I would like to know what your thoughts are for returns on the Lost Dogs Forum
landolinks
Posts: 71
I recently had a transaction that has gone a little sour and wanted to get some input. I will leave out a few details as far as if I was the buyer or seller to keep this as unbiased as possible and will not be mentioning the counterparties name as this is not an attempt to drag someone's name through the mud. Just looking for a general feel on this topic.
A pearl jam vinyl was sold through the Lost Dogs forum for around $100 that was described as "great condition". When the record was opened by the buyer the album cover has two bubbles on the front. The buyer notified the seller immediately and conversation was very cordial and has remained that way. The seller apologized and said that it had been on the shelf and just didn't realize of that condition issue. The buyer and seller were not able to come to terms in a negotiation as far as what a discounted amount would be so the return was the only option.
This is where it gets a little hairy. The seller has reimbursed the buyer for the album and the original shipping cost but doesn't feel paying the return shipping is appropriate. I will include a few pics of the cover. As I mentioned the buyer/seller have been nothing but friendly and I would like to keep it that way. So who should pay the shipping fees on returns? Once again plz keep comments positive as this isn't meant to offend anyone, just figuring out what protocol is to achieve a solution. Go!
A pearl jam vinyl was sold through the Lost Dogs forum for around $100 that was described as "great condition". When the record was opened by the buyer the album cover has two bubbles on the front. The buyer notified the seller immediately and conversation was very cordial and has remained that way. The seller apologized and said that it had been on the shelf and just didn't realize of that condition issue. The buyer and seller were not able to come to terms in a negotiation as far as what a discounted amount would be so the return was the only option.
This is where it gets a little hairy. The seller has reimbursed the buyer for the album and the original shipping cost but doesn't feel paying the return shipping is appropriate. I will include a few pics of the cover. As I mentioned the buyer/seller have been nothing but friendly and I would like to keep it that way. So who should pay the shipping fees on returns? Once again plz keep comments positive as this isn't meant to offend anyone, just figuring out what protocol is to achieve a solution. Go!
I would like to know what your thoughts are for returns on the Lost Dogs Forum 42 votes
Seller pays return shipping fee
73%
31 votes
Buyer pays return shipping fee
26%
11 votes
Post edited by Sea on
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Cincinnati 2014
Greenville 2016
(Raleigh 2016)
Columbia 2016
Seems like the seller is trying to come out with not losing as much money as they can which is understandable but also should of spent more time inspecting and grading what they are selling. Tough one but it is the sellers responsibility to full disclose the condition. Imo the buyer should not lose a dime as long as they are not being picky to a point.
I do not buy or sell much merch so maybe I am wrong with the above but thats how I would feel if I was in that situation.
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Once I sold a poster that looked good framed, but had a little corner wear I noticed when it was not in the frame. I mentioned it to the buyer before shipping, took photos, and they asked if I would take some $ off the price.
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that being said, there have been transactions I've been involved in, where the seller quoted me a shipping price that was way below the actual cost. it was already a decent price, so I offered to meet the seller halfway on the actual shipping cost, even after agreeing to the original price quoted. I was, however, keeping the item.
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I haven’t sold a lot of high end items, but the few I have the buyer asked questions and I have gave explanations and close up pictures. I’ve done the same as a buyer. I’ve purchased posters labeled “good condition.” I asked specifically what that meant, what kept him from calling it mint or nm, and for pictures. There’s been a few times I was happy and bought it and a few times I decided not to. I have never wished I didn’t ask though.
A couple small bubbles might prevent most from calling it excellent condition, but if that’s going to make someone want to return the item at no cost, probably better off to get a better description first.
All that being said, I've been lucky here and dealt with great people. I can think of 3 posters off hand that were in better shape than I expected because looking at it in person wasn’t as bad as the close up pictures I was given. Gibbons was one seller, can’t remember the other 2 off hand (but I remember which posters they were).
As is usually the case there is a LOT more to this story and I should have trusted my gut after a lot of negotiating with this buyer over several of my vaults and just not gone through with the sale. But since he has already made this public in an obvious attempt to gain public sympathy and force my hand here I will state the minimum facts without getting too far into it.
First off I have sold MANY items on here, espressobens, eBay, discogs, avsforum etc over the last 15-20 years. In all that time i can only remember a couple times where a buyer received something and was not 100% satisfied but in those very few situations we were able to come to a solution that worked for both parties in good faith.
I have my records listed as great condition and still stand by that. I honesty find I have never really listened to my vault records. As a fan of both PJ and records I always get sucked into buying them, maybe spin one or two of the records and then they sit on my shelf collecting dust. This record has sat vertically stored on a shelf next to my other vault records most likely since I purchase it. I have never really handled it other then when i placed it there and took it out to package.
My records are in my media room, which is a dark room that I always have the lights low in. I took the record off the shelf, checked the usual possible trouble spots (corners, sleeves) and packaged it up. This is not a situation of some scammer trying to pull a fast one on a buyer. I did not see the waviness on the cover.
I will also say after seeing the pictures that were sent to me, it honestly looks like a manufacturing issue. It either came to me like that and I never really considered it an issue, I mean man I have received records sealed in much, much worse shape. Or the glue that holds the cover together came lose over the last couple years as maybe they didnt use enough. It does not look like damage i could have possibly incurred. It could be the paper used in the cover. I have seen a similar waviness develop on some of the older PJ posters over the years.
So anyway, yes the cover is not perfect. I sold the record to the buyer for $100 + shipping. This was lower than my asking price on a record I believe was already priced very fairly. After seeing the issue. I immediately offered a $10 discount. He refused and wanted a full refund. Fine I refunded the $100. He then wanted his original shipping refunded. I didnt quite agree with this as I felt we should be able to work out some kind of acceptable compromise but fine whatever I sent the $24 shipping back as well. Now he also wants return shipping. At this point I feel I am taking a huge loss on what I personally see as a very small issue. I paid $70.20 for this new from 10 club. I said look I will make the discount $20. At that point I am not really making any money on the record, he gets to keep it and at least I dont lose money this deal. He says he says he wants a $35 refund. That is not a compromise in my book. That’s a massive discount on a minor issue.
He did offer to hold the record and have it shipped from his house if and when i find another seller which at this point appears to be my best option but it never should have gotten this far. I will also note that after buying this he bought 2 more of this same vault sealed for a little cheaper than he bought this one opened, so now he sees my price as too high which is why I believe he is refusing my discount offers. That really raises a lot of questions about this whole thing in my mind.
So that is my side of the story. Again I really did not want to post this but felt the way this was brought to light might make potential buyers shy away from buying any of my other records as they might think I was doing something shady here, and there is nothing further from the truth. Going forward I will be doing extra diligence on these vaults and sending pics to buyers before they go out to make sure there are no more issues. I always provide pics when asked, which was not the situation in this case FYI, but will be sending pics either way.
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