do sellers overstate the condition of goods?

Gloomendoom · 7 May 2018 at 8:25AM

Happened to me the other day. I bought an 4G router listed as "New other". The listing stated that it had been used for less than a week. On receipt, the device's data usage log showed that it had in fact been quite heavily used for over a couple of months.

I'm still umming and arring over what kind of feedback to leave as it works fine.

ThinkingOfLinking · 7 May 2018 at 2:25PM

soolin wrote: »

The problem is though that buyers expect 'new' to be current season and mint and I imagine that anything older that perhaps has that slightly stored dusty smell could end up with the seller having an issue.

For me, I would definitely regard the item as being new. I've bought items which are years old but NWT and I see them as new based on their condition not their age. That said, if I had a new item to sell which had been sitting in storage, I would explain that in the listing at the very top of the item description, and also would say if it smelt musty or whatever.

soolin · 7 May 2018 at 3:25PM

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

For me, I would definitely regard the item as being new. I've bought items which are years old but NWT and I see them as new based on their condition not their age. That said, if I had a new item to sell which had been sitting in storage, I would explain that in the listing at the very top of the item description, and also would say if it smelt musty or whatever.

Unfortunately the fact it was described as 'new' would almost certainly be an automatic win for a buyer claiming SNAD.

It's an absolute minefield out there now, eBay has taken away any common sense approaches to selling and sellers have to do anything to protect their accounts.

ThinkingOfLinking · 7 May 2018 at 7:50PM

soolin wrote: »

Unfortunately the fact it was described as 'new' would almost certainly be an automatic win for a buyer claiming SNAD.

It's an absolute minefield out there now, eBay has taken away any common sense approaches to selling and sellers have to do anything to protect their accounts.

Maybe that's what the "new (other)" category is for then....

soolin · 7 May 2018 at 9:07PM

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

Maybe that's what the "new (other)" category is for then....

It's not available in most categories, only a limited few.

alykatz · 8 May 2018 at 12:50PM

soolin wrote: »

Unfortunately the fact it was described as 'new' would almost certainly be an automatic win for a buyer claiming SNAD.

It's an absolute minefield out there now, eBay has taken away any common sense approaches to selling and sellers have to do anything to protect their accounts.

This is exactly why i advertise new with tag items that are a few years old as used.
Whilst i would personally not mark a seller down for selling items like this as new there are a lot of numpties out there especially on ebay and my upmost priority is to keep my account safe.
I only sell sporadically so dont have a big or regular turnover to water down any defects.

LadyDee wrote: »

To be honest you might be narrowing your market doing this - personally I would be buy something listed as unworn but been hanging in wardrobe for a while, but not something listed as used.

In an ideal world yes i agree with you but ebay these days is something else unfortunately.

LadyDee · 9 May 2018 at 9:00AM

soolin wrote: »

The problem is though that buyers expect 'new' to be current season and mint and I imagine that anything older that perhaps has that slightly stored dusty smell could end up with the seller having an issue.

I appreciate what you're saying, you're an experienced seller and have no doubt come up against some buyers' unrealistic expectations. I would still prefer something listed as, "been hanging in the wardrobe for a couple of years unworn - would benefit from a freshen in the wm". What I wouldn't buy under any circumstances is something that is described as "plenty of life left in it"!:(

soolin · 9 May 2018 at 9:09AM

LadyDee wrote: »

I appreciate what you're saying, you're an experienced seller and have no doubt come up against some buyers' unrealistic expectations. I would still prefer something listed as, "been hanging in the wardrobe for a couple of years unworn - would benefit from a freshen in the wm". What I wouldn't buy under any circumstances is something that is described as "plenty of life left in it"!:(

Strangely enough I'm trying to source a particular style of shoe, it's an old range but occasionally a brand new pair from storage turns up on ebay in my size, so I do keep watching. Found a pair recently, brand new with no tags - brilliant1 Looked at description where it explained they had been worn to a wedding, only for the evening part where they mainly sat down, so 2-3 hours wear at 'tops' and only indoors - so selling as new without tags. That's what really annoys me!

kay0601 · 13 May 2018 at 8:44PM

I've bought a few times where items are listed as new but they turn out used. I bought a Lego watch at xmas and it was new in box. It arrived missing bits and they'd sent it in an envelope so the box was crushed. Returned it but the seller was really rude and claimed I'd damaged the box on purpose until I sent her a picture of the envelope before I opened it. Not my first rodeo with a cheeky seller :cool:

do sellers overstate the condition of goods?

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