Bought a set of books through E-Bay and what I recieved was not what was posted. 1 book missing, 1 book was supposed to be shrinkwrapped and all have staples that have rusted into all the books. I'm not sure what to say to the person or how to rectify the situation. Any suggestions? I don't want to come off like I'm angry but don't want him to think he can just blow me off. What to do? :idea[/list]

I tried to put up the info. that was on e-bay and found myself banned? Not sure why but it took awhile to get back on here. Any response would be greatly appriciated before i mess up again and they take away my ability to ask anything!

Didn't I say we needed a stalker/groupie subweb.

dungeons1980 wrote:I sent a message to the webmaster telling him I wasn't sure what I'd done wrong. I hadn't heard back so I went and read everything about the site I could and tryed, just for fun, to see if I couldn't send a response to you and Voila, here I am. The item no. was Item #:  
** expired/removed eBay auction **
. I hope that doesn't get me canned again. I guess we'll see. Thanks for your responses.

Well here is the link:

Auction in Question

Bought a set of books through E-Bay and what I recieved was not what was posted. 1 book missing, 1 book was supposed to be shrinkwrapped and all have staples that have rusted into all the books. I'm not sure what to say to the person or how to rectify the situation. Any suggestions? I don't want to come off like I'm angry but don't want him to think he can just blow me off. What to do?

It is worth remarking the following:

1. The Chainmail was indicated as "having" the shrinkwrap. It may not have been an intent to deceive, but merely to say that the original shrinkwrap is still on the book though it has been opened. Not everyone knows that shrinked items demand premium prices for some.. or would be a magnet for attention to these same people. Many keep the wrap on the module even though they've opened it and think nothing of it.. it's just cool to keep the original packaging.

Whenever one buys shrinked items one should always inquire whether the item is still sealed, not re-sealed, not falling apart, or warped.

2. The books with rust were called "good" condition. That's a pretty subjective term.. with no real right or wrong answer. Heck, on this site it means something in pretty crappy condition from a collector's perspective.

These two things just show that while eBay increases the supply of rpg items to many people (a good thing), it isn't precisely the same as buying them in a store when you can touch them, smell them, whatever. This means there's slightly more risk. A really conscientious buyer should inquire into all of these things. Otherwise, one should depress one's valuations accordingly.

As to the missing book, well, certainly you have a legal right to it. He probably just forgot about it. I'd just send a polite e-mail reminding them that something was missed. Take more drastic action if that is insufficient.

Sea-to-sky-games wrote:
It is worth remarking the following:

1. The Chainmail was indicated as "having" the shrinkwrap. It may not have been an intent to deceive, but merely to say that the original shrinkwrap is still on the book though it has been opened. Not everyone knows that shrinked items demand premium prices for some.. or would be a magnet for attention to these same people. Many keep the wrap on the module even though they've opened it and think nothing of it.. it's just cool to keep the original packaging.

Whenever one buys shrinked items one should always inquire whether the item is still sealed, not re-sealed, not falling apart, or warped.

2. The books with rust were called "good" condition. That's a pretty subjective term.. with no real right or wrong answer. Heck, on this site it means something in pretty crappy condition from a collector's perspective.

These two things just show that while eBay increases the supply of rpg items to many people (a good thing), it isn't precisely the same as buying them in a store when you can touch them, smell them, whatever. This means there's slightly more risk. A really conscientious buyer should inquire into all of these things. Otherwise, one should depress one's valuations accordingly.

As to the missing book, well, certainly you have a legal right to it. He probably just forgot about it. I'd just send a polite e-mail reminding them that something was missed. Take more drastic action if that is insufficient.

STS is right, good is a very subjective rating. This rating along with the somewhat fuzzy photos might have made me a little suspicious. Next time I would definitely ask the seller for a little more exact descriptions, if he is legit he won't mind.
  For the missing item, you definitely are entitled to it.  I'd ask for it politely, but if your requests are ignored I would file a chargeback through paypal.  Hopefully it won't come down to that.  Definitely withhold feedback until you are satisfied.

Mike B.

The staple rust is pretty standard for a "good" condition book...which is actually pretty far down the collector quality rankings.

I wouldn't necessarily say its far down the rankings.. though surely this is so according to this site's conventions.. but I would say that even for less standardized sellers, where good condition means a pretty quality item, there is still usually room in their minds for better grades like very good, really nice, excellent, and so forth.

In this context, buying a good condition item gives you a very wide range of material you could expect to get. I'm not an expert on grading or the preferences of many on this forum, but I don't know how much rusty staples would affect things anyway.

What was the exact wording?

Item "has the shrinkwrap" which is literally true. Even from the picture one could suspect it wasn't on there real tight if at all.

I thank you Badmike and STS. I agree. I will say that the missing book would be Supplement 1 Greyhawk . I don't think it's in the picture but it is in the list of books being bought/sold. I don't know if that makes a difference. I will say that Chainmail had no wrapping to it at all and there is a lot more writing, markings, stains and general damage than was stated in sellers add, which is definitely a disappointment. I know for next time to get more info. before a purchase. Thanks to everybody for your resposes.

It's implicit that almost anything shown in the picture and anything listed in the text is included in the auction. I'd get the seller to hunt this book down.

Anyways, no matter how much time you spend looking at it, or how many questions you ask, there's still going to be room for disappointment on an online auction. It just sounds like you kinda got the worst case scenario.. most of the time you'll get items in the condition closer to what you expect.

dungeons1980 wrote:I thank you Badmike and STS. I agree. I will say that the missing book would be Supplement 1 Greyhawk . I don't think it's in the picture but it is in the list of books being bought/sold. I don't know if that makes a difference. I will say that Chainmail had no wrapping to it at all and there is a lot more writing, markings, stains and general damage than was stated in sellers add, which is definitely a disappointment. I know for next time to get more info. before a purchase. Thanks to everybody for your resposes.

Let me get this straight, no Greyhawk supp and no SW on the Chainmail?  This seller is skirting the edges of the "shady dealers" thead.  You should get a hefty refund for the missing item and the non-sw item.  Let us know what happens...

Mike B.