Kind of bad ebay experience

[Dave_G]

Well, it finally happened.

I never really had a bad issue with ebay.

But I finally did.

Kinda.

I bought a Sparks cd - "L'il Bethoven", it was like 7 bucks.

I pay the seller, the cd arrives, opened it, and I immediately knew something was up.

It's a g.d. bootleg.

Russian.

It has Russian writing on the back of the insert.

The case is cheap, the artwork is obviously not legitimate.

The cd itself is an aluminum cd, not a cdr.

It sounds fine.

But I want no part of bootleg b.s. off of ebay, or anywhere.

I'm still pissed about it. The auction mentioned nothing about the source of the cd.

I just don't like buying this kind of stuff, I am passionate about my toons and don't want any of that crap in my collection.

Not sure if I want to let ebay know. I would like my $ back though.

Dave

[DarrenH]

It's a pirated copy.

Anything coming out of Russia is pirated. And you're right, if the seller would have mentioned that in his auction to begin with, you would've stayed clear.

I bought a Tull disc several years ago thinking I was getting a legimate US release. It was the live Bursting Out album which had been oop for quite some time. Anyway, the seller never mentioned the source in his auction and a pirated Russion copy is what I got.

I was a little upset. I emailed the seller and I got the usual bull. The "I didn't know" crap. My only recourse was to report it to eBay, which I never did. I kept the CD. But I learned a lesson.

If I buy a Tull boot it's because I know it's a boot and I don't care. But if I'm buying a legitimate US or UK release, I expect to receive so. I don't blame you for being upset.

If the seller doesn't cooperate, do what I should've done, report it.

Have a good one bud,

Darren

[MindGoneHaywire]

I've seen those Russian people's auctions before. Usually it says that they're based in Russia, Ukraine, even Siberia, wherever. But those people's feedback profiles are littered with complaints about pirated CDs or CDRs. And they usually sell for a low price. This guy is based in the U.S. & has a pretty good feedback profile. More than pretty good. Only thing I see in the auction is that it says 'European Import.' Can't blame you for that not being enough to raise yr eyebrows enough even though there is a passing mention to the source.

I sold a copy of this in September & got $5.50 for it. Wish I'd known you were looking for it! Don't waste yr time contacting Ebay. Nail him with a neutral that has negative language, but wait until towards the middle of June to do it.

[Jim Clark]

Nail him with a neutral that has negative language, but wait until towards the middle of June to do it.

Not being the King of Ebay I'm wondering why you suggest this strategy.

jc

[MindGoneHaywire]

When I have a reason to leave someone a negative--which fortunately is rare, probably around 1% of the 3,000+ transactions I've had--I have to wait. You have 90 days to leave feedback. If Dave nails this guy now--the transaction ended nearly two weeks ago--then the seller has more than 75 days to retaliate. Which of course he shouldn't, but that's the way it does. It's quite likely that a guy as active as this seller--and he's plenty active--is going to notice if he gets a neg & retaliate. Unfortunately you could make the argument that he is technically correct because he stated 'European import' in the auction. People like Dave get taken advantage of in this way, but unless you want to go to SquareTrade & spend $20 on a $7 CD, it's just not worth it. Some would say it's sneaky to leave neg fb at the last minute, but I have a near-perfect rating & have no desire to have it impacted by some deadbeat slimeball who would leave me neg fb simply as retaliation. Of course, most people who don't pay are newbies who never come back, but I don't take that chance. Leaving neg fb when deserved is encouraged so that other traders will know what people are like, but the system, imperfect as it is, leaves the door open for retaliation. The best way to deal with it is to wait until the end of the 90 day period to leave the neg fb. In Dave's case this is in early-mid June--and I would suggest, again, leaving neutral fb instead of neg, but hinting that the language in the auction was misleading.

[Jim Clark]

There you go. I figured you had some kind of system in mind, thanks for letting me in on it.

jc