Yes I agree on what you said and I do think it wasn't right putting the sale off site. However, just want to clarify things out.
1) Seller did indicate in her listing details that please inbox for more info. Before the transaction was done, the buyer did ask for real pictures of the handbag. And seller did send multiple pictures of the actual bag to her via eBay message before the buyer made the decision of purchasing. The picture did show that the bag was in the original packaging and is completely brand new; still has the price tag, paper and the plastic bag.
Keep in mind that on this site, most of the brand authenticators require ACTIVE listings to be authenticated. They won't look at completed listings, sold listings, items from from thrift stores or consignment stores, and won't talk to sellers. Most of the authenticators are very strict. Some authenticators even require those requesting a free authentication to have a minumum number of posts and participation before they'll help with authentications. (And because they're volunteers, they can make their own rules, ignore posts or members if desired and aren't required to follow any "rules" regarding authentications.)
Here on Coach (and the other brands I personally do), we are very lenient because we want to help both buyers and sellers. We don't want buyers to get fakes, sellers to list fakes and even defend buyers or sellers who wrongly accuse the other of wrongdoing.
So when a listing is posted, most authenticators want to see the pictures of the item in the listing. We aren't privy to the emails exchanged between buyer and seller and it's to everyone's benefit when the listing shows everything that's necessary for the buyer to make an informed purchase and for a seller to defend herself in the event of a dispute.
As for pictures sent to the buyer that you say did show that the bag was in the original packaging and is completely brand new; still has the price tag, paper and the plastic bag, that doesn't prove anything. It's the details of the bag itself that prove or disprove authenticity.
Tags, paper, plastic bags and even receipts don't prove anything. Genuine props only show that a genuine item was purchased at some point. But dishonest sellers often use genuine receipts to prove authenticity of their fakes.
Additionally, all those props you mentioned can be faked. There are websites where you can buy receipts with custom dates, prices and whatever other "proofs" you need.
2) Please put yourself into the seller shoes, yes, buyer has made mistake of using photo that is not taken by her on the listing. However, she did talk to the buyer privately and got her the photo of the actual bag, which the buyer has never mentioned in the forum. At first, when the buyer complained about the misspell, i would have thought that it was only a manufratuer defect. But the bag is 100% authentic,i informed the buyer that she could do an exchage from coach. Later on, when the buyer denied to exchange and insist on the bag was a knock off. I called the store in which I have purchased the bag ands see if I have purchased a fake bag from a local coach store. The SA of the local Seattle store verified with me that all the dinky and even the one with fringe has the misspell. I then called to the store at Utah and New York, just to confirm if it's a problem on every dinky that are currently display for sale. Looks what I got, same answer from 2 different stores at 2 different locations. Hence, I told the buyer that it is a manufacturer defect that coach has made for this whole series of handbag and garenteed the bag is authentic. I get that the buyer doesn't feel comfortable having a bag with a mistake on the storypatch. However, the seller did not do anything to trick her on buying anything, nor selling her a fake bag. If someone brought a handbag from you, and you know the bag is 100% authentic, but the buyer does not feel "comfortable" of taking the bag, will you be willing to take the return ? I mean on my listing it has clearly stated that NO returned is accepted.
I certainly have no problem with putting myself in your shoes because I'm a seller and I'd venture to guess that any seller who sells enough will be in the same position. It might be a buyer with remorse, it might be a buyer who doesn't like the color in real life, it might be a buyer who believes she got a fake. And for whatever reason, the buyer wants to return the item.
Most good sellers who encounter an unhappy buyer want to do what it takes to make that buyer happy. Sometimes it just takes reassuring the buyer about the authenticity and sometimes it takes accepting a return even if you don't want to take it.
In this case, I would absolutely take the return and in fact, I'd probably return the bag to the store because with the misspelling on the creed, it's too chancey to take a chance on selling it. (And in fact, that's exactly what I told your buyer at some point. I told her if she likes the bag, she can keep it but I didn't recommend reselling it when she tired of it because a misspelling on a creed it a difficult thing to prove as legitimate.)
3) I do aplogize for anything that have said offending you. No bad intention at all. But am really frustrated and upset about the whole situation. If I really do sell a knock off, I wouldn't be so upset and trying to stand for myself in this forum. I did learn a lesson now. never taking off an sale off site and certainly only using my own photos !
As for using your own photos, you might want to start with taking your own pictures of the Air Jordan sneakers. After having gone through this mess, I would have thought you'd have ended that listing days ago and relisted with your pictures of the actual shoes!
Keep in mind that Air Jordan (Nike, Adidas and others) are adamantly against infringement of their images and if they do a VeRO takedown of your listing with stock pics, you might get a temporary ban from selling.
This is another case of selling a highly faked item so not only can a buyer know what they're getting but they can't see the soles and if there's wear, can't see the markings to have them authenticated, and with stock images, a buyer doesn't know whether you really have the item in your possession or if you're dropshipping from a counterfeiter in China!
As much as ebay will have you believe that selling is easy, it's not. It's a lot of work and with every listing and every sale, you learn something new about being a better seller.
