glitterata
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2002
- Messages
- 4,502
Experienced Ebayers, I need some advice.
I bought a piece of antique jewelry--a Georgian miniature painting under glass, set in a gold pendant--from an ebay seller with over 100% positive feedback for the past couple of years, and over 5000 feedbacks total. Her auctions have lots of very high quality photos, very detailed and professionally photographed. Looking at the photos, I saw what seemed to be a chip in the glass and a crack in whatever the painting is painted on, probably ivory.
The description pointed out the apparent chip, but said it wasn''t damage to the glass, but instead was a "very slight moisture mark."
In all but two of the photos, the apparent crack in the ivory showed up clearly as a line across the piece. More alarmingly, in the two biggest closeups of the area, the line seemed to be crudely and incompletely photoshopped out.
I emailed the seller to ask about this. She told me she''d examined the piece carefully through her loupe and while she saw the line, it wasn''t a crack. She thought it might be a faint scratch. She assured me that she would never photoshop a photo and said that the apparent photoshopping might be an artifact of the scanner used for that particular image. She posted our exchange on the listing, so other bidders could see my question and her answer.
This all seemed kind of odd, but she had perfect feedback and I really wanted the pendant. It''s a sentimental piece, rather than a mourning piece like they usually are, and it harmonizes wonderfully with my beloved anniversary ring, which is also a miniature from the same period, with similar symbolic subject matter.
So I went ahead and bid, and I won.
When the item arrived, lo and behold: A chip and a crack. Clear as day. You can feel the chip with your fingernail. You''d have to be pretty blind to miss the crack, especially through a loupe.
I emailed the seller and suggested that I take the piece to an independent appraiser. If he confirmed that the chip was a chip, I suggested, she would pay the fee. If he agreed with her that it was a "moisture mark" and not damage to the glass, I would pay. I told her that depending on what the appraiser had to say, I would either want to return it for a refund or keep it and ask for a partial refund.
She wrote back and told me to just return it for a refund. She said she didn''t want to incur appraisers'' fees. She said, "I''m sorry if I''ve missed something. It was not intentional, and our best effort is always to the end result of a happy buyer. My eyes are getting older, but our images are always extra large and clear. I might have misread something on the image?"
The price I paid was more than fair for an item without a chip and a crack. For the same item with the chip and the crack, I''m not so sure. It''s a lot of money for me. But I do love the piece, I''m confident that it''s authentic, and I don''t think I''ll ever find one quite like this again. So I''m leaning toward keeping it.
But I don''t know what to do about the feedback.
On the one hand, the business about the chip might have been an honest mistake if she has bad eyesight. And the crack is faint, so I guess someone with bad eyesight might have made a mistake about that too.
But the business with the apparent photoshopping seems pretty fishy. If the other bidders believed her about the piece being in "excellent" condition, they may have bid higher than they would have if she had disclosed the damage, thus bumping my winning bid up.
So what should I do? Keep it, but leave negative or neutral feedback to warn other potential buyers that her descriptions aren''t as trustworthy as they might sound? Keep it and don''t leave any feedback? Tell her I want to keep it, but I believe my winning bid was artificially raised by the way she misrepresented the condition, so I would like some money back (perhaps the amount I paid over her reserve price), or I''ll feel I have to leave neg or neutral feedback explaining the situation?
That last choice sounds like blackmail and goes against my grain.
She already left me positive feedback, by the way, as soon as I paid for the item.
Thanks in advance for the advice!
I bought a piece of antique jewelry--a Georgian miniature painting under glass, set in a gold pendant--from an ebay seller with over 100% positive feedback for the past couple of years, and over 5000 feedbacks total. Her auctions have lots of very high quality photos, very detailed and professionally photographed. Looking at the photos, I saw what seemed to be a chip in the glass and a crack in whatever the painting is painted on, probably ivory.
The description pointed out the apparent chip, but said it wasn''t damage to the glass, but instead was a "very slight moisture mark."
In all but two of the photos, the apparent crack in the ivory showed up clearly as a line across the piece. More alarmingly, in the two biggest closeups of the area, the line seemed to be crudely and incompletely photoshopped out.
I emailed the seller to ask about this. She told me she''d examined the piece carefully through her loupe and while she saw the line, it wasn''t a crack. She thought it might be a faint scratch. She assured me that she would never photoshop a photo and said that the apparent photoshopping might be an artifact of the scanner used for that particular image. She posted our exchange on the listing, so other bidders could see my question and her answer.
This all seemed kind of odd, but she had perfect feedback and I really wanted the pendant. It''s a sentimental piece, rather than a mourning piece like they usually are, and it harmonizes wonderfully with my beloved anniversary ring, which is also a miniature from the same period, with similar symbolic subject matter.
So I went ahead and bid, and I won.
When the item arrived, lo and behold: A chip and a crack. Clear as day. You can feel the chip with your fingernail. You''d have to be pretty blind to miss the crack, especially through a loupe.
I emailed the seller and suggested that I take the piece to an independent appraiser. If he confirmed that the chip was a chip, I suggested, she would pay the fee. If he agreed with her that it was a "moisture mark" and not damage to the glass, I would pay. I told her that depending on what the appraiser had to say, I would either want to return it for a refund or keep it and ask for a partial refund.
She wrote back and told me to just return it for a refund. She said she didn''t want to incur appraisers'' fees. She said, "I''m sorry if I''ve missed something. It was not intentional, and our best effort is always to the end result of a happy buyer. My eyes are getting older, but our images are always extra large and clear. I might have misread something on the image?"
The price I paid was more than fair for an item without a chip and a crack. For the same item with the chip and the crack, I''m not so sure. It''s a lot of money for me. But I do love the piece, I''m confident that it''s authentic, and I don''t think I''ll ever find one quite like this again. So I''m leaning toward keeping it.
But I don''t know what to do about the feedback.
On the one hand, the business about the chip might have been an honest mistake if she has bad eyesight. And the crack is faint, so I guess someone with bad eyesight might have made a mistake about that too.
But the business with the apparent photoshopping seems pretty fishy. If the other bidders believed her about the piece being in "excellent" condition, they may have bid higher than they would have if she had disclosed the damage, thus bumping my winning bid up.
So what should I do? Keep it, but leave negative or neutral feedback to warn other potential buyers that her descriptions aren''t as trustworthy as they might sound? Keep it and don''t leave any feedback? Tell her I want to keep it, but I believe my winning bid was artificially raised by the way she misrepresented the condition, so I would like some money back (perhaps the amount I paid over her reserve price), or I''ll feel I have to leave neg or neutral feedback explaining the situation?
That last choice sounds like blackmail and goes against my grain.
She already left me positive feedback, by the way, as soon as I paid for the item.
Thanks in advance for the advice!
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