Badly Described Ebay Auction, What Would You Do?

I won 3 envelopes from Egypt, price was good and low shipping costs.
But when I received the envelopes, both the unused envelopes were damaged on the back. This was not pictured, nor described in the auction:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121077758305
(Somehow the forum will not let me post a link to an item on ebay Germany, the system changes the ebay de to ebay.com when I put in the link)

I have sent the seller a mail with pictures. If he does not refund a small amount I think I will leave negative feedback otherwise I will leave a neutral. I have had it with sellers that sell damaged items without any mention of this in the item's description.

But I am curious what you would do?

2 Choices, return them as Item not described properly or ask for a partial refund in the amount you'd feel comfortable [paying for the damaged items. Personally I'd return them. Always leave negative feedback as a last resort and always give the seller a chance to make it right as 99% of the sellers will make good on their items.

Thanks for your response! I will give him the chance to make it right but I am convinced that he knew about the damaged backsides and hid this for potential buyers, a neutral is still deserved I think, some sellers get away with this behauvior time after time.
They need to change their act, some buyers actually care about the condition of the items they receive.

HOLD ON ---------You can send it back for a full refund for the reason stated above ,but you can not make up some phony price your willing to pay ,please understand this purchase is a legal contract not something that you can decide what you want to pay after the fact .Send it back or keep it .
Once you start playing around with something outside of the contract ,you lose the protection of ebay and the legal system .

The seller was wrong not to describe the condition of the covers..ebay has a specific spot for condition which I always use when listing. If I were going to keep the covers and arrive at an understanding with the seller..i would not leave him any feedback positive or negative !

To Floortrade, I would not make up any phony price I would be willing to pay, I would make the seller a proposition, he can agree to or not, I don't care about any so called ebay protection or legal system.
HE is the one in the wrong here, I am loosing time and get aggrevated because HE deliberately chose not to include an accurate description in the auction.
As far as I am concerned the legal contract of which you speak is not as valid because of his mispresenting of the item.
(Btw, this was a sale from a non professional seller)

I would tell the seller I am sending them back. If he wants to negotiate a deal let him go first. As a seller, I never would take an offer after the fact. I also would have listed what the backside looked like. Some sellers are new and haven't learned the rules of the road yet. You have to determine if there was malicious intent or if he was just naive. You can look to see if he has any negative or neutral feedbacks. Just remember either is a bad stain. If he was just naive then it would be pretty harsh.

If the front of the envelope was what I had bought them for, I'd keep them at the price I was willing to originally pay. I don't display backs - not of stamps, not of envelopes.

What was the starting price of this auction?

Hi,
I've been offline for 3 days, sorry I'm late on this one..........
Obviously the seller didn't tell all - but reread the entire auction carefully to be sure. I've missed the fine print a couple of times myself. Next, what is the value? If its significant - and you pick that number - certainly write the seller and explain your problem. Let him offer a solution. For the vast majority of sellers, they will do what it takes to make it right.
Now if you are talking really significant dollars - again you pick that number - then I would contact ebay and get them involved.
As a very, very last resort, use the negative feedback feature.
Mobilman44

If you are not happy with the covers return them as they are not as described. I think its an all or nothing proposition. Keep or send back for a full refund. Since it was a lack of actual description on the sellers part I would ask for him to cover the return shipping as well. If the seller refuses or puts up a fuss then I would leave negative feedback. Otherwise I would not leave any feedback at all. It doesnt appear as though he makes a habit of this as he has a 100% feedback rating.

I do not agree that they were badly described. There was an omission regarding the condition of the backs of two of the items. If the backs were important for the buyer, then he should have asked the seller about the condition before the end of the auction. Caveat emptor!

I had a situation in the early days of ebay which still troubles me. The seller had placed about ten envelopes on the same scan. They looked fine but when I received them I realized that I had been fooled. Each envelope had filing holes in them but he had positioned the covers so that they were hidden. He did not mention the filling holes in the description. This was very very sneaky on the sellers part. I didn't give any feedback and I didn't advise ebay. If this were to occur today, I would not hesitate to demand a refund.

Hi Northwinds. Sorry to hear about your ebay problems. This is what Oprah (and my wife) would call a lie of omission. The seller didn't describe the backs as bad, but he didn't describe them as wonderful either. I think (and don't shoot me here) that because he didn't describe the back at all, he skirts the 'accurate description' clause on ebay.
You say you got them at a good price and at low shipping costs. That's the point where I would wonder if it's worth sending them back. Obviously you liked the fronts well enough (the ebay listing is no longer active, and I'd love to see what the covers look like from the front). A little warm water and a q-tip swab, carefully applied, can remove those old hinges. It may not be as bad as it seems.
Personally I'd just express my disappointment to the seller but keep the covers. At least he'd know you were aware of the poor quality of his merchandise, and he may offer some sort of compensation (it's happened to me before). At the very least he may be more careful of his listing in the future.

Dear seller your items are not as described. I am looking at leaving negative feedback and returning your items as not as described. But before I do I would like to give you the chance to fix your problem.

What exactly are you talking about ? Nobody said anything about making up a phony price. Partial refunds are given through sellers all the time. The item is not worthless and if something was not disclosed by the seller and the buyer spends $50 and receives a $25 item then it should be the buyers prerogative to make a fair offer based on the received condition of the item.

The seller then has the option to accept or offer a refund for return of goods.

This is a contract matter. The buyer in this case is claiming that the seller breached the contract because he did not describe the back of the envelopes.

This is what ebay tells its sellers:

"You're expected to provide great customer service throughout a transaction, as well as clear, accurate, and consistent details about the items you're selling."

Buyers have a responsibility to get as much information about an item as they can before the auction ends. The buyer could have asked if the backs were without flaws. He didn't. If the seller provides false information, then the buyer can and should demand a refund.


In this case we have an honest seller who did not describe the back of covers. Folks, he didn't have to! Yes I am repeating myself because this seems to be a difficult concept for some of you to understand. The buyer simply failed in the due diligence department. The backs for him were just as important as the fronts.