Selling Toys - Horror Stories & "Happy" Customers

Alt said:
My dad probably wondered that a lot if not for the Gellar posters and Bad Girls of Comics pin ups.
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TheRealSmallville said:
To be honest, I am on both sides of the feels on this one. On the one hand, absolutely, you buy something premium and you expect to receive everything it comes with unless it's stated otherwise. And although my listing never said "complete" on it, it also doesn't say "missing a batarang." So I do sympathize there, to a degree and I would absolutely want the seller to maybe slip me a few bucks for it. Refund shipping, something. Make an effort.

And I did. I found the missing batarang, which was my fault for missing it, but I found it and shipped it the very next day at my cost ($16 to ship with signature). So on my side of the fence, I made things right and it's not really my fault UPS mucked it up and I see no reason why I should have to accept a return on it. But this dude is apparently "literally crying", in his words, and I never set out to really mess with anyone but this guy really wants to return it over the 1 batarang...so if he's that invested with it, then I have to string this out 2 more weeks. Which sounds pretty bad when I write it out, but...that money's long gone and I'm not operating a business. Just selling personal collection items.

I am absolutely going to keep up with UPS on it and hopefully they find it so we can get this missing part to him. But after 30 days are up, I won't have to worry about it much anymore. It does have the generic $100 insurance on it, so if I actually see any of that money I'll probably split it with him for his trouble. It'll be the most expensive 1/12 batarang in existence lol
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I think you have done more than enough for this person and if they continue to try to force a return over a batarang that you in good faith tried to get to him - and you have above and beyond the evidence that you did - I would refuse the return. If he wants to cry more tears to Ebay, let him.

You may run into trouble by moving the convo off Ebay and giving him your number - but I guess he already has your name and address. But you've done everything you could and you shouldn't be out the money. If he hates it so much, he's completely capable of reselling it himself - he has an Ebay account. You're already out $16 or so - don't give him anymore, and don't sweat the timetable.

But also don't be surprised when Ebay sides with him at the first opportunity - they likely will because they suck like that. Just object, wait that out, call them when they again decide in his favor and make sure if they allow a return against your will and stated policy, it's not out of your pocket and tell them they can reimburse him if they are going to violate your stated policy. It may or may not work.
 
I'd echo what Schizm said. Of the handful or so issues I've had with ebay, they often side with the customer at first, like a kneejerk reaction, but I've always appealed it, provided the evidence, and they ended up siding with me. Stick to ebay messaging as much as you can; it's not that they won't take outside messages into consideration, but it's just easier for them to access and review messages if they're on ebay itself.

If the guy is really that pressed about it, he can just turn around and resell the thing. Ebay has that feature now. You've done more than most would've, so don't feel bad.
 
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Solid advice, gents. Thank you.

I only accepted his request for communicating outside of eBay because I figured that it would honestly hurt his case for return if he went to eBay and cried about something that was in a text message. I know eBay generally washes their hands of things when you try to skirt them like that, so I figured it helped my case lol I'll direct the conversation, if any, back to Ebay next time though.

I've only had 1 instance in the past of someone trying to do a return, and eBay did side with me in the end but it was a pain in the ass getting there. I really hate eBay lol I might move my sales to just buy/sell/trade groups on FB instead, at least there you just wait for someone to send money to you. Pretty safe if you're just selling, I would think.
 
TheRealSmallville said:
Solid advice, gents. Thank you.

I only accepted his request for communicating outside of eBay because I figured that it would honestly hurt his case for return if he went to eBay and cried about something that was in a text message. I know eBay generally washes their hands of things when you try to skirt them like that, so I figured it helped my case lol I'll direct the conversation, if any, back to Ebay next time though.

I've only had 1 instance in the past of someone trying to do a return, and eBay did side with me in the end but it was a pain in the ass getting there. I really hate eBay lol I might move my sales to just buy/sell/trade groups on FB instead, at least there you just wait for someone to send money to you. Pretty safe if you're just selling, I would think.
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Run a search for local groups in your city or region.

Dedicated hobby groups are better because they tend to be more researched and knowledgeable. You can also get away with higher prices with less pushback. All of my stories come from the general Marketplace because I cross post.
 
So, update on the forum member who screwed me over:

Again, I have been instructed to not mention names, but he is more than welcome to identify himself. Something tells me that he won't, because then everyone here will know what he's like and how wrong it was. This post will likely be taken down anyway.

I also found out that this is sort of a pattern of behavior with this individual, for what it's worth. I feel like I should be able to tell you all who it is, so this doesn't happen to any of you. But here we are.

But in any case, the item was delivered today, and he refused it, return to sender. So, I am stuck with the entirety of payment for this item. He gets out of paying anything, even after we came to an agreement, and he gets to continue posting here as if he didn't do anything, but hey...not my forum, right?

So hey, once this comes back, there's a mini Beast Man if anyone wants it that will actually pay. It was the only one out of three cases, so he's a rarity. You know...if you don't mind actually paying.

Otherwise, it's going back to Walmart.
 
A key takeaway in many of these stories but I must know:

When did US Post Office get rid of the $5 flat rate box?

That thing was my bread and butter in my 2000s eBay days. I haven't lived in the US since 2009.
 
Alt said:
A key takeaway in many of these stories but I must know:

When did US Post Office get rid of the $5 flat rate box?

That thing was my bread and butter in my 2000s eBay days. I haven't lived in the US since 2009.
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It's been quite a few years. I imagine had that still existed, this wouldn't have been an issue.

The part that I find funny is my wife said "Just throw it in a bubble mailer". I said "No, because then he'll bitch if it shows up crushed.".
Silly me. There was no winning.
 
I feel you there . I've had people say just fit it in a bubble mailer, and if it's in the box: hell no. I'm a nerd. I know how this goes.

Our flat rate boxes are like $20 for the smallest after tax.

Overall though, weak behaviour. He's for the Marketplaces
 
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