minus instead of the green plus. Tell them it was a typo.

wilkiebaby11

At the very least, I would tell them that you'd like a 116/412 = 28% refund. If they admitted their mistake, then they should make it right, especially if they are only going to lose out on $6-$10. As a seller, I would much rather make a frequent customer happy (when I myself made the mistake) then upset them and lose out on any future business.

PMKAY

Ask for 28% of your money back.

plattech

Actually, instead of 28% of my money back I could ask for 1 card equal to that value. Rather have a $4 card than $4 credited back to my account.

swish54

I would ask for the other 116 cards. It's not your fault or problem that they made a typo and didn't tell anyone about it, probably hoping it would fall through the cracks. I'd have a different stance on it if they would've messaged you after you either A)bid, or B)won the auction before they mailed it. The fact that they mailed it out and "figured the price you paid was fair for 296 cards instead of 412" isn't their decision to make without contacting you first.

mlbfan2

Pretty lame that he would even mention "in the end we make $ 6 to $10 on these transactions". The amount of profit he makes has zero to do with you. Even if he lost $10 on the transaction, you are still entitled to 116 more cards (or some other resolution that you're OK with).

Littletweed

I would return the lot, it was not as described so you won't have to pay return shipping. Plus it looks like the seller accepts returns.

Then I would use the $29 to buy a complete set and maybe have a few bucks left over. I think you paid too much for the lot.

brendanb438

Looks like they sell a lot of random lots of cards with a specific number of cards in the lot so they probably have gotten away with this before and plan to continue to do it.



Had they just been smart up front and said crap we screwed up as soon as you sent the question and proactively offered you a $22 refund and told you to keep the cards or they would pay return shipping then and only then would I either leave no feedback or maybe a positive for making it right.



The way this seller responded makes it clear this is a common business practice and only after the fact are they going to try and do the minimum possible to maintain the 100% feedback.



You can't reply in a way that is taken as feedback extortion so you need to walk a fine line if you do respond. Anything mentioning leaving feedback plus some sort of refund he can corner you and leave you in trouble with eBay. Rereading how they responded I almost feel like they are angle shooting for you to be a little upset and to ask for a partial refund OR ELSE which is the exact response they want out of you.



I highly recommend that you DO NOT REPLY BACK and leave a negative feedback right now and leave all 1 stars where you can and then start a dispute as item not as described. You will easily win the dispute forcing the seller into a corner. I wouldn't put that it is missing 116 cards but be a little more vague that the lot of 412 cards was missing almost half the cards. Hell since this seller is a lying POS with what they told you after the fact I would add also it was poorly packaged for shipping and the half of the cards included are all now damaged because of this. You force him to either just refund you in whole and eBay tells you to keep the cards or he not only has to refund you completely but now he has to eat the shipping both ways.



Turd seller doesn't deserve his top rated power seller status. No matter how this plays out he has earned the negative and 1 stars you need to leave him along with mentioning seller feels it is fine to list a lot of 400 cards and only ship half of them because of the price they sold for (state this clearly in the feedback).

KbKards

$29 for a partial set is laughable. Take advantage of their mistake and return the thing at their expense. Complete sets sell for under $20 on Ebay, some even in pages, and most of that cost will be shipping. Go to a show and you'll likely find them in the $10-15 range. Pick one up and the seller probably won't let you put it down.

plattech

Interesting take on it Brendan. Will certainly take it into consideration.

My only thing is I don't want to have to return them because it is a hassle to get down to the post office and ship them.

I am leaning towards a partial refund and just scratch them off the list of sellers.

plattech

Yes $29 seems high but that was for primarily the stars that I got multiple of each (plus all the minor stars). I wasn't looking to make a set out of it, just looking for some that could possibly be PSA material. I have had good luck buying lots such as these in the past looking for the same. I do understand your point thought KbKards.

PMKAY

Originally posted by: brendanb438
Looks like they sell a lot of random lots of cards with a specific number of cards in the lot so they probably have gotten away with this before and plan to continue to do it.

Had they just been smart up front and said crap we screwed up as soon as you sent the question and proactively offered you a $22 refund and told you to keep the cards or they would pay return shipping then and only then would I either leave no feedback or maybe a positive for making it right.

The way this seller responded makes it clear this is a common business practice and only after the fact are they going to try and do the minimum possible to maintain the 100% feedback.

You can't reply in a way that is taken as feedback extortion so you need to walk a fine line if you do respond. Anything mentioning leaving feedback plus some sort of refund he can corner you and leave you in trouble with eBay. Rereading how they responded I almost feel like they are angle shooting for you to be a little upset and to ask for a partial refund OR ELSE which is the exact response they want out of you.

I highly recommend that you DO NOT REPLY BACK and leave a negative feedback right now and leave all 1 stars where you can and then start a dispute as item not as described. You will easily win the dispute forcing the seller into a corner. I wouldn't put that it is missing 116 cards but be a little more vague that the lot of 412 cards was missing almost half the cards. Hell since this seller is a lying POS with what they told you after the fact I would add also it was poorly packaged for shipping and the half of the cards included are all now damaged because of this. You force him to either just refund you in whole and eBay tells you to keep the cards or he not only has to refund you completely but now he has to eat the shipping both ways.

Turd seller doesn't deserve his top rated power seller status. No matter how this plays out he has earned the negative and 1 stars you need to leave him along with mentioning seller feels it is fine to list a lot of 400 cards and only ship half of them because of the price they sold for (state this clearly in the feedback).

wow

jfkheat

Originally posted by: plattech



My only thing is I don't want to have to return them because it is a hassle to get down to the post office and ship them.

.

I agree with the partial refund.



It is no hassle to ship back if you go that route. Go to the USPS site and pay for shipping there, print the label and request a postal pick up. Your mail carrier will pick the package up from your mailbox or your front porch.

James

plattech

Update. So I contacted the seller and asked for partial refund and they agreed to that. However after several days of explaining them what email to PayPal the funds to they could not get it right and came back with this:

"we sent the funds but it went unclaimed again- we found the other cards that went in this Lot, they are in plastic sheets, We will send them to you in Weds mail-"

What a crock. This is what the sent me in the first place:

""Hello xxx we made a typo with the title"

They magically found the cards they were supposed to send in the first place. Since I am not getting a refund but instead the cards originally promised I feel they should get negative feedback on this.

No clue how this seller has such a good rating.

MULLINS5

Once you get the second package in hand open a not as described case so they will have to pay the return shipping and get a full refund.

wilkiebaby11

Originally posted by: plattech

Update. So I contacted the seller and asked for partial refund and they agreed to that. However after several days of explaining them what email to PayPal the funds to they could not get it right and came back with this:



"we sent the funds but it went unclaimed again- we found the other cards that went in this Lot, they are in plastic sheets, We will send them to you in Weds mail-"



What a crock. This is what the sent me in the first place:



""Hello xxx we made a typo with the title"



They magically found the cards they were supposed to send in the first place. Since I am not getting a refund but instead the cards originally promised I feel they should get negative feedback on this.



No clue how this seller has such a good rating.

I think that you are entitled to leave a negative. They obviously have some shady business practices that warrant others knowing.

I wouldn't be rude or condescending in your comment. Simply state the facts. As a buyer, I don't take nearly as seriously negative comments from users that are emotional or don't have good grammar.



Good review: "I was given a run-around on the missing cards from this lot and their refund process. My refund was never received and then over a week later they say that they found the cards and will ship them."



Bad review: "these guys suck!!!! they lie and never gave refund. cards miraculously appeared. never going to buy from again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"





Hopefully you at least got all of your cards, though the headache to get them may not have been worth it (hence the negative).

PMKAY

I wouldn't buy from them again but I wouldn't leave a negative.