Buying with closed eyes

[greymack]

Well my first experience being riped off on ebay. I bought a lot of junk and I mean junk mostly model cars and paided $$$ for anyone ever been throught this?I think I'm going to my old ways and just new new kits only less grief.

[rel14]

if its your first time,, your doing real good,, Buyer beware, thats all i can say, they will get ya..

[martinfan5]

Where there pics of what you were buying?, was the auction listing misleading?, can you post link of the listing to the auction please?

Edited November 7, 2012 by martinfan5

[2000-cvpi]

Where there pics of what you were buying?, was the auction listing misleading?, can you post link of the listing to the auction please?

I think a link to the Ebay auction as well as pics of what you actually got would help. File a claim with Paypal if there is actually merit to your claim.

[dmk]

I bought an AMT 57 Chevy pickup on Ebay recently. Seller said it was complete except missing the wheels. When I got it, it was missing not only the wheels and tires, but all the glass and most of the chrome. But here's the weird thing, it included most of an AMT 50's Ford pickup kit.

Looking through my parts bin, it actually gives me some interesting parts that I needed to bash up both a Ford and a Chevy. Part of me feels that I got a bunch of extra parts out of the deal, and part of me feels cheated and lied to. I never did leave any feedback at all.

You also have to watch out for shrink wrapped kits on Ebay. I got one that was missing some parts. The seller said he never opened it and the manufacturer said it was too old to get replacement parts. I think it was re-shrink wrapped (not hard to do).

Edited November 7, 2012 by dmk

[Fat Brian]

Buying lots or junkyards on ebay is always a gamble, I've won and lost when buying them. Sometimes the pics or description is misleading and if in doubt it's always better to ask before bidding. I bought a built DM800 that was fairly clean in the pics and unpainted but when I got it it had the hood and fenders glued down and is largely unusable, it looked decent in the pics but you never know until it shows up.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Fat Brian

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sorry to hear you got burned, but there IS a procedure to file a claim, as was stated above, to try to get something back. It's not hard to do, but you have to communicate clearly and explain exactly what the problem is, how you feel you were misled, and what you have tried to do about contacting and negotiating with the seller yourself first. I've had over 1200 transactions on ebay, and most of them have gone very well. Of the few that were problems ALL were resolved to my satisfaction, either by the seller directly, or through the e-bay procedure.

Good luck. if you have a legitimate gripe, they'll help you.

[jbwelda]

yep i have been fairly to very active on ebay for over 10 years and i have yet to be totally ripped off in a purchase. i have had people refuse to pay for something they have "won", but never been stiffed for something i paid for. sometimes it takes well meaning people a while to get stuff packed up and to the post office, and badgering them only works to a degree. i would be sure you are giving adequate time and then file a claim against them. it well may end up you wont have to pay for the item especially if you paid through paypal.

best of luck and sorry to hear your misfortune, my personal anecdote doesnt help in your position, i understand, just saying its a pretty rare thing to get ripped off and there is recourse for you.

[peekay]

To date I have bought 116 old and new kits and promos off US ebay with three mildly problematic transactions:

a) A sealed 1964 Cadillac - but the parts were nearly all off the trees. Can happen but I'm still wondering if it had been re-sealed.

B - A 1959 El Camino sent in an envelope - box got crushed a bit. My fault because I didn't notice the seller had said at auction he would sent it like that.

c) A Camaro promo in decidedly worse condition than the auction photo and description. The seller had sent the wrong one and resolved the issue by paying return postage and sending me the right one. We all make mistakes and I actually felt sorry for him - instead of a small profit he had a substantial loss.

All but 2 packages were sent without insurance, all were well packaged (except the El Camino) and arrived within a reasonable time frame.

My latest purchase, an X-EL 59 Chrysler was sent to my brother's NJ beach-front house. (Many US sellers won't send overseas.) He had to abandon the house before he could post it on as Sandy rolled in. He sent photos today and the bottom floor is severely damaged, the entire contents washed away. He tells me the model is on the second floor so there's still hope I'll get it one day. Of course he has other concerns right now.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Casey

[peekay]

(Don't know how that smiley with shades got into the above post and I can't edit it out)

[slusher]

IF your purchase is not right ebay will make it right just file a claim. l have had good luck on ebay for a long time but everyone gets at least one bad deal...

[Casey]

(Don't know how that smiley with shades got into the above post and I can't edit it out)

B + ) =

[southpier]

..... just new new kits only less grief.

i think there's a lot to be said for no aggravation.

[Zarana-X]

I've only bought one lot of open, unbuilt kits. I got a good deal because the seller didn't mention what they were, noone searching for them would find them. One kit was half off the trees, but all wre complete. I got a newer 1/24 Monogram 39 ford 5 window, Revell Tuners Datsun 510, AMT reissue Berrien T buggy, and a Monogram Nascar McDougals T-bird that I traded for a Revell Ritchie Ginther Porsche 914-6, missing the window. Lucky? Maybe.

On another note, anyone dumb enough to ship a model car in a padded envelope needs to be taken out back and beaten.

[sjordan2]

When it comes to older "sealed" kits, I usually ask the seller to UNseal them and take inventory and inspect condition. Generally they cooperate, but not always. I've certainly received my share of resealed kits with mixed results. My latest experience about a month ago was with a clearly resealed 1/16 Mercedes SS cabriolet - the last 90s reissue by Minicraft - which had everything in the original sealed plastic pouches, but the front bumper was warped and mangled beyond repair. The seller said he hadn't looked inside the box, and refunded shipping costs, which was satisfactory.

Moral: Always open the box as soon as you receive it. I've been stung on a couple of occasions, when I just put a sealed box on the shelf. Not wise, and it's especially important with older kits that may have been stacked or stored in less than ideal conditions.

Edited November 7, 2012 by sjordan2

[peekay]

Thanks Casey!

[dmk]

When it comes to older "sealed" kits, I usually ask the seller to UNseal them and take inventory and inspect condition. Generally they cooperate, but not always. I've certainly received my share of resealed kits with mixed results.

I've always wondered what happens if the seller cuts open the shrink wrap and then you decide you don't want it. I could imagine some sellers would get agitated about that.

I don't put a premium on a shrink wrapped kit myself (in fact I would rather it wasn't), however I know that some buyers and sellers do.

Moral: Always open the box as soon as you receive it. I've been stung on a couple of occasions, when I just put a sealed box on the shelf. Not wise, and it's especially important with older kits that may have been stacked or stored in less than ideal conditions.

Very good advise. I've been burned too. One time I bought a new kit from a store, but when I broke the seal years later, it was missing a part and the manufacturer (Revell actually) said they could no longer provide the part because the kit was so old. Edited November 8, 2012 by dmk

[Tom Geiger]

On another note, anyone dumb enough to ship a model car in a padded envelope needs to be taken out back and beaten.

The one I hated was when I bought a built up '62 Chrysler convertible. It came in a padded envelope and of course the windshield and surround were smashed. I emailed the seller who replied, "You're a modeler, fix it!" This was many years ago before we had any recourse through Paypal etc, so I left appropriate feedback.

All the other times I had an issue, I emailed the seller factually and asked them what they wanted to do. They all resolved the issues.

Not too long ago I bought a huge bag of loose and somewhat used parts and I chuckle at what was in the bag. Aside from usable parts, there were shards of broken kit parts, sprue, thumb tacks, nails, dust balls, parts of a broken calculator, a finger nail clipping and other unidentified junk. All in all I got value out of it so it's all good.

[Danno]

Wow! Is that the REAL Tom Geiger?

Welcome aboard, Tom!! Good to see you post here.

[greymack]

Hey guys well the kits I got are all good for restoration projects but the main problem was who ever bought the kits originally left the price tag on the kits and the price was a buck each.

[martinfan5]

Hey guys well the kits I got are all good for restoration projects but the main problem was who ever bought the kits originally left the price tag on the kits and the price was a buck each.

So thats what you were upset about?or started this thread, the price tag being left on the box?,

So really, what was the point of this thread, were you upset that you spent money on model kits?, or that the seller charged more then price that was on the box?, would still like to see the listing

[Fat Brian]

Just because the old prices are on the boxes doesn't mean you got ripped off, a 20+ year old factory sealed kit doesn't still go for the $8 to $10 sticker that was put on it way back when. Even if the seller bought them for a dollar a piece as long as you didn't pay more than you thought was fair you shouldn't be upset.

[pharoah]

I know what you mean. I've been on both sides of the fence. I've packed built models really well (or so I thought) only to have UPS tear part of the box! Fortunately,It hasn't happened very often.

My favorite purchase from-*koff* ebay *koff* was a Revell Big Deuce.

The guy I bought it from just wrapped the box with clear box tape! I was amazed it was all intact and accounted for.

[Tom Geiger]

Wow! Is that the REAL Tom Geiger? http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/ohmy.png

Welcome aboard, Tom!! Good to see you post here.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/cool.png

Just checked in the mirror... yup, it's me. Thanks Dan!

[jas1957]

I've never been burned buying anything model related. Did get ripped buying a graphing calculator for my daughter to use in school. I filed with paypal & with in a few weeks had all my money back. As others have said, if you were taken file a claim with paypal they did good by me.