For Those Who Buy On Ebay...

[woleizihan]

I would not worry at all. If it's a fake then report it as fake to Ebay. You'll get your money back and very likely keep the pen at the same time as a prize.

[Tseg]

What a hassle. Hopefully you are kept whole when all plays out. Nearly 1/2 of my collection is through eBay and I hope to continue to not have issues. The upside is I have saved hundreds of dollars vs. if I had purchased using other alternatives. I suppose this is why some of us take the risk.

[Morphling27]

I've had no troubles yet with eBay and buying pens (in fact my wallet cries about it honestly).

 

Buying electronics was another matter. I needed to replace a laptop my son broke - how much damage 4 year olds can do with a little plastic toy is astounding. Anyway, the first one shipped an envelope weighing 1oz to not my address, but a church in the same zip code. That was fun to find out at the post office and explain to ebay.

 

Another time, buying a computer again, they shipped from a remote county in my home state in AZ, allegedly. Tracking showed it actually was all done and shipped from those drone kiosk things in California somewhere. What arrived at my house (again not weighing but maybe 8oz) was Paul Blart, Mall Cop. Obviously upset at the scam and the fact that's a crappy movie, I had to dispute with eBay. I stated I did not receive my item and eBay actually sided with the seller because 'I got something'. I had to dispute with my credit agency and all was fine. So, at the end I did contact eBay again to let the know how horrid they were and all they said was I 'filed it wrong'. I should have put the item wasn't as described. Which is asinine. That's if you buy a top of the line model computer and you get sent the base model, not Mall Cop from a fake address.

 

But, on pens, I think it's a lot better. No scams, shipping is always good, only one item I got that I felt was a lower grade than the description and the pictures were taken so so to obviously hide it. I like the pen so I didn't bother to mention it.

[inkstainedruth]

I've been burned a few times on eBay, but only had to file one actual dispute . Which was settled within hours in my favor (the seller has probably thousands of transactions at this point, and pretty good feedback numbers -- but in my case they didn't include what was advertised and then were snotty about it. And since it was a gift, I couldn't just return it and get something different in the time frame. But what burned me is that I was then NOT allowed to post feedback (which led me to wonder just how many other people were in my boat...). And I now refuse to deal with that particular seller at all. I probably should have in a second case but didn't -- that seller told another potential bidder that he wasn't seeing any cracks and of course there was a serious one in the cap.

I did have to return a CD to a seller for replacement a year or so back. The package arrived looking as if someone from the touring company of Kinky Boots stepped on the corner of the package with size 13 stilettos and I was afraid that the CD was damaged and unplayable as a result (it might have been fine but I didn't want to risk it...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[biancitwo]

My only ebay strategy is to buy from sellers with many sales and high satisfaction. Out of 25+ purchases from 10 or more countries I have 24+ excellent writers and many hundreds of dollars saved. I would have a very small collection without ebay.

[Chrissy]

Have you received it yet? Is it authentic and all is well?

[inkstainedruth]

  On 6/13/2018 at 12:30 PM, biancitwo said:

My only ebay strategy is to buy from sellers with many sales and high satisfaction. Out of 25+ purchases from 10 or more countries I have 24+ excellent writers and many hundreds of dollars saved. I would have a very small collection without ebay.

 

Unfortunately that strategy is not 100% foolproof. The one actual dispute I filed was with a seller who fit your criteria: literally thousands of sales, and feedback in the mid-90s. And because the dispute was judged in my favor I was NOT allowed to provide feedback -- so I have no idea how many other people were in the same boat as me....

That particular seller is now pretty much at the top of my "Do not do business with those *ssholes in future!" list (the only seller who might be higher on the list is the one I now refer to as "that third-rate pawnbroker" who sold me the $30 Arnold -- which was worth $10 -- and then put what sounded like the IDENTICAL pen back up on eBay -- non-Arnold nib and all -- for $100 dropped to $45.... :-( It was a BiN deal, not an auction and I wanted to contact anyone who jumped on that pen and say "RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY VERY FAST! I bought the last one he had up and it's NOT worth the $30 (down from $100) that I paid....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[praxim]

I recently bought an Omas 555/F from a 100% seller, who neither claimed the pen was fully operational nor adverted to any problem. I found that the piston rod was broken inside the seal. 100% is not 100% as I would rate it.

 

I am currently repairing the piston.

[Cordovian]

  On 6/13/2018 at 1:08 PM, Chrissy said:

Have you received it yet? Is it authentic and all is well?

It's in the mail room (had it shipped to my office) and should be brought up later today. I'll post when I've had a chance to check it out.

[Cordovian]

Update:

 

The package associated with the tracking number was delivered but not to the mailroom at my work. It went to an address four blocks away and the carrier swore that he delivered it to the address on the label (which was different from the address associated with the bar code). Same street number but on "Fourth" street instead of "Front" street.

 

I logged into Ebay so I could get the item number and call them. The listing had been deleted and the sellers account was marked closed by Ebay. I called Ebay and was told the whole thing was a scam. The seller altered the label to show a different address and shipped something (not sure what) knowing it would be marked delivered in an attempt to delay a claim being filed before they could get the money and run. However, I had already reported the seller when I discovered the shipment originated in China and they cut the seller off. Ebay is issuing me a full refund.

 

The seller did not get paid for any of the "items" he sold (about $1700 worth) but is probably not out anything since China subsidizes their postal service and he most likely sent an empty box.

 

No more giving new sellers a chance...

[TSherbs]

  On 6/15/2018 at 9:25 PM, Cordovian said:

Update: ....

 

No more giving new sellers a chance...

Word.

 

Sorry about your troubles, but thanks for sharing.

[zablosky]

I just bought 6 pens on ebay for super low prices from a seller from Germany with 0 feedback. I bought a few super cheap items from 0 feedback sellers before and got some incredible deals.

 

While waiting for these sweets deals to ship I googled for details on these Parkette, Kaweco, Waterman, etc, and I found all but one photo was lifted from this site. I sent the seller a note with the info and was told yada yada yada, what's the problem.

 

I'll go through thie minor hassle of making a complaint and will likely get my money back but no pens are coming. I'll take the time to compare photos the next time I stumble on such a goldmine and avoid this sort of fun.

[Honeybadgers]

when it comes to pens popular with counterfeiters, I will never, ever buy from a source that isn't reputable. My 149 came from a well known reseller that was absolutely certain the pen was authentic since it was a 1990's pre-serial number model.

 

I only purchase vintage stuff on eBay, and even I got burned by someone who swapped the nib and feed in the parker vacumatic I bought (was clearly the same barrel, but the nib had bilateral breather cracks and the feed was chipped a dozen ways)

 

I have generally had great luck with my vintage pen purchases from eBay though.

Edited September 25, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Cordovian]

  On 9/25/2018 at 1:26 AM, zablosky said:

I just bought 6 pens on ebay for super low prices from a seller from Germany with 0 feedback. I bought a few super cheap items from 0 feedback sellers before and got some incredible deals.

 

While waiting for these sweets deals to ship I googled for details on these Parkette, Kaweco, Waterman, etc, and I found all but one photo was lifted from this site. I sent the seller a note with the info and was told yada yada yada, what's the problem.

 

I'll go through thie minor hassle of making a complaint and will likely get my money back but no pens are coming. I'll take the time to compare photos the next time I stumble on such a goldmine and avoid this sort of fun.

 

If you think you are being scammed you need to jump on this now. If the seller sends you empty boxes or sends it to another address (so that it shows delivered) you are going to have difficulty getting your money back. Start looking for evidence that the seller was scamming people (incorrect location, documentation of "borrowed" pictures, etc...)

[Erik Dalton]

  On 9/25/2018 at 2:00 PM, Cordovian said:

If you think you are being scammed you need to jump on this now. If the seller sends you empty boxes or sends it to another address (so that it shows delivered) you are going to have difficulty getting your money back. Start looking for evidence that the seller was scamming people (incorrect location, documentation of "borrowed" pictures, etc...)

Agree. If you feel aggrieved, it’s best to open an official case. Get it on record quickly. Protect yourself, and take advantage of having Ebay, and maybe even PayPal supporting you.

Most sellers are honest. But there seems to be a lot of this “tricky” business going on in the last couple years.

I might add that Amazon is not immune from this tactic. I’ve made a few purchases on prime expecting a quick delivery only to find that the item is coming in a month from China.

[Aysedasi]

Y

 

  On 9/25/2018 at 4:13 PM, Old Salt said:

Agree. If you feel aggrieved, it’s best to open an official case. Get it on record quickly. Protect yourself, and take advantage of having Ebay, and maybe even PayPal supporting you.
Most sellers are honest. But there seems to be a lot of this “tricky” business going on in the last couple years.
I might add that Amazon is not immune from this tactic. I’ve made a few purchases on prime expecting a quick delivery only to find that the item is coming in a month from China.

 

Yes, this has happened to me several times. I've been waiting a month now for a pen from Japan...… It would appear that Japan is now in a different galaxy....

[peterg]

You can also drop the negative feedback before the dispute is resolved

[inkstainedruth]

  On 9/25/2018 at 6:32 PM, peterg said:

You can also drop the negative feedback before the dispute is resolved

 

Wish I had known that when I had to open a dispute with that certain high-volume pen seller a few years ago. The dispute was settled in my favor in a matter of hours, and I got my money back. And got to keep the pens. But was then not ALLOWED to provide feedback. This is a seller who has literally thousands of transactions and a feedback rating above 90%. But I got burned. And the seller decided to be a d*ckwad about it. So I filed the dispute. And then not being allowed to give feedback made me wonder just how many OTHER people were like me -- won their cases but not allowed to give feedback.....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Morphling27]

  On 9/25/2018 at 2:00 PM, Cordovian said:

 

If you think you are being scammed you need to jump on this now. If the seller sends you empty boxes or sends it to another address (so that it shows delivered) you are going to have difficulty getting your money back. Start looking for evidence that the seller was scamming people (incorrect location, documentation of "borrowed" pictures, etc...)

I don't disagree with this, but I've disputed the wrong delivery address and won with ebay. Clearly if it goes to a zip code 10 digits off mine - I didn't get it and got the refund.

 

Now, as you can see above, when you actually get delivered something, you can't tell ebay you didn't get the item. You have to say 'item not as described'. Which is BS, when they send you clearly not the item. I'd think not as described would be wrong color, wrong trim level, etc.

[Cordovian]

  On 9/25/2018 at 8:42 PM, Morphling27 said:

I don't disagree with this, but I've disputed the wrong delivery address and won with ebay. Clearly if it goes to a zip code 10 digits off mine - I didn't get it and got the refund.

 

Now, as you can see above, when you actually get delivered something, you can't tell ebay you didn't get the item. You have to say 'item not as described'. Which is BS, when they send you clearly not the item. I'd think not as described would be wrong color, wrong trim level, etc.

They print a shipping label through Ebay and then change the address on it to something close to your address. To Ebay, and USPS, it looks like it went to your address but the carrier leaves it at a different address. That's what a scammer did to me but fortunately I had already caught on to him and reported it before it was delivered.