Ebay Bargains - Not For Me!

I've never had problems with receiving what i've won. I've seen a lot of intentionally misleading descriptions.

I've never had a problem receiving items. I always check the feedback score of the seller and the comments with negative feedback before bidding. I also tend end up buying from the same set of trusted sellers I've used before. I had one item that shipped from Croatia or Romania that took 6 weeks to arrive, but eventually it did arrive and was post-marked roughly on the day the seller said it shipped.

On the other hand, I have ended up with bogus material a few times from misleading descriptions, but these were always resolved amicably with the seller. When this happens I've found its best to just take a professional emotionless approach with the seller, assume it was an honest mistake and give the seller a couple alternatives to remedy the situation (a discount or return).

How about sellers' experience? I sold one lot that the buyer claimed was never received. It was only a couple of dollars so I doubt it was a scam, and sent him a refund. In a previous life as a bookseller, I sent a book to a customer which was not received, so sent another copy. Six months later I received the first one back, that had finally arrived via Canada Post (usually very good) and was returned by the customer.

I've also never had a 'item not received' issue in UK.
My most recent purchase was a France 'collection' from a stamp specific seller.
The item was poorly described with only a few sample images but I took a punt on what I could see.
This turned out to fill more than a few empty (read expensive) pages especially in the semi-postal area.
Mint Ader 50f, 1938 Louvre pair, 1930 B.I.T pair, 1950 Airs to 1000f MNH and all 1950's portrait sets.
All in all £1000+ easily so very happy with this one and a better deal than I have seen at shows and traditional auctions.

I sold a nice collection of New Zealand officials and still don't know where they are (I suspect they went into my recycling box on the floor next to me as I type). Had to refund the purchase price to the buyer and he probably thought I was a dud!

As far as sellers....he is one from this AM.
Sold some items on Sept 8.....on this buyer....received payment same day (Sunday)....packaged and shipped on the 9th, Monday....buyer leaves positive feedback on the 12th (Arrived safe & sound. Great item & Seller. Nice addition to my collection.Thanks).....then files complaint with ebay that items were not as described....PayPal puts a hold on payment in my account.
What is fair about this???
N
Sellers get the shaft sometimes too.....
Enough of my rant....

I only once got a ebay bargain.. but it was a BIG one (for me, anyway).

Along with my movie interest, I like to frame up photos with autographs of some of my favorite actors/directors. One I never once considered was Lon Chaney Sr. Earliest American 'horror' star, Man of a Thousand Faces. Died in 1930 relatively young, was extremely secretive in life, and disliked autographs. Only things he is known to have signed that are public are the cards he would give to stagehands, set builders, gaffers and other behind-the-scenes movie people at Christmas. He would include much-needed money for these underpaid people in a way they wouldn't refuse it. He would sign these cards.

Anyway, about 5 years ago, I saw an auction for a 'Ron Chance' autograph. I had (a) too much free time, and (b) had no idea in the world who Ron Chance was, so I looked at it. There was one of these card signatures, cut out. I've seen pictures of these, and knew the detail of the cards, and this looked legit. I asked if he had any other pictures, and he provided close-ups, back view (which was the card image I was looking for). Basically, Chaney Sr. autograph is as rare as any celebrity - normally starting around $10,000. The minimum bid on this was $9.99.

After telling the little devil on my shoulder to shut up (sorry for the ANIMAL HOUSE reference), I wrote him back and explained all this too him. I advised him to have it checked, and immediately pull the auction. He wrote back saying he wasn't sure I was right, and would let the market decide. I tried to get him to at least change the auction name, but he didn't do that either.

OK, I told him. So I bid my top budget at the time ($50.00).. and won it for $29.99. The minute I got it, I checked it out. Fountain pen sig, as expected. Fired it off to get checked, came back legit.

I wrote the seller back, and offered to send him another $500. He didnt' want it, congratulated me for the win, and asked for info on how to get other autographs checked. Turns out his grandfather was a film worker in the 20's, and an agent in the 40's, and had contracts from lots of famous people.. I'm sure he did quite well, so I don't feel so guilty.. but I did have a lot of fun looking for just the right picture of one of Lon's great creations to matte up and frame with his signature

Hey Jallan, just noticed your post. All I can say is "yowza". You did the right thing all along and now can enjoy your purchase without any guilty feelings.

Something similar happened to me. I was looking at a collection on ebay and noted one of the stamps was a "missing colour" variety that, if genuine would have been worth some $. I told the seller about what I saw and told him to get it checked. I also wondered if maybe the stamp was not real (a picture? - it was hard to tell for sure - no close up).

I guess I worded it wrong because he thought I told him he was selling fake stamps. Anyway, I tried. I didn't bid on the lot.

That is not to say I won't bid on lots that look like I might get at a good price. I think that is part of the fun and challenge for a buyer. But for something so obvious, I felt obligated like yourself.

PS: I love the "Wolfman" and have enjoyed some of Lon Chaney's movies. Nice to hear he was generous to the stage people.

On one item that I had won, the seller sent an apologetic note saying that it was unavailable because it had just sold on another site. I wasn't as mad as I was disappointed.


-IBFS

There were a lot of great deals on ebay in the late 90's and early 2000's. For the last 10 years the incredible bargains are rare.
I have been stung a few times as both a seller and buyer, but only once on a stamp transaction. I got ebay to close his account, but of course he had multiple accounts. I know this because several months later he bid on one of my lots with one of his other ID's. I informed ebay that the guy bidding on my lot was the same guy that took my $50.00 and never shipped the goods. This all happened in the days prior to Paypal and all they could do was allow me to block him from future bidding since he had already bid on this lot I could not block him until it closed. Fortunately he was outbid and I have never heard from him again.

Hi,
I recently sold some items on Delcampe to a collector in Italy. He advised me that they never arrived. I didnt get any proof of posting but I lost out on GB£ 12.00 worth of stamps and postage.

I think it works both ways, I am just wondering now, if he HAS received them and has decided that he has won. I know that I DID lose out

phil_ately: I mail items to Italy via purchases from ebay and Delcampe all the time. Italy is a tricky country to mail to and technically it's against Italian customs laws to mail stamps. It's listed in the Italian customs restrictions on the USPS website.

I presume you didn't use a customs label when you mailed the shipment. I quickly found out that shipments without a customs label tend to go "missing". I started using customs forms on items to Italy (anything 4oz. or heavier from the U.S. is required to have one anyway) and found out nothing went missing. Your loss is probably due to postal workers with sticky fingers who were interested in the mystery prize inside. Use a customs form to remove that mystery and make it sound appealing as much as possible and of little value as possible. Call stamps "labels". Use the word "used" as much as possible - used postcard, used envelopes, used labels, etc. Technically you're still being honest in labeling. Never use the words "stamps for collectors" or "philatelic". That's a big "steal me" sign. I've used this method on mailings to other countries with dubious postal systems with sucess as well.

I saw a stamp collection that is worth a lot but the buyer made a mistake and put 2$ only (buy now). I purchased it , then he sent me the following message:
"Dear Sir,
As you can understand the error in the price is clear,the correct price is 2000 US$ and not 2.00 US$-
Kindest regards-"
Am I allowed to get it if he made this mistake?

Trabz,

I think that in this case, it was even obvious to you that the seller made a listing error. I wouldn't put too much effort into getting this "steal".

Partime,
I agree with you plus its not ethical to do that.