A 'Bay Vent About Disclosure

[DiaperBagDiva]

I recently sold a vtg Coach on 'bay, that I had purchased off of someone else. It ended up being too small for me, so I dumped it. I noticed when I received it ,that the one handle had been repaired with some globs of hot glue. I made sure when I listed it to state it had been repaired, and then showed a close-up pic in the listing.

When I went to print postage after it sold, I noticed the buyers email address was the same as a 'bay store that I had been perusing. I actually liked some of the bags she had. This buyer must have a separate buyer & seller name.

Forward about a week later and I check her store and my suspicions had been confirmed. My bag shows up at a mark up of 5x's what she paid for it. I don't really care about this - that's her business. But what chaps my craw is that she doesn't disclose the repair and marks it up this much?? You can even see a small portion of it in her pic. I guess that's her disclosure? I have to vent and say that I think it's pretty crappy to list an item when you know darn well that the item has a flaw, and you'll let some poor person buy the item like this. I feel like sending her a message and asking her why that repairs' not in the listing.

What's funny is I had one of her bags on watch for a while now, and I was seriously considering buying it if one didn't show up cheaper. There is NO way I would ever buy from her now that I know this. Now I know she doesn't disclose everything and I really hate surprises, especially if I paid that huge mark up, yikes!

I have a love-hate relationship with 'bay right now. Sellers like this really push me away from buying stuff there. I feel bad for the person who buys that bag. They may not see that repair right away and leave positive feedback. And, they paid a huge mark up for a bag they thought was in excellent condition. Sucks!

Thanks for the vent!

[bunnymasseuse]

Sometimes on issues like that where I know the seller isn't disclosing everything I'll watch her feedback till the buyer leaves something for her (or her for the buyer) and then contact the buyer to let her know that it was un-disclosed.

Try to do it AFTER the auction has passed for a while, otherwise the seller (if she found out buyer was in contact with you) could say you were causing auction-interference.

That said, you COULD follow up to your feedback left for that buyer (as a seller yourself) stating that you see buyer resold item w/o issues disclosed... least the person who ends up with it would see that in the seller's feedback history.

[northerndancer]

There are too many sellers out there like this. I expect that is why ebay makes it so easy for buyers to SNAD items. I know lots of people don't like this regime but as a seller and a buyer I would prefer to have to take a return than get stuck with a bag in a condition that has not been fully disclosed.

[noshoepolish]

Happens all the time with dyeing handbags. There are numerous sellers on ebay who buy carp, then shoepolish or dye the stuff passing it off as like new or excellent used condition.

[northerndancer]

Originally Posted by noshoepolish

Happens all the time with dyeing handbags. There are numerous sellers on ebay who buy carp, then shoepolish or dye the stuff passing it off as like new or excellent used condition.

Are they buying crap or carp? Only a supreme master of deception could could turn a fish into a handbag.

[MarneeB]

Yes, I'm sure this does happen all the time. I just bought a candle that the seller stated 'new', 'brand new' and 'never been burned' all over the listing. I get it and it's clearly been used!
Really pi$$es me off, cause then I had to pay to ship it back. I'm out the money,and item. Stupid eBay.
I swear you have to ask everything and get tons of extra pictures, AND hope the seller is honest. Ugh.

[trumanfinn]

I have the EXACT same thing going on right now, except the markup is only twice what she paid for it. Seller describes what was a very beat up, stained, damaged, shoe polished bag as having a "Warm patina." lol

Sigh...I do kind of feel bad for the person who buys it, although she's had it up for weeks with no bids.

[DiaperBagDiva]

Originally Posted by bunnymasseuse

Sometimes on issues like that where I know the seller isn't disclosing everything I'll watch her feedback till the buyer leaves something for her (or her for the buyer) and then contact the buyer to let her know that it was un-disclosed. Try to do it AFTER the auction has passed for a while, otherwise the seller (if she found out buyer was in contact with you) could say you were causing auction-interference. That said, you COULD follow up to your feedback left for that buyer (as a seller yourself) stating that you see buyer resold item w/o issues disclosed... least the person who ends up with it would see that in the seller's feedback history.

Great minds think alike - I thought about doing that, too. But wasn't sure if I could get away with it. As far as the feedback, she has a separate buying and selling account.


truman - that 'warm patina' is funny! Maybe it's the same seller.


ITA with MarneeB , I think it's sucky when you have to go through the trouble of returning, and then paying out of your pocket. All because these types of sellers are either too lazy, or sneaky to disclose REAL usage and flaws.


BTW - she has, like a four line description about the bag and the rest of the listing is about how fab SHE is for selling us vtg stuff. LOL

[alij78]

Originally Posted by northerndancer

are they buying crap or carp? Only a supreme master of deception could could turn a fish into a handbag. :d

lol!!!

[eBayguy]

I may have missed it in your original post, but has the buyer left feedback for you on your transaction with them?

What about contacting the new seller and asking why they are listing your item without disclosing the flaw?

I know people like to take aim at eBay, but this happens with stand-alone selling sites as well. With them, you have no eBay trying to correct the wrong. It is just your credit card (hopefully you use one) and the seller.

Our daughter bought an item that arrived broken a few weeks ago, from a stand-alone merchant. Her roommate signed for it but did not inspect it. The time limit to ask for a shipping claim passed before our daughter got home and opened it. Luckily this stand-alone merchant had GREAT customer service, but if they had not, our credit card company might not have backed us up since technically, the time had passed.

You have good and bad on eBay, just as in the "other realm".

[noshoepolish]

I am used to watching what I say on the ebay boards. That's why I used "carp".

Originally Posted by northerndancer

Are they buying crap or carp? Only a supreme master of deception could could turn a fish into a handbag.

[northerndancer]

Originally Posted by noshoepolish

I am used to watching what I say on the ebay boards. That's why I used "carp".

Aha. I get it.

[AmourCouture]

Yuk, sellers like this are the reason why this subforum is filled with so mand SNAD threads!

[DiaperBagDiva]

Originally Posted by eBayguy

I may have missed it in your original post, but has the buyer left feedback for you on your transaction with them? What about contacting the new seller and asking why they are listing your item without disclosing the flaw? I know people like to take aim at eBay, but this happens with stand-alone selling sites as well. With them, you have no eBay trying to correct the wrong. It is just your credit card (hopefully you use one) and the seller. Our daughter bought an item that arrived broken a few weeks ago, from a stand-alone merchant. Her roommate signed for it but did not inspect it. The time limit to ask for a shipping claim passed before our daughter got home and opened it. Luckily this stand-alone merchant had GREAT customer service, but if they had not, our credit card company might not have backed us up since technically, the time had passed. You have good and bad on eBay, just as in the "other realm".

No feedback from her yet, interestingly enough. And I understand it's not just ebay where people can be dishonest. I get disgusted when 'carp' like this happens. I'm glad things worked out for your daughter, though. Sometimes we get lucky.


And I can't ask her why they are listing this item without disclosing the flaw - because it.......... sold




I totally agree 1,000% AmourCouture!!!!

[chloehandbags]

I see this sort of thing all the time - sellers (often powersellers!) buying up very used and/or damaged stuff for very little and then relisting it, far higher, as 'in excellent condition' and not mentioning the flaws...

Drives me insane!

I think, in the case of designer accessories at least, you're generally better off with the little guys selling off their own stuff.

Many of them will not disclose everything, either but, hopefully, you won't have paid through the nose, quite so much, for the privilege of receiving a SNAD item!