How do YOU handle receiving items in poorer condition than described?

[righteousrelics]

I'm testing the waters as a book reseller. As such, I've started to purchase a number of books on Ebay for resale. While I assume that a book is a grade lower than that assigned, it's disheartening how widespread grading abuse is in general. I can count on over half of my orders being over graded, some grossly so. Having loose pages, dog bites, or extreme water damage that's not described is not an uncommon problem. What is peculiar is that alot of these problems are arising from sellers that have largely positive feedback. Many of them seem genuinely shocked when I reply unhappily.

Yeah, the book is in perfectly good condition. Yeah, I know it retails for X amount. But I don't approve of bidding on a "Brand New" book and receiving a used one.  Sellers are always so trigger happy to remind me that I got a great deal. This may or may not be true, but I still expect to receive the described item. Textbook sellers, especially, seem to get away with alot of abuse because many students just accept their cheap shoddy book, finish their term of study, and move on with life. They either don't care or don't have the time to acknowledge they've been ripped off.

I mention books, but I think my questions are pretty universal.

I want to respond in a way that isn't unfair for myself, the seller, or for future buyers.

1. Do you start return claims?

I've initiated numerous return claims, but I don't REALLY want to return all of them, just the worst ones. I'm worried that Ebay will look at me suspiciously if I start to many claims, but I don't know if this fear is warranted. Poor grading is so rampant that I feel no one will believe me. Do you worry about setting off some real or imaginary alarm for being percieved as too picky?

What is your order of operations? Do you start with a friendly message? Do you start a claim first to get the seller's attention and strive to resolve the issue before fully following through?  Or do you just leave appropriate feedback and move on? So far, my action has differed depending on my mood and how insulted I am by the item.

2. Do you accept partial refunds?

I accept partial refunds and will usually leave positive feedback when the seller addresses the issue. I will often, straight up, offer to take a certain amount based on a compromise considering item price and the amount of grading discrepancy. Unfortunately, I have this guilt complex like I'm extorting the seller and I should just accept the current grading status quo. But if I do this, I fail to differentiate the awesome sellers out there that grade accurately.

Furthermore, when I do provide positive feedback, after remedial actions on the seller's part, I worry that I'm encouraging a system that's deceiving to future buyers. Lots of megasellers have shoddy quality control, but seem to trust that they can bribe the occasional buyer that makes a fuss of any sort. The end result is that they can keep selling subpar products at better price points than honest sellers.

3. Do you revise feedback?

I appreciate a proactive seller and I would, myself, appreciate a venue for remediation when I make mistakes  as a seller. But again, I worry that I'm encouraging bad behavior, to some degree, by not making anything stick. I'm doing a disservice to good sellers and the buying community by not making a permanent record of my initial dissatisfaction.

4. If a seller offers an item return, but you opt to keep the poorly graded item, do you still leave negative feedback?

The seller is trying to offer a resolution. But this doesn't erase the fact that they tried to sell me a heavily used book as "Brand New". It may not be worth my time and labor to return a low cost item. Or it may still have some value to me at the lower grade. The seller, at times, will offer a return but not accept my counter offer of a partial refund. I don't want to leave positive feedback, because they still (in a lot of cases) lied about an item condition. I don't want to leave negative or neutral feedback because they offered a proper return. I'm a jerk to someone either way I handle the situation.

Just some food for thought. Wondering how the community feels these days. Perhaps I'm just overthinking things.

[tunicaslot]

I don't exclusively sell books - mostly clothes and collectibles - but the problem exists in all categories.

As a seller - I tend to undervalue my items as I want a buyer that is satisfied and surprised when they receive an item that is better than they expected and my feedback proves that. The downside is buyers fall for the excellent condition description and read not further - often to see the words except that follow that excellent - and would buy that item before mine. 

If I'm dissatisfied - I do reach out to the seller - but many times the seller will rebuff you due to the mindset that all buyers who contact a seller must be trying to scam them. Sometimes the sellers get very abusive and then a buyer has no choice but to open up a claim. Many sellers wonder why buyers open claims withput contacting them - and the reason is they have had a bad time previously when trying to talk to a seller about their dissatisfaction.

I never offer partials - but have given a few if the item has a problem that I may have missed - it happens. 

Many of the problems you described may be found if you ask for clearer pictures or more pictures before purchasing the item. If selling a book - I take photos from all angles - take pics of a few of the pages inside - take pictures of the spine from various positions as well as have a complete description of any problem I see.

Many of my friends - also buyers - have experienced way more problems with items they've received than they have in the past. As far as revisions - I never ask for them - I respond to any neg or neutral with a professional reply. I'd rather a potential buyer see both sides of the issue rather than see a revision and think I'm going to roll over and give them a partial just because they have a complaint. 

[kaylestapleto-2]

Maybe what they mean by new, is that they owned it for just a short time. 

So, my mom is a math teacher, and wanted these math toy type things, called math magic keyboards. There was a seller on here who had placed a picture of  the item that they were selling, only it was an image found on google. They stated that the product was used. The picture was of one that looked to be in mint condition. Well, when my mom won the bid by $15, she recieved the package expecting to get what she saw in the photo, but was greeted with a yellowed keyboard, coated in crusty glitter, paint, and dried glue. Several bits of the decoration were missing or rotting away. Although the item was listed as used, the image shown gave us a higher expectation. 

So I'm wondering if maybe the books you bought had images of the actual prouct the person was selling, or just an image off of google. 

Sometimes you can tell the quality of the product by being able to see it.

I think it depends on how awful the item is in to return it. Like, recieving a book with some bent pages, or coffee stains on a page or two wouldn't bother me, even if it said the book was new. As long as it is used, I can understand. BUT, if it said it was new, used, and came to me with the front cover torn half off, pages ripped in half, glue, smudges, writing, etc, then yeah, I'd return it asap. 

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

If I returned all the things I got that were NAD I’d have no time for work. Most of 6hem I buy for resale so I’m lucky to be able to get my money back even when reselling with all flaws disclosed.

to me it’s not orth the hassle or considerable stress of dealing with sellers who may be rude. Plus I rely on this place for inventory. How many sellers do I want to anger?

as far as feedback is concerned, since it should be left at the end of the transaction there should be nothing to revise. If you’re using it to force a seller to fix a problem you’re not using it the way it should be used

[nc-daydreamer]

First I re-read the ad to be certain that the problem does not come from my own expectations of the item and that the description is actually wrong. Then I try to contact vendor to work something out.  I always try to give the 'bebefit of the doubt'. In over 10 years - I've only had to escalate one return.  

[uzumakey]

I have sold books numerous times on here before, and this is exactly why I grade slightly lower than I probably should. If a pre-owned book isn't pristine I will rate is good/very good instead of like new and will describe every flaw on every single volume I have up for sale. I do the same thing with anything else I sell but I don't have to grade these items.

As a book buyer I've gotten some books that aren't as nice as described, and others that are in perfect condition that were just described as "good." I'm not a collector and only buy physical copies to read, so as long as something wasn't grossly misrepresented or overpriced I won't care too much.

In any other category, how I respond depends on the price I paid. Was I able to get vintage jeans for $5 plus shipping, but they smelled musty and had a stain that was more prominent in person? I don't care, I got an amazing deal. I won't return, contact the seller, and will not leave feedback. Really the only time I would consider leaving a neutral or negative is if the seller was crazy, harassing and abusive.

As a buyer I can get problems resolved with the MBG or through Paypal, I have plenty of options. I don't "owe" it to other buyers to warn them, and I don't want to be that person tarnishing someone else's feedback when I know what a headache selling on eBay can be. I'm sure there are plenty of other buyers out there who are happy to leaves neutrals and negs if the seller has a history of not describing their items super accurately.

As for asking for partials, nope, I won't do it. If something's been significantly misrepresented it's not going to be the quality I was looking for - why would I want to keep it? I don't want a very used garment, makeup that's gone off, moldy books. If there is a problem the seller can have the item back and I'll get my refund. My post office is close to home and I stop by frequently to mail out my own sales so it's not really an inconvenience.

That said...I have noticed that a lot more sellers do not represent their items particularly well on here, and it's gotten worse over the past few years. It is pretty easy to spot sellers like this, though. Poor photos and poor descriptions are a good indicator. I don't think I've ever purchased an item from a seller with great pictures and detailed descriptions and gotten duds. So know what to avoid and if you're worried about an item's condition, always message the seller first. If you don't get the response you want or a response at all, don't buy.

[7606dennis]

If the item is not in the condition it was advertised to be in when you receive it, request a return because it is not as described.  However, be aware that often descriptions of condition are subjective.

[ed8108]

As a buyer to avoid disappointment you realize and expect that most sellers will overgrade , minimize or even fail to disclose some defects in condition.

Then there is the issue of damage that occurs because of very poor packing or extremely rough package handling.

If you can't live with the above reality without complaint in simple terms don't buy! 

             In the case of serious issues a unsatisfactory transaction doesn 't become a positive transaction by your leaving appropriate feedback or dealing with the inconvenience of doing a return.

As a buyer you need to accept that engaging in a purchase transaction may result in the outcome of being ripped off to some degree .

[creoleorchid]

I don’t buy or sell in that category but to answer your question, there is a limit on SNAD returns. We don’t know what that limit is but at some point, that magic number will boot you off the MBG program.

Asking for partial refunds is a good way to get you blocked from those sellers. But if they misdescribe something you probably don’t want to deal with them anyway, right?

[ed8108]

Righteousrelics wrote

" Poor grading is so rampant that I feel no one will believe me"

It is so rampant so that most buyers in my opinion knuckle under and keep what they bought, post no feedback or a positive.