eBay Unopened Pack Switcheroo? - Updated
lahmejoon
Posts: 1,668 ✭✭✭
Hi All,
I'm posting this to get advice on how to handle a return request on an unopened pack. This pack is not mine, but I know the seller very well and he's very upset.
My friend put this obscure 1969 Topps Comic Cover stickers pack that has been in his possession for ages up on ebay. The link for the auction is here:
The buyer of my friend's pack wants to return the pack because he said that it was not disclosed that the gum was broken. My friend cannot recall if the gum was broken or not. He's willing to accept the pack back, but is afraid of a switcheroo job. More research shows that another pack just like this one sold for $99.99 a month ago to the same buyer. The link to that auction is here:
The pack in the latter auction has very different markings and advertisement on the back flap, but he's concerned that the buyer may either try sending that one back, or switching it with another bad pack in his possession.
Sine ebay/paypal almost always sides with the buyer, the question is, if we can prove that the buyer tries switching the packs, does my friend have any recourse? I was thinking about telling him to record himself opening the return package and comparing the picture of his pack to the one he receives in return.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. We were both dumbfounded that the pack sold for as much as it did. He was thrilled, but is now upset because he feels like he might be getting taken advantage of and doesn't know what to do.
Thanks in advance for any knowledge or experience with these things. If you feel more comfortable PMing me, please do.
Comments
At this point he can either fight it....and have ebay force a return....or accept the return. Either way he will have the pack in hand before he needs to refund the money. Just have him compare the pack he receives to the pictures he provided in the auction he sold. Should be relatively easy to see if there is any funny business going on. If there is (different pack...resealed...damaged...etc)...the he can open a claim with ebay saying that he didn't receive the merchandise back in the same condition and start down that path.
I'd be skeptical too, but really nothing you can do at this point until you get the item back. Maybe have him open the package on camera when he gets it back? I dunno, that's probably not necessary with this, but it couldn't hurt.
Thanks. The piece I was not contemplating is that he's not forced to refund before getting the pack back to examine. Is it customary to reimburse the buyer for return postage?
It will take a while --buyer will win the case and have the pack switcheroo and money back and you will go down the path mentioned with ebay and then they will eat the money back to you (or your friend rather) if they decide you have weight to your argument.
those packs are different..look at the back....they are sealed differently, which means one of these is probably tampered with..why someone would tamper this, i dont really know... the black bar thru the wrapper is at different locations on the pack
Right. There are clearly distinguishable differences in the packs. The latter BIN pack does look a bit suspect, IMO, with the corner tear. It's hard to really assess without seeing roller marks, but we would know if the pack was switched with that pack because the advertisement is completely different. If the buyer happened to have another pack with the same ad on the back, we should be able to compare the back flap of the pack that is returned with the one my friend sold.
If the buyer hasn't yet returned the pack, I wouldn't spend any time worrying about it at this point. Your friend may get the same pack back, after all.
Seller is responsible for refunding original shipping cost but not return shipping cost, though eBay sometimes provides a return label free of charge to the buyer.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Not the buyer's fault. Seller should offer refund plus return shipping. If it ends up being a scam just let it go. $100 isn't worth the headache, IMO. Just write it off.
The pack was over $200, not $100.
I would not just write it off, either, if in fact the buyer tries to pull a fast one on you.
Bad behavior is perpetuated by people refusing to take action.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I agree, Tim. $200 is not chump change and is definitely worth trying to protect. My friend wants to have his ducks in a row in the event this goes sour, so all of the advice is much appreciated.
Looking at the items he's bidding on, they seem to be this type of collectible. Maybe its buyer's remorse based on price paid or maybe the gum is truly broken. If your friend is really worried about it, send the buyer a friendly worded email on how to return but also include a link to the two auctions, mention that you saw he bought another one and you want to make sure you get the right pack back, pointing to the differences between the two. If he's really thinking of sending the other, at least you've called him out that you are aware enough to know both exist and maybe he re-thinks it. Then follow the other instructions about opening the package. If he's really just returning it, then you issue the refund and move on.
I have never sold anything on eBay and probably never will.
I was just thinking of "days back" when Storm888 was our resident "expert" on all thing eBay.
That's a great idea. Basically, tactfully putting him on notice that you are aware of the other pack.
Question - I know we're able to see the types of auctions that the buyer has bid on and won, but is there a way to tell, exactly, what those were, i.e. another website that would reveal the full username so that we can search by it?
Actually, I can just ask my friend for the eBay handle and try to look that way.
Watch count used to offer that option but they took it away. It's unfortunate, because that was a very helpful tool.
However, if the other sale was a BIN, you can use watchcount to look up the encrypted initials of the buyer to see if it was the same buyer. All you need to do is enter the item number.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I already did exactly that and found that it was the same buyer. It would be nice, in general, to be able to determine who a buyer is on any item for research. For this one, I'll just get the actual from my friend and do some digging.
The fact that the same buyer bought the pack for $99 after paying over $200 for yours leads me to believe this is a case of buyer's remorse rather than a legitimate return.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
The thing is, the $99 pack was purchased a month ago, so we were figuring after this one sold for $202 that whoever got that pack for $99 must have gotten a deal. I suppose this pack is rare. My friend remembers getting this in the 80's from a customer of his who was really into non-sport, but when he was going to list it, neither of us thought it would get to $100, let alone $200.
Oops, clicked the wrong link.
I know how the seller feels, and I used to get upset over these things, but now whenever I sell on eBay I'm prepared to write it off as a loss if things go south. Buyer has all the power on these things. I think it's best to be cordial and accept the return quickly so the item (hopefully) arrives back in the best shape possible.
Yep, most of the time eBay will side with the buyer...I had sweet 300 Pack DVD carousel player (for it's day!) with all the nice bells and whistles, worked like a champ, no issues at all. Buyer gets it, says the video is black and white. Can't figure out how to hook it up, even after I sent him a link to the manual and such (folks, we are talking 3 cables here, maybe 5 if you use Component video), so he does a SNAD on eBay, I have to pay for return since I know it's operator error and my favorite person (the buyer), decides that it doesn't need any padding around the unit. Comes back destroyed. Quite humorous though, it does power up and geez, when the cables are hooked up correctly, would you believe it was in COLOR!!!. Anyhow, I'm thinking that I have a case against this guy, call eBay and they say, sure, send the photos and be sure to refund the guy quickly so that you have done your part. 3 days later I get a message from eBay that my claim was denied. I call them, ask how it could be declined?? They say since the buyer stated it didn't work, that even though he trashed it returning it to me, that they would still consider that the item didn't work, even though if the bozo would have hooked it up properly, the problem would have been resolved. So here I am, out the sale of the unit and 2x the shipping costs!. All because the guy stated there was an issue. And since it was shipped using the "eBay return label" (which the seller has to pay for), those labels are ensured either!. If you ship Fed Ex, it will probably come back USPS. I thought that was another interesting issue, that the seller doesn't have a choice if you use the default return.
I will have to say on eBay defense though, out of the blue, 30 days later, I got a check for sale of the unit (minus shipping) and a letter stating that they determined the buyer did screw up shipping the unit back.
I just went thru this with another buyer on a video game. He stated it didn't work in his system, damn disc was like brand freaking new and worked great here, again the buyer states that it doesn't work, there's nothing you can do but refund after return. BTW, I was thinking he was going to do a switcharoo on me (and of course screw me, but with nothing that I can do), but at least he didn't and would you believe that again, the game plays perfect (as he did send mine back), another case of operator headspace issues but I'm still out shipping fees because of the case.
Work in progress - Unopened Racks/Cello/Wax with star power for Baseball, Football and Basketball
Collecting unopened 80's boxes and graded packs
I may be hoarding too much 80's junk wax but I like it!
Electronics are probably the worst category for fraud on eBay.
On the bright side, the unit still works and you got it back and the money, too.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
could he had put ,, no returns ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
what if you had put .. no returns ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
I agree with the electronics comment. In february I sold a fully working 160GB Ipod with no issues on ebay and once it got to the buyer he put in a claim with ebay saying that the battery was hazardous & could potentially explode at any moment like the Samsung phones were doing earlier this year. After arguing back & forth I agreed to a full refund but he wouldn't ship it back,saying he'd rather have Apple replace the battery and have me pay for it. Looking thru his bought & sold ebay history,his whole intentions were to have me pay for a new battery so he could turnaround and sell it for twice the price i sold it for. I said i wouldn't pay for the battery so he left me negative feedback telling me he won't retract it unless I pay for the battery. I got ebay involved who told me to just come to an agreement on the battery. I ended up paying for half the battery replacement so he would remove the negative feedback. When i went back to ebay telling them they just let me get extorted while doing nothing about it,they pretty much told me to cut my losses and move on. Ebay can be just as slimy as some of these losers taking advantage of people. I recommend to anyone that reads this to just stay away from selling any electronics on there.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
You could put "ALL SALES ARE FINAL...SOLD AS IS...NO RETURNS" in your description and it won't make any difference if the buyer wants his money back.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Exactly....I can sell a broken VCR and the buyer can still complain, say something like well I didn't expect it to be that broken and get their money back...As they say "The Customer is always right!"
Work in progress - Unopened Racks/Cello/Wax with star power for Baseball, Football and Basketball
Collecting unopened 80's boxes and graded packs
I may be hoarding too much 80's junk wax but I like it!
Yep, it was nice to get some monies back (I lost about 50 in shipping costs) but the unit was destroyed, meaning the case was damaged beyond use and the CD changer was in pieces. I had to open it just to get it to power on, that is when I discovered that the color worked all along. It didn't work beyond a pretty picture on the TV (no play DVD's) I never could figure out why it worked fine here as the guy never did get back with me after I wrote him back explaining about the issue and telling him that he may have an issue with his TV, it was even before I found out eBay wasn't going to pay...I was trying to be a nice guy and give him a heads up that he may want to look into the issue a bit more...
Work in progress - Unopened Racks/Cello/Wax with star power for Baseball, Football and Basketball
Collecting unopened 80's boxes and graded packs
I may be hoarding too much 80's junk wax but I like it!
DP
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I have a $4,500 printer on eBay at the moment. Local pick-up only and (hoping) to make some kind of an off-eBay deal just to keep them out of the transaction.
Here's the update.
My friend messaged the buyer and said that he would accept the pack back, but only the pack he sent, and pointed out that he is aware of another pack that was purchased by him before. Instead of sending the pack back, the buyer asked for a credit of $25. Figuring $175 was better than getting nothing, he gave the $25.
In the meantime, I got the eBay username of the buyer and did some digging. The buyer doesn't leave much feedback on items purchased, but I did find two separate Comic Cover Stickers wrappers that he won in the last couple of months, one of which had the same exact advertisement on the back flap. So, the buyer has purchased one other unopened pack and two wrappers that I can tell. The buyer seems to buy a fair amount of stuff in the non-sport area, but he also has sold some wrappers and unopened packs in that arena.
I hate to think the worst of people, but I feel there was a good possibility that this could have turned out worse. Thanks to everyone for the input - it's much appreciated.
A local antiques dealer friend of mine sold a working antique clock on Ebay. Buyer said clock did not work and demanded a refund. Sold clock was returned intact, but for a few exchanged out parts. Buyer apparently had the same type of clock (presumed non working?) and simply swapped out his bad, non working parts for the good parts contained within the sent working clock. Yankee ingenuity at it's best.
It'll come back on him at some point.
I only sell electronic items on craigslist. Much safer.
IT CAN'T BE A TRUE PLAYOFF UNLESS THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONS ARE INCLUDED