Questionable Ebay Sale- What Do You Think?

Hi- I was watching an auction on ebay for two of the 1992 re-issues of the Columbian Expo stamps- the $3 and $5 denominations (Scott 2627a and 2629a). I was hoping to get them for a little over face value, to use as interesting postage on a package to somebody who would appreciate it (SCV is $14.00 for both). You can guess what happened next- they sold for $281.00! Here is the listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-00-FACE-V...p=true&rt=nc

You'll see that the seller did not represent them as the 1893 issues, although, clearly, at least a few bidders did not know what they were bidding on. They were removed from their souvenir sheets, and at quick glance do look very much like the classics. What I wonder is:

- Should the seller contact the buyer and let them know they made a mistake, or is it "buyer beware"?

- If the seller ships the stamps, would he owe a refund if/when the buyer realizes he goofed up?

- Do you think the seller did a good enough job of making it clear in the original posting that these are the re-issues? Or do you think he intentionally removed them from the souvenir sheets, predicting that somebody would make a mistake?

If you look at his other listings, he also has the "Western Cattle in a Storm" reissue listed (Scott 3209h) SCV is $2.25. Again the stamp is removed from the souvenir sheet. On the header of this listing he writes "Huge margins, XXF" (of course they are huge margins, they are from a 1998 souvenir sheet)-later in the listing, he spells out "Modern stamp, not 100 years old". It definitely seems to me that he is trying to mislead somebody with that headline.
-Steve

Oh brother! At least they got free shipping...

Hard to say if the seller hoped for this sort of confusion. Looking at his/her other auctions, I suspect not, but no one has a window into his/her mind. The listing was, in my opinion, careless as it leaves a huge ambiguity. Buyers should not have bid without getting that ambiguity resolved. If I were seller, I would cancel and re-list with better description.

The day prior to the auction closing the seller posted the following question/response:




I'd like to see the look on the buyer's face when he/she opens the package and realizes that the stamps are the modern-era reproductions.

I saw lower on the page that an interested party asked a question:

Q: are the columbian expo real us postage stamps or reproductions
A: this is modern face value postage. starting at .99c if these were from the 1800's Columbian Exposition Stamps "mint" like this are worth thousands... not $10.61... I hope this helps. enjoy!

I'm thinking he was being honest as the question was dated a day before the auction ended. It just shows one should ALWAYS ask questions before bidding. I hope this wasn't the unlucky winner.

Oops, a little late.

I would think that when you are shelling out over $250 as a buyer, you would at least read the description properly!

well if the buyer had at least LOOKED at the stamp image, he would have seen the 1992 date on the stamp...
I can understand ebay fleecers, but this is just an idiot buyer. Nothing wrong with his post.

This is the very reason I don't buy stamps from Mystic Stamp Company. They have so many reproductions for sale and it seems they very carefully word their sales advertisement that if one isn't extremely careful. He gets a reproduction instead of the old stamp one would think they were buying. The same with U.S. and Foreign stamps. It's buyer beware.

Could not agree more. Knowledge is power and the bidders that pumped this one up got exactly what they deserved. Most sellers do not show the questions that have been asked but this one clearly spelled out that these were not the originals. 4 Bidders ran this one through the roof and now the seller is going to have a hassle on their hands because very soon the winning bidder will find out that they aren't what they thought they were.

Seller is totally in the right and auction was fair, just a few bidders got auction fever.
Trouble is they will probably realize after what they did and feel the seller con them , open a paypal case, seller will have funds with drawin from account and a good chance the buyer will leave neg feedback.
Just dumb buyers that will cause this sellers plenty of trouble, after all the buyer is always right.

I wonder if the underbidder got a 2nd Chance Offer. lol


ebay's Buyer Protection will protect the idiot, despite the seller's no return policy.

It is a legit stamp, it's just the modern version of the original.
I have all of this issue in my collection.. I wish I could get that kind of money for it. I am just glad I got mine at face.

I don't see any mention of the Scott number in the ad. If the buyers had seen #2627c and #2629a perhaps this would have clued them in. I'm also curious where this was advertised. Was it in "20th Century Unused" or in "19th Century Unused"? If it was in the "20th Century Unused" bucket, the buyer has no excuses. It appears that there were at least two people, based on the heated bidding, that made a serious mistake in judgment. Based on the number of purchases that the winner had previously made he or she was not a novice to the process.
In truth though, if I were the seller, I'd be more than happy to work this out with the buyer. Couldn't look at myself in the mirror knowing that I'd hoodwinked someone like that.

I see in my 1/28 Linn's that the USPS will (tentatively) commemorate the 24cent Jenny invert in September. I imagine it will be obvious that it is not the original. It will be interesting to see how that shows up on ebay! yakboomer.

This appears to me to be a case of buyer error. But I'll make a few observations: 1. The seller did not outright deceive anyone and therefore has committed no crime with government laws nor with ebay's policys, 2. There was a level of ambiguity in the original heading as well as when he answered the question. For example, he did not use the same terminology as the questioner. 3. If the seller would have said something like - "the stamps are modern postage of genuine USPS reproductions", ("reproductions" being the terminology in the question) the bidding would most likely have ended at that point. 4. It is not for me to be a judge here, so I am NOT saying the seller did it deliberately. 5. Since the seller did communicate a correct, albeit ambiguous, answer I doubt Buyer Protection will be helpful to the buyer. 6. Some sort of arbitration, if ebay permits that, might be available to the buyer, when and if, he/she realizes the error.

I agree with STAMPVIRGIN , "THIS IS JUST AN IDIOT BUYER"--------there is nothing wrong with the way he sold his stamps .