Has This Ever Happened To You On Ebay?

You bid on an auction lot. You win the auction lot. You pay for the auction lot. You eagerly wait for your lot and then you get sent another lot. You now have someone else's lot and they have your lot. However, the other person likes your lot more and doesn't want to exchange it for their lot. You now have a lot that you don't want and they have a lot that they want even more than the lot that they won. They win, you lose and all the seller who made the error in the first place offers is your money back after you return the wrong lot that was sent to you. Has this ever happened to you? What can be done since this seems like theft on the part of the person who doesn't want to return the lot that doesn't belong to them? Help. Thanks.

It has happened before to me with a mailing address mix up. Luckily I sent the lot back and so did the other buyer. The lot sent to me was worth much more but that just would be outright theft. All the seller can do is offer a refund in your case and file a complaint with ebay on the other buyer. The seller is not pulling one over you in this case but the other buyer is a thief. It would be interesting to know if they are a member in APS which more actions could take place. It's sad but there are some out there like that.

As a seller.....I have had this happen.
Sometimes I sell the same Scott # (ex...#154 30c Hamilton, picked at random) within multiple days.
Buyers want to wait to combine for shipping savings....and I have been known to send the wrong one to the wrong buyer and
tried to contact them with no success. Actually the only loser is the buyer who purchased the better item.
He does not want the inferior stamp....seller made mistake....best you can do is offer sincere apology
and refund. It happens.
Usually you only hear the stories of receiving a inferior stamp.

Sure, it has happened to me. After the seller took 3 weeks to investigate. I kept the incorrect lot, and eventually the seller did send me the original lot. Needless to say I don't buy from that seller any more.

Since I am a member of several stamp societies, I am planning on contacting them as well as trying to have the offender banned from the auction site as well as the societies if they are a member of them. Is this overreacting or justified?

Jogil


Sounds like an honest mistake. Mistakes happen. We don't live in a perfect world.

What do you want the vendor to do? Go to the other buyer's home, pound on the door and demand the return of the stamps.

Accept that this is one of those unfortunate occurrences and move on.

All of us have had similar experiences.

Contacting stamp societies is an overreaction.

True, I can think of many different ways in which I can spend my time more productively than pursuing this.

Mistakes do happen....
Was this a ebay item?
Dealer?
Auction firm???

Never said jogil should contact the stamp societies. But the seller should follow up at the very least block him from bidding. Sellers get rated all the time but sometimes they need to look out for certain buyers. Believe me the ASDA knows who not to deal with sometimes. Yeah it may only be a low or medium price item but if the buyer does it now he would certainly do it say a $1000 plus lot. So now the seller should not do anything to retrieve or warn from such buyer?

Well, ETHICALLY, the buyer that got the better parcel should return it, but there's nothing really legal requiring it. It's crappy, but some people let their personal honor take a hit for the stupidest stuff. Guess that doesn't mean a lot to some people.

Back when MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 went off the air in 1999, they auctioned everything but the kitchen sink. I won several items from the show, and twice received things other than what I'd won (once more valuable, once much less valuable). In both cases, both buyers returned their items to Best Brains, and they shipped the correct ones back out. I guess MSTies are just great folks, like 99% of the stamp people I've known in life. Guess this other buyer here is part of that other 1%.

Sorry for your loss, jogil, but all the seller really can do is offer a refund I'd guess. He sent the item to the other bidder, so that bidder has no legal responsibility to return it - same as one has no legal responsibility to return unsolicited approvals from a stamp company. It's crappy to simply keep them, but it's legal.