eBay

rio1953 · ‎11-12-2015

I did everything right, double box my item, send it by courier overseas, pay for insurance and....

i just got contacted by the buyer to inform me that the item which is a statue has had the original box torn and there is a small hole

drilled in its back. I have contacted the shipping courier which is asking for pictures but at the same time tells me that it may have been done by custom. Has anybody ever heard or dealt with something like this? What are my recourses? How can they ruin a piece of art....

please any Input, suggestions,help will be greatly appreciated.

momcqueen · ‎11-13-2015

It is impossible to say.

What does your buyer history look like?

You can't give us a member id.

I think it would be prudent to proceed cautiously.

rio1953 · ‎11-13-2015

By the way, how do i send him my email address? Thanks.

momcqueen · ‎11-13-2015

... I will say, however, that I do not like the sound of this..... "

In the first message that the buyer sent me, the first thing that he mentioned was

that the statue number and the coa didn't match. my statue is #22 /5000 while on the coa it says #20/5000.

and then he went on to say about the damage."

Without offering prejudice here, if I were a crook, here is what I would look for in an ebay seller to scam. Someone from another country. Someone with good feedback. Someone with limited selling experience.

Please read this http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/letters/blog.pl?/pl/2015/11/1447365355.html and consider contacting paypal. I don't think ebay will help you much. They will allow a Return for Item Arrived Damage with no hesitation. But do flag this with ebay too.

Whatever you do, do not let the buyer think you are sceptical. That will only enrage them and escalate the matter.

momcqueen · ‎11-13-2015

@rio1953 wrote:
By the way, how do i send him my email address? Thanks.

You don't need to. It's on his paypal transaction. Make certain the pictures of the damage come through ebay Message FIRST.

momcqueen · ‎11-13-2015

But sit tight for a few hours. You have a very real problem here, regardless of the particulars on how it happened and who might have done what. There are more experienced members and sellers than I who are certain to have insight to share. You've heard from a few already and gained good advice and while I'm not certain how to directly flag this thread without violating Discussion Board rules, there are members from East to West in different time zones that are here in the Community regularly to add to the discussion, whatever it might be and I think it would be valuable to hear from them.

rose-dee · ‎11-13-2015

@rio1953 wrote:
Hi guys. You are making me wonder if scum is a factor here.
In the first message that the buyer sent me, the first thing that he mentioned was
that the statue number and the coa didn't match. my statue is #22 /5000 while on the coa it says #20/5000.
and then he went on to say about the damage.
when I answered back I truthfully said that i hadn't looked at the coa and noticed the discrepancy between the two.
What to do....have I been taken?

I see from the pictures of the sold item that you did include a photo showing the item ID (#22/5000) on the statue itself. Did you by any chance keep a photo or scan of the COA?

I would take 'treasurehunter's' advice and start with a courier claim. Many of us have been in business long enough outside of eBay to have run into such problems, and I think his advice is good.

Continue to be polite, friendly and professional with your buyer. I would not assume the worst about your buyer, but as 'treasurehunter' mentioned, do explain to your buyer that you may need to have the item returned, but you first need to deal with your courier.

Try to buy a little time from the buyer, and keep him in the loop via eBay messages. But get your documents and other evidence (damage photos) together and start your claim with the courier immediately.

By the way, a simple way to confirm that the buyer is not attempting a fraudulent "switch" on you is to ask him to specifically take a photo showing the run # (#22/5000) and the damage, if possible all in one shot. Tell him the courier's insurer requires this (to avoid making him feel you're suspicious).

Compare the buyer's photo to the photo you used in the listing (make sure he's not actually just copying the eBay image -- his photo should show some slight difference in angle, etc.). If the numbers match, then chances are he's acting in good faith. In any event, since the run number on your item was hand-painted onto the figurine along with other text, you should be able to match up the handwriting of the rest of the text on the two photos as well.

rose-dee · ‎11-13-2015

@rio1953 wrote:

...the first thing that he mentioned was

that the statue number and the coa didn't match. my statue is #22 /5000 while on the coa it says #20/5000.

Incidentally, I meant to add that if the buyer is correct about this (and you have no way of proving whether the figurine # and the COA # matched), he may be having second thoughts about you too.

So keep in mind that if the buyer is being truthful, he's discovered his COA is essentially useless, so treat him with kid gloves until you get his photos of the statue showing the damage and the run#.

rio1953 · ‎11-13-2015

He has sent some photos of the item and I have already asked for a better shot of the statue's back and to include in it the signature etc. etc. plus I asked for informations about the outer box and some pictures of it.

I just want to solve this to our mutual satisfaction.

No rose-dee I didn't even consider such a possibility as a discrepancy between the statue ed.number and the COA.