harami2000 wrote:John; btw, that GW PHB looked horrible.

From experience with GW 3rd MMs if it doesn't look AOK, it's likely to be lousy.

And even if it does look OK, chances are the text block has still detached and the rest...

(GW pbs are a pain).

bclarkie wrote:

harami2000 wrote:...John; btw, that GW PHB looked horrible....

Agreed there, if you closely you can even see the rust where the book was stapled near the top corner of the binding.

Thanks for the sympathy everyone!



As soon as I got the book in front of me I realised what the image was showing.  But hindsight is great at highlighting staple rust in a bad image of a book that doesn't have staples!



The seller described the book as The book is in good condition an it comes is softback, although the cover is slightly worn, please observe the picture.



Cover slightly worn - TRUE

Softback - TRUE

Good condition - FALSE



As for observing the picture, this told me nothing about the book stinking to high heaven and the pages being covered in mildew.



I was hoping that it was a 1st print GW PHB with a worn cover.  So, I took a gamble that it might be.  I wasn't gambling that it might be moldy.  So, I would have happily kept the book had it not smelled like a postman's sock on Giro day.



And then the final insult; paying £3.50 for parcel rate and getting a reused padded bag with 2nd class postage at about £1.



Anyway, the point I was trying to make was try and communicate with your seller and don't be afraid to use the eBay/PayPal complaints system if you don't get an adequate response.



Just to put this in context; it is the first time I've ever felt the need and justification to lodge a complaint of this nature with eBay.

Thank you all for the input! I decided to chalk it up to "my own fault for not verifying the condition" and keep the book. If the seller didn't state he had a line of people waiting to buy it, I wouldn't have even considered sending it back. But since i knew he was gonna get his money anyway, I had to at least consider it.

Unfortunately, I have to side with the seller on this one. He described it as "great condition", you took that to mean NM/M.

I'm positive everyone here would take one look at this module and say "no way in heck is that in "great condition".  It is in average condition.  About what you'd expect from a module that's been shuffled around for 20 years.  The claim that is has been in a bag since it was taken out of the shrink is a lie.  No way can a book get that kind of scuffing/dirt from being inside a bag.  Its saving grace is that there are no marks on the inside.  :)

beyondthebreach wrote:Let me add that you can probably resell it, be completely honest about the condition and at the very least make your money back (and possibly a small profit). There are no shortage of buyers who would pay $60 for a complete and decent GDQ1-7.



Wait till there is only 1 or zero others up for auction on ebay and set it with a minimum bid of $70.00 and a BIN of $90. Make sure you make it available worldwide and I suspect that you will come out ahead.  :D

Then again, make sure that you list it in the correct category, because as evidenced by an auction I set up for a snipe today before I went to work(which came up short BTW   ):



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 8337883846



You may just do a little worse.

GraysonAC wrote:BC, I'm amazed you didn't grab the Castle Greyhawk for $5 the person has. Rotten "Won't ship internationally" sellers

I didnt see it. Then again, I already have 5(yes 5  8O ) and I probably wouldnt be able to sell it for much of a profit anyway.

beyerun wrote:I just don't bid on items as much as I used to. Too many improperly described or damaged en route.

I always ask if anyone in the household smokes, if its been water damaged, smells of smoke, mold or mildew.

Buying from the original owner really helps as well.

I've contacted people before about items that were water damaged or had mold/mildew problems. Always had those resolved to my satistfaction. I never deal with them again because of possible contamination of other items in their collection (I never open up stuff near my collection).

My biggest problem is poor packing of items and damage en route. Its why I just mostly buy items to read/use now. That way a nick or ding isn't going to really drive me up the wall.

thx. Unfortunately agreed 100% and have pretty much reached the end of my tether on most of those issues.

(Was also too trusting on the smoking part and had to effectively write off $300 recently. Interesting that <creep1962> is trying to obtain $1,199 for what I'm fairly sure will have a strong smoky smell, given the original seller's other lots...).