eBay - really disappointed with seller and seeking advice

[arkieb1]

Re: eBay - really disappointed with seller and seeking advic

Well, fake ... or an M that was listed as an I ... Or any number of other possible things. Some of the minutia that sets the price is really hard to pinpoint on the spot (particularly when it's not the spot of your choosing and possibly lacking preferred lighting, tools, etc.), even for a trained appraiser.

Fake stones I totally agree. But if you score an amazing bargain on ebay as many here have before and its marketed as an "I" and it comes it at an "L" then what. I would suggest it depends on if you 1) Love the item and 2) How much you paid for it

Most of the die hard ebay hunters will tell you assume that the grading is at least 2 to 3 colours out and up to 2 clarities out and work out the price accordingly. All I am saying here is when you buy off ebay you don't do it in a bubble. People that expect a D VVS stone for the price of a L SI1 are kidding themselves.

People that end up with a better coloured stone or a larger stone than the vendor advertised don't go back to the vendor and offer them more money. Ebay is what ebay is.....

The fact she has seen the item makes it much more difficult to claim its being misrepresented, she can see if its a colour she can live with, if its a good price for what it is and if its a yuk cut or a decent cut etc.

We also now know this vendor has been difficult and not nice to deal with so again I would make the assumption there will be no refunds, so the decision has to be made if you suck it up and deal with those terms or not, ie is the reward greater than the risk. You have seen the item in person only you know the answer to that question.

 

[Chloegal]

Re: eBay - really disappointed with seller and seeking advic

I actually think that the seller was out of line. In a case of no bids why would you expect someone to buy from you when you have supplied a lower price as an option.

When I sell something on ebay `direct` and cut short an auction with no bids, I always go with just a little over the starting bid price. Then, if the buyer really wants it they will pay the slight increase over the base price, or they put a bid and wait for the auction to end. Sometimes they save a bit by waiting and sometimes the item goes for more than I offered (yay). But that`s the risk in an auction!

For a Seller to assume you aren`t even going to try to bid at $5000 when there are no other bids is a bit rich. Also I cant tell if he voided the transaction to sell privately to you (no fees) or if the sale was still to go through ebay.

But over and above the story I would not buy from this seller because he is the one who seems difficult to deal with and people who cant move past a misunderstanding are best left to their own devices imo.

 

[partgypsy]

Re: eBay - really disappointed with seller and seeking advic

I agree with chloegal. If you didn't talk to the seller, you could have purchased it for 5K, and the seller would also have to pay fees. Instead, he canceled the sale to sell it to you privately, but expected you to pay the higher price (7.5K). That's unreasonable.

I'm not sure if I would trust the seller in that situation, to do the fair or right thing.

 

[ruby59]

Re: eBay - really disappointed with seller and seeking advic

I don't mean to be rude here, but I think some of you are missing the point. She has seen the item. The ebay refund policy is really for when you get the item in the post having never seen it before and go "holy bleep that really is misrepresented" and then wish to send it back for a refund. If she has seen it in person and loves it, then there should be no logical cause for a refund unless you then go and get it valued and the stone was fake or something like that.

And Ruby59, I seem to remember you and I have had this argument on here once before, when you buy from ebay you either accept it's something on ebay and has SOME level or risk attached to it or you simply don't buy off ebay like Diamondseeker is rather sensibly suggesting and stick to known vendors.

It really irritates me no end that people slam ebay, yes, there are great bargains and yes there are great rip offs it's up to the buyer to perform all due diligence on such items or simply don't buy off there in the first place. If you are after a bargain then you must be willing to undergo some level of risk depending upon the price, most of the ebay hunters on here will tell you that. Having said that a sensible approach would be dealing only with ebay vendors that do have a full refund policy. In this case I would guess she has sufficiently annoyed the vendor that no such refund would be offered and the general gist of the dealings so far also suggest there will be no refunds, so perhaps it is best to work out if you can or can't live without the item in question.

I would have to look at old posts, but I do not believe you had that discussion with me. And I think you are misunderstanding me. When I say off ebay, I mean circumventing ebay. As a seller and buyer on ebay since 1999, I would have to be a fan. But you have to admit, things on there have changed. And both the buyer and seller take risks, imo. And that was my point. And in this case, a buyer can greatly mitigate their risk by not trying to circumvent ebay unless it is a seller that they know well. Even with sellers who have return policies, if you circumvent ebay, the seller can reneg (?) and there is nothing you can do about it.

I understand diamondseekers point, in that I have a list of sellers that I have shopped with many times and would not hesitate to deal with. However, the way I read the OP's post was that this was a new seller she never dealt with before and trying to circumvent ebay, imo was not a good idea. Yes, she saw the item, but on closer inspection by a trained appraiser, what you see is not always what you get.
Case in point, the woman who bought platinum diamond earrings and ended up with palladium.

As far as there being great bargains, once upon a time that was very true. Not so much anymore, imo -- at least that I can find.

 

[arkieb1]

Re: eBay - really disappointed with seller and seeking advic

O.K we will all stop bickering. Did you get someone to help you buy the item or go back and see the guy or not? If not what is it that you are looking for maybe someone can help you find another one.