Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Is It Up To The Buyer Or Seller?


About two weeks ago I purchased a Griffey card from a dealer on eBay. He messaged me to let me know he was going to be putting up additional Griffey cards and asked if I would like first crack before they get listed. Interested I ask for a list, which he sends and I find a couple of cards that I needed and we worked out a nice deal. I paid through Paypal and he sent all of the cards together with my eBay order so I didn’t have to pay an additional shipping fee.

Everything was good until I got the cards and realized one of the cards was not what he had listed, but was actually a similar but different card which I already had. Now I am not angry, I don’t think he intended to rip me off because the price we agreed on was very fair I just think that he was mistaken when he listed the card.

The cards in question are the 1992 Classic Best Griffey card. There are three versions not counting the Atlanta NSCC or autographed versions which are based on the base card; the base version (Left), the Red Foil version (Center) and the Blue Foil version (Right). I have since picked up the Red Foil, Blue Foil and Atlanta NSCC versions so my collection 4/5 done, I just need the autographed version.
 
The seller listed “Red version” which led me to believe it was the Red Foil but the card I received was the base card. These cards are similar except the base has a white border and white back while the Foil versions are grey. Here are the backs, as you can see the Red Foil and Blue Foil backs are the same (#2 and #3 below)



 

This led me to wonder, if a deal is worked out is it the seller’s responsibility if they are mistaken or is it the buyers responsibility for verifying the card?

I didn’t think to ask for an image so I take responsibility for not getting the details in this case but I was wondering how others feel about a similar situation.


4 comments:

  1. FYI, there is also a blank sample version of the Convention card with no text on the front.

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    1. Oh I had not seen that one, thanks for letting me know. Another card added to my Want List.

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  2. I'd say it's on the seller to know, but sometimes people make mistakes or lack sufficient familiarity with the different variations. If it's a cheap card I'd probably let it slide and/or let the seller know what's going on. If it's an expensive card or there is a significant difference between what you paid for and what you actually received, I'd try to work out a return/refund. Most sellers I've dealt with are pretty accommodating about this sort of thing as long as the issue is approached civilly.

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