bclarkie wrote:
Damn, do I really hate it when these shady a** holes go down.

*waves bye bye to the shillers*

[ Image ]

Remind me NEVER to get on Brian's bad side...

This is the crap that I hate the most about an auction listing:

Condition: Very Good Condition Board Game
A well played board game in decent condition. Box is complete, may be well worn with some rips and tears, and corners may be split, but repaired. Components have been played, but are all present. Might be musty. Might be light water damage. Definitely a 'player's' copy.

Nothing like a vague auction listing from T&T

Used Board Games | eBay

bclarkie wrote:

Damn, do I really hate it when these shady a** holes go down.

*waves bye bye to the shillers*

[ Image ]

But don't you hate it even more when they come back?

** expired/removed eBay auction **

Greetings all, gather round and hear my tale of woe.I have been an avid
D&D player and collector for over 25 years.Not in the big league as some
of you fine people here, but i still had amassed a fine collection of original
D&D items.I come originally from Ireland and 25 years ago the only shop
that sold D&D merchandise in Dublin was a store called the Diceman.
It was run by this rather nice bearded American Peter Jackson lookalike.
The shop employed this crazy guy who used to dress up as mad things
like giant dice or a Wizard or something and who used to stand outside
on the street absolutely still scaring kids and the like.He was called the Diceman.It was a good idea and it certaintly got the shop attention.
He then deversified into advertising music by dressing up as a giant Kate Bush record LP sleeve?Anyway all was fine until i left home and went to live in London
UK.My D&D collection was hidden away safely(or so i thought)in boxes
in my folks insulated attic.
And then my older drunken still living at home 42 year old brother struck!
Deciding to have have an attic clearout(which is strange as the big wuss is
scared of spidey wideys and creepy crawlies)he selected all my D&D stuff
for the bin!I have never forgiven the idiot for throwing out at least 100
seperate D&D mods and rulebooks etc.I had two Greyhawk Ruins mods(my favourite original mod despite what BClarkie says)one was mint shrink wrapped.A mint unused Temple of Elemental Evil boxed set.
A complete set of every single Hardbacked Book from the First Edition
game rules.Some were worn but they were my original Manuals and had
sentimental value.Also a complete set of every original D&D mod from B1
to B13 which would have been worth a few $.Lots of White Dwarf magazines including issues 3 to 10...again $.And lots of Advanced D&D
mods First and Second edition.

So as you can imagine we nearly came to blows over this!We definately
would have if i had not been in a different country when i discovered this.

Anyway i have spent the past few years trying to rebuild my collection.
I now have almost every basic and First edition mod and rulebook again.

But i wanted a Pristine Grayhawk Ruins mod....but the seller was Cougarrinard.However i was not privvy a few years ago of Cougies
reputation.I won a VGC Greyhawk Ruins mod for about £15 sterling
which was a bit steep i know but i needed one.

As usual there was no inkling what the postage would be so in usual Cougie fashion he just made up the figure after the auction...another £3
which i queried and got the usual postage rates are going up rubbish.
So after paying my £18 for a VGC Greyhawk Ruins mod i recieved nearly
two weeks later a horrible copy covered in Pinkish Red permanent marker
(maybe someone here knows a bloke called Corky?)
He must have associated with a thieves guild because he marked the front
inner cover and the main mod also with huge three inch high letters?Hoping his precious Greyhawk Ruins mod would not be purloined?
Anyway suffice to say i was not happy.In fairness Cougie gave me a few
quid off my next purchase but i decided not to avail of his services again.
Not a nice experience.

What is it that causes people to chuck out innocent game publications?

I think it is a "rareness demon" that is on a one-imp rampage to create rare gaming items.

Whenever I hear about someone's collection going in the trash I have a forlorn hope that a garbage man or some passing person saw the books and modules and realized what they were.....

....that there is a heaven for game publications where all of the victims of idiot relatives gather for resale.

....It is a dream I have.

Mark  

Hi guys,  Sorry in advance my first post is so long.    I am hoping to get info on how to handle ebaying for DnD stuff, and see if what I encountered was shady.  The shady (?) stuff happens at the end.  I have copied emails I got from the seller into the end of the post.  The seller is one I ran across later tonight being questioned here for his practices in this post.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://cgi.ebay.com/Oriental-Adventures ... -OA1-9164_ W0QQitemZ320079938526QQihZ011QQcategoryZ44112QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I don't know if this is bad enough to call this guy a "shady dealer", but without a doubt he is flat out lying in his auction description and this thread needs a bump anyway.

He claims that, "Shipping will be the actual cost.  Not making any money off Shipping" and gerously provides a link to the USPS.  The problem is that he is offering USPS Parcel Post shipping for $7.65 which is clearly at least a $3.00 handling fee in that cost.

As an aside, I almost didn't figure out anyone here (Bclarkie again!) had questioned him since the ID of the seller (pinske) isn't listed in the post. When I came here, registered, and did a search for his name as a after the fact I didn't turn anything up - I just ran across the link a little earlier tonight while trying to educate myself a little bit on do's and dont's of auction purchasing when this was done.

I found this place from Dragonsfoot, and BClarkies prodigious posts there.  It looks like it is a great reference, although I couldn't be considered a "collector".  I am only trying to recreate a bit of my gaming collection from over a decade ago for actual tabletop use.

I started looking on Ebay a few weeks ago, off and on as time permitted.  I've never been a huge ebayer, using it mainly to purchase refurb items from brand outlet stores.

Anyway, long story somewhat shorter, I found a large listing of items, many that were ending in less than a day with almost none of the 2nd ed stuff having any bids, and the rest having over six days to go.  The seller said he was amiable to receiving offers on groups of books for combined shipping through email.  I sent him an email for 14 items since most of the stuff I was wanting didn't seem to be in high demand like the 3ed books (I did ask him in the emails if he wanted to include a couple of items that had one bid - after perusing this forum I know now that's bad form - just wanted to disclose my own faux pas since I am complaining about someone else; I didn't think it was bad since the bid was only $1 and I was offering an average of $3 per item before s/h).

I got back an email accepting my offers on some of the stuff, we continued haggling on the boxed sets; others he said were too close to the end and he had to let the auction continue, and he said that the ones with bids he couldn't include.  OK, fine.  I put in bids on the items too close to end of auction (the first bids the respective items had received) with the same per item bid as maximum I had offered him.  

Now, me being a relatively ebay noob, I asked him how we should handle the group payment.  He basically recopied the standard info out of his ad.  It wasn't until we had haggled a deal on the FR grey box and he mentioned he was "setting" the item that I realized he was creating a "buy it now" setting where none had been previously.  I began to quickly locate all of the individual auctions we had came to a deal on to "close" them, only to find out that some of them had now gone to other people in the 20 minutes or so of responding back and forth.

Up till now I could write it off as being a dumbass and not understanding how these things worked, but in the off chance that these were still retrievable by me somehow I emailed him again about the items.  Basically, I was told (in a still fairly polite way) that I was a noob, consider this a learning lesson.

Here's where it started to get shady though, I think.  While waiting for his response above, I was trying to close out the ones that hadn't been bought yet.  One of them still didn't have a "buy it now" posting, about a half hour later.  Another had been purchased by a different bidder - but unlike the other of my deals that I had lost out on where someone else had "claimed" my buy it now price, this one had been sold for over twice that, so he had reopened the bidding while he knew I was trying to get through and claim the rest.  This all takes place in about 20-30 minutes after our "deal", and after I had already begun claiming what was left.  

When I emailed him again he got nasty and tried to take away the ones I had already claimed by sending in something to ebay that said we had "mutually agreed" to abandon the sale.  I refused to accept it, counter-disputed it, and he was forced to allow me to purchase the two items.  The invoice he sent me was pretty terse, and now I am hoping he doesn't screw me over further.  

Here's the emails we sent, and links to the auctions I talked about.

1) my initial email and his responses to my list with prices offered (all the same, I was thinking like a "Lot" where I offered one price for it all, and then divided it by number of items to get an average price per item upon his request for same...I know now to just offer individual prices off the bat!)

(From me, previous email with list reproduced in his 2nd response below)

How about $3 per book? That would be up to $42 for all of them including the Vilhon Reach(excluding the pool of radiance or ruins of adventure module...I've decided I don't want that).

(his initial response)

am sorry, but I do not have the list anymore. Please give me the list of all the items.

Again, sorry...to many offer and I have lost emails (ok I deleted them) and forgot.

Did not think I would get that many offeres

(I resent the list you see below, dividing my offer of $42 out to an average of $3 per book - his response follows accepting some offers)

If the item has a bid or the item is selling with less then 12 hours left, I can not do anything.

Tome of Magic (2ed) #2121 has a bid
Dungeoneers Sur Guide #2019 less then 12 hours.
Forgotten Realms Adventures #2106 has a bid
FR Campaign (grey box) #1031 (3.00 is to low)
Ruins of undermountain box #1060 (3.00 is to low)
Ruins of Myth Dranno box #1084 (3.00 is to low)
Unearthed Arcana (1E Gygax) #2017 Deal.
FR11 Dwarves Deep #9300 Deal
FR Book of Lairs #9465 Deal
Den of Thieves #9515 Less then 12 hours
College of Wiz #9549 could not find..
Drow of the Underdark #9326 deal
2E moonsea TSR #9474 deal
vilhon reach has a bid

i should have known something here when he said that the 2E tome of magic had a bid (it didn't - the 3E ToM did) and that he couldn't find an auction.  Although, to be fair I should have posted the item #'s too - lesson learned.

(email from me asking for how to finish what I thought was a new bulk transaction)

alright, how do we do the payment for the deal items? And also, how about $5 per on the too low items?

FR grey box
Undermountain box
ruins of myth drannor box

(His reply after further haggling brought a $10 price offer from me on RoU and the FR grey box)

Runins is gone already...setting the forgotten box set

(the "setting" part is what tipped me off to start looking for a new "buy it now" part in each auction, which I immediately verified (a "duh", I know now ))

(my email back after frantically trying to close all my "deals" and seeing others grab them)

hey, whats going on? I've been trying to go and pay for these, but the things we had deals on are being listed as bought by other people! Some of the others like book of lairs don't have a way to do anything other than put in a bid.

I was a bit confused about how to handle payment. I hope that I'm not losing out on my items because I wasn't instructed to go back to the item and select, "buy it now". I only realized that after you said you were "setting" the FR Campaign set. I realize you've got a lot going on at once, and maybe that's part of Ebay 101 that I didn't know, (that was why I was asking about how to handle payment...I thought it would be a lump payment.) but I thought we had a deal here! How am I supposed to make sure I get the items if anyone in the world can click on them between the time you "set" them, and the time I can load up all the pages?

(his still fairly polite response)

I can not stop other people from buying them. I set the prices and Told you so . ]edit - he didn't until the FR campaign set mention anything about "setting" the price on a particular item  So, I guess you will have to put this one up on the learning eBay 101. Sorry, I have alot of poeple asking for those items. So, still, have not purchased them. That is part of eBay. Sorry if you missed out on anything, but I can not stop someone else from bidding/buy them.

(my response back noting that one of the items was not "set" still, and another had been purchased for more than the supposedly "set" buy it now price)

FR book of lairs is still not set - item  
** expired/removed eBay auction **


And moonsea (item  
** expired/removed eBay auction **
) wasn't even gotten by someone with a happy trigger finger. It was apparently rebid on (for $7.50) after we had a deal for $3.

I'm not trying to be an a-hat, it just seems like you could have added a little text to the item descriptions saying "if a deal is reached, the item will tagged with a "buy it now" price as per agreed upon. It is then up to the asking party to be the first to claim it."

You gotta admit, the instructions I received were pretty vague. The selling of something we had agreed upon for a higher price within a few minutes of our deal is what I don't understand.

(This is when I started to get nasty emails back.  He also cancelled out my bids on items that had about 20 minutes left.)

DUDE I do not need this. I have blocked you. If you are not able to complete your side of the deal, then forget it. Like I told you. I HAVE ALOT OF OFFERS! you are low balling me.

I will cancel the one item you have won.  it was actually two items - I guess he didn't see I had claimed a second before someone else got to it

 

(and this one)

I am trying to do the best I can. HAPPY FINGERS! Sorry, but you can go look someplace else for the items you want. eBay has them, for about 3 times the price you were paying here. Good luck. I here by release you from the auctions you have won. You do not need to worry about MY HAPPY FINGERS working you for money!

(I then got two of these disputes - I am posting the final resolutions)

eBay   Mar-04-07 at 17:24:55 PST  


The Unpaid Item dispute has been closed for the following reason:
Buyer rejected the transaction withdrawal.
 


zk508tke   Mar-04-07 at 17:24:55 PST  


We most certainly did not mutually decide to cancel the sale.  I inquired why items we had agreed
upon in writing were sold to other people within minutes for higher prices before I could complete
the transactions, and others were never given a buy it now designation after the agreement.  The
seller informed me he "didn't need this" and "I was lowballing him" and unilaterally canceled the
items in the block I had hit the "buy it now" buttons for.  All I did was ask for clarification on
the sale!
 


eBay   Mar-04-07 at 17:13:03 PST  


An Unpaid Item dispute has been opened for the following item: D&D 2nd ED Forgotten Realms Drow of the Underdark SC (#320088891753)
Reason given for Unpaid Item: We have both agreed not to complete the transaction.
Buyer actions reported by seller: The buyer purchased item in error.

(Which led to a final email from him in my invoice - tersely asking for his money, which I promptly paid)

OK. we are done now. Send the money

Here is a link to the item that was bought by someone else for a higher price minutes after we had agreed upon a price


cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem& ... 5&rd=1

Is this a shady dealer?  I already know I should have been a little more educated and savvy of a buyer, but did I get dealt with a little more harshly than necessary?

You are new and the seller is disorganized.

I had recently asked this seller to send pics/info for auctions with no pics. He would send info for the wrong auction and give pic for the wrong item. But, he ultimately got things right after patience and he was courteous.

Don't know if he deliberately broke the deal you had - that would move him up to shady, perhaps. Sorry for your trouble.

cgi.ebay.com/Dungeons-and-Dragons-Wilde ... dZViewItem

Sorry, but this qualifies as really shady.  Obviously the seller hopes the potential buyer won't see this:

Shipping and handling is $35.

Crook

This kind of predator is becoming more the norm on Ebay.  Aside from this guy, check out the number of people with $15 shipping charges and other hidden fees.

I'm wondering if ebay does anything about these sellers when you report them, which I did.  Since ebay won't collect a FVF on the $35 S&H charge I'm thinking they might be a little more aggressive in clamping down on them.  Ebay may be uncaring when it comes to shilling but when someone is trying to circumvent a fee I'm thinking they will by Johnny on the spot.