Problems with an eBay Buyer After Selling a Vintage Pokémon Booster – Looking for Advice

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Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice and opinions on a situation I’m currently having with an eBay buyer.

About 11 days ago, I sold a vintage Pokémon booster pack on eBay for €500. The buyer purchased it fairly quickly, and I shipped it on August 25th. According to the tracking, it was delivered to the buyer on August 27th.

At first, I assumed everything was fine. However, about three hours ago, the buyer contacted me and said that he had finally found time to open the package and that the booster looked strange and had Lines on it. I’m not entirely sure what he means by lines in this context.

He also asked me several questions about how long I had owned the booster and where I got it from, which I answered.

He then sent me some pictures of the upper crimp/seal area. In my opinion, the crimp does not look suspicious, but I would really appreciate hearing what you guys think.

Fortunately, I took detailed photos of the booster shortly before shipping it, including the areas he is now questioning. I also noticed that he sent me pictures of himself pulling on the top flap of the booster. The top of the pack is visibly opening slightly in those pictures.

I have not received any further response from him yet, and I’m honestly quite stressed about how I should handle this.

He also left me neutral feedback on eBay saying that everything was fine, but then wrote that the seller “did not answer questions about the condition of the booster.” This is not true. I never received any questions from him about the condition of the booster before or after the purchase until now 3 Hours ago. I have checked my eBay messages again, including my deleted/trash folder, and there is definitely no message from him asking about the condition.

I normally respond to every message within a few hours, usually within three hours at the latest.

The booster is a Pokémon Team Magma vs. Team Aqua booster. Apart from a tear in the middle of the wrapper and some small creases, I considered it to be in good condition for a booster that is over 20 years old.

I have owned this booster since 2018. Before listing it, I carefully inspected the pack again and did not notice anything that would indicate that it had been resealed. The crimp/seal was even and intact when I shipped it, which I believe can also be seen in my photos.

I have previously sold five vintage Pokémon boosters on eBay without any problems, so this is the first time I’ve experienced something like this.

I would really appreciate your opinions on the following:

I’m trying to remain completely reasonable and professional, but I’m obviously worried because this was a €500 vintage booster. If I end up having to refund the full amount for a booster that may have been altered after delivery, I honestly don’t think I would ever feel comfortable selling vintage boosters online again.

If the buyer decides to use eBay’s Buyer Protection, would I have to refund the full amount of €500 if he returns the booster?

I would have absolutely no problem accepting the return and giving him a full refund if he had contacted me after receiving the booster, told me that he thought something was wrong with it, and returned it in exactly the same condition in which he received it.

What worries me is that he has already sent me pictures of himself pulling on the top flap of the booster. The booster is visibly opening at the top in his pictures. From my perspective, it looks like he has already loosened the flap and pulled on it several times.

How does eBay handle something like this? I have read that when a buyer uses Buyer Protection, they are supposed to return the item in the same condition in which they received it. In this case, however, that would definitely not be the case if he returns it after pulling on the flap and opening the booster.

Has anyone here had a similar experience with eBay, especially with expensive vintage collectibles? How did eBay handle it?

I would really appreciate hearing about your experiences and any advice you can give me.

Thank you in advance!

Best regards

(First and last picture are from the buyer, the other ones from me)

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Call ebay and contest the feedback.

The rest has nothing that can be done unless they submit an issue. Save the information, screenshots, pictures, etc, just in case.

If they push for a refund itll depend what your listing said.

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Thank you, I will do that. For now, I’m just going to wait the next few days and see if he opens a case with eBay. He hasn’t contacted me again either. I have a feeling that he may have completely opened the booster and is now unhappy with it.

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It could also just be being overly paranoid. Some people freak out about lines that are normal and think its been resealed. You cant win with some buyers :man_shrugging:

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I think so too, there was just a crease, which is completely normal, several of my vintage boosters have that, but the seal is perfectly normal and intact. I’m going to wait a few more days for him to reply, and if he doesn’t, I’ll ask eBay if they can remove the feedback. It’s not negative, just neutral, but he claims there that I didn’t answer about the condition before buying, which is a lie; I actually brought it up with him again today but haven’t received a response.

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I wouldn’t poke the bear on the neutral feedback. Your best bet is to hope the buyer forgets about it and doesn’t request a refund.

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You’re actually right. Even though it makes me angry, I think it’s probably best to just let it go and move on. It doesn’t change my 100% rating on eBay anyway.

Best regards

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From the buyers first picture, the pack still appears sealed. Some packs open a little bit at the top, but are still crimped below that. I would also hold off on doing anything until something happens.

Sorry this was the reason you joined E4 but hope you stick around. FYI you can link your eBay account to your E4 profile. I mention this as there are a lot of high quality buyers/sellers on E4 that are fantastic to deal with and you may be able to sell them to a reputable collector here.

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Thanks. I often read in this forum, even before, but I only registered yesterday. I’ll be staying though :smiley:

Yes, I know the booster wasn’t completely opened, but its condition is still different than when I sent it. The flap was firmly attached to the booster. That alone is a loss of value.

Thanks for letting me know, I will think about that.

Best regards :slight_smile:

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Welcome fellow lurker!

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This will largely be a repeat of others’ comments, but just to reinforce what they said:

Like Lyle said, some collectors, especially new buyers of vintage sealed, are to skittish for their own good, and confirmation bias starts to confirm their fears. Unfortunately, you cannot help these buyers. They should not be buying the stuff, because they do not understand it, but they do, and they fear. As for you, be sure to document everything in an organized way.

Like Eeveeteam said, don’t initiate with him anymore. let him come to you, and in the mean time, contact ebay over the feedback. If what you’ve said reflects your conversation with him, it should be straight forward that his feedback does not reflect the interaction, and they’ll remove it.

Lastly, as Rattlesnake says, some boosters, several of my sealed, have this triangle at the top. It’s just due to how they were sealed, because they were not glued, but pressed. The top SHOULD be free, as it indicates it was not glued shut after being opened. BUT alas, it’s out of your hands. I hope the situation works out to your benefit.

And I hope you keep engaging with the community here. It’s a great place for the hobby. The BEST IMO.

Cheers!

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Thank you! :slight_smile:

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Thank you for your message :slight_smile: I also have a new update.

Yesterday around noon, I received a message from him saying, “Hello, please get back to me. Kind regards,” which was exactly the same message he had sent previously. It seems like he never received any of my replies. I did answer all of his questions, but he never responded, which I already found a little strange.

Because I didn’t know how else to reach him, I actually created a second account yesterday using my business email address. He finally got back to me just now and said that he hadn’t received anything from me. I then sent him all the screenshots showing that I had replied to his messages.

I honestly don’t know what could have happened. Maybe he accidentally blocked me, or perhaps my messages ended up in his spam folder? I really have no idea. However, I can prove that I replied to him, and I assume eBay should be able to see that as well.

He also asked for an invoice, but unfortunately I no longer have it because I originally purchased the booster back in 2018–2019. I haven’t received another response from him yet, so I’m currently waiting to hear back.

I really hope this can somehow be resolved. At this point, I honestly don’t even mind anymore whether he opens an eBay buyer protection case or not. I just want the whole situation to be resolved as quickly as possible and not drag on any longer.

I probably won’t sell expensive boosters online anymore after this. If I end up having to refund the money, I’d rather rent a table at card shows and sell my boosters there in person.

Kind regards :slight_smile:

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There are a couple things here… He wants an invoice of Your original purchase? It was $5
That’s asking a lot.
And are you communicating over email? ebay? or what?
That very weird that the ebay messages didn’t go through. But using a second account is likely just complicating the issue.

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Neutral feedback means you’re probably in the clear.

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I know, but it’s my only neutral review, so it naturally stands out among all the positive ones, even though luckily it doesn’t affect my overall rating. He also wrote in the review that I didn’t answer any of his questions about the booster, which simply isn’t true.

Best regards

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Sorry, I meant the receipt. He wants it so he can see where the booster was originally purchased.

I actually created a second eBay account specifically to contact him because I suspected that he might not be receiving my messages. He had asked me several times to get back to him, which made it seem as though he hadn’t received my previous messages. I suspect that he may have blocked my main eBay account and simply doesn’t know how to remove me from his block list.

I don’t think contacting him from the second account should be a problem, as I read that eBay can access messages exchanged through eBay. I can also prove that he didn’t respond to my messages from my main account and only replied after I contacted him from the second account.

Today, he messaged me saying that he suspects the booster has been resealed, which is nonsense. He claims that the outer seam looks like it was heat-sealed,

Now it has been seven hours since his last message, and once again I haven’t received a response. I feel like I have to wait almost a full day for every reply, which I find strange. If he genuinely wanted to resolve the issue, I would expect him to respond a little more promptly.

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… :unamused_face:

  • Wasn’t it heat sealed in the first place?
  • And there’s no serial number, so what good does a receipt do?

Sorry to hear you have to deal with this.

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But ya’ know, if he already left neutral feedback, I’d just leave it there, and try to get ebay to remove it. If he left feedback, the transaction is complete from ebay’s PoV. IIDK if he can ask for a return at this point, and he shouldn’t get one, IMO.

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Sadly leaving feedback doesn’t end the transaction. I once sent something stamped pwe, got positive feedback a week later. Then 3 weeks after that got an item not received case and they won

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