Pardon the title, this is primarily about Ebay.
I've been going a little nuts lately, I'll admit, buying up everything I see on Ebay. It's not too bad, as I tend to search for exactly what I want and watch a whole bunch of auctions, searching for the best price rather then doing general searches and buying a whole bunch of things I didn't even want in the first place. Nevertheless, I still manage to spend quite a bit and I've just started selling a bunch of things to get money into my Paypal account so I don't go spending my entire checking account.
But this isn't about my online spending habits, this is about shitty sellers. I myself, when I sell an item, am very descriptive and cover ever loose end I can think of. I detail my policy on bidding, packing, shipping and feedback and make sure to mention every defect pertaining to the listed item.
Some sellers however, if not many, choose their words carefully in order to mislead buyers. They make the listing look better than it is so the item will sell for more. Additionally, they will offer flat rate shipping, which will often be more than parcel or first class because chances are, they are selling off single items they initially purchased in lots. There's nothing wrong with re-selling, especially in the online market, but a few cases I encountered recently are worth mention.
All My Gameboys Have Battery Covers
For whatever reason, I decided that I wanted to collect Gameboy Colors. I wanted to have one of each initially released color and maybe a few special editions. My only prerequisite for such a purchase was that it would have to be an official GBC in decent working condition and have all of its original parts, including the original battery cover, or same colored cover.
For some ungodly reason, the majority of Gameboy owners in the world have managed to lose the battery cover for their GBC. Nearly half of all auctions I found stated that the Gameboy was missing its battery cover, so I would move on to another which either pictured the back of the system with the battery cover or stated that it had the battery cover.
I came across one particular auction for a red Gamboy Color. I was not aware that a Red GBC was made (only a Red GB Classic and GB pocket) so I was intrigued. In the picture of the system it definitely looked to be a deep, rich red and it came with a Gameboy Camera. It had a Buy It Now! price of $24.99 so I figured why not.
A few days later I received the system in an unpadded envelope. When I opened it up, the GBC, with GB Camera inserted into it, was wrapped only by a folded piece of corrugated cardboard with tape around it. I let this slide, then carefully removed the cardboard to find that the system did indeed have a battery cover - a yellow one.
Logic would insist that when listing an item, especially a piece of electronics, a replacement part should be mentioned, more so if that part differs to some large degree from the original. This auction simply stated that all of the systems included battery covers, neither mentioning nor hinting towards the fact that they include unofficial, mis-matched, replacement covers.
Long story short, I sent a message to the seller stating that I would like a refund or a replacement battery cover since they failed to mention this in the auction. Initially, the seller told me there was nothing they could do. After I mentioned the possibility of opening a dispute and a few more messages back and forth, the seller magically found an official red GBC battery cover, complete with 800 number for Nintendo Customer Service. And on top of that, it was not red at all, it was Berry Pink, which I had already ordered and received from another seller.
I suppose I should have done my research and known that there was no such thing as a red Gameboy Color but that wasn't my issue.
For some ungodly reason, the majority of Gameboy owners in the world have managed to lose the battery cover for their GBC. Nearly half of all auctions I found stated that the Gameboy was missing its battery cover, so I would move on to another which either pictured the back of the system with the battery cover or stated that it had the battery cover.
I came across one particular auction for a red Gamboy Color. I was not aware that a Red GBC was made (only a Red GB Classic and GB pocket) so I was intrigued. In the picture of the system it definitely looked to be a deep, rich red and it came with a Gameboy Camera. It had a Buy It Now! price of $24.99 so I figured why not.
A few days later I received the system in an unpadded envelope. When I opened it up, the GBC, with GB Camera inserted into it, was wrapped only by a folded piece of corrugated cardboard with tape around it. I let this slide, then carefully removed the cardboard to find that the system did indeed have a battery cover - a yellow one.
Logic would insist that when listing an item, especially a piece of electronics, a replacement part should be mentioned, more so if that part differs to some large degree from the original. This auction simply stated that all of the systems included battery covers, neither mentioning nor hinting towards the fact that they include unofficial, mis-matched, replacement covers.
Long story short, I sent a message to the seller stating that I would like a refund or a replacement battery cover since they failed to mention this in the auction. Initially, the seller told me there was nothing they could do. After I mentioned the possibility of opening a dispute and a few more messages back and forth, the seller magically found an official red GBC battery cover, complete with 800 number for Nintendo Customer Service. And on top of that, it was not red at all, it was Berry Pink, which I had already ordered and received from another seller.
I suppose I should have done my research and known that there was no such thing as a red Gameboy Color but that wasn't my issue.
Will You Please Send Payment for $22.22
This one really boggles the mind.
I won two auctions from the same seller. The listing for each item quoted a $9.99 flat rate fee from Canada to anywhere in the U.S., however, in the auction description was stated that shipping would be $5.99 to anywhere in the U.S. for each game.
Most sellers will combine shipping, especially when they offer a flat rate box, which will cost them no extra to throw in a few more items.
Both of the items I won were Super Nintendo games: Killer Instinct and Starfox. I won KI for $0.99 and SF for $1.25 for a total of $2.24. Add in the flat rate shipping and you got $12.23, and that is exactly what the invoice in my email said.
I clicked the pay now button as I always pay immediately following an auction (or directly after the last auction won from the same seller who combines shipping) and was taken to Ebay, where I found an invoice for $14.22. I paused, since it didn't match the initial invoice, then figured that they were charging the $5.99 for each game, as by weight. Fine, I thought, that was in the auction.
When I moved on to the next step, I found the final invoice which requested a total $18.22. Now I was beginning to wonder. Apparently, between the time I viewed the last invoice and this one, the seller had sent a new invoice charging me a $9.99 flat rate shipping fee for one game and the $5.99 shipping for the other. Since this made absolutely no sense, I decided to send the seller a message asking what was going on. No sooner than I was able to compose a message did I find a message from the seller in my inbox. I opened the message to find the following:
I didn't know what to think anymore. Between the email I initially received, the invoice on Ebay, the statement on Paypal and this message I was quoted four different prices for my auction, all amounting to a ten dollar difference!
Needless to say, I replied to this message. But I didn't think that was enough. I first contacted Ebay to alert them of this particular seller and their shady shipping practices. After a few messages, the seller agreed to a total payment of $12.23 and within a week I had the games, but still...
I won two auctions from the same seller. The listing for each item quoted a $9.99 flat rate fee from Canada to anywhere in the U.S., however, in the auction description was stated that shipping would be $5.99 to anywhere in the U.S. for each game.
Most sellers will combine shipping, especially when they offer a flat rate box, which will cost them no extra to throw in a few more items.
Both of the items I won were Super Nintendo games: Killer Instinct and Starfox. I won KI for $0.99 and SF for $1.25 for a total of $2.24. Add in the flat rate shipping and you got $12.23, and that is exactly what the invoice in my email said.
I clicked the pay now button as I always pay immediately following an auction (or directly after the last auction won from the same seller who combines shipping) and was taken to Ebay, where I found an invoice for $14.22. I paused, since it didn't match the initial invoice, then figured that they were charging the $5.99 for each game, as by weight. Fine, I thought, that was in the auction.
When I moved on to the next step, I found the final invoice which requested a total $18.22. Now I was beginning to wonder. Apparently, between the time I viewed the last invoice and this one, the seller had sent a new invoice charging me a $9.99 flat rate shipping fee for one game and the $5.99 shipping for the other. Since this made absolutely no sense, I decided to send the seller a message asking what was going on. No sooner than I was able to compose a message did I find a message from the seller in my inbox. I opened the message to find the following:
Hi,
I would ask you to please pay separately for the 2 items you bought which means pay 11.24$ (cost of the item and shipping cost included) for StarFox and 10.98 for Killer Instinct (cost of the item and shipping cost included)for a total of 22.22$. Thank you
I would ask you to please pay separately for the 2 items you bought which means pay 11.24$ (cost of the item and shipping cost included) for StarFox and 10.98 for Killer Instinct (cost of the item and shipping cost included)for a total of 22.22$. Thank you
I didn't know what to think anymore. Between the email I initially received, the invoice on Ebay, the statement on Paypal and this message I was quoted four different prices for my auction, all amounting to a ten dollar difference!
Needless to say, I replied to this message. But I didn't think that was enough. I first contacted Ebay to alert them of this particular seller and their shady shipping practices. After a few messages, the seller agreed to a total payment of $12.23 and within a week I had the games, but still...
When I Bought It I Was Told That They Were Real
This happened to me today.
I won an auction for a Sega Dreamcast, which included the system, a/v cable, power cord, two controllers, two memory cards and 33 games. Great deal, I thought, when I won the auction for $51.
Today I received the package and the very second I opened it I stopped - every single game in this lot was an illegal copy, and not only were they copies - they were horribly made copies. It was almost as if they didn't even try to make them look good.
First off, they were copied on to CD-R's with blue bottoms, which I haven't even seen available for purchase since 2003. Currently, most rewritable cd's have silver bottoms. Secondly, the center of each disc was clear, with no graphic on it whatsoever, a clear sign that the disc was not inscribed professionally. Additionally, there were clearly printable labels on the discs, printed from shitty resolution images in even shittier quality and I could see the bands from the print head which apparently was running out of ink at the time they were forged. They didn't even bother using printable cd's, which I use for my own music and they look pretty convincing.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the graphics themselves, including titles and text ran right off the edge of the labels. Pitiful.
Essentially, not a single aspect of these fakes was remotely convincing and this seller still claimes that he had no idea they were copies. He said he bought them from someone who told him they were real, which after you think about it for awhile you have to wonder further how, if he thought to ask if they were real, did not inspect them closer which would have inevitably brought him to realize that they were not. Not to mention, half on the games work poorly, if at all. One of the games, Dead or Alive 2 to be exact, has an image scanned from the original game disc printed on it, and its horribly mis-aligned with the label. I honestly have never seen anything like this before.
I lost it. I was a little bit of an asshole to the other two sellers but this one I full on threatened to contact the Internet Crime Investigation Department (or whatever they're called).
As it stands now, I asked him to propose a solution before I contact ebay, Paypal and whomever else I find necessary to contact. Before I sent my last message he had yet, after 3 messages sent, to offer a solution, so I decided to make my own. I told him to refund me half the amount of the auction and send $10.00 for shipping. In the end he will have made only $15 from the auction and I will have gotten a Sega Dreamcast, a/v and power cables, 2 controllers and 2 memory cards for $25.50 plus shipping. I still feel swindled but I will get some level of satisfaction knowing that I was not fooled, rather simply lied to.
Whatever you, the readers, choose to draw from this, I hope it helps you all to avoid situations like these that I have mentioned or at the very least, helps some of you deal with them in a way to be most beneficial to you.
I won an auction for a Sega Dreamcast, which included the system, a/v cable, power cord, two controllers, two memory cards and 33 games. Great deal, I thought, when I won the auction for $51.
Today I received the package and the very second I opened it I stopped - every single game in this lot was an illegal copy, and not only were they copies - they were horribly made copies. It was almost as if they didn't even try to make them look good.
First off, they were copied on to CD-R's with blue bottoms, which I haven't even seen available for purchase since 2003. Currently, most rewritable cd's have silver bottoms. Secondly, the center of each disc was clear, with no graphic on it whatsoever, a clear sign that the disc was not inscribed professionally. Additionally, there were clearly printable labels on the discs, printed from shitty resolution images in even shittier quality and I could see the bands from the print head which apparently was running out of ink at the time they were forged. They didn't even bother using printable cd's, which I use for my own music and they look pretty convincing.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the graphics themselves, including titles and text ran right off the edge of the labels. Pitiful.
Essentially, not a single aspect of these fakes was remotely convincing and this seller still claimes that he had no idea they were copies. He said he bought them from someone who told him they were real, which after you think about it for awhile you have to wonder further how, if he thought to ask if they were real, did not inspect them closer which would have inevitably brought him to realize that they were not. Not to mention, half on the games work poorly, if at all. One of the games, Dead or Alive 2 to be exact, has an image scanned from the original game disc printed on it, and its horribly mis-aligned with the label. I honestly have never seen anything like this before.
I lost it. I was a little bit of an asshole to the other two sellers but this one I full on threatened to contact the Internet Crime Investigation Department (or whatever they're called).
As it stands now, I asked him to propose a solution before I contact ebay, Paypal and whomever else I find necessary to contact. Before I sent my last message he had yet, after 3 messages sent, to offer a solution, so I decided to make my own. I told him to refund me half the amount of the auction and send $10.00 for shipping. In the end he will have made only $15 from the auction and I will have gotten a Sega Dreamcast, a/v and power cables, 2 controllers and 2 memory cards for $25.50 plus shipping. I still feel swindled but I will get some level of satisfaction knowing that I was not fooled, rather simply lied to.
Whatever you, the readers, choose to draw from this, I hope it helps you all to avoid situations like these that I have mentioned or at the very least, helps some of you deal with them in a way to be most beneficial to you.
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