Sellers selling books that are different from what is displayed and described...

[klught]

Hello,

This is something that's been a thorn in my side for a very long time.  To wit:

eBay currently allows Sellers to sell books where the seller doesn't even know what the book looks like.  Also, eBay allows a seller to sell a book when the seller doesn't even have access to the book in question., i.e. the book is in a storage facility in a city completely different from where the seller resides.
Also, eBay allows sellers of books to provide only stock photos of a specific book.

Once, I purchased a book based on the picture, AND the seller's description, but when I received the book, it was vastly different from how it was portrayed and described.  When I asked the Seller about it, she said eBay allows her to do that, i.e. to send a book to a buyer that is different from what the seller described and portrayed.  I was stunned.  I couldn't believe such a thing is even legal, and the thing is, it's this way on every online outlet when it comes to selling books.  It shouldn't be allowed.

Mostly, I hope someone, especially a human at eBay, actually reads these concerns of mine and gets back to me.  My email is: klught (at) nyc (dot) rr (dot) com.

Thank you.

Thomas

[eburtonlab]

eBay is not here; this is a user forum.

eBay does not have any way to verify in advance that sellers have the items they advertise on hand, or to determine that sellers intend to actually ship those items.

eBay will take action based on complaints from users, though.

eBay has a procedure that buyers can use when a seller fails to ship or ships something other than what was advertised. That can be used to get a refund at the seller's expense:

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

Although eBay has a general policy that stock photos should only be used for new items, some of the larger booksellers do use stock photos for their used inventory; if that concerns you particularly, you may want to avoid dealing with those large low-margin warehouse booksellers and confine your purchases to sellers that provide actual images of the books they sell. Usually the kind of book seller you are dealing with is apparent by taking a look at the seller's feedback page.