Would this bother you? 2006 silver quarters proof set

I bought one off e-bay and it arrived today.

The seller used a stock photo in the auction. They didn't make any specific warranties about the condition of the set, nor did they say that anything was wrong with it.

So the set arrived, and the plastic housing is pretty scratched up. There's also a crack in the plastic case that's a little over a half inch long. The crack isn't over one of the quarters, it's about a half inch below one of them. It was shipped in a bubble wrap envelope and the box was kind of depressed a little bit, so it wouldn't surprise me if it happened in transit.

All the quarters appear to be just fine.

Given that he didn't say anything regarding condition one way or the other, would this bug you guys? Am I being too picky? Not picky enough?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

It would bug me but I have been told recently that I am not an easy person to get along with

 

Think I should ask for another one? He had bunches. I guess if it were just scratches, I would be a little less peeved. But the crack kind of bums me out. Now they're not perfectly sealed up.

 

It would bother me. I don't collect proof sets, but if I did, I would want them to be pristine, and I would search them to find just the right ones. From a selling perspective, I know that when I buy damaged proof sets, I have to sell them at a discount to make them go away. Even the old silver proof sets in envelopes bring a lower premium for not having the envelope.

Now, the real question is should you take action against the eBay seller. There are a couple of ways to look at it. You don't know when the damage occurred, so that's working against you. You didn't ask the question, but the seller didn't disclose a problem, so that's really a push. The relatively low value of the set works against you too (what are you going to do...pay postage to send it back? You can just add the amount of your postage to the next set you buy to get your "true cost.")

So, that assessment doesn't seem to be favorable to you. What wouldn't hurt would be to ask the seller if the set was damaged when they shipped it. If not, and if it were insured, perhaps you can recover money from the insuring agency (probably USPS.) Maybe the seller will offer you a couple of dollars as a refund. Maybe the seller will tell you to take a hike. We just don't know. What we do know is that it won't hurt to ask. Be polite, and non-accusatory, for best results.

Good luck!

 

Ack!

So I was so busy paying attention to the crack and scratches yesterday, that I didn't even notice that he sent me the wrong thing! This is a clad proof set, not a silver proof set! A clad proof set stuck in the box of a silver proof set...How aggravating.

I just emailed him. I'm not optimistic that he's going to be decent about this, but I'm trying to keep my hopes up.

 

Oh man that's not cool at all. I wish you luck in getting your money back.

 

I know...and the COA (not that that is worth anything) is for the silver quarters.

The guy's a power seller with 33,000 feedback ratings at 99.7%. You'd think he'd be a good guy to buy from. But when I wrote him about the crack the response was very non-helpful...just said it must have been damaged in the mail because he personally inspected it before putting it in.

But,

A) The scratches were so extensive and so multi directional that this couldn't have been the normal wear from one shipment. This is a "well loved" proof set.

b) And B, he just wrapped it in a bubble envelope--that's fine if you're sending single coins in those "fold over" style holders that you staple shut, but if you're sending a proof set with a plastic casing, then all you need is for it to be put underneath something heavy and of course the plastic is going to crack.

Watch, he'll probably accuse me of swapping out the silver for this clad set in some sneaky attempt to swindle him out of $5 of book value coins.

 

it would bother me as it would affect how i saw the coins inside... good luck!

 

Well now that I know it's not even a silver set, the crack is irrelevant. He should give a full refund and cover return shipping. We'll see what he says.

 

Well, if it were me, I'd give him an ultimatum (>noun (pl. ultimatums or ultimata) a final demand or statement of terms, the rejection of which will result in retaliation or a breakdown in relations.)

Seriously, that's pretty lame of him to do that. Even if this was an accident, it's pretty poor if a seller can't keep sales straight. Chances are it was on purpose and many novices who have just gotten into state quarters and coin collecting might not have ever caught it. He would have received positive feedback for it and the person would just be ripped off. (That scenario probably happens more than we realize.)

I'd ask for immediate refund and send them back to him AFTER it's received. I'd give him 24 hrs.
In the mean time, I'd be ready for 'a breakdown in relations' and I would think about how best to creatively abbreviate words in the feedback line to pack as much as I could in to the negative feedback he's got coming.

I give one chance for a positive response after a bad sale. After that, a negative feedback warning. Depending on the response and/or result after that, appropriate feedback is left. Very simple. Been through it several times.

 

Okay, but what leverage do I have other than one feedback line of 33,000?

I only have 8 pieces of feedback on eBay (all positive), but I am wanting to transact more on eBay so I don't really want to get a negative--which of course he will give me if I give him one.

I thought sellers were supposed to give feedback as soon as the buyer pays, but he hasn't done that.

 

Sellers can no longer leave negatives anymore. This is exactly the scenario that brought about that change to their policy. All a buyer has to do is pay and wait. If that's achieved, they've earned a positive.
Sellers have all the responsibilities and are the ones who need to be graded accordingly.

At worst, he can leave you a positive, but can say whatever he wants in his positive feedback. Which you are allowed to reply to on your own and defend yourself, as well as he can reply to what you leave him. Be sure to reply to whatever crap he writes.

You don't need to worry about your percentage going down anymore. Thankfully. If he doesn't care about getting a negative, so be it. Let him have it. People can search by only negative feedback for sellers if they want and yours will be there.

 

Really? I didn't know that...I bought it back on 3/31, paid immediately (like immediately, because it was buy it now), and have received no feedback. So are you saying that if enough time passes and he doesn't opt to give me a positive, eBay will just automatically give me a positive? Or will I simply get zero feedback for the transaction?

I've now sent him two messages, one yesterday afternoon and one this morning, and he hasn't responded to either. But he did find time to leave over 30 pieces of feedback for others all day long. I'm not sure, but I feel like I'm being deliberately ignored in the hopes that I'll go away.

 

Yup, he's ignoring you. So I would write him one last message to let him know his negative is coming if you don't have a FULL refund in paypal in 24 hours. This should get a response.

No. The ONLY way HE can leave you any feedback is by clicking the positive one. That's the only option he has if he wants to leave any permanent feedback with you. If he ignores it, you just don't get feedback for the sale.

You have to understand, you can leave a positive feedback for someone but write anything you want in the text line. The words left don't hurt your 100% rating. It's like getting a negative positive. He may give you a positive feedback and then call you A LYING IDIOT, BAD EBAYER, STAY AWAY FROM THIS GUY!!! (in all caps of course) in your feedback line.

Which you can reply to describing the situation. But you only have so much room so you have to abbreviate a lot. Be sure to reply to whatever he leaves you so people know you got ripped off by him and that it's retaliatory feedback. This won't scare people away from you. Besides, you only need to worry about it if you're planning on selling.

As long as you pay in full quickly, what does it matter if your feedback is even 10%? The seller will send you the goods and leave you a new positive. Good sellers will usually leave feedback immediately after someone pays. This guy is waiting to do what I described above. And so what?

 

Here's an example of a positive feedback that a bad seller left in my feedback and my reply:


+ REALLY CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS GUY QUITE A NASTY PERSON

• Reply by (Aug-12-08 18:23):
  
  LOL! Yeah, pd imediatly and waited quietly 4 10 days! Seller mentaly unstable!!

Coincidentally, it says next to his username that "this seller is no longer a registered user." He was suspended by ebay at least once by me. Let back on. Then suspended a final time it would appear.

 

File a complaint with Paypal! He's not going to do anything just because you give him negative feedback.

 

Yup, that's next on the list. Then complain to ebay as well. That will red flag him so when somebody else complains, he'll have history.

Feedback really doesn't mean much. A person could successfully sell 20,000 common pennies and then rip somebody off on an expensive coin and get one negative feedback. Is this a good seller or a bad one?

The guy I got suspended had thousands of positives! It's just that when he ran into problems with somebody, it might be a two month ordeal. He was still sending me insults 2 months after the sale!! Was he a good seller because he had thousands of positive feedback? Apparently not. He's gone now.

 

Gosh, I hate being like this but you're right, I had to write him. Here is what I wrote:

Since you haven't responded to either of my messages yesterday and today, but have been quite active on the site, I am left feeling as though I am being ignored. This may be a small issue to you, but it is of great importance to me.

It is my expectation that you will submit a full refund, shipping included, to me via PayPal within 24 hours, the receipt of which will prompt me to quickly return the coins you sent and regard the situation as satisfactorily resolved. If you do not believe that to be a fair resolution, my intention is to take the following steps:

1) Record negative eBay feedback
2) File a case with eBay's Resolution Center
3) File a complaint with the PayPal system
4) File a complaint with the state Attorneys General office, as this transaction meets the statutory definition of fraud.

Regards,

 

Now it's just getting absurd. After sending that message, he responded back in about 30 seconds, telling me that I didn't know what I was talking about, and that these coins in the blue holder that read "United States Mint 50 State Quarters Proof Set" are silver quarters, and that's how they have been doing them since 2004.

 

It sounds like it's time for him to retire. He doesn't know what he's talking about. I have 2000 through 2008 and I can tell you they're red holders and it actually says "United States Mint 50 State Quarters Silver Proof Set"

Don't feel bad about this confrontation. Half the problem is that most people are too nice and too afraid to confront a situation so sellers get away with a lot. It's easier to take the hit and let it go.
I'm sure there's a lot of positive or missing/ignored feedbacks that should be negatives out there. Some people don't even know when they get ripped off and they gladly leave positives.