Unreasonable buyer - LONG - doesn't like security lock inside bag
- Thread starter photomj
- Start date
i'm sorry but as a buyer i would be very unhappy if you locked the bag closed. she has every right to want to see the inside. pictures or no pictures, your assurance that it's the exact same bag listed or not, i wuld want to see it with my own eyes what i had purchased. i have never heard of anyone putting a lock on a bag and i think for an 81 dollar purchase you were being a little too cautious (or paranoid). yes bait and switch happens but not as much as people will lead you to believe imo. i have been selling for years and never had that happen. i would just give her the code, apologize for it taking so long and that you were just being over cautious and let it go.
ITA^
As both a buyer and seller on ebay, I think she's more at risk as a buyer than you are as a seller. So many people misrepresent auctions, and the lock is a little unusual so she may be anxious about the condition of the purse. The lock/bands are a good idea, but it needs to be attached to a better location, and I'd suggest using it for new, higher cost bags.
HLFinn -
Thanks for your opinion as well but what no one was able to see was the rude and malicious emails she was sending me, over and over again! It was really ridiculous! She was acting like she had bought a $3000 bag when it was only an $81 bag. As I've already stated, you COULD see inside the bag...the lock being on it didn't close up the bag at all. She had some odd notion that she had to give "approval" of the bag, in its entirety, before the sale was finalized.
Lock or no lock, my auction clearly stated that all sales were final and there were no refunds or returns. The only refund would be if it was not authentic. All I wanted from her was an email saying that the bag was authentic and the sale was considered final. You could clearly see the Coach creed, even with the lock, and that's ALL that was needed to authenticate the bag.
That's when her emails started and each one had a different "issue"....one was about "what if" there were loose stitches, the other one was about "what if" there were rips and tears. I can fully understand someone wanting to know if those were there, but they weren't a "condition" of the sale. She acknowledged that the bag was authentic but kept having these ridiculous issues and was more insulting to me in each and every email. I really don't need to take that for a $81 sale! She was telling me I needed to go to a psychiatrist that I must obviously be stupid, that I had no right to be on the tpf, etc., etc. Meanwhile, she couldn't even read or comprehend what I was writing her!
I also know that buyers can be deceiving but as I said before, the bag was in great shape, I had provided 11 photos of both the inside and outside of the bag so there really wasn't any need for her paranoia on "if there were loose stitches" and everything else. I would never hide the fact if there were any defects BUT defects were not a term of the sale.
Also, the locks on the bags were not my idea. It was an idea I got here on tpf from Material_Me. I guess it's up to the individual seller to decide what type of bag they want to put the lock on. This leather Coach bag that I sold was originally $398 and it was in excellent shape. The buyer got a steal on it, at $81, but if it had been lost or switched, it would have cost $398 to replace. So, yes, I only made $81, but the bag was worth much more than that, if it had to be replaced.
What I find funny about the tpf boards is that in one post everyone will be congratulating the poster on what a brilliant idea they have (i.e., putting locks on bags for ebay sales.) Then, on the same forum, in another post, you get people saying it is a stupid idea, or wrong to do, etc!!!
Beyond the whole lock "drama", for an $81 sale I really didn't need to put up with the harassment and rudeness I received from the buyer. I don't wish that person on anyone! She bought a great bag, at an inexpensive price, and tried to change my auction terms to suit her purpose. That's the whole ridiculousness of that sale! No wonder she has her feedback hidden from everyone.
Anyhow, thanks again for all your opinions and thoughts.
Thanks for your opinion as well but what no one was able to see was the rude and malicious emails she was sending me, over and over again! It was really ridiculous! She was acting like she had bought a $3000 bag when it was only an $81 bag. As I've already stated, you COULD see inside the bag...the lock being on it didn't close up the bag at all. She had some odd notion that she had to give "approval" of the bag, in its entirety, before the sale was finalized.
Lock or no lock, my auction clearly stated that all sales were final and there were no refunds or returns. The only refund would be if it was not authentic. All I wanted from her was an email saying that the bag was authentic and the sale was considered final. You could clearly see the Coach creed, even with the lock, and that's ALL that was needed to authenticate the bag.
That's when her emails started and each one had a different "issue"....one was about "what if" there were loose stitches, the other one was about "what if" there were rips and tears. I can fully understand someone wanting to know if those were there, but they weren't a "condition" of the sale. She acknowledged that the bag was authentic but kept having these ridiculous issues and was more insulting to me in each and every email. I really don't need to take that for a $81 sale! She was telling me I needed to go to a psychiatrist that I must obviously be stupid, that I had no right to be on the tpf, etc., etc. Meanwhile, she couldn't even read or comprehend what I was writing her!
I also know that buyers can be deceiving but as I said before, the bag was in great shape, I had provided 11 photos of both the inside and outside of the bag so there really wasn't any need for her paranoia on "if there were loose stitches" and everything else. I would never hide the fact if there were any defects BUT defects were not a term of the sale.
Also, the locks on the bags were not my idea. It was an idea I got here on tpf from Material_Me. I guess it's up to the individual seller to decide what type of bag they want to put the lock on. This leather Coach bag that I sold was originally $398 and it was in excellent shape. The buyer got a steal on it, at $81, but if it had been lost or switched, it would have cost $398 to replace. So, yes, I only made $81, but the bag was worth much more than that, if it had to be replaced.
What I find funny about the tpf boards is that in one post everyone will be congratulating the poster on what a brilliant idea they have (i.e., putting locks on bags for ebay sales.) Then, on the same forum, in another post, you get people saying it is a stupid idea, or wrong to do, etc!!!
Beyond the whole lock "drama", for an $81 sale I really didn't need to put up with the harassment and rudeness I received from the buyer. I don't wish that person on anyone! She bought a great bag, at an inexpensive price, and tried to change my auction terms to suit her purpose. That's the whole ridiculousness of that sale! No wonder she has her feedback hidden from everyone.
Anyhow, thanks again for all your opinions and thoughts.
this is ridiculous! that buyer is clearly trying to scam you. You did say that the bag can be opened. so what is her problem?
and didnt she read the details in you post? they sounded clear to me. She made the risk, she cant renig on it. ridiculous!!
By the way, I saw that thread about the other tpf member and how she prevents herself from getting scammed, and its a BRILLIANT idea.
dont let this sitauation deter you from doing all you can to protect your reputatation as a honest seller.
and didnt she read the details in you post? they sounded clear to me. She made the risk, she cant renig on it. ridiculous!!
By the way, I saw that thread about the other tpf member and how she prevents herself from getting scammed, and its a BRILLIANT idea.
dont let this sitauation deter you from doing all you can to protect your reputatation as a honest seller.
actually authenticity is NOT the only thing required to end a sale. you might say that you will only accept a return for authenticity but quite frankly if she paid with paypal then she could file an item not as described if the condition is not as you said it was in the auction and she would likely win. you keep saying it's only a 81 dollar bag. you're right and i think you're being too cautious for a 81 dollar bag (regardless of what the actual retail was. if you sold it for 81 on ebay i'm sure there are others you could buy on ebay for around the same price). i have sold bags that were ten times that and more and never went to the kind of trouble you are over this bag- not with security, not with my buyer, nothing. i haven't read her emails so i can't tell if she was rude or not but in terms of her not understanding what you were saying- i'm sure she understood she was probably just trying to explain to you that it was unacceptable to get a bag you can't even have access to the inside of. let me ask you this: if you went to saks or macy's and say a bag or even a jacket you liked and the SA said you can look at it, you can try it on your shoulder but all you can see of the inside is the tag, would you buy it? would you assume that it's perfect inside? of course not. when you buy something (especially something you already paid for) you are entitled to be able to see it, feel it, touch it, whatever. she paid you in good faith and yet when she got the bag she couldn't even really examine it. if i were her i would be super unhappy too.
i think you were worried someone would scam you from the start and you wouldn't believe, no matter what she said, that she wasn't out to get you.
i think you were worried someone would scam you from the start and you wouldn't believe, no matter what she said, that she wasn't out to get you.
I'm sorry you've had to deal with this buyer. She sounds like a real pain in the butt.
However, having said that, I have to addd that I would never willingly buy a bag that I had to e-mail to get a code to open a lock on it. Even if I can see most of the interior, that's not the point. What a hassle. When my new purse arrives, I want to look at it inside and out without working around a lock. I also don't want to have to wait for the seller to get back to me with a code.
Make no mistake, I am all for measures that protect the seller. I think Tyvek bands or other things along those lines are excellent ideas. A lock and code...not on your life. While I appreciate the ingenuity of the person who came up with the idea, I do not think it's particularly buyer friendly and I would not buy from someone who does this.
Good luck with the buyer. I hope things work out well.
However, having said that, I have to addd that I would never willingly buy a bag that I had to e-mail to get a code to open a lock on it. Even if I can see most of the interior, that's not the point. What a hassle. When my new purse arrives, I want to look at it inside and out without working around a lock. I also don't want to have to wait for the seller to get back to me with a code.
Make no mistake, I am all for measures that protect the seller. I think Tyvek bands or other things along those lines are excellent ideas. A lock and code...not on your life. While I appreciate the ingenuity of the person who came up with the idea, I do not think it's particularly buyer friendly and I would not buy from someone who does this.
Good luck with the buyer. I hope things work out well.
I read through all the posts and see many opinions and counter opinions.. so here's mine...
On cheaper items, I would use the bands.... I think Material is selling some higher end purses she uses locks on. I use bands on anything under 150.00-200.00 depending. I use locks for any LV, Gucci, or other items.
So.. now here's the way I see the other things...
Your auction clearly stated that you used locks, so she did bid with knowing that in advance. However, if she was prevented from seeing inside the purse (which I know you say she was not) OR even in the pockets that is a problem. Even though YOU state an auction is completed once authenticity is verified, that is actually not true at all. If you list something saying something like "no rips or tears" and the buyer gets it and finds a rip or tear anywhere on it, they can file a PayPal claim against you and PayPal can force you to refund the money. Read through PayPal's buyer/seller policy... in all actuality when receving money through PayPal no sale is really final no matter what you put on your listing.
I know what all these other posters are saying about how inconvienent it is to have a lock on something etc etc... however, be the victim of a bait and switch just ONE time for several hundreds of dollars and you will be slapping a lock on anything you ship out. I have had it done to the tune of several hundred dollars on something once that I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt was authentic the day I put it in the box and shipped it because I bought it myself straight from the LV store. If someone does not want to buy something from a seller putting a tiny lock on something to ensure everyone's safety and peace of mind then I can miss that sale. I cancelled a bid last night myself on my LV MultiColore Speedy because the bidders feedback had two negatives from sellers stating they had filed fraudulent PayPal claims. Buyer switching has become a HUGE issue lately and honest people are losing hundreds of dollars. I think some are misinterpreting exactly what kind of lock this is... they are tiny and work with a combination. But in any case I will agree and say no, they should not be put where a buyer cannot throughly inspect a purse such as preventing the purse from being opened or a pocket etc.
On cheaper items, I would use the bands.... I think Material is selling some higher end purses she uses locks on. I use bands on anything under 150.00-200.00 depending. I use locks for any LV, Gucci, or other items.
So.. now here's the way I see the other things...
Your auction clearly stated that you used locks, so she did bid with knowing that in advance. However, if she was prevented from seeing inside the purse (which I know you say she was not) OR even in the pockets that is a problem. Even though YOU state an auction is completed once authenticity is verified, that is actually not true at all. If you list something saying something like "no rips or tears" and the buyer gets it and finds a rip or tear anywhere on it, they can file a PayPal claim against you and PayPal can force you to refund the money. Read through PayPal's buyer/seller policy... in all actuality when receving money through PayPal no sale is really final no matter what you put on your listing.
I know what all these other posters are saying about how inconvienent it is to have a lock on something etc etc... however, be the victim of a bait and switch just ONE time for several hundreds of dollars and you will be slapping a lock on anything you ship out. I have had it done to the tune of several hundred dollars on something once that I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt was authentic the day I put it in the box and shipped it because I bought it myself straight from the LV store. If someone does not want to buy something from a seller putting a tiny lock on something to ensure everyone's safety and peace of mind then I can miss that sale. I cancelled a bid last night myself on my LV MultiColore Speedy because the bidders feedback had two negatives from sellers stating they had filed fraudulent PayPal claims. Buyer switching has become a HUGE issue lately and honest people are losing hundreds of dollars. I think some are misinterpreting exactly what kind of lock this is... they are tiny and work with a combination. But in any case I will agree and say no, they should not be put where a buyer cannot throughly inspect a purse such as preventing the purse from being opened or a pocket etc.
Ladies - My auction CLEARLY explained the lock, and why it was there, and that she would need to email me for a code. ALL of this was in the auction itself, not something she found out when she opened the package! So she wasn't tricked or fooled, she knew all of this going into it. In fact, the explanation was at least three paragraphs long...I pretty much used Material Me's exact verbage.
I still argue about being able to use the lock on any priced bag...this was a large leather Coach Hampton's Satchel...not a cheap outlet bag. I totally agree that a buyer SHOULD be able to inspect a bag, inside and out, but let's look at the seller's point of view, like Shopstomuch states above. Let's say the buyer had a fake or replica bag with insides that were torn. She could say, "I received your bag and it's ripped so I'm returning it." What recourse would I have had then?! I'd have lost the bag AND my money.
That's why I think the lock or the tyvek bands are a brilliant idea. It's a way of "marking" your bag that can't really be duplicated.
So, okay, to end the discussion, the lock should not have impeded her viewing the bag. However, the lock being on the bag was clearly explained in the auction and not a surprise. It was there as hers and my guarantee of authenticity. I didn't misrepresent the bag in any way and being a pro photographer, I gave her multiple views of the bag, inside and out which actually showed it was in perfect condition!
Thanks again for the thoughts!
I still argue about being able to use the lock on any priced bag...this was a large leather Coach Hampton's Satchel...not a cheap outlet bag. I totally agree that a buyer SHOULD be able to inspect a bag, inside and out, but let's look at the seller's point of view, like Shopstomuch states above. Let's say the buyer had a fake or replica bag with insides that were torn. She could say, "I received your bag and it's ripped so I'm returning it." What recourse would I have had then?! I'd have lost the bag AND my money.
That's why I think the lock or the tyvek bands are a brilliant idea. It's a way of "marking" your bag that can't really be duplicated.
So, okay, to end the discussion, the lock should not have impeded her viewing the bag. However, the lock being on the bag was clearly explained in the auction and not a surprise. It was there as hers and my guarantee of authenticity. I didn't misrepresent the bag in any way and being a pro photographer, I gave her multiple views of the bag, inside and out which actually showed it was in perfect condition!
Thanks again for the thoughts!
Maybe it's just luck, but I have sold bags for thousands and never have had a bait and switch situation. I never considered using these things. I would love to see some photos of how they are used. I take such care wrapping my bags for the buyers -- they are luxury items -- it sounds odd to put such a thing on them.
Yeah, it was odd to me too until I got hit with a 700.00 switch by a buyer. There is another thread on this section where the person who was posting what she used and the wording of it in her auction is on. It's a longer topic too as many ppl were asking where to get them etc etc... I recall seeing it on the first page as recently as last month.