Hello. I wanted to run my latest ebay experience by some other ebayers to see if my suspicion of being scammed is valid. I sold an antique sterling silver coffee/tea pitcher. The winning bidder paid $780.00 for it. I am not naive and know that a large number of buyers buying silver are buying it for the melt value. The pitcher weighed almost 4 pounds. After some research, I found that the melt value for sterling weighing that much is over $850.00.
So yesterday, 3 full weeks after the package was delivered from UPS, I got an email from the buyer saying "damaged, packaging not good." It also included a picture of my piece with a perfectly round dent in the side, about the size of a nickel. It was in excellent condition when I sent it, and I thought I packaged it very well, with lots of padding. Anyway, I wrote back saying I was sorry to see that, and asked if he could send pictures of the damaged packaging as well... I also asked why he waited 3 weeks to let me know about this, then asked how he wanted to proceed. He wrote back and all he said was "I want partial refund- $180"
I know the melt value remains the same-- dent or no dent. And if he wanted to use it for its intended purpose, wouldn't he want to send it back for a full refund since it's now damaged?! It just seems a little suspicious to me. I use ebay causally, and do not have thousands of transactions. I can't help but think this person sees me as inexperienced and wants to keep the item and get money back. Let me know what you guys think. Are scams like this with silver or gold common? Should I just send him the $180, and move on?
