My unhappy tale of a failed quest

1
Hey everyone,

As some of you know, one of the items I've been chasing around forever and a day is the rare LOTR Backgammon set from Noble Collection, which came out years ago, was not produced in great numbers, and has long since vanished, becoming very scarce and e xp ensive in places like eBay.

Well, thanks to the unceasing efforts of Polyphemus and Nerdanel, we came across one that was for sale for a starting bid of 99 cents. Problems were, the seller had a rating or zero, and it was US shipping only. Some of you may have watched this tale unfold a little in the Price is Right thread a few weeks ago, but here is how it all ended, just yesterday in fact.

I was able to contact the seller, a fellow named Gary, who lives in the LA area. He said he was very ine xp erienced with eBay and Paypal and initially resisted all my attempts to get him to a) change his listing to include international shipping, or b) allow Striders_Heir, who happens to be near his area, and generously offered to pick up the game locally and then ship it to me.

After numerous emails and despite multiple reassurances, he was simply too scared of the prospect of someone showing up at his door, even after I suggested that perhaps SH could bid on the item on my behalf, have his sale protected that way, and simply allow him to pick up the item. No matter what I tried, he simply wouldn't overcome his reluctance, the window of opportunity came and went for SH, and I had to drop the matter. Then, he finally agrees to let me bid, saying he would ship it to me regardless, but then when I next check, the auction is suddenly ended, and the game is listed as sold, and for a ridiculously low price.

I contacted him again to ask what happened, and he says he made a mistake, the game sold for way too little (because he didn't know about setting a reserve or not starting auctions at 99 cents,) and that he had contacted the seller about it and issued him a refund.

Fine, I said. Could he please now create a new listing and this time include international shipping so I could buy it? Yes, he says he will try, and does so, puts a buy it now price and includes the shipping in the price because the quote was coming back as way too e xp ensive, so he lists it for free shipping to get around that.

All good. I get the message, and the minute the new listing goes up, I hit Buy it Now, and the deal is done for $500 USD total. Next thing that happens is the Paypal payment notification on the eBay transaction says Processing, something I had never seen before. After a day of waiting and no change, I contact him again to ask what is up, assuming that since he has no e xp erience with Paypal, that he hasn't accepted the funds yet or something was wrong with his account. Sure enough, he says that his eBay email account was not linked to his Paypal account and that he had fixed it. Shortly after that, the payment goes through, all is well. I contact him again, and he assures me that he was in the process of carefully packing the game and going to the post office that day to mail it, then send me the insurance and tracking info.

When no info comes, I contact him the next day and he says that he didn't get around to it, but will soon... and that was the last I ever heard of Gary Simmon.

I give him the benefit of one week, but no shipping notice is forthcoming from eBay in all that time. Those of you that use it know that a seller is required to submit notice of shipping on a transaction, and the buyer receives that as a notification. Well, I got nothing. I sent him a few messages asking what the delay was, and got no response. In my last message I told him that I would have to seek help from eBay and Paypal unless he sent me a tracking number.

Nothing.

Alright then. Heart in my throat at the thought of losing $500 in a fraudulent transaction, I go to Paypal, open up a dispute after having allowed two weeks since the original transaction date to elapse, and carefully relate to them the entire history of the transaction. They tell me that they will attempt to contact the seller to get his side, and hopefully resolve the dispute by getting him to ship the item. I check the status every day and there is no response from Gary. One week passes, and nothing. Then, after waiting the required week, I am allowed to escalate the dispute to a claim. Now I need to wait another 10 days while they try to get a response out of this guy. The 10 days pass, and nothing. Finally, the following day I get a message from Paypal that they have ruled in my favour and are refunding me the money in full. The day after that, my credit card statement showed a credit of $500.

End of story.

Sorry to bore you, but I'm willing to bet that at the very least, Nerdanel and Striders_Heir were wanting to know how this turned out, and to SH, I would like to thank him once again for all his effort in helping me out with this very difficult seller at the beginning. Had this person simply been a little more trustworthy and less paranoid, perhaps today I would be enjoying this collectible. As it is, the quest ends here. As it turns out, the e xp erienced soured me so much on the actual item and how much people want for it than even though there is one on eBay right not for not too inflated of a price, I am staying away from it.

Moral of the story? Not sure if there is one, other than to always be cautious, and do your due dilligence wherever and whenever possible. As for Gary Simmon, I sincerely hope nothing untoward happened to him which caused him to be unable to uphold his end of our transaction, ship the item, or at the very least communicate back to me with some kind of update. If not, then rest assured I will never deal with him again, and I would caution anyone here about any future dealings with eBay member hayden4077. :(
This Space for Rent

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

3
I had something similar occur once, Val. Got a lucky break on a collectible and got a winning bid that was a fair amount, but still below what the item was regularly going for. I make my payments and so forth, but this fellow never 'accepts' the money through Paypal. It's constantly sits there in that Processing status you saw. I contact him and it's "Oh yea, I def gunna ship it tomorrow". I wish I was exaggerating how well spoken this gent was. The next day the guy relists the item. The exact same pictures, while still lying to me that he was going to ship it. Eventually I had to retract the funds and told this wonderful human being that I knew he was sore about the lower price but that a decent person would've been open and honest with me. Luckily I didn't have to go through any other fancy footwork as he never accepted the funds.

I tell you, this collectible trade is full of some truly awful people. That's really the only bad e xp erience I've had on eBay, but I've stopped counting my Amazon and online retailers woes.

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

6
I'm glad you got your money back.
I could write a book on ebay crap that happens, but I won't.
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

9
[quote=""BladeCollector""]Thats awful, you have been after that item for years and I thought maybe you have finally gotten a good lead.[/quote]

I know, and that's what made it so much worse than any other transaction: it was something that I have wanted for so long, was paid for and all but in my hands, only to to turn out to be a cruel illusion.

[quote=""BladeCollector""]Val, if I ever see one of those things for sale, I might just buy it and fly it to Canada myself just for you![/quote]

Careful, I might hold you to that. ;)
This Space for Rent

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

10
What a heart-crushing tale of woe! I can only imagine how disappointed you must have been. I'm trying to remember if I've ever had a similar disappointment, but nothing comes quickly to mind.

I think I've only ever bought from eBay once, and there were no problems.

I've bought a couple of things through Amazon Marketplace too and those have worked out fine.

Of course, now that I'm gearing up to buy a new subwoofer, probably through an Internet company, it will probably blow up in my face, figuratively speaking.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

14
Sorry to hear about this e xp erience Val. It can make you feel very deflated and distrusting of everyone.

I don't want to sound like your mother but...... Are you truly going to let this one person rob you of your quest for your grail? You have another chance currently on ebay. This seller has nothing to do with that other guy. Take a quiet moment to think about it and see if you can jump back into the fray. Good luck to you!

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

16
Oh man..i'm very sorry to hear that Val. Your e xp erience reminds me of that 1yr long ordeal i had years ago. I fully understand how you feel. I no longer want that specific sword in my collection anymore. Every time i see it (even for a reasonable price on ebay) - it reminds me of all the headaches and bad feelings...which i now associate with that particular sword. Hope another purchase soon will help cheer you up :)
"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum!"

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

17
Hate, hate, hate the way this ended. :( I'm so sorry Val. The only silver lining here is that you at least got your money back. Thank goodness for PayPal's guarantees. I'll still keep an eye out for this item if you'd like but I can definitely understand how this would put a damper on things.

For other buyers/sellers in the future, I would just add it occasionally makes things more comfortable if you agree to meet in person in a public place. I've met many buyers/sellers in public places and haven't had any troubles...yet. Coffee shops, shopping centers, etc. make good meeting places where there are lots of people, witnesses, etc. Not saying that was an issue here, but just a tip I find helpful.

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

20
I have never had those issues with eBay or Paypal, so I will still use those services. I think the biggest issue I have had was the first time I started selling on eBay, I typo-ed my email address on the paypal information, so the payment went into limbo. So with the help of ebay and an understanding buyer, he just cancelled his payment and I sent him a manual bill, so it all worked out.

I have sold things through local websites, we have a local craigslist type of website called "southeasttexas.com" and I have sold things thru local SE Texas facebook pages, and after people responded I was like "hmmm, I hope these people aren't murderers" But as we can see, I am still here!
The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

23
Unfortunately not, unless he's willing to let it go very cheaply, which is not likely, I don't think I stand a chance. Most people won't let that thing go for less than about $500, which was retail, and then you have to add $100 + taxes and fees for shipping because it is very large and heavy. :(

What little is left in my collecting budget for now is going to be tied up with a couple of upcoming custom projects.

Nevertheless, I am ever so grateful you guys continue to look for me. :)
This Space for Rent

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

24
[quote=""Striders_Heir""]My Dearest Val,

Someone is offering this item for sale over on S&F. He's asking for offers to be made and will ship to Canada. Here is the link: http://www.wetacollectors.com/forum/sho ... hp?t=42317

Your Friend, Striders_Heir[/quote]

Thanks, Strider's Heir, for the heads-up on the sale.
Picked up th DM Minas Tirith. :)

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: My unhappy tale of a failed quest

26
Did he actually list a price somewhere? Still pricey with the shipping. Argh! :(

Edit: Never mind, I see Elros updated his post with some prices. $400 is actually a very decent deal, but more than I can afford right now. Not only that, it needs a fairly large flat surface area to display properly and I've used them all up. Curses! It just wasn't meant to be. :'(
Last edited by Valkrist on Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
This Space for Rent
Post Reply

Return to “Other Collectibles”