Ebay 'near Mint' Condition. What To Expect?

[JonSzanto]

Ok, so if there is a listing with an item listed as 'New' and there is No returns policy, this may be ok?

 

I don't think you are paying attention: why do you think they don't want returns?? That should be enough to say to you "hmmm, this seller really doesn't believe that people will be perfectly happy with this item". Just find someone else who sells the items that *does* allow you to return if there is a problem.

[Rumyana]

Yes, point taken! Thank you everyone!

[meiers]

My feelings exactly.

Edited May 19, 2015 by meiers

[Sebvelez]

Once I bought a MINT fountain pen from a famous seller in ebay (weekly sellings) and this is what I get....

He told me that the advertisement says: mint condition, but not PERFECt .....

Incredible.... MINT and NEW are relative terms in eBay with some sellers. I confess I've rolled the dice a couple of times on suspicious items, but the feedback helped out... How long ago they've been part of eBay, and have they sold similar products and still get good feedback. Every once in a while there's a seller selling an expensive item with tons of feedback... But at a closer look at all the feedback reveals most of it is from selling cheap stuff, that's when I really feel I'm rolling the dice.

[Julia161]

I once bought Montblanc Monte Rosa 41P like this and it was really near mint. Probably inked just once. Perfect condition. But depents on a seller, I guess.

[Rumyana]

Thank you, everyone I am interested in two pens, one Mint (returns accepted) and one New (no returns), both sellers are with 100% positive feedback...

[tenney]

There are several valid reasons for saying no returns -- the main one are thieves who get an item, replace parts, take parts, whatever, and then return it (yes, happens a lot so I hear).

 

Returns seem always possible if you open a case and convince ebay that the item was not as described. The catch there (after convincing them) is that you might have to send the pen BACK. Some pens cost $10 shipping from Europe to the US, but since you'll need PROOF that the pen was returned, it could cost you $80 to ship it back with proper tracking.

 

I've gotten a pen from a well know European seller that was listed as mint or somesuch, but had a crack in the barrel and leaked like sieve when it arrived. Would have cost more than I paid to ship it to Italy!

 

So I'll look all the pics over; sometimes ask for clarification from the seller (e.g. does it work correctly, or is it authentic) to give me leverage to get ebay on my side if it's not what I expect; and still think I might not get my money back.

 

But you can get good deals, especially for parts.

[JonSzanto]

Thanks, Tenney. Life - and eBay - is a crapshoot. All you can do is hedge your bets.

[Z-Tab]

Just received a pen today that the seller claimed was "perfect" and I figure it will cost nearly $100 to get it working at all. I'm not happy about the prospect of losing a bunch of money on shipping this back to him in Germany. And it's from a seller who appears to have a good selling history.

 

There's no way of knowing if this was a mistake or what. All I can do is hope for a good resolution and leave negative feedback if he doesn't want to play fair.

 

This isn't just an issue with eBay though, since I have bought pens from known restorers that didn't live up to the descriptions and needed work to get to a point where they were functional.

[delano]

Just received an eBay Mint condition pen from a seller with an excellent history.

 

The section seems to be melted on. I can see the treads are a bit deformed (need a strong loupe to see it). Pictures on eBay seemed ok, but none were close enough to see this.

[chunya]

Just thought that I'd chip in here, just to redress the balance a little. A number of members seem to have had bad experiences on Ebay,and I sympathise, whether you've invested £50 or £500, it isn't nice to be ripped off, but, from hearsay, Ebay do seem to favour the buyers when resolving disputes, so that is a comfort. But there will also be a lot of members out there, like Julia 161, who have had positive experiences. I've been pretty lucky in the main, only ever received one pen that wasn't as described, looked pretty on the outside and that was it.

Not all sellers are out to con, or are even incompetent, and this is where i must declare an interest. After posting my original reply to the OP, it ocurred to me that the pen in question was most probably one that I had posted on Ebay, I couldn't find any other live listings in the UK with that wording. I sent a PM to the OP letting them know that if it was my pen then they should consider buying it through the FPN classifieds, and save money. Not had a response yet.

As I mentioned in my original reply, I would only describe a pen as 'Near Mint' if it looked to me as if it had just come from the factory, and possibly onlly ever been handled but maybe never been used, but there are sellers out there that do take liberties in their descriptions. And I totally agree ... ask questions, ask for more photos, try to get the seller to confirm that their item is as described. I am not a major seller of pens; this past month I've sold three pens to fellow members, all who asked the right questions, and this even makes me as the seller feel that the sale will go smoothly.

One member from the States even asked whether she could return it if she couldn't get on with it, pens are very personal, once you hold it then you know whether it'll suit you, so how could I refuse her. But she asked all the right questions, she loved the feel of the pen when she got it and so all was well.