Am I allowed to contact another buyer?

wendym

I bought Chanel perfume 'new, unwanted gift', which has arrived unboxed, and there's something not quite right. The bottle looks fine, but the perfume is slightly pale, and, most oddly, the identical 'unwanted gift' was sold to someone else the previous day (feedback wasn't there when I bought).

Does Ebay etiquette allow me to contact the other buyer and ask if she's sure it's the real thing? I'm on the end of a cold, so wouldn't get a subtle difference in scent.

frivolous_fay

It's not auction interference as the auction is over - shouldn't be a problem.

isitenough

Yep, you can contact them, but you have to be careful, with your wording etc... as some people don't take these things kindly and wording in emails can be taken a different way.
Just ask if theirs appears to be OK and the smell etc.. is what they expected, or something of that nature.
Anything you say could get back to the seller and annoy them..

wendym

isitenough wrote: »

Yep, you can contact them, but you have to be careful, with your wording etc... as some people don't take these things kindly and wording in emails can be taken a different way.
Just ask if theirs appears to be OK and the smell etc.. is what they expected, or something of that nature.
Anything you say could get back to the seller and annoy them..

I know I'd have to be very careful with my wording, and it's more likely to go wrong than right.

Thanks - I'll have a think.

dreams_R_free

I'm sure it would be OK to contact them. If they don't like it they don't have to reply if they don't want to. Good Luck.

I once bought a genealogy CD on eBay ( a local census type thing from another area of the country) and soon afterwards I received an email from a very irate chap informing me that I'd just bought a fake as the originals were copyright to his Family History Society! I deplore the selling of fake goods on eBay but the CD seemed perfect in every way including the packaging. The guy kept contacting me asking if I'd reported the seller to eBay yet and asking me to support him if his case against the counterfeiter came to court:eek: He was watching all the man's auctions (all genealogy stuff) and contacting buyers. It all got a bit heavy as I didn't know what to do for the best. I contacted eBay mentioning the fact that I'd been told about it being a fake etc. but I didn't hear anything back from them (not that I expected it from eBay somehow:rotfl:). The seller is still running his auctions though!

digerati

wendym wrote: »

I bought Chanel perfume 'new, unwanted gift', which has arrived unboxed, and there's something not quite right. The bottle looks fine, but the perfume is slightly pale, and, most oddly, the identical 'unwanted gift' was sold to someone else the previous day (feedback wasn't there when I bought).

If you're concerned that the Chanel isn't genuine - pop into a local department store and compare your bottle with the real thing especially the odour. Colour should be the same even if it's a parallel import or 'new, unwanted gift'.

wendym

If I didn't know that the identical 'unwanted gift' had been sold the previous day I wouldn't have thought twice. It could be slightly pale if it hasn't been stored away from the light, and as far as I can tell through the remnants of a cold, it smells fine.

jasmineswhiskers

Maybe they are 'real' and the seller has just got a few of them (from whatever means) and finds they sell better described as an unwanted gift than making it obvious they've got several of them.

wendym

jasmineswhiskers wrote: »

Maybe they are 'real' and the seller has just got a few of them (from whatever means) and finds they sell better described as an unwanted gift than making it obvious they've got several of them.

That's the conclusion I came to as well - decided not to make a fuss.

Thanks everyone - thanks button won't work again. Does this happen to everyone, by the way? (thanks button, not wittering about perfume!)