What Would You Do? Returned damaged slab.

Here's the deal. I sell a lot of stuff on Ebay. I mistakenly sent the wrong slabbed coin to a guy. He alerted me and I told him I would reimburse the postage to mail it back to me. Needless to say, he really screwed up the return and after 2 weeks or so it finally returned. When I unpacked the coin, which was not packed as well as I did to send it, the slab was badly cracked across the corner over the label on the front and less so on the backside of the slab. You people that have been selling slabbed coins on Ebay for years, what would you do? I sent pics of the damaged slab to the guy but have not heard back yet. Of course it would cost to have it reslabbed, probably make less money selling it cracked. I don't necessarily want to report the buyer yet as Ebay customer service suggested. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I honestly would open up a case or report the buyer if possible. Starting a case doesn't necessarily mean bad for the buyer or seller it's being filed against, it just gives you a protective bubble of time to sort things out.

 

Post a picture so that the damage to the slab can actually be assessed.

 

"Opening a Case" also opens the probability that the buyer would get upset and then file a neg against an otherwise good seller.

I'm not saying that the threat of a neg should dictate the actions the OP would take but opening a case would not be my first response.

I would open a dialogue with the buyer 1st.

 

FWIW, here are my thoughts: I have sent the wrong coin to different buyers a few times over the past decade. When it comes back to me and I am allowed to correct my mistake, I feel VERY lucky. Even if the buyer took his sweet time returning it AND it came back in a damaged slab, the original fault lies with me, the seller, not the buyer. I would cut my losses, apologize profusely to the buyer, refund their postage expense AND send them the correct coin along with a $5 bill and another apology note. Customer service, above and beyond. At least the coin wasn't damaged... just the slab.

 

And by the way, the last time I did all this to correct my mistake, I earned a repeat buyer who has spent hundreds of dollars with me since.

 

I'd wait until the guy replies back. But I'd be ready to hear him say it's not his fault.
No doubt you would have to issue a refund. Just another reason I personally avoid eBay.

 

Honestly, and it's really sad that eBay has come to this, if you are a frequent seller, I think the possible negative has a greater financial impact than the damaged slab, as long as the coin isn't super expensive.

 

You made a mistake by sending the wrong slab. The guy sends it back to you and the slab is damaged while in transit. Sorry if this goes contrary to popular opinion but you're on the hook for this not him. If you would have sent the right product to begin with you wouldn't be in this situation. Why are you trying to make someone else pay for your mistake? Suck it up and move on..........

 

Sounds like the buyer didn't know the proper way to return it but he never signed up for that responsibility. I would refund the guy for everything and hope you don't get a neg.

 

You sent the wrong slab to start this chain of events so I would suggest you suck it up and absorb everything yourself.

 

I agree. Just different words.

 

Well, I kind of agree with what you all say....but, when I package the coin I not only put the slab in a plastic bag but wrap that bag in bubblewrap and put it in a bubble envelope with peanuts to cushion it in transit. Yeah, most people would say that's above and beyond what you need to do, but that's what I do. The gripe I have is instead of just putting a new label on the envelope and returning it, he cuts the envelope in half, doesn't even really wrap the bubblewrap around the slab and ships it off the first time with to and from and the same bar code from when I shipped it so after it floated back and forth for a week from my town to his about 4 times it got redelivered to him because the PO machines kept reading it going to him. Then he attaches a new sort of label and resends it I am sure without checking the coin....or maybe he did and saw it was damaged and didn't want to say anything. Either way, whether it was damaged the first time he sent it or the second, his repackaging was not what it could have or should have been. True, I made the initial mistake and I have done it a few times and the coins were returned properly to avoid damage. Here's a pic of the worst side of the slab.

 

Keemao? It's back home. Rejoice in that.........

 

Insurance?

 

He certainly didn't pack it well but

I know this is a pain and you would like to tell the buyer so, but Idhair has stated it correctly.

 

A number of us have written it, but I do not know that you embrace the idea that you signed up as the seller (the professional) while the buyer did not sign up for that responsibility. Therefore, when the professional makes an error, they cannot always expect the buyer to understand all the ramifications of their actions and cannot expect the buyer to always know the best way to handle an unexpected situation.

 

Unfortunately I don't think you can open a case on the guy unless I mis-understood what you said. Here's what I got out of your story. You sold him a slabbed coin, but you failed to send him the correct coin he bought. You asked him to send you back the slabbed coin and you would pay for postage. He sent it back but now it's messed up. Unfortunately, I don't think you have a leg to stand on and you'll have to eat this one. I could be wrong but I think I'm right.

 

I tell people on my listings that I ship insured and well packaged items and if the item is returned it must be insured or I can not accept the content.

 

You would probably get more money for that coin cracked out of the details slab anyway.