Once in a while I get a really bad buyer...
So I sold an item. It was a medal, XRF tested to be 925 pure. I do get the machine can make mistakes, but ours usually puts something low, like 30% of less if it's plated, so we know from the low silver content and the look if it that it's plate. I had confidence if I tested a medallion to be 925 pure and transcribed what it said on it, that was probably fine, nothing to worry about, right?
Well someone bought this medal (this happened a month ago, I needed cooling off before sharing, and plus when I tell a story I like to say how it ends).
The very next day I purchased postage with Stallion Express, and put the tracking in eBay. The buyer got a message to tell them it had shipped. And then I get a message from the buyer that points out that "eBay says there will be tariffs due at delivery and your listing says there are none, and eBay is telling me I'm getting my item in a month when it said 2 weeks in your listing". Then they proceeded to accuse me of scamming them.
You'd think, just cancel, right? Well I was quick that day and the package had already been dropped off with the shipper. I knew my item had been XRF tested, so I wasn't worried. I calmly explained to the buyer that eBay decides on the dates, not the seller, this is when I dropped it off, and this is when you'll probably get it (a week later, but certainly by the date in the listing). I told them the medal was XRF tested and weighed the amount it said in the listing, there are no tariffs due on delivery (the item was from the US, so no tariffs regardless), and if they have problems to reach out, I'm here to help.
I got more messages from the buyer the next day, keep in mind my thing had already been shipped and I thought explaining how things work would be good enough. They start going on about how every seller they buy from tries to scam them, they have piles of fake coins that sellers sold them, and how they have the whole set of what I'm selling and want another one. (Now I can't do anything about any of this except wait for them to receive the item, but spidey senses are going).
So they get the item, and come back here 15 minutes later to accuse me of being a scammer, it's a fake coin, it's not as described, they want their money back, they don't want to have to return it but they will return it if I insist so I can see how fake it is, the edges are sharp, the colour is all wrong, and the rim edge is not the same thickness all the way around.
To address that, sometimes edges do cut the holder they are in and the coin pops out, so that tells me lots of coins (especially crown sized) are sharp if packaged the right way to cut the mylar. There was a little bit of copper oxidation, it's 925 silver with 7.75 copper, and the copper will turn the coin a bit green. I have a genuine Peace dollar in the basement that turned green in the packaging since I bought it 30 years ago. For the edge not being the same thickness, I did a chat GPT investigation and it said they were made that way, and it was visible in the photo that it was a bit uneven. Chat GPT thinks the medal is good with the specs I provided.
I told the buyer I'm not going to argue authenticity, if they don't want it send it back (that part I don't know the ending of yet). They shared 5 photos of a coin that may or may not have been mine, perhaps it was one of the others in the set that they already had and they were looking for a genuine replacement for a replica. Who knows.
I told my partner and he said "when everyone someone buys from on eBay over years and years is a scammer, sounds to me like they are the actual scammer". He also thought was funny that the coin was XRF tested and confirmed by both me and the shop to be silver, and I'm hearing something different when it's no longer in my hands. I do admit it was in circulated condition and handled a lot (it says circulated in the listing, all my medallions are listed as circulated because they come in loose from collectors and get klunked together in a box or jar of some sort to be processed later).
Anyway I've been waiting for two weeks for a neg, and trying to figure out how to respond to that so future prospective buyers will not shy away from my store over one claim out of 11,000 ratings. I looked at the buyer's FB, for someone who's been scammed by every seller, there's no neg fb left for any of the sellers that "scammed" them.
I had a few other concerns (not bad buyers, just situations of concern) relating to silver items. It seems like the more valuable silver is, the more problems that come out of the woodwork (scammers, would be scammers, honest mistakes, people trying to buy something they think is silver for a very cheap price and getting mad that it's not silver, and no where did it say it was silver, and I get lots of messages asking me if things are silver when it says cu-ni in the listing). I am glad we're almost done selling silver stuff, and the medals I had left have come down to be looked at again so there's no doubt of authenticity if another sells. Some of this stuff has been in my store for years, and I've forgotten details when I obtained it and would like to check it over again and improve the listing.
C.
12345jamesstamps
·9 months agoBuyer like this or buyers who make a big purchase...these buyers need to give me feedback first before I do.
I want to save my feedback and feedback response in case I get a nasty one.
I been lucky so far...got a buyer(s) who gives a positive and feedback is an 'X'....really?...talk about lazy and what does it mean?
I think one response to a buyer is enough....and not back and forth chit-chat...if that is how this came about.
I do know the feeling of waking up in the morning to coffee and opening eBay and there in red is that negative feedback from a buyer...just puts a damper on the whole day.
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoI do chit chat since it sometimes results in good sales. I had a buyer sending lots of messages ending up buying 5 empty coin albums for $20 each, it was a good sale with lots of profit, but without talking to the buyer that might not have happened.
Anyway when I got the very first message from the buyer complaining and saying it seemed like a scam, my blood was boiling. I'm already ticked off with all the silver buyers who are treating my stock like bullion for investment (making deals, going away, and coming back three weeks later when the silver value is higher and expecting the same price so they can make instant profit).
I had some dubious complaints where claims were made that said the item didn't weigh what I said, but without the item in hand anymore I can't double check to see if I'm wrong, or if the buyer is right. I sold a medal for collecting, the buyer bought it as bullion and wanted a partial on the 1.5 grams he said the medal was off. I refrained from pointing out that I don't care about the weight of the medal, I sell things to collect, I make up the prices, and finding out the medal weighed 1 gram less than I originally thought would not have changed my mind about what price to charge for it.
Anyway I went six months without any complaints except a few INRs that got stuck at the US border and of course I can't prove delivery if there's no tracking. They were on low cost items, and I expect this. I did not expect to get 5 silver related complaints from bullion speculators over a two week period. I'm glad the silver is almost gone (except for some coins, but it's harder to argue specs when they are published on Numista), I don't want to be selling silver. The stuff I have was purchased when silver was way lower and we make profit on it, but I actually gave a bunch back to the shop and they're going to melt it because they'll do better with that path than trying to sell it on eBay.
C.