Ebay listing rant

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C64_Critic
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Joined: April 11th, 2015, 11:51 am

Ebay listing rant

Postby C64_Critic » March 6th, 2021, 9:12 am

What is the best way to handle an incorrect listing on Ebay these days? I purchased a C64 game recently that was listed as 'Very Good' for the condition, which by definition means it should include the instructions ("The video game instructions and box are included."). Of course not only was the game box itself in WAY worse shape than the pictures would lead you to believe - definitely 'good' condition at absolute best, but really probably 'Acceptable' - but the lack of the manual really annoyed me since that's pretty black-or-white based on the Condition description.

At first I reached out directly to the seller to say hey dude, not cool, let's make this right, but he responded with "I say in my description that it comes with everything in the pictures, and there's no manual in the pictures, so too bad for you". It seems like sellers just want to get around whatever condition they list their stuff in by throwing a sly 'disclaimer' in their description to cover their butts. Hell, why not list it as 'Like New' or even 'Brand new' if you don't have to abide by what those descriptions say?

Anyway, since I tried to deal with him directly and he pulled that crap of course I'm going to file an official grievance with Ebay but is it even worth the hassle? Will they do anything at all to a seller that lists the condition of their items in clear conflict with what they're actually selling, or just wave their hands and shrug their shoulders?

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Ebay listing rant

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 6th, 2021, 9:39 am

Tough call on that one. Over the years I've come to the conclusion is that the photos are really the only thing you can go by for ebay listing. But not always!

The other day I received a Mickey Mania game for the Sega Genesis. It was complete and from the five picture it looks pristine. But when I received it I was dismayed by a big ugly sticker on the spine. And it wasn't on the plastic where I could easily peel it off - it was on the underlying paper insert! Of all the photos at various angles, they someone failed to capture that major flaw. Seems to me that most ebay photos FOCUS on the flaws so you know what you're getting.

Obviously that's not going to look very good on my shelf so I painstakingly attempted to remove it, only to inadvertently tear the insert! Then I complained to the seller and it's the same old excuse: my daughter posted that item and it was an honest mistake.

This is so lame and I hear it all the time. They always blame their kid! First, what kind of parent forces their kids to post random items on Ebay? Second, what ever happened to personal responsibility? It's your account; own up to it!

Anyway he said I could return it but I didn't feel right after damaging it. Fortunately I was able to find an old unused insert to another Genesis game, and I cut out a portion of that to tape over the ugly sticker. It worked surprisingly well actually. Glad I never throw anything away!

After all that trouble I asked the seller for a partial refund. Haven't heard back yet but if he doesn't I'm going to have to be brutally honest with my feedback.

Tron
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Re: Ebay listing rant

Postby Tron » March 11th, 2021, 6:53 am

I used to eBay years ago. I can tell you how it was 10 years ago, but things may have changed since then. Back then eBay catered to “buyers” and persecuted “sellers”. I used to sell international, but after 6 buyers in South America claimed they never got there items I decided to only buy and sell in America and Canada. eBay just took the word of those buyers and automatically drained my PayPal account and gave them full refunds.


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