HI – I sold a knife here on the forums back in in Dec. But, I am not sure what to do about this one, and would like the thoughts of the community here.
This started in Dec and progressed over the past couple months, but the conduct of the buyer has me concerned for his ethics on this forum and with others.
The purchaser sent me a PM after he got it that said he wanted to return it. He said that “There's an area on the knife (on the non-logo side, about half an inch from the edge) with what appears to be smoothing. I could see it in your pictures, but I thought it was due to the lighting. I would like to send it back. I'm probably pickier than most, and I don't want to you to lose money because I'm picky.”
I feel that I accurately described the knife, and sent it half way across the country to him and it arrived quickly, and as advertised. While I get that Amazon and Zappos offer free returns - I am not a store, and I believe that I advertised the knife accurately ( backed up by an independent web sales site, see later) and provided good photos for buyers to make a decision. He never asked for, and I did not list an inspection period, or for a return if he just did not like it, or felt that he could not resell it for enough of a profit once he got it.
I have been on the forums for some time, and have always described everything I sell accurately and take numerous pictures (as my feedback shows). I did not remember anything out of the ordinary with the knife at all – so I looked at my original high resolution pictures from my laptop, as well as the ones I posted on the forums and did not see anything at all in the pictures like the buyer mentioned.
When I asked the buyer to send me a picture of the issue, he circled an area in one of my pictures and did not send a picture of his own. I can not see any difference in the color or anything in the picture he sent unless I tilt my laptop screen in various directions, and I see the color change around the blade as I do this. When he sent that picture, the buyer then said something different. This time he said “It's just an area of the coating that doesn't have the same finish as the rest of the knife. The sheen is different, almost as if it had rubbed against something, making it smoother than the rest of the coating, or maybe the coating was just inconsistently applied.
This changing of stories started to make me question his real agenda, and think this is more a case of buyer’s remorse vs. something real. And, his story kept changing in each interaction we had.
In that same message, he also said that “I don't think you misrepresented the knife, or even missed spotting a defect. I own about 60 Busses, half of them from the same time period as this one. I'm well aware of the variations you sometimes see from the shop“. After I said that I was not OK with him sending it back, because even his own words showed that I sold and delivered what I advertised.
He then listed the knife on eBay a couple weeks later. In his ad he used my pictures as well as 2 more of his own, all of which show nothing wrong with the blade. He also listed it on eBay as New. And, the definition of New in eBay is “New: A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item (including handmade items). “
Two months later he emailed me again when the knife did not sell on eBay for approximately $200 more than what he paid me - and claimed that the knife is “defective” (while he still had it listed on eBay as NEW). And, what made it even worse, IMO, is he also said “The best place to sell this would be on Bladeforums, but I couldn't list it there without fully disclosing its condition, and doing so would adversely affect both the selling price and how quickly it would sell. You, since you made no disclosure in your listing, don't see a defect and would be able to repost it without a disclaimer.“ So, he insinuated that I should try to sell what he deems a damaged/defective item on these forums as New. I found that very insulting, yet telling.
When I again said I would not accept a refund, particularly after he advertised this as new and it was 3 months later, he was not happy, and said he would send the knife to an independent knife sales site for them to sell.
That site inspected the knife and listed it exactly as I did – Excellent, and no signs of use or sharpening. Their highest rating for a blade that came from a third party, and not direct from the manufacturer is excellent. They noted that there was no issue with the blade, and their pictures also show no issues.
Thankfully the rude and profane communications have now stopped. But, this experience has made me very leery.
NOTE - I have the links to the eBay sales and the other sales site saved, and also have the PMs and emails that I quoted from if a Mod would like to see them.
Regards,
UDDwaine
This started in Dec and progressed over the past couple months, but the conduct of the buyer has me concerned for his ethics on this forum and with others.
The purchaser sent me a PM after he got it that said he wanted to return it. He said that “There's an area on the knife (on the non-logo side, about half an inch from the edge) with what appears to be smoothing. I could see it in your pictures, but I thought it was due to the lighting. I would like to send it back. I'm probably pickier than most, and I don't want to you to lose money because I'm picky.”
I feel that I accurately described the knife, and sent it half way across the country to him and it arrived quickly, and as advertised. While I get that Amazon and Zappos offer free returns - I am not a store, and I believe that I advertised the knife accurately ( backed up by an independent web sales site, see later) and provided good photos for buyers to make a decision. He never asked for, and I did not list an inspection period, or for a return if he just did not like it, or felt that he could not resell it for enough of a profit once he got it.
I have been on the forums for some time, and have always described everything I sell accurately and take numerous pictures (as my feedback shows). I did not remember anything out of the ordinary with the knife at all – so I looked at my original high resolution pictures from my laptop, as well as the ones I posted on the forums and did not see anything at all in the pictures like the buyer mentioned.
When I asked the buyer to send me a picture of the issue, he circled an area in one of my pictures and did not send a picture of his own. I can not see any difference in the color or anything in the picture he sent unless I tilt my laptop screen in various directions, and I see the color change around the blade as I do this. When he sent that picture, the buyer then said something different. This time he said “It's just an area of the coating that doesn't have the same finish as the rest of the knife. The sheen is different, almost as if it had rubbed against something, making it smoother than the rest of the coating, or maybe the coating was just inconsistently applied.
This changing of stories started to make me question his real agenda, and think this is more a case of buyer’s remorse vs. something real. And, his story kept changing in each interaction we had.
In that same message, he also said that “I don't think you misrepresented the knife, or even missed spotting a defect. I own about 60 Busses, half of them from the same time period as this one. I'm well aware of the variations you sometimes see from the shop“. After I said that I was not OK with him sending it back, because even his own words showed that I sold and delivered what I advertised.
He then listed the knife on eBay a couple weeks later. In his ad he used my pictures as well as 2 more of his own, all of which show nothing wrong with the blade. He also listed it on eBay as New. And, the definition of New in eBay is “New: A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item (including handmade items). “
Two months later he emailed me again when the knife did not sell on eBay for approximately $200 more than what he paid me - and claimed that the knife is “defective” (while he still had it listed on eBay as NEW). And, what made it even worse, IMO, is he also said “The best place to sell this would be on Bladeforums, but I couldn't list it there without fully disclosing its condition, and doing so would adversely affect both the selling price and how quickly it would sell. You, since you made no disclosure in your listing, don't see a defect and would be able to repost it without a disclaimer.“ So, he insinuated that I should try to sell what he deems a damaged/defective item on these forums as New. I found that very insulting, yet telling.
When I again said I would not accept a refund, particularly after he advertised this as new and it was 3 months later, he was not happy, and said he would send the knife to an independent knife sales site for them to sell.
That site inspected the knife and listed it exactly as I did – Excellent, and no signs of use or sharpening. Their highest rating for a blade that came from a third party, and not direct from the manufacturer is excellent. They noted that there was no issue with the blade, and their pictures also show no issues.
Thankfully the rude and profane communications have now stopped. But, this experience has made me very leery.
NOTE - I have the links to the eBay sales and the other sales site saved, and also have the PMs and emails that I quoted from if a Mod would like to see them.
Regards,
UDDwaine
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