I Want To Warn Anyone Buying Any Books From An Ebay Seller To Be Aware.

World of book usa is a major seller on eBay, and I wanted a book on China.
Stanley Gibbons, so I purchased from them a book.
When it arrived it was not the same one as the scan in the listing. I complained to them, and they said you didn't read the complete description.
In their description is this one sentence way down way down, way down. it says.
"Please note, the image is for illustrative purposes only, actual book cover, binding and edition may vary."
I thought I was buying a 2017 edition and they sent me a 1976 edition.




I tried to complaint to eBay that they should be using WYSIWYG scans only to avoid this kind of decepttion.
But they don't care.

File a claim for "not as described" anyway. You don't really need a reason to return an item or open a case.

I find that the use of stock images is pretty much standard practice for large-scale sellers of books, so I tend to buy with considerable caution.

I consider that outright fraud.
I am with John's route
Should not be much of a problem,
esp if you paid by Paypal.

postalpicker

Recent thread has a similar experience with a different ebay seller. http://goscf.com/t/76781&whichpage=1#688203

This is a HUGE problem with books, CDs, DVDs, vinyl, blu-ray, etc. The big sellers are typically best to be avoided as they tend to use stock images only, and condition issues abound.

It's the same issue as with some of the stamp powersellers that either just say "see images for condition", or worse yet some template with language like "item is sound and fault-free as shown"... and then proceed to use that template for all their listings, not caring if the items actually have faults or not. Some of the highest volume "shovelware" dealers operate like this.

"huge problem with books, CDs, etc...." I have an account with Barnes & Noble, which solves any quality problem quickly without hassle. I've bought a few books on Amazon and they were as advertised.

I suppose I might buy something philatelic from eBay at some time, but only from an established & well known dealer who "just happens" to have an eBay store.

My guess would be, the listing said something like " Stanley Gibbons China Catalogue," with a picture of the 2017 edition. But nowhere did they actually say "2017 Edition." They just used a little social engineering to make you think that's what you were getting. You made the natural leap from title and picture to a (sadly incorrect) conclusion.

Certainly deceptive, certainly predatory. But not fraud; at least, not in a way that eBay would likely do anything. After all, the seller did warn prospective buyers about what they might or might not be getting.

Can't be said enough: use PayPal; buy only from sellers with high scores and lots of reviews; make sure the title, description, and pic is for the actual item for sale (it needs to say so).

Sorry for this, hope you get something back.

I've purchased a number of books from some of the big sellers on eBay in areas like programming, foreign language, and math/science with no problems as to quality or not as described. I read the listings closely and if there is any doubt as to condition or specific edition I move on.

Dale

I would say that this listing goes beyond deceptive and into fraudulent territory because the catalog delivered is a 1976 edition, which is completely useless to a collector. The sellers know better. They obviously do not care because this is the only chance they have to "unload" an item with little or no value.

This is not a rare occurrence in the era of distant/internet commerce. A seller on Amazon tried to "palm off" a used vacuum cleaner (advertised as new) on us several years ago. They left the receptacle full of dust and dirt. Nice try!

It is unequivocally fraud and is called "bait and switch". At least it was an authentic product, even though sorely outdated, and not a Chinese knock-off, the type of which Amazon is flooded with.

One big problem with the interweb wild west show is that when it comes to regulating e-commerce there is really no way to do so outside of action by the very platforms that profit from the bad actors sales. If I purchase a defective or deceptively described item from Walmart or Barnes & Noble etc. I have more available recourse because they are actual companies with actual physical places of business.

I am definitely not a big government person but government does have it's place in protecting the public and creating, promulgating and enforcing laws to do so. They need to catch up when it comes to e-commerce. They always wait until the building is fully engulfed before they show up.

Something else worth mentioning.... There are a number of philatelic booksellers around who are highly reputable. Since the 2020 holidays, I've bought items from Leonard Hartmann and Eric Jackson. I'm very satisfied with both. I've heard good news about Phil Bansner and Jim Lee, but haven't gotten yet to them.

Scott Tiffney at the APRL seems to be moving more duplicate books. And it may be worth checking with a postal history dealer in London like Steve Taylor or Antonio Torres. I've bought covers from Steve at a couple of US shows. Been checking out Antonio as he has stuff on his website that I want.

The point here is that while you may not be able to directly get the book you want from one of them, all of these gentlemen will have contacts.

I had two occasions where I attempted to purchase a two volume set of 2019 Scott catalogs from Thrift Books (descriptions did list them as having both volumes A and B). Both times what I received was only one of the two books.
I had no problems with the returns, but it goes to the point that they don't pay any attention to what they are listing. I wonder how many times they sold the single book as the set.

I buy from these sellers occasionally, but only when I'm after a mass market paperback or the like and am not particularly fussy about the precise edition/year of publication/etc. As mentioned, many use stock images and there are often discrepancies between the book listed and the details in the item description (which I assume is auto-populated from scanning the ISBN).

Bargains abound, but that's how they're able to keep the prices low (ridiculously low, in some cases) - I often get paperbacks for under $4, including shipping. It's a high-volume and -throughput operation, and unfortunately, no margin to be attentive to details that matter very much in cases like this.

@rogdcam If you bought defective or deceptively described item from Walmart or Barnes & Noble than you might be allowed to return or exchange item if fall under that policy. *** Edited by Staff - Please Review the rules that you agreed to when you registered. ***for textbook rentals need to be return within 21 days while other than this item within 30 days.

Same as Mr. H, I have bought 2 volume Scott catalogues from them on Amazon and received only a single volume. Rather than a return, Amazon issued me a refund for half the cost.