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Since the release of 2009 Topps Series 1 I have been trying to get my mitts on a black parallel of Adam Lind. I missed a couple early on because I knew that eventually the price would level out on them. So now about 10 months later I finally win one on eBay or $3.50 and $1.95 shipping. Sweet.
Not really.
I go to the post office yesterday to check my mailbox only to find that they have placed a yellow card in my mailbox indicating that a piece of mail was too large and they are holding it. Or in this case that my mail is destroyed and I need to pick up the pieces. How all of this even made it to me is amazing. The envelope, that's right, a PLAIN WHITE F-ING ENVELOPE, was open, ripped, and destroyed, along with my poor Adam Lind card. Card was inside a toploader that was too large, and ironically there was a team bag taped to the inside of the greeting card, yes the seller attached it to a f-ing greeting card, yet did not place the toploader inside the bag.
Now at this point yesterday I was steaming mad. I emailed the seller who appeared to be willing to work with me, said after I sent him the pictures of the damaged card he would refund my money. I send him the 4 pictures I am posting here, and his response after is:
"The Ebay Return Policy is to return the item, then get a refund. I can see no damage to the card at all. Sure, the envelope was damaged, but your photos show no damage at all to the top loader and your photo of the card is in a torn soft sleeve that could not have been torn due to the fact that the top loader was sealed in a team set bag and taped to the rigid card. As soon as the card is returned, I will refund your payment per Ebay return policy. Please do not do any intentional damage to the card"
Now why the hell would I buy a card and then rip it, to get a refund? Why bother to buy something only to destroy it and send it back. Now I'm flippin' angry and ready to blow my top. I really want to know why the f- this dude thinks that it would have been ripped. So now I have written him 2 not nice e-mails because I am ready to scream. I just opened disputes with eBay and PayPal as well. I suggest you all avoid purchasing any items from mikegrove7 on eBay because he ships in PLAIN WHITE ENVELOPES and uses a greeting card as "protection".
UPDATE: The sellers response to the card being damaged and me filing a complaint...
"I've been doing this for 10 years and always the same way. The card WAS placed in a soft sleeve, then in a toploader, it was then placed upside down inside the team bag and the team bag was sealed and taped to the rigid card stock. There is NO VISIBLE DAMAGE to the card shown in your pictures. Only damage to the soft sleeve. I will be investigating this with Ebay Seller Services tomorrow. This is the 3rd time I have sold this card on ebay. The first 2 times the buyer never paid and the buyers account was closed. I will be reporting this matter to Ebay along with your complaint for them to research any connections between these accounts. I have offered you a FULL refund for the return of the card. This is Ebay Policy. "
That totally sucks. At least he didn't charge you $3.00 to ship PWE, like other schmucks on Ebay.
ReplyDeleteI will occasionally ship PWE, but only after confirming it's OK with other party, card goes in penny sleeve, toploader, tape toploader so card won't fall out, then tape toploader to inside of "SECURITY" PWE, as they have slightly stronger paper stock.
Thanks for the heads up on this guy.
I wouldn't mind if it were properly packaged and arrived in the condition that was stated in the auction. I might have told him that it was ripped but said the card was fine. Really fuming mad.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind trades in PWE as long as they are mailed securely and not more than a card or two.
I know this experience all too well. I always expect some damage to large lots and consider it part of the deal, but with one card it better show up nice. His packaging is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI'd take the card out of the sleeve and packaging, and circle the damage on the picture.
He is either genuinely confused by the sleeve tear or is just betting you won't pay return costs. Or both.
Oh I'm going to send it back. And I'm going to send it back like a human being in a bubble mailer and include his original crap as well.
ReplyDeleteI would send it back in pieces.... He's going to sell that card again to another person,you know.... Rip the shit out of it!! Please,i'll spilt the cost with ya!
ReplyDeletemake sure to leave the comment "paper envelope" in your feedback. When I am thinking about bidding on a card, I list hundreds of feedbacks per page and search for "paper envelope" to see if the seller knows how to ship a card or not.
ReplyDeleteScrew PWE shippers, bubble mailers bought in bulk are less then 20 cents a piece, there is never a excuse.
ReplyDeleteExcept it was sent in cardstock. lol.
ReplyDeletewhat a fucking tool! every time i get a PWE in auction I email the seller and tell them about marking it NON MACHINABLE...an extra .22 and saves having the machine eat the card, damn this is not that complicated......but if you charge more than 1.00 for shipping you best be using bubble mailers. Give the dumbass hell, don't let up!
ReplyDeleteThat is absolutely stupid on his part. I used to sell on ebay (hertz27) and I left a while ago because it just sucks with what you get from other sellers anymore. Cheesy envelopes, unprotected cards, then when you file a complaint for your stuff being damaged the sellers quote "the holy ebay bible at you". Sick of the overcharges on shipping. Nobody seems to barter anymore and wants book value on something that no one on the face of the earth is gonna pay that much for. Ok....I'm getting off of my soapbox.
ReplyDeleteHey I have a bunch of extra Adam Lind's from my Adam Collection. Is there anything particular you might be looking for because I may have one or two extras?
ReplyDeleteTim, e-mail me at cardbandits AT gmail DOT com, maybe we can trade some doubles.
ReplyDeleteUgh - that sucks. Thanks for posting the seller's eBay ID. I keep a list of those to avoid and this is one of them.
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ReplyDeleteTrying again. I wrote a comment then wrote another to correct my typo so it would make sense. Screwed that up too. Very tired.
ReplyDeleteMy question is does this Lind seller know you are warning others about his business practices?
I am having a potential issue too and was wondering if I should tell the seller I plan on warning others.
Thnx.
Ken, I didn't tell the seller that I was going to inform others of his business practices basically because it's none of his business what I do. I did inform him that I write a blog about baseball cards that gets plenty of hits from collectors who also buy on eBay. That was his hint.
ReplyDeleteSellers who also collect baseball cards, I would think, would know better than to ship something like this. Then again I have encountered plenty of people who don't collect and ship things better than him so who knows.
Ok, thanks.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm getting fed up with Ebay too. It just seems like once they get our money the condition we receive it in is secondary. They forget the whole point of the purchase is to get the card in good shape.
I have about 4 sellers I really like, but they don't put stuff up often enough.