[AH] bad eBay seller - what to do?

From Brian Willoughby
Sent Wed, Aug 21st 2019, 02:08

Hello all,

I bought a rack-mount miniDisc recorder on eBay, described in the title =
as =E2=80=9CNew Old Stock=E2=80=9D
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.=E2=80=9D I don=E2=80=99t think that having new tape =
applied over the old to close the box counts as =E2=80=9Csealed in the =
box,=E2=80=9D 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=E2=80=99s 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 =E2=80=9Cbird in =
the hand?=E2=80=9D


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=E2=80=99t actually asked, specifically, so perhaps the seller =
would be willing.
c) Does eBay now have a process that makes this impossible? =E2=80=A6 or =
difficult?


or, should I:

3) Shut up and learn my lesson that eBay has more scammers than =
trustworthy merchants?
a) I=E2=80=99ll obviously confirm that the unit is functional before I =
choose this option.
b) Maybe I don=E2=80=99t understand how flexible the term =E2=80=9CNew =
Old Stock=E2=80=9D 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