Shady Dealers • Page 39 • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Shady Dealers
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JasonZavoda
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 3:25 pm

This hasn't happened to me in years.

I won an auction last night through BIN and immediate payment was required. Today the seller emails me to say that they cannot honor the auction and they are "processing" a refund.

Well it takes about 3 minutes to "process" a paypal refund. I called paypal to make sure, and of course no refund had been initiated by the seller. I filed a claim, so the money is supposedly frozen in this guys account, but I strongly suspect this was either sellers remorse or an outright scam.

I will post more when I hear back from this guy or if it doesn't look like he is going to pay or send the goods.

SimperingToad
Verbose Collector

Posts: 1381
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Location: My Pad

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:18 pm

JasonZavoda wrote:If there are a bunch of mags, just make small solid packs of them. If they don't have supermarket bags they need to go to a dollar store and invest in a box of small trash can liners (they are about the same size as supermarket bags but have no handles). They go for about a box of 30 for $1

I kinda do this. I take several books/mags/modules and wrap them in the thick grocery store paper bags, along with at least one piece of corrugated board to add stiffness (or one piece to each side of the bundle if possible/necessary). It's like a Christmas package in a box/envelope.

JasonZavoda
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 6:40 pm

This is my summer of shady dealers. Still haven't heard back from the seller who wrote that he wouldn't be selling the lot I bought through BIN and no refund, so I filed a claim through paypal.

Today I won two Royo art books for .99c each and the seller sent a claim asking me to withdraw my bids because he didn't get what he wanted for the books.

What the hell?

I didn't even know you could do that through the ebay systme.

I declined.

JohnGaunt
Sage Collector

Posts: 2332
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Location: Shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 7:36 pm

I am continuing the trend of getting hardbacks that are unprotected inside either a bubble-wrap envelope or a Flat-Rate Priority Mail envelope. At least half of the spine ends and corners take a hit before I open the package. Softcovers seem to take less damage. Maybe they bend like the willow . . .

JasonZavoda
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 7:46 pm

JohnGaunt wrote:I am continuing the trend of getting hardbacks that are unprotected inside either a bubble-wrap envelope or a Flat-Rate Priority Mail envelope. At least half of the spine ends and corners take a hit before I open the package. Softcovers seem to take less damage. Maybe they bend like the willow . . .

Yeah, your package by the way was in excellent shape when it arrived.

Just had another one from an RPG seller. I asked him twice so far about how the items will be packaged and his last reply was that it wasn't in the auction agreement.

WTF!?! Asking him how is going to package an item so it won't be damaged or bent in shipping isn't in the auction agreement?

I'm just glad ebay finally clarified the obligation of the seller to deliver the item undamaged. Sellers seem to think that by dropping it in the mail they are done with it. But it is the carrier is their agent, and there is no way to prove an item was put into the package undamaged. They just have to accept that making sure it isn't damaged is their responsibility.

Gnat the Beggar
Grandstanding Collector
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 7:52 pm

JasonZavoda wrote:..... They just have to accept that making sure it isn't damaged is their responsibility.

Jason,

I agree... to a point.

No amount of care in packing can protect your things from uncaring delivery persons.

"Guys, I am starting to think Tegel Manor might be haunted..."
Stated by me as a PC during a run of Tegel Manor DMed by killjoy at NTRPGCon 2010

Charter Member of the ATM

JasonZavoda
Long-Winded Collector
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:21 pm

Gnat the Beggar wrote:
Jason,

I agree... to a point.
No amount of care in packing can protect your things from uncaring delivery persons.

That's true but it is the risk and responsibility of selling and shipping through the mail.

FormCritic
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 11:49 pm

Tell the Royo guy to ship as ordered.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

JasonZavoda
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 12:10 am

FormCritic wrote:Tell the Royo guy to ship as ordered.

I did and payed for the items. I understand sellers regret but you have to learn to ask a minimum price you are willing to swallow.

TheMilford
Prolific Collector

Posts: 720
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Location: Brooklyn

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:40 am

JasonZavoda wrote:
I did and payed for the items. I understand sellers regret but you have to learn to ask a minimum price you are willing to swallow.

I assume that when I list a stupid low starting price that one of you guys will snap it up.

â€œRemember that generosity can be contagiousâ€¦â€ - Dave Sutherland III

eBay ID: themilford
Hidden Ebay ID: t***o

beasterbrook
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:04 am

Gnat the Beggar wrote:
Jason,

I agree... to a point.
No amount of care in packing can protect your things from uncaring delivery persons.

Oh I don't know about that.. I have seen some packaging that would almost survive anything.. and then I've seen some packaging that would have a tough time standing up to an attack from a light breeze...

Brette:)

Being healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Gnat the Beggar
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:05 am

JasonZavoda wrote:I did and payed for the items. I understand sellers regret but you have to learn to ask a minimum price you are willing to swallow.

And get few if any bids.
Selling on E-Bay is risky too.
(You know this is true)

I have tried both methods (And others too) and find that a higher starting price tends to run off most bidders.
That fact is most certainly not news to you either.....

While a starting price of 0.99 cents tends to end badly for the seller too.

It is my belief that this is one of the reasons for some sellers to charge rediculous shipping for cheap items.
Some also combine shipping by taking a TINY percent off the SH for the next item.... (Thanks soooo much :roll:

).

Most E-Bay buyers are looking for a steal (as in your case) and almost no one will even even try for an item if the starting price was already close to a normal market price.
Even using a reaslitic starting sales price is not helpful in that regard.

But I agree that once it sold (it goes witout saying) the asshat just should just send it to you in good condition.
Perhaps learn (as I did) that sometimes starting your listing at 99 cents is not a good dea.

"Guys, I am starting to think Tegel Manor might be haunted..."
Stated by me as a PC during a run of Tegel Manor DMed by killjoy at NTRPGCon 2010

Charter Member of the ATM

Last edited by Gnat the Beggar on Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

FormCritic
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 4:13 pm

A seller who does not give true combined shipping gets only 1 star across the board on all his ratings.

My definition of true is that if two items fit in one envelope for the same price then that is what it costs. If adding items raises the weight enough to increase the cost then the added shipping price is exactly the increased shipping cost.

The only exception I make for shipping ripoffs is when the combined shipping terms are clearly stated in the listing and every cost is understood by the buyer up front.

I routinely report excessive shipping charges to Ebay as I encounter them.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

Last edited by FormCritic on Sat Aug 08, 2009 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 4:23 pm

That works in the US where you have flat rate postage.
In the Uk all postage is based on weight and/or 'apparent weight' which is a combination of height, width and depth.
I try to charge postage, and combined postage, at actual postage cost plus £1 for the packaging. Generally, the packaging costs me more than that, so I lose money, but it's only marginal and I don't much care. It's more important to ensure the item arrives in the condition I want to arrive in than I make what I want to make.
But shipping accross the board has been rising steadily in almost every country for years, and the service is not really any better, but I kinda think it's acceptable. I only really have horror stories about Italy because it's postal service is run by crooks.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . chicken and wild rice soup.

Gnat the Beggar
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:36 pm

As an example:
I recently placed a bid on an item that was farily reasonable in price and shipping was at the top limit for what I would tollerate.

Anyway, then I looked at the sellers other things.
Saw a few items that looked good to me, so I wrote the seller (from the listing I had already bid on) and asked about combined shipping for multiple wins during a reasonable time period.
In this case all the items ended within 12 hours of each other.

Seller wrote back saying certainly a combined shipping rate was doable.
I then asked what that meant in terms of amount.
Seller replied... $0.50 off each additional items shipping cost as stated in that items listing. :roll:

So, for a total of the 5 items I was interested in it would have cost around $35 to $45 (depending on other bidders) to purchase, and $38 to ship them all together....
They were 5 TSR modules.... and all would fit into any large shipping envelope....It was a US seller too.

I wrote back and asked him to reject my single bid.
Seller refused (cant really blaim him as I had made my bid so I had to wallow in it).
I ended up buying the one module and not bothering with the others.
The other modules I was interested in sold for the minimum bids.
BUT, seller got rich from SH costs....
He got all 1s from me for that too.

"Guys, I am starting to think Tegel Manor might be haunted..."
Stated by me as a PC during a run of Tegel Manor DMed by killjoy at NTRPGCon 2010

Charter Member of the ATM

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:47 pm

You could always say, 'I'll get all my friends to buy cheap things from you, and then score you 1, and you're rating will drop like a brick. So why don't you be reasonable and charge me what it actually costs to ship and a little bit for packaging.'

This week I've been mostly eating . . . chicken and wild rice soup.

FormCritic
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 7:15 pm

Won't make you back any dollars....but you could contact him and let him know that the minimum bids he got were because of his bad shipping terms.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

Gnat the Beggar
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 7:16 pm

FormCritic wrote:Won't make you back any dollars....but you could contact him and let him know that the minimum bids he got were because of his bad shipping terms.

"Guys, I am starting to think Tegel Manor might be haunted..."
Stated by me as a PC during a run of Tegel Manor DMed by killjoy at NTRPGCon 2010

Charter Member of the ATM

TheHistorian
Sage Collector

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Location: San Francisco, CA

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:30 am

** expired eBay auction **

Yeah I won!

Message from seller:

My apologies. These items were given away without my knowledge during a garage sale while out of town. I have not sent an invoice since i was told these books were gone. I I ever do retrieve these books again I will contact you and let you know. Thank you and my apologies once again.

Do I have any recourse here, other than going to Montana and whacking this guy in the head? Of course it's possible that he's telling the truth (and just an idiot), but it FEELS shady.

bclarkie
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:40 am

TheHistorian wrote:
** expired eBay auction **

Yeah I won!

Message from seller:

My apologies. These items were given away without my knowledge during a garage sale while out of town. I have not sent an invoice since i was told these books were gone. I I ever do retrieve these books again I will contact you and let you know. Thank you and my apologies once again.

Do I have any recourse here, other than going to Montana and whacking this guy in the head? Of course it's possible that he's telling the truth (and just an idiot), but it FEELS shady.

No, he's quite likely lying. If I had to guess, someone contacted after the auction was over and offered him more than the winning bid(there's even a BIN offer in the Q&A).

I'd neg him, give him all 1's, report him to Ebay as a nonperforming seller and move on.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

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