Hi. Could some-one give me some advice on this item I sold.

[daffodilau]

Hello.

This is the first time I have posted a question so if I say something wrong please forgive me. I sold a large number of 44 woolworths dominoes item number is 161643065546 and it finished on the 28th March. They were posted with only $4.50 postage to the buyer I paid the extra for the postage so I could have tracking and hopefully not have another item go missing. They were packed safely in a bubble mailer and were perfectly sealed as I do not have anyone interested in collecting them and there was also an extra one I put in for the buyer. I have just received a message from the buyer telling me that half of them have been opened and there was a lot doubles as well. I would suggest that the buyer opened them and decided he did not want to keep them so now he wants to have his money back. Does any-one have any idea how I should approach the buyer in my message to him and how I should resolve it . He is obviously going to be difficult to deal with judging by his abrupt message to me. Thankyou for any-one who can give me some advise.

[daffodilau]

Hi.

Thank you for your message. Yes I have felt all along the inuendo that I sold the dominoes and then cut the corners before I sent them to him.  I have just heard from the buyer and he is now saying that he should have taken photos but he did not. However he is also saying in the same message. it would be easy for him to take photos of some others he has with the corners cut off and send me those pictures He tells me it is 8 dominoes with the corners cut off and has sent me pictures of my listing suggesting that the last photo shows one with the corner cut. I think it is a fold as I checked them all before sending them to him.  However I have no way of triple checking them now.  I believe my listing would still be visable to see. He is still not clarifying to me what he expects me to do. He also has not left feedback for the seller of the other lot of dominoes he bought on the same day as mine.

I would be happy to have the dominoes sent back to me in the same condition as I posted them to him I could then refund him his money and that would be the end.  However as he is saying he cannot send me any photos of anything I sent him as he was busy getting ready to go on holidays  I gather he must have opened them all.

[expanded_perceptions]

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@daffodilau wrote:

Hi.

Thank you for your message. Yes I have felt all along the inuendo that I sold the dominoes and then cut the corners before I sent them to him.  I have just heard from the buyer and he is now saying that he should have taken photos but he did not. However he is also saying in the same message. it would be easy for him to take photos of some others he has with the corners cut off and send me those pictures He tells me it is 8 dominoes with the corners cut off and has sent me pictures of my listing suggesting that the last photo shows one with the corner cut. I think it is a fold as I checked them all before sending them to him.  However I have no way of triple checking them now.  I believe my listing would still be visable to see. He is still not clarifying to me what he expects me to do. He also has not left feedback for the seller of the other lot of dominoes he bought on the same day as mine.

I would be happy to have the dominoes sent back to me in the same condition as I posted them to him I could then refund him his money and that would be the end.  However as he is saying he cannot send me any photos of anything I sent him as he was busy getting ready to go on holidays  I gather he must have opened them all.

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It sounds like a backtracking buyer! He initially saif HALF of them had been opened, now it is about 20% of them? Also there seems to be a lot of 'not being able to', about his messages, and conveniently he is now also going on holiday?

I guess it all comes down to how strongly you are aginst potential scammers? I would be reluctant to bow down on principle, but that is just me personally. It could also be that he is now a lot calmer than when he opened them and now realizes its not as important as it seemed, who knows?

I would be inclined to say that if he can provide a stat dec from his boss and himself, then you are happy to negotiate a refund, I would doubt he would provide this from the boss anyway? I guess we all follow our own ideas on these issues. At the money paid I would perhaps just consider a refund for the 8 he mentions, but another part of me would not give in, and from the outside his backtracking seems to be a sign of knowing he is wrong, and I would be inclined to go for the kill?

Good luck!

[englishrosegardens]

If lots of, or even a few, other sellers are selling guaranteed sets of 44 I think it'd be fairly reasonable for your buyer to assume that your set was supposed to have all different dominos, seeing you listed 44 of them. If you had listed any other number that'd be a different matter but you "just happened" to list the exact same number as what a set contains.

If it was me I'd probably refund all of his money except for your costs (postage, fees, etc). The dominos cost you nothing so you're not going to be out of pocket if you do this. The other bidders may well have thought the same thing as your buyer, so you can't assume you're losing out on the chance to sell to the others.

It's one of those unfortunate thing that happens but I can see both sides of the story. Your buyer may have well have padded his story initially in an effort to get what he thought was a just outcome, which I can't blame him for.

[elle_luxury]

Since it is only $25 (and not worth the headache), I would just get the buyer to return the item to you and then refund them. You can always just resell it.  

[ambercat16]

Just a couple of points in response to your comments.....

1. The item number quoted in the original post actually sold for $65.50 and $4.50 postage, not $25 as you state

2. Part of the description in the original listing reads:  

"On offer is terrific large set of dominoes for the children to sit around and try to complete their sets. 

Plenty of dominoes to open for everyone. Great for the family or for someone hoping to finish their collection." (emphasis mine).  How anyone could read that and assume that he was getting a complete set of dominos beggars belief.

Honestly, why anyone would pay money for unopened dominos completely escapes me.  Fair enough to buy one or two open ones to complete a set, but when the supermnarket is givng them away free, why would you buy them??

[daffodilau]

Hi. Thankyou for your message. Although I appreciate your thoughts I am not sure where you have the idea that the dominoes were a set. The dominoes were never sold as a set and the buyer has never suggested they were sold as a set either. As I bought groceries I just kept on adding it to the number listed and when this buyer bought them the number was 44. As they were sealed and not opened there would never be any question that they could be  sold as a set. They would have needed to be opened which none were..

It was also not an auction. It was a Buy It Now so there never was any bidders involved.

In his first message to me he told there was a lot of double-ups and some-one has cut the corners of at least half of them to see whats inside. However he also agrees that the item was not tampered with in the mail.

I am not sure how you would read this comment but I feel he is making the statement that after he bought them I cut the corners on at least half of them to see what was inside. Why would I ever want to take the time to cut the corners of half the dominoes to look at someting I have no interest in?  Also why on earth would I risk problems with an item from a supermarket promotion.that could result in a negative? Neither would make any sense.

He told me he would send photos of both the packaging and the dominoes  but now he cannot?  I have always treated any buyers I have been lucky to have with the respect they deserve and when they buy some-thing that item is theirs and is packed as I would have liked it to be if being sent to me. Hence why it was posted in a bubble mailer for safety and not just posted in an envelope. The postage did cost more than what I had charged the buyer of which I was quite prepared to pay to ensure their safe arrival... I do not believe I should be treated with any less respect either.

Have a good night

[daffodilau]

Hi. Thankyou for your message. However I am unsure what listing you are talking about? Could you clarify for me?  For the Buy It Now listing I was asking for help with the buyer has undone all the packets so it would be impossible to return and re-sell the items which is what i would have preferred as well.

[daffodilau]

Hello.

Thankyou very much for your message. You have managed to clarify in a couple of sentences what I was not able to clasrify.

You are correct that it was never. meant to be a set  but was meant to only help in some-ones collection.

I cannot help but agree also that to pay that kind of money for a supermarket promotion is also something I would not do . However I would have been a bit of a fool if I did not ask the amount of money that  other sellers were receiving for the dominoes that they sold. What is amazing is that I actually saw people bidding up to $190.00 for them.

All the best

[elle_luxury]

Your first point - My mistake. I must of copy the wrong item number and the wrong listing came up. 

Your second point - I never stated that.You might have me confused with someone else.

[elle_luxury]

I think eBay will make you refund the item on return anyway if the buyer opens a SNAD. Its really your word against theirs. 

On the other hand, they have not opened a dispute yet. So I would tell them again quite directly - provide a photo of the packets and only until then will you consider giving them a refund.