Sold an item that was mistakenly described...

[bob5791]

I recently sold several coin sets to a buyer...one of which was mistakenly described as a 1964 proof set but is actually a 1961 coin set.  I contacted the buyer and asked if he wanted the coin sets as is or cancel the order and haven't heard back from him.  Should I just cancel the order (which is probably what I'm going to do) or ship the order.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Cancel. Even if the buyer says ok, it doesn't prevent them from filing an INAD claim when received.

[klhmdg]

I would cancel.

Make sure you cancel as Out of Stock since you really do not have what the buyer purchased.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Has the buyer actually paid you for the set yet? If not wait and see if he does pay or if he/she responds back. If the buyer has paid I would follow klhmdg's recommendation.

[sin-n-dex]

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@bob5791 wrote:

I recently sold several coin sets to a buyer...one of which was mistakenly described as a 1964 proof set but is actually a 1961 coin set.  I contacted the buyer and asked if he wanted the coin sets as is or cancel the order and haven't heard back from him.  Should I just cancel the order (which is probably what I'm going to do) or ship the order.

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My opinion differs... I would ship the set, and send a note that says you discovered the title/description was wrong, the set is actually 1961 as shown in the photos (I presume you photographed what you're sending), and that you'll accept the return if they want to send it back. Customers have bought things from me that were mistakenly described and they wanted what's in the picture. My having incorrect info in the title did not mean they didn't want the item.

You also sold several sets, if you annoy them with one set, they might cancel the whole order. I've been known to refund postage and ship free when I make a mistake which is how I generally avoid bad feedback on my mess ups. The point is to make the experience with the customer a good one for them.

C.

[12345jamesstamps]

Email first before shipping. If no answer then ship it. I would not cancel for the buyer will probably get upset.

Buyer might actually prefer the mistaken set. Not sure which set has more value. Might point that out to buyer. Buyer might get a better set...if not but buyer wants it you can do a partial refund. Some buyers will ignore emails and not even remember what they bought. Since it was more than one item I think he might want the mistake or a partial refund. Point out the difference in the two different sets to buyer after he replies. I sell stamps which all have different values like coins. Its probably an older gentleman who bought from you. Maybe even send a cheap freebie for mistake if he keeps mistake.

[njrtsr]

It was good that you reached out in advance about the mistake. If it was me, I would go ahead and ship it, and leave a message in the package letting them know about the discrepancy, and saying that I'd pay postage for the return if they were unhappy with it.

Here's the thing... the buyer may have seen the date in your photos (I checked and it's visible) and wanted to buy the 61 set purposefully. I do things like that from time to time, and in my view it's a bonus if I can skip the competition because of a seller's error.

[inhawaii]

I see we have differing opinions here.

Of course I would try and settle the matter BEFORE the items ships

but if that can't be done because the buyer does not respond, I would cancel the sale.

There is no way I would go ahead and ship something that I knew wasn't exactly as described.

Just my opinion.

[onefootflipper]

98 percent of the time when I do a title photo mismatch in trading cards the buyer always seems to want the card in the photo and not the totally unrelated one in the title. While I find this crazy I guess it makes sense as no one searching by card name is then going to pick the one off the search results showing a completely different card. Only people browsing the categories buy those.

As to if I would ship that with the buyer not responding, it really depends on how much money would be lost on the potential return as a percentage value of the item.

Note, you can often get buyers who don't respond to emails to answer a text message if the order lists their phone number.

[sin-n-dex]

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@inhawaii wrote:

I see we have differing opinions here.

Of course I would try and settle the matter BEFORE the items ships

but if that can't be done because the buyer does not respond, I would cancel the sale.

There is no way I would go ahead and ship something that I knew wasn't exactly as described.

Just my opinion.

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A number of buyers never respond... I send a message to tell them X, if I don't hear from them by Y, I will do Z. If they would prefer something different, tell me before Y occurs.

C.