Ebay-opinion needed

[Jackad7]

So I recently bought four clone mini figures on ebay. All phase one, two of them were basic, one pilot, and one commander cody. The seller listed them as used and there was one picture which did not show anything wrong with them. The seller did not state anything wrong with them in the description. When I got them the legs were all unusable because of dirt/damage but that was an easy enough fix. My concern was in cody's helmet whixh had a small dent right on the line of orange and black and one of the bodies which had a large crack behind the arm (ignoring the cracks IN the arms). I contacted the seller who seemed quite unenthusied and said that they listed it as "used" and asked what I wanted done. I proposed a 4.50 refund (which is what the replacement parts for the two pieces I listed would cost me on bricklink not including shipping). The seller did not respond and when I prodded them they just said "We listed the item as used." Maybe I'm ignorant but the level of damage in the pieces seemed to warrant more of a descriptive than "used." What should I do? Im positive if I leave negative feedback I will be met with likewise.

[MAB]

Sellers cannot leave negative feedback.

[Jackad7]

Well I guess that fixed that problem. Thanks for letting me know.

[Lego Otaku]

They have not been able to do so for a few years or so. It was to fight hostile sellers who leaves revenge feedback because the buyer complained about excessive shipping charge, a ding not described, or other issues. Before the change, some buyers often refused to leave any feedback for bad seller because of fear of getting revenge negs and that kept the seller looking "good" artificially.

[Jackad7]

That makes me feel a little bit better. I remember that happened to my mom when I was very little. Back in like 2000ish I really wanted a set so she helped me buy it on eBay but it was missing parts so we left negative feedback and got likewise. Thanks for clarifying! I've opened a case with paypal.

[goody82]

I glossed over the original post a bit, but I have had experience with purchasing Lego on eBay

It can occasionally be great for purchasing sets off unsuspecting sellers who do not fully know the value of the set they are selling (purchase now prices can sometimes be better than full auction prices).

But, I also have purchased sets with incomplete minifigs, missing pieces, etc. -it goes with the territory of buying 25+ year old sets. Overall, I enjoy using eBay to buy Lego. But, I maintain some skeptisism and know I will not be getting the same quality of new sets.

I have had bad purchasing experinces to include overly restrictive mailing procedures (had to drive a dozen miles out of my way to UPS), or missing pieces.

[Jackad7]

I agree with that. I've bought many lots that are missing pieces but usually the seller mentions it and fixes it if they didnt. I once bought a mini figure collection that had all real mini figures except for rex, who is $15 at least. Seller fixed it no questions asked. I am just blown away the seller couldn't have cared less about the fact that they sent me severely damaged items. Anyway thanks guys!

[Jackad7]

PayPal worked, I got the refund! Thano you to everyone this can be closed.

[HoganPrime]

I've used ebay a few times for Lego purchasing, mainly because I wanted to get the majority of the Pharaoh's Quest series, and most were complete sets, except for one which was missing the female character minifig from one set, which the seller mentioned. I never had an issue with Ebay until I moved back to China a couple of years ago and ordered Coles Assault Vehicle, the ninjago vehicle that kind of looks like a batmobile. The only issue I had was the shipping took ages. It wasn't the sellers fault, it was a customs issue.

But yeah the feedback was fine for me because we were constantly updating each other with comments so I had nothing bad to say about that seller. But ebay of course can be a real minefield, I've heard some proper horror stories regarding unscrupulous sellers

[Captain Britain]

eBay has been good for me 99% of the time too. The only time it wasn't was when I ordered up a Mary Jane minifig which was listed as new but came with bite marks on the front/back of the head, and inside the hair piece was a lovely bit of bluetack squashed up inside with a real hair poking out of it.. mmmmm! Thankfully they refunded me straight away and I ordered another from elsewhere. I've had it on BrickLink too though, Batman turned up with a chunk of blue plastic wedged up inside his leg! Baffles me. The seller part refunded me and I just used some other black legs I luckily had. I only really wanted the cowl from it anyway so worked out ok in the end.

I think you're generally covered with Paypal though and it looks like it turned out ok for you so happy days :).