Am I the A$$hole for wanting to return cards

General
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I purchased 5 ex cards from a seller. Cards are titled mint and from the many pictures they look it. So i send some offers and we come to an agreement. When the cards arrive, I proceed to look them over. I’m surprised by the many scratches that are covering the holos. Ex Series are both deceptive and concealing. in photos it can be taken at an angle where the card could be dragged along the floor, but the holo doesn’t show any damage. However, ex series, in my opinion, are pretty easily scratched. Needless to say I am not happy, but not angry either. I bought the cards hoping for 9 and not PSA 10 cards. I’d clasiffy the cards as PSA 7 to 8, with a very questionable 9.

My question about whether I am the asshole comes from the seller. The seller seems to blame me for not asking for more pictures and that I am looking for 10/BGS 9.5 cards. those are some of the messages I’m getting. I told the seller that he didn’t do anything wrong, but that they all were well below the way he described. I then get the second message that starts off as a sob story, then they go on and try to keep blaming me? Am I the jerk for wanting to return cards described as mint, but that have tons of scrathes on the holo.

I took a very long time to take detailed photos of every card at many angles, which most sellers absolutely do not do. In my descriptions of tge listings, I was extremely clear in asking that if the buyer had any questions about the card or it’s conditions they should ask me and I would happily get back to them and help them figure it out. If you didn’t feel like you had an accurate understanding of their conditions, I really can’t imagine that you would have purchased the cards. If you didn’t feel like you knew what you were buying, it’s your job as a buyer to reach out and ask for more photos etc until you do. Regarding prices, don’t tell me that you thought these were all gem mint and would grade PSA 10’s because those sell for hundreds of dollars each and the grading fee is about $9 so I really really hope you weren’t declining my buy it now price buy multiple tens of dollars when they were only listed for around ~$30 each when you thought they were worth much much more. There’s no way every single card you bought isn’t what you thought it was; you obviously just changed your mind for some reason and now demand I take even more time and my money to accept and process a return for you. I absolutely did everything I could as a seller and either you failed to do what any rational buyer would/should do or you’re abusing eBay’s system of returns by saying each and every card happens to be damaged to demand a return even though I said no returns in my listings. Whatever your issue is, it’s to your credit and I am not responsible for fixing it. Don’t lie to an eBay representative and claim that you weren’t able to understand the conditions well I took so much time to take the many photos of each card that I did. You do not deserve a return. If you don’t want the cards, sell them yourself.

Hi, I’m selling these cards from my collection to try and help my family out during these horrible times and also because of the fact that my father has been out of work for 6 months because of 1) a neurological issue that affects energy levels & his nervous system and attention, & 2) a horrible brain injury that he got from a bicycle accident while trying to get exercise to help deal with the 1st neurological issue. My father was in the hospital for one month starting january 30th & is still nowhere near fully healed. Because he’s still healing & my mother has health issues of her own, I CANNOT afford to get them sick with covid 19 so I really really really don’t want to accept a return and have to receive mail (I don’t know if you’re sick or not) and then have to resell them immediately for the funds that I already have at this point from your purchase that my family needs for health and food right now. I understand they’re not as amazingly mint as you were hoping but again, I did everything that I’m aware a seller can do to allow you the buyer to have all the info you wanted/that was necessary to understand the conditions of the 10+ year old cards before purchasing. I took many hours to take detailed photos of each card at different angles under what I thought was a bright light (sorry I don’t have a professional one like whatever you use to assess conditions) because unlike most sellers on ebay that just take one photo of the card from the front and MAYBE one of the back (still in sleeve), I wanted to be transparent and honest with the conditions of my cards. Also, in my very lengthy description, I said in all caps to PLEASE reach out if you see anything in the photos that you’re unsure of or want clarification on or just for more photos or info etc so this exact scenario didn’t happen because I cannot afford for this to happen. You purchased 5 cards that all had plenty of interest just below my BIN price (which if i recall you weren’t even willing to pay) so you can definitely resell them (maybe as a lot for convenience) if you’re that upset about the conditions. If you really expected them to be gem mint psa 10 condition then it’s really odd that you would only offer only a few tens of dollars for cards that in psa 10 condition (like you apparently thought they were in) go for hundreds of dollars each once graded ($9 each if i recall) so please don’t come to me with that excuse of you expecting 10+ year old cards to be factory condition when you paid less than $35 or something for each one. The cards are old, rare, and in awesome condition and you know that. Please please please find a way to deal with your concerns other than demanding that I accept a return for them. I can’t deal with this right now. Please. I am sorry you’re not happy with them but again I don’t think that should be on me because I did everything that I’m aware of to avoid this pre - sale and it sounds like your expectations are just very very high. If you really are looking for psa 10 or bgs 9.5/10 condition cards, and you weren’t comfortable with the photos provided, you should’ve asked for more or asked questions. I really feel in my gut that you knew exactly what you were buying because you were obviously happy with the conditions assumed from the photos provided which, obviously, are the exact cards that you received so nothing’s changed with them. If you as a buyer really really needed to be sure of condition you could’ve taken extra steps. I beg you to understand and move on. Thanks

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I think it’s a 50-50 fault, but would help to see the listing photos, and the ones you took. And also what you paid.

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www.ebay.com/itm/Typhlosion-ex-99-100-Ex-Sandstorm-Ultra-Rare-Holo-Pokemon-Card-Mint/303530706207?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

here is the listing for the Typlosion ex.

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I added the link to the sale and what they look like.

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He is clearly hidding that holo scratch on purpose, and listed the card as mint condition. With these photos and listing you provide I’m on your side, you should get a refund.

6 Likes
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We all sell cards here and know this cheap tricks, there is no way he was not aware of this or didnt include that on the picture by mistake.

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Do you have a picture on how heavily scratched they are, i can see in the original listing some minor scratches on the last two pictures on both left and right sides. If that is only scratches I would accept the loss but if they tired to hide some serious scratches I would force the return.

1 Like
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Refund he was hiding scratches on the top of the card.

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Check the post again. I was in the middle of posting and editing the pictures.

I recently asked a seller if I could buy some exs and return them. I told them that no matter how many I buy or the condition when they arrive I will keep 50%. They were okay with it. I’m not expecting PSA 10. or even all the cards to be solid 9s.

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As a seller you highlight weaknesses to prevent returns. He did the opposite, so he gets a return. And for the BS story…sorry I didn’t read past the 8th word of the last paragraph. But let’s just say it would clear my resolve that much more quickly. The listing pics are all I need to “hear.” And I’m fine with being an a-hole if saying that makes it so.

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This is what I would consider to be a risk that you take when you buy cards. EX Series in particular have very hard to see holo scratches, this is why I’ve really stopped buying “mint” ungraded ex cards from eBay. Especially when you are dealing with a new seller who may not know exactly what a mint card is. Correct me if I’m wrong, but from your description of events it seems like you did not ask for additional pictures nor ask if there were scratches on the holo.

Should they have looked more carefully and described the scratches? Yes, the cards are obviously not mint. Should you have been more diligent and specifically asked about holo scratches? Yes.

On the eBay merits, a return is justified, but we all know how trash their policy is. If this happened to me, I would eat the loss. However, if you specifically asked about holo scratches and they maintained there were none, then a return is more than justified.

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Seems like a brand new seller that is trying to sell his Pokemon cards on eBay for the first time. He took pretty decent pictures displaying the card (especially for a new seller lol), and you can see a good amount of scratches along the bottom of the card all over the silver part from the pictures on his listing. From that alone, I would assume the rest of the card has scratches as well. Being a long time buyer and collector of Pokemon cards like yourself, seeing those pictures alone you should assume the card is not “mint”.

Even the guys bio says he’s a new eBay user just trying to sell his old Pokemon collection to support his family through this pandemic lol. Now he definitely could have added that after you complained to him, but I can’t help but feel for the guy lol.

If you think you paid a fair price for the cards you got, even if you thought they would be more mint, I’d say just keep the cards. They don’t seem too bad still. Otherwise you could always ask for a partial refund to make up the difference if you think you were completely ripped off.

Just my 2 cents.

3 Likes
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He described them as “mint,” but they’re near mint at best? I’d say it’s very reasonable to want to return (or request a partial refund for the difference in value).

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No I don’t think you’re an asshole.

It’s clear that the Typhlosion is much more scratched up than was shown in the photos (I don’t know what the conditions of the other cards were like).

In his defense, he did say to reach out if you wanted more pictures. However, the card was listed as mint (which it clearly wasn’t), and he had enough photos on the listing to make you think it was minty. I would have thought the same thing and wouldn’t have asked for any more photos either.

The sob story is sad if true, but if it is, the seller is not the only person in the world experiencing problems. You can’t guilt trip someone into not returning items that were not as described. He is also full of crap with his “I don’t want to have to receive mail” line. So is he just never checking the mail again? He’s full of it.

The values he is assigning to these cards are also a bit off (for right now, anyway).

Personally, I would just eat the loss, but it’s also clear that the items (at least in the case of the Typhlosion) were not as described, so you are certainly not an asshole if you ask for a return. If anyone is the “asshole” here (and I don’t think anyone truly is), it’s the seller for possibly hiding scratches (don’t know if he did it intentionally) and trying to guilt trip you into not asking for a refund.

2 Likes
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This is interesting to see. I actually sent this guy an offer on this card and got turned down, for reasons that line up with what he messaged you. I think the photos he took of the card are pretty suspect considering the scratches on the card; it’s hard to believe he wasn’t intentionally hiding them.

Although it’s a real bummer, I typically wouldn’t return a card like this. I have a whole binder going of cards I was hoping to grade based on eBay photos which turned out to have serious scratches. Since the nomenclature around near mint, mint etc. is a bit subjective, I don’t like forcing returns on sellers who never promised that the card would grade well by PSA standards. Still, it’s an understandably frustrating common practice on eBay when buying ‘mint’ cards just under the price of a 9. Just gotta roll with the punches and take some risks, maybe build a nice binder collection along the way. At least, that’s my current approach.

You’re definitely not an a$$hole though.

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you’re definitely right. I don’t always follow the same protocol of asking extensive questions. I’m normally okay with eating the risk as you can see from exs for sale on my store.

Looking at the pictures now I can where they were matching up. However, I was honestly okay with a few scratches.
The pictures definitely do look deceiving compared to what they are in person.