From doug Sent Wed, Aug 21st 2019, 02:37
Brian, Ebay heavily favors the buyer in situations like this. You should be able to return it and get a refund (including shipping) easily. I don't remember if you're allowed to give negative ratings on returns. The partial refund angle will depend on the seller, but Ebay does support partial refunds too. BTW, I quit selling high value items on Ebay, due to it's buyer favoring. I had a synth returned that was serviced and in great condition, because the buyer did not understand how to operate it. I was out shipping and had problems getting refunded the selling fees. However, I've never had an issue on the buying end. --- Doug Huseby http://synthark.com http://synthark.org On 2019-08-20 20:11, Brian Willoughby wrote: > Hello all, > > I bought a rack-mount miniDisc recorder on eBay, described in the > title as “New Old Stock” > After it arrived, it was clearly well-worn and used. The paper manual > was practically shredded; there were three used miniDiscs in the box > with set names hand-printed on the labels; the styrofoam was beat up > and clearly had been handled hundreds of times; and the unit was not > new or even in the typical plastic wrap. > > Only an idiot would actually think that this was New Old Stock. > > The seller showed photos of the box opened, so clearly they saw the > condition of everything inside. I wrote to the seller to ask why it > was mislabeled, and the only response was, "It was sealed in the box. > We opened it for pictures. If you aren't happy with it we will take it > back for a refund.” I don’t think that having new tape applied over > the old to close the box counts as “sealed in the box,” at least not > in my use of the English language. > > I used to be an eBay expert, but it seems that the market has changed > and there’s a whole new dynamic. > > My question is: What is best option to deal with this? > > 1) Return the unit and wait for another one? > a) Will I actually get my money back? > b) Do I have to take a loss on the return shipping costs? > c) Will I still be able to give this guy a negative rating to warn > others about the fraudulent labeling and description? > d) What if the unit actually works and I prefer the old “bird in the > hand?” > > > 2) Beg the seller for a partial refund? > a) This sort of thing used to be a universal response from sellers on > every complaint. Either that has changed, or this seller is taking a > hard line. > b) I haven’t actually asked, specifically, so perhaps the seller would > be willing. > c) Does eBay now have a process that makes this impossible? … or > difficult? > > > or, should I: > > 3) Shut up and learn my lesson that eBay has more scammers than > trustworthy merchants? > a) I’ll obviously confirm that the unit is functional before I choose > this option. > b) Maybe I don’t understand how flexible the term “New Old Stock” > really is, and I should just tape up the original box for any of the > used items I sell and say, "New old stock we believe. Was still sealed > in the box." > > > Sorry for the non-Analog content, but this community seems very savvy > about eBay. > > Brian