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ebay's policy on unopened cards?
mlbfan2
Posts: 3,115 ✭✭✭
Buyer buys an unopened box, opens all of the packs, and then wants to return them because some of the corners are dinged. Would ebay allow the return? Anyone have any first-hand experience with this?
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Is this just hypothetical? I've sold a lot of unopened on eBay and have always worried a bit about that, but have never had it happen. I don't see how they could honor the return unless it's not as described.
What kind of asshat does that?? Please provide the bidders Ebay id so that we can block this bidder.
It's just hypothetical.
Yes they can return and eBay will charge your selling account for the label for them to ship back, too. Buyer rules on eBay.
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.
If eBay allowed the buyer to return this I would fight it with eBay. The buyer is supposed to return the item in the same condition as when they received it.
James
I listed a 1980 rack pack on eBay to a buyer with zero feedback purchased the rack. In the auction title I stated Henderson RC and in the listing stated that the Henderson rookie card was possible in this pack. Three weeks later a return claim was filed by the buyer because they claimed Henderson was not in the pack. Even though eBay states that an item must be returned in the condition it was received, eBay ruled in the buyer's favor and a full refund, including return shipping, was granted to the buyer. That is the only time I've ever had an issue selling unopened on eBay, but I will never sell to someone with zero feedback ever again.
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.
You can fight it but you will lose. They will simply claim item not as described due to corner dings.
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.
selling sometimes sucks on ebay
and I've had my share
hope this may help
I've had it go both ways for me as seller with claims
both were star wars action figures
and you know you will have trouble the moment they ask for discounts & get them
they always want more down the road
the first I lost
a sealed case of figures
claims the box was perfect on the outside
but figures were crushed on the inside
the second, I sent a loose figure
again ... asked for a lower price & I gave it to him
claims it arrived with a broken leg
that he tried fixing it with crazy glue
and he was due another $5 discount
I said no way, ship it back
he files a claim
and I spoke with paypal & I actually won
reason being, he "glued" it ... no longer what I shipped him
I wish I had the same paypal guy the first time with a $250 case of figures
because the case was no longer as I shipped it
he opened it
it can go either way & it sucks
I wonder if as a seller of unopened cards (packs, cases, boxes, whatever)
if you describe it as a sealed collectable
and its value was solely due to it being sealed
that claims cant be made if they are opened
I don't know maybe a stretch and not much protection
but the theory being, say you can sell 200 year old bottles of champagne
someone buys it and claims after he drank it, it wasn't very good
and now wants a refund
obviously, it wasn't meant as something to be opened
maybe paypal will change their policy on some things
cards being a gamble & no returns on opened material
One of the problems is that they want the buyer to feel just as protected as going into a local store and making a purchase. Most stores will give a full refund as long as you have a receipt. Stores mark up prices to overcome theft & all and can also get reimbursed thru the selling company. Most ebay sellers are just private people selling their collections, part time sellers, etc....This is money out of our personal pockets, not a corporate business. I am both a buyer & occasional seller, so I feel for both sides.
That was what I thought, too, but apparently eBay doesn't care. I've had two issues with zero feedback bidders in the past few months. The one described above and another who filed a charge back claiming the purchase was not authorized. On that one I prevailed because I followed PayPal seller protection guidelines for shipping even though I believe the buyer did get a refund from her credit card. At this point, if I got a purchase from a zero feedback buyer, I'd refund the payment and cancel the sale through eBay. Too many scammers out there and I don't have time for that nonsense.
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.
also, why we are on Ebay topic
lets discuss returns
how about a new policy on high end items
those returns should go through ebay for an inspection
of exactly what was shipped back
seller pays to go to ebay
buyer pays for the trip back to the seller
thoughts ?
Have you had this scenario happen?
Yes, with the 1980 rack pack I described above.
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.
It's not really the same though, as it didn't have to do with damage to the cards.
My point is that if ebay rules in the buyer's favor and instructs them to return the item for whatever reason they will bill your account for the postage cost for the return label.
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.
In addition, if a buyer files a claim through ebay for the return, ebay will not refund your final value fee, either. That is why it's best in most cases to simply accept the return and move on.
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.
Of course. But the question isn't about postage, it's about whether ebay will side with the buyer or not in the original scenario.
I have had worse happen. The buyer scammed me as well.
I sold a case for $700. I shipped it UPS. About 30 minutes after I got the notice on my phone the package was delivered, there was a case opened on ebay. I read that the buyer received the package destroyed. I luckily bought insurance and so I first asked for pictures, but because I also assured him I would work it out with him in the ebay resolution, he was able to call ebay and get them to close the case in his favor, pending the shipment back to me.
Long story short, UPS gave me the package back and the outside case looked in near perfect shape. The first box appeared the same way, but then I noticed the backs of the packs were opened. He left about 90% of the cards and pulled the stars and got a full refund. I ended up with 60 near sets without most stars, but UPS honored the insurance after I had to prove the cards value.
Ebay always sides with the buyer. Once you get a buyer like the one that's no longer hypothetical, you will find out.
Buyer will claim cards were damaged and that damage was not disclosed and ebay will instruct buyer to return for refund.
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.
looks like the original scenario has happened
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=783720
Ebay id please? I want to block that scammer
Of course Ebay tends to side with the buyer, but it's a myth that they always side with the buyer, even for SNAD cases. Take a look on the ebay message boards and you will see posts about sellers that won them. I've read at least a dozen of them over the past year or two.
Grote,
"eBay sided with me because the buyer cut through the factory seal on the boxes and then claimed all of the packs were tampered with. If he suspected something was wrong and hadn't cut through the seal, he could've sent the boxes back for a refund. "
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showpost.php?p=8091827&postcount=29
I stopped listing the rookies from the specific year because of exactly what happened to Grote. I figured that most buyers would know what they are looking for.
I stopped selling high dollar boxes myself and send them to PWCC. Their results on boxes isn't as strong as it is for singles, but it's good enough and I don't have to deal with this crap.
I agree that ebay typically sides with the buyer and I have purchased more often because of that security. At the same time, I was a buyer on a group of auctions about $800 total and ebay sided with the seller. IMO, ebay could have gone either way, and decided to go with the seller.
>
Successful transactions on the BST boards with rtimmer, coincoins, gerard, tincup, tjm965, MMR, mission16, dirtygoldman, AUandAG, deadmunny, thedutymon, leadoff4, Kid4HOF03, BRI2327, colebear, mcholke, rpcolettrane, rockdjrw, publius, quik, kalinefan, Allen, JackWESQ, CON40, Griffeyfan2430, blue227, Tiggs2012, ndleo, CDsNuts, ve3rules, doh, MurphDawg, tennessebanker, and gene1978.
That thread is from 2014. Things have changed since then.
You're always going to find exceptions to the rule in any case. You started a thread asking for feedback about unopened returns on ebay and I provided my firsthand experience to you. My intention was not to get into a back and forth debate with you on how eBay sides or doesn't side with 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.
I can post ones from 2017 too, but obviously you'd try to find some way to brush those aside too. You said they ALWAYS side with the buyer, and "you WILL lose". Maybe you shouldn't exaggerate like that.
Well, when it happens to you in this hypothetical case of yours, please be sure to return here and let us know how it all transpired.
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 think my head is going to explode.
Don't hold your breath. I don't even sell unopened.
So tell me again, what was the point of this hypothetical question to which the answers caused disagreement with the OP? The OP doesn't even sell unopened? Good grief!
I'm not sure how this thread turned this way, but if the scam buyer is smart enough, they will most likely win a SNAD case. Claiming a box has been tampered with is tough to fight.
Is it a requirement that I need to sell unopened to ask a question about it? Good grief.
I asked the question here because the subject came up on a message board (a non-card forum), and I figured there'd be quite a few people at this forum that would have first-hand experience with buyers that try to open packs and return them. But apparently it doesn't happen very often.
"Ebay always sides with the buyer." -Grote15
I'm just lost as to why a hypothetical question would be asked about unopened from a guy that doesn't sell unopened, and then wants to argue with the answers given. If you already know the hypothetical answers to your hypothetical question, then I repeat, tell me again what the point of any of this was?
I thought it was to ask for firsthand experiences with regard to the topic at hand but clearly I was mistaken.
In any case, I would say once again that the vast majority of unopened buyers on eBay are reputable and reliable, but all it takes is one bad experience to realize you are vulnerable as a seller if dealing with a buyer who knows how to work the system.
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 to agree with Tim, 99.9% of the time they will side with the buyer. I have had the buyer complain that the listing called the glass "blue" when it was really "light blue" and they won the case...Customer is always right, that is the way it has always been.
But I can tell you that even when eBay sides with the buyer, things can happen. I had a case awhile back (think I wrote about this before) where the guy bought a DVD player and when he got it, complained that it was only in black and white (meaning no color from video). Well, this guy didn't know how to hook up the cables correctly (component video) so I explained how to do with simple AV cable. Well this guy definitely worked over at the Doofus factory, I tried my best to explain how to connect the cables (3 or 5) to back of his TV. Even sent the manual and a picture on how it was done...Bottom line, he opens a case, says the unit is broken (because it's black and white), Nothing I can do, I can write it off, give him the $150 bucks plus his shipping, file a claim with Fed Ex because it's broken (even though I know it's operator error) or offer to pay for the return of the item, then refund. I want this unit back, it was a sweet 300 dvd player unit back in the days. Bozo ships me the unit back, not even in the original box, not even with packing material, comes in totally busted!...I call eBay, bottom line, the guy said it was broken, so it's broken, I said, it's worse now because he did't ship properly and I can't do a claim with the Post office because the package wasn't insured because eBay doesn't do that!.,..So now I'm royally pissed, out the unit (which I was able to prove to eBay worked, because I was able to get the screen to show color, just wouldn't load discs anymore because the front was trashed) and now I'm out all of the shipping and the sale too!....Not a happy camper, very pissed off with eBay and debated for awhile if it was worth continuing to use them...I had a long talk with the customer service folks, raised it to management but to no avail, sent picture and all of the details
About 3 weeks later, out of the blue, I get a check in the mail from eBay to cover the entire sale, less 1 of the shipping costs. No emails about it, nada, but that made me think, that if you can prove the point and really show what happened, sometimes eBay will side with the seller. At the same time, I had that with Paypal too, the buyer got his money back, and I also got it back because in the end, I was right, but the buyer was able to dupe Paypal into giving him a refund, not sure if they ever went back for it, but it was for like $5 so it was cheaper to refund than to argue..
So anything can happen, figure most people are good, but you have a few out there that can abuse the system and they know it and there's not much you can do...
Sorry for the long response
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!
Putting the rookie in the title of the auction is keyword spamming, which is a listing violation, to begin with.
And, depending on the wording of the title, it could imply that the card is included in the auction.
It's best not to go down that road, as you've said.
I only disagreed with the one guy that wrongly said "ebay always sides with the buyer" and "you will lose." Just because I don't know everything about this subject, it doesn't mean I don't know something about it. I knew that was wrong, so I told him.
I never said I knew all the answers. I was looking for first-hand experiences to try and find out how often ebay sides with the buyer in cases like this. Is it 95%? 50%? 0%? I only knew it wasn't 100%. I wanted to know in order to give some advice to a poster on another message board. And because I was curious as well.
EBay always sides with the buyer who knows how to phrase and file his claim. The times eBay may side with the seller is due to the buyer not knowing how to work the system.
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.
But you are probably talking about the typical "item was not as described". Opening every pack and then trying returning them due to damage is quite different. When it comes to the scenario I described, my guess is that it's much lower.
Ebay should have a rule about card boxes. If you open a pack and there is damage, stop. Do not open any more packs. Send everything back and you can get a partial refund.
"Always" again, huh? I already proved that's not true. Go read the ebay message board and see for yourself.
Ebay also sides with buyers when the seller is clueless too. A savvy buyer or seller can move the needle in their favor.
Can you provide a link to a couple of these message board threads (recent ones) dealing with returns of unopened product? I'd be interesting in reading them.
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.
That would be a nice rule if it existed.
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.
It still won't matter unfortunately most of the time...I had one awhile back, one of those "Magic Jack" devices for the phone stuff. This was an old one but brand new in the package. Because the unit was so old, even though it was brand new, the buyer opened, and then found out it wouldn't work because it was too old. I had someone do the same thing with a piece of software that I was selling, brand new in the package, but so old, I thought it was more of a collectible, well, they thought they could use it and I had to refund because it wouldn't work.
When it comes to cards, it's really tough, because yea, if it's damaged when you open, then you have a case with eBay...I mean you could literally send a graded pack to someone, they open it, say the corners are dinged on each pack and ask for a refund. Most people (myself included) would have assumed the pack was just my luck, but other buyers can use the system and get that refund. I had a guy that I sold a ton of junk rack/cello packs to, put together a large box, lined it with bubble wrap, put the boxes (which were bulk lot boxes in priority boxes) inside the box (which the priority boxes were also lined inside with bubble wrap) and he still complained because the 10 packs I put without a box, mind you, wrapped in bubble wrap inside the big box were all damaged and wanted a portion of his money refunded, after he had opened them all. None of the packs inside the boxes were an issue, he used the fact that I didn't double box everything (which was so I could give him an extra good deal) and I put everything into one box...I gave him the refund and he's now blocked...
And I completely agree on the card boxes, but how do you enforce? Sealed boxes? Didn't work too well when people were swapping out Playstations with pieces of lumber. Open a pack and I could just swap bogus cards in there. PSA cases, would be great, but we know that they can also be compromised. It is society in my humble opinion, we just hope for the best. I work in the IT world, a few years ago, when they found a virus, which wasn't the norm, it got fixed, then another one got exploited. Lately, it's becoming even harder to keep up with them, find one problem, fix it and 3 more appear...:)
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!
And I'll quit here, because I want to rip some rack packs!...Which is more fun and dinged corners are part of life! For me it usually happens on packs that I open and it's a good player, or completely off center
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!
Why is someone getting so bent about a “hypothetical” situation? Tim is dead on, if a buyer knows how to play the game they will always win. Not unopened but I sold a guy a 1960 Mantle AS PSA 7, buyer said he cracked it out of the holder and doesn’t like the card and eventually filed a claim. I fought the return obviously saying it was sold in a slab and now it’s raw; eBay couldn’t rule in the buyers favor fast enough.
I think the stories above illustrate the fact that we need to share blocked bidder lists to avoid this problem. I'll PM mine to anyone who wants it
If? You put a qualifier on it? You just admitted that they might not win if the buyer doesn't know how to play the game. The chances that all buyers "know how to play the game" is zero. Ever heard the phrase "stupid criminals"?
You lost a roll of the dice. There are many ebay employees, and some of them would have easily ruled in your favor.