So upset! ebay buyers beware of...

jezebel61113

Member
Nov 7, 2013
112
10
dillinja65

I'm attaching a listing for a Bal bag in a gorgeous orange color. You can see for yourself she listed the bag as new, never use, sat on the shelf blah blah blah.

This is a pre-loved handbag. She is accepting the return after I offered to keep the bag for 1/2 what I paid for it. She is accepting the return so I am sure she will relist it. She insists it was never used. I has signs of normal wear on the bottom edges, a mark on the leather at the opening, slightly cracking leather on the zipper and the patina has worn off of the handles on the inside. The inside of the bag also shows sign of mild wear. Over all, it's a hot little bag and was probably priced well, even for a pre-loved bag, but the fact that she passed it off as brand new and still insists that it is means this seller cannot be trusted.

She tried to tell me that I must have been expecting a "solid color" and that I don't know about Balenciaga distressing. Seriously.

If this is in the wrong forum, let me know and I'll repost it. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up because I'm sure she will be relisting it.

I'm posting the listing now and will post representative pics of the bag tomorrow so if you spot it again, you know what you're really getting.
 

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Oh man...
it sounds like you are dealing with a similar scenario I just dealt with two days ago.

I bought a "great condition", "barely shows any wear or tear" Day and when I received it I was heartbroken to find there was a tear in the back of the leather and that the inner pocket had change, hairties, dirt/lint and gum/candy that had melted into the fabric.

When I told her that I either wanted a $100 partial refund or to return the bag (it was listed as no returns accepted) she flipped her lid on me. Told me I obviously didn't know what pre-loved meant and that all I needed to do was put peanut butter inside the bag to get rid of the gum.

I was floored. If she had disclosed these flaws I would have never bought. And the fact that she is was telling me to get over it and put peanut butter inside a thousand dollar handbag floored me even more. Thankfully I got my refund and she's getting her bag back. But it made me sick.

Makes me think twice about dealings on eBay.

Sorry to take over your post - I just feel your pain completely.
 
Oh man...
it sounds like you are dealing with a similar scenario I just dealt with two days ago.

I bought a "great condition", "barely shows any wear or tear" Day and when I received it I was heartbroken to find there was a tear in the back of the leather and that the inner pocket had change, hairties, dirt/lint and gum/candy that had melted into the fabric.

When I told her that I either wanted a $100 partial refund or to return the bag (it was listed as no returns accepted) she flipped her lid on me. Told me I obviously didn't know what pre-loved meant and that all I needed to do was put peanut butter inside the bag to get rid of the gum.

I was floored. If she had disclosed these flaws I would have never bought. And the fact that she is was telling me to get over it and put peanut butter inside a thousand dollar handbag floored me even more. Thankfully I got my refund and she's getting her bag back. But it made me sick.

Makes me think twice about dealings on eBay.

Sorry to take over your post - I just feel your pain completely.
Don't be silly! That's why I put it here!

I actually just laughed out loud in spite of myself when I read the part about using peanut butter to take out the gum. This isn't a child's hair! It's a $1,000 handbag for pete's sake!

I just called ebay b/c I want to make sure I do the return by the book. She doesn't offer returns and she didn't include the return link in her email so I'm very worried that she won't refund once she receives the bag. I'll send it signature required but still, makes me very nervous.

I'm glad it worked out for you in the end but I definitely relate.

I think I'm going to stick with Yoogi's and Real Deal Collection from now on. Just got a white BV Cervo from Yoogi's that looks like it just came out of the store. I'm waiting on 3 more (cognac twiggy, cyclamen twiggy and LV work) but they're all coming from either Yoogi's or Real Collection.

Definitely staying away from ebay after this, although, my first Real Deal Collection purchase was from ebay & arrives on wednesday. Can't wait! Maybe that will ease the pain of this situation lol. I really did like this color too. :cry:
 
Oh no! So sorry that happened. I saw that listing too - thought it might be 2009 Mandarin.
Good Luck with working it out. Ebay can be scary sometimes.


edit: I just looked at the completed auction - hope you don't mind. She calls it Orange Brulee' which is wrong because that is a 2011 color. The "P" on the metal tag indicates 2010 S/S - which means it is officially the leather: Tomate/Orange - a color that the US Bal Boutiques did not carry....I don't think. Anyway - it's a leather that is probably hard to find.
 
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Oh no! So sorry that happened. I saw that listing too - thought it might be 2009 Mandarin.
Good Luck with working it out. Ebay can be scary sometimes.


edit: I just looked at the completed auction - hope you don't mind. She calls it Orange Brulee' which is wrong because that is a 2011 color. The "P" on the metal tag indicates 2010 S/S - which means it is officially the leather: Tomate/Orange - a color that the US Bal Boutiques did not carry....I don't think. Anyway - it's a leather that is probably hard to find.
Funny you say that, I just looked up the numbers and came up with Tomato too. And if it's a color that wasn't carried in the US then how did she get it at Neimans? I don't know. The bag itself seems to pass all the obvious 'tests' that I know about. Part of me is thinking I should just quit my *****ing and keep it, but for $900 bucks?? I don't know.

I looked at the rest of her listings (they're all clothes) b/c she kept insisting in her messages that she's a good seller "look at my 100% rating" and it took everything in me not to tell her to stick to clothes.
 
If you post your pictures, it may be easier to help. It is a 4-year old bag at this point, so some of what you describe could be shelf wear (except for the handles). If you like the bag, are you willing to take a partial (not half) refund? Scratches are going to happen - moreso on some leather/colors than others for some reason. I looked at the listing, and it does look like the edge coating is still good under the handles which usually is a good sign of wear if the bag has been used a lot. Not sure about the crack around the zipper, though.

Sort of off topic, but I always consider a bag that has once been purchased by a seller from a store as pre-owned, lol. Sellers really set themselves up when they list "new with tag" once it has left the store.
 
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If you post your pictures, it may be easier to help. It is a 4-year old bag at this point, so some of what you describe could be shelf wear (except for the handles). If you like the bag, are you willing to take a partial (not half) refund? Scratches are going to happen - moreso on some leather/colors than others for some reason. I looked at the listing, and it does look like the edge coating is still good under the handles which usually is a good sign of wear if the bag has been used a lot. Not sure about the crack around the zipper, though.

I offered 1/2 and honestly would have accepted a partial refund had she come back with that. The only thing she came back with was 'please believe me, I swear I bought it this way'. There are make-up stains inside for crying out loud. It's overall in very good condition, for a pre-owned bag, but that's not what I purchased.

Since she didn't send me the return item link she could still reply to my last message asking for a return address with a counter. I'd consider it, but the dishonesty really pisses me off.

& I agree 100% about the new with tag. I'm selling a BV myself, two months old, brand spanking new but it's kind of like a car, the minute it comes off the lot, it depreciates so it's listed as pre-owned.
 
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If you post your pictures, it may be easier to help. It is a 4-year old bag at this point, so some of what you describe could be shelf wear (except for the handles). If you like the bag, are you willing to take a partial (not half) refund? Scratches are going to happen - moreso on some leather/colors than others for some reason. I looked at the listing, and it does look like the edge coating is still good under the handles which usually is a good sign of wear if the bag has been used a lot. Not sure about the crack around the zipper, though.

Sort of off topic, but I always consider a bag that has once been purchased by a seller from a store as pre-owned, lol. Sellers really set themselves up when they list "new with tag" once it has left the store.


I totally agree. I think people who decide to buy on places like eBay, for instance, should be totally aware that under all circumstances the bag they are buying/bidding on IS NOT NEW. A bag just sitting in someone's closet for 3-4 years is going to show some minor signs of age. You can't be picky when you buy second hand from ANY place. Otherwise, it's best for you to just go to Barney's or wherever and buy a brand new one yourself.
 
Funny you say that, I just looked up the numbers and came up with Tomato too. And if it's a color that wasn't carried in the US then how did she get it at Neimans? I don't know. The bag itself seems to pass all the obvious 'tests' that I know about. Part of me is thinking I should just quit my *****ing and keep it, but for $900 bucks?? I don't know.

I looked at the rest of her listings (they're all clothes) b/c she kept insisting in her messages that she's a good seller "look at my 100% rating" and it took everything in me not to tell her to stick to clothes.

It wasn't carried at Bal Boutiques in the US but I don''t know about Neiman's, barneys and places like that. I just mentioned it because it sort of makes it a hard to find leather. I know it's frustrating to be expecting a NEW bag and getting one that obviously is not up to par. Hopefully your seller will work with you. :smile:
 
Sorry this happened to you, OP. I must admit that I chuckled when I saw the bit about the peanut butter...what on earth?!?!

Just wanted to say that when you send the bag back, you have to get signature confirmation (for anything over $250) - doing so allows for online signature. If you don't have sig confirmation, you will lose a dispute if the Seller claims that she never received the bag back.
 
Oh dear - I wasn't even thinking about the gum/peanut butter comment, lol. If you decide to keep it, please use ice and not peanut butter! As you say, it wasn't a bad price even for pre-owned, so if you like it, maybe try one more time with an offer that you are willing to accept. Otherwise, do as suggested and make sure you get signature confirmation and show ebay the comment about the peanut butter, lol. This seller does sound like a piece or work, though, and it would upset me to have someone respond so rudely.

ETA: It may be a good idea to put the required pictures in the AT thread. We have seen fake P tags a couple of years ago, but I had not seen a fake one in this color. There are not enough pictures in the listing, but the pictures we need to see are in my signature (only if you are thinking of keep it, of course).
 
Did the seller authorize you to return it the ebay messages? If not, don't return -- at least not yet.

If the message was through email and there's no record of it on ebay, the seller could claim you returned without her approval and you'll lose buyer protection.

If she gives you a hard time, open a case and start the dispute process.

ETA: With regard to the color (possibly) not being available in the US, it's possible that the bag was originally purchased elsewhere and returned to Neimans. Some stores will accept returns for items not purchased there but as long as they carry it, they'll take it back. I'm not sure of Neiman's policy on that.
 
This is what gives ebay a bad name. Your seller did not disclose the real
condition of the items purchased.

Did you open a case? If not you may want to have all of this on record with ebay.

If you can't trust her descriptions, would not take her word just to return the bag.
You need your buyer protection.
 
This is what gives ebay a bad name. Your seller did not disclose the real
condition of the items purchased.
^^^ I disagree with this. This isn't what gives Ebay a bad name. It's sellers like this who make it hard for honest sellers of NWT items to sell their truly NWT items.

There are many honest sellers who have "new with tags" items and those items ARE indeed NWT. I disagree that an item is automatically preowned just because it comes from ebay.