Selling Toys - Horror Stories & "Happy" Customers

Another lot of Legends.

I'm quite aware that there are some heavy hitters in it. That's why I'm selling it only as a lot so I can get rid of the waste. It's a pretty good price. Honestly if I just wanted to cherry pick and sell them I probably would make near enough, but then I'd be stuck with the chaff. I don't know. Maybe I could donate it.

Every single interaction I've had has been people cherry-picking 3 to 5 of the heavy hitters. No. For me this is just like a reading comprehension issue. Title. Copy.

But it's easy enough to ignore or just say no online.

No I had a dude roll up who was buying something else. First off, he wants to meet at 8:00 in the goddamn morning on a Saturday. I'm amenable to that only because he claims to work night shift. Then he starts blowing my phone up at 6:30 because that's when he decided to show up.

It's a couple hundred dollars so I do head down stairs at my leisure.

Transaction is fine. But then he mentions he has seen my new listing. And then he gives me his cherry picks.

I just said, "Nope" with all the authority of a cat parent picking their cat off of whatever surface they're not supposed to be on.

Instead he produces an alternate pick list.

Nope. It is a lot. Now at this point I'm at my boundary so I do start walking away.

But then he sends it over the top for me.

He asks me, "If someone else would also like to split it, could you message me and let me know to coordinate how we break it up."

What the actual f***. Goddamn, private. You're a real genius. You are one high-speed mother f*****.

I tell him if someone else buys it, and they choose to re-list it and break it up at their leisure and profit, that is on them. And I continue to walk away.

And I just I think this guy is like me. I think he's got something going on neurodivergently and he's just not really picking it up. And he says:

"But how am I supposed to get in touch with them if you don't put me in touch."

Mother f*****. Do I look like a fixer. Am I Jodie Foster in the Inside Man. Because you're making me feel like Jodie Foster in The Accused.

--

Have a backup story:

Guy opens up negotiations on another lot in his first message. Throws his lower price out the gate.

I agree to it because I did accommodate for this and we're still above my floor.

Only then does he start the pity party? Oh, but I live here. Oh that's really far away. I have to figure out if it's worth the drive.

Dude we passed Then. We are at Now, now.

You set the price.

You made your offer.

There's just like an audacity that has taken hold in the past few years and it was not there before, at least in Toronto.
 
altcunningham said:
Another lot of Legends.

I'm quite aware that there are some heavy hitters in it. That's why I'm selling it only as a lot so I can get rid of the waste. It's a pretty good price. Honestly if I just wanted to cherry pick and sell them I probably would make near enough, but then I'd be stuck with the chaff. I don't know. Maybe I could donate it.

Every single interaction I've had has been people cherry-picking 3 to 5 of the heavy hitters. No. For me this is just like a reading comprehension issue. Title. Copy.

But it's easy enough to ignore or just say no online.

No I had a dude roll up who was buying something else. First off, he wants to meet at 8:00 in the goddamn morning on a Saturday. I'm amenable to that only because he claims to work night shift. Then he starts blowing my phone up at 6:30 because that's when he decided to show up.

It's a couple hundred dollars so I do head down stairs at my leisure.

Transaction is fine. But then he mentions he has seen my new listing. And then he gives me his cherry picks.

I just said, "Nope" with all the authority of a cat parent picking their cat off of whatever surface they're not supposed to be on.

Instead he produces an alternate pick list.

Nope. It is a lot. Now at this point I'm at my boundary so I do start walking away.

But then he sends it over the top for me.

He asks me, "If someone else would also like to split it, could you message me and let me know to coordinate how we break it up."

What the actual f***. Goddamn, private. You're a real genius. You are one high-speed mother f*****.

I tell him if someone else buys it, and they choose to re-list it and break it up at their leisure and profit, that is on them. And I continue to walk away.

And I just I think this guy is like me. I think he's got something going on neurodivergently and he's just not really picking it up. And he says:

"But how am I supposed to get in touch with them if you don't put me in touch."

Mother f*****. Do I look like a fixer. Am I Jodie Foster in the Inside Man. Because you're making me feel like Jodie Foster in The Accused.

--

Have a backup story:

Guy opens up negotiations on another lot in his first message. Throws his lower price out the gate.

I agree to it because I did accommodate for this and we're still above my floor.

Only then does he start the pity party? Oh, but I live here. Oh that's really far away. I have to figure out if it's worth the drive.

Dude we passed Then. We are at Now, now.

You set the price.

You made your offer.

There's just like an audacity that has taken hold in the past few years and it was not there before, at least in Toronto.
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Holy crap. Talk about entitlement.
 
Selling a lot of AEW chases. Brody King, Ricky Starks, Eyepatch Mox, and Shawn Spears.

Just got a message this morning asking what I'd take for just King and Mox.

Sigh.

Not "Are you willing to break up the lot"?
Not "hey, would you be willing to just sell the two?", nothing like that.

Just an assumptive "Sell these two to me, even though you have all 4 listed together and listed as comes as shown".

I was going to ignore him, but against my better judgment, opted to tell him "Nothing. Because I'm not breaking this lot up".

"Ohhhh, alrighty. Well, I already have Starks and Spears...".

I. DON'T. FUCKING. CARE. STOP. DOING. THIS. SHIT.
 
altcunningham said:
Only then does he start the pity party? Oh, but I live here. Oh that's really far away. I have to figure out if it's worth the drive.
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DUDE. This happens to us all the time. Agree on everything and then the person is all 'OH, I see you're in X part of the city. Well that's a longer drive than I was thinking and blah blah blah.' Motherfucker, you've sent my wife 26 messages planning out what you wanted, an appropriate price, a good day to pick it up that you changed four times, a good time to pick it up that you changed five times, and NOW you're gonna bitch about where you're picking it up? Also, it's almost always an angle to get an even better price.
The last time it happened a guy literally wanted 30 dollars off a 60 dollar item 'for gas money because I have to come all the way to you.' My actual response was "I'm not selling this to you anymore - save the entire 60 dollars and put it towards a new car. Obviously you need one if a 13 minute drive uses 30 dollars in gas."


Regarding breaking up lots; the only time that's gone well for me was when we got almost this exact message: "Hey, I'm not interested in buying this lot but there's some figures I do want. If you ever decide to break this up, it would be great if you could message me. Thanks!" Responded that we'd hang onto his info and let him know if that happens, but that we currently had no plans to do it.

He was nice about it so I figured he deserved a response.
No takers for so long that we did end up breaking up the lot, and just for giggles I was like 'I guess we should message that guy.' My wife, while I'm usually the pessimistic one, was like 'we can if you want but there's no way he still cares.' We did message him. And he kind of undersold his original interest because he bought 75% of the lot. BUT again, he opened the conversation in about as polite a way as one can.
 
I got a message recently: "why are these legs so much"

Not wasting another minute on that.

I've had FedEx lose two packages in the last two weeks and then an issue with a buyer that Ebay totally saw I had tried my best to get more info on, then I called to close the case and they ruled in the buyer's favor! The buyer who said my item was damaged but refused to take photos of the shipping box. Instantly appealed that BS.

THEN last night I get a message about a Hallmark ornament I sold - buyer says it arrived damaged and sent a picture with the arm broken. I'm refusing the return. First, I do not accept returns. Second, I've had that item for 18 years. It's been unopened in 10, only opened to photograph, then placed back in the factory packaging, in the factory box, and shipped well. I can't guarantee it wasn't broken in transit, but I also can't guarantee this buyer didn't break it right out of the box!

What would you guys do in this instance?
 
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With the broken ornament, I think you're hooped. Like you said, you can't guarantee it wasn't broken in transit. And, as the seller, it's on you to insure packages if you're worried about that. But in no circumstances can you really risk screwing over someone by sending them a broken product and then refusing to return their money. That puts you in the position of potentially being the worst seller ever.

For what it's worth -- an AliExpress store did that to me and I will never buy from them ever again. Sure, I don't think the broken figure was THEIR fault. It was sealed in package. But it's also not MY fault as the buyer and why should I have to pay for your damaged goods?
 
Been dealing with this guy the last few weeks and he's about to get blocked.

Around Thanksgiving, asks me about a lot of WWE Ultimates I'm selling. All Attitude Era and nWo era WCW. Guy says he's visiting the States for the holidays, and needs the exact weight of the box to take back to the UK with him. No worries, happy to do so.

I weigh every figure and accessory, and give him the exact weight, even converting it to the metric system.

He ghosts me. I hear absolutely nothing from him. Whatever, used to that shit, moving on.

Two weeks ago, he messages me, asking for a picture of HHH and Undertaker side by side for scale. I forget that it was him from before, so I oblige. Weird request, but...eh.

Radio silence. Nothing, not even a thank you.

Friday, he messages me and asks for closer pictures of the Hollywood Hulk Hogan. I again, oblige, but this time I tell him "Listen, I was iffy on selling this lot anyway, just was looking to clear a little space, but if you don't pick these up by Monday, the listing is coming down and I'm not selling it to you".

And that's the truth. Not trying to pressure him into making a decision, but I'm also tired of this blue-balling, so shit or get off the pot, dude. No more of these weird little requests.

He gives me an address to ask if I think it could be delivered by the 26th. It's 2 hours away in my same state, Ohio. I tell him yes, no doubt, if he paid right away. I could even drive it there (but I won't)...but yes, delivery with priority would be a sure thing. Again, if he paid immediately.

He says great, let's set this up tomorrow (today). It is now 5 PM EST, absolutely not a word. Homeboy has until midnight because fuck him. Listing is coming down and he is getting blocked. I'm not sure what his angle is, but I'm not playing these games with him anymore.
 
d2bruce said:
Holy crap. Talk about entitlemenl
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RicksNerdLife said:
Not "Are you willing to break up the lot"?
Not "hey, would you be willing to just sell the two?", nothing like that.

Just an assumptive "Sell these two to me, even though you have all 4 listed together and listed as comes as shown".

I was going to ignore him, but against my better judgment, opted to tell him "Nothing. Because I'm not breaking this lot up".

"Ohhhh, alrighty. Well, I already have Starks and Spears...".

I. DON'T. FUCKING. CARE. STOP. DOING. THIS. SHIT.
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Yuuuuuup. I've started to get a little mean. Not even snarky just being blunt.

Someone else asked about the Juggernaut wave Rogue as a cherry pick. They asked, "How much 97 X-Men Rogue."

I said I'm not selling any 97 figures. Which is true. If you really knew what it was and wanted it you would have known.

He just responded with, " but Rogue?"

Is not the 97 version.
RicksNerdLife said:
He says great, let's set this up tomorrow (today). It is now 5 PM EST, absolutely not a word. Homeboy has until midnight because fuck him. Listing is coming down and he is getting blocked. I'm not sure what his angle is, but I'm not playing these games with him anymore.
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Your soulmate would want to spend time with you.

A serious buyer would be paid and ready to go weeks ago.
 
Ru1977 said:
Yeah I'd fuck him anyway, in the bad way. Fuck it, especially when you were on the fence about selling it despite his antics anyway.
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You know I've had a lot of listings on Marketplace pop up for me with women talking about selling their souls or just posting lots of selfies and talking about how they're selling the shirt they're wearing and the shirt is a very specific size with all their measurements.

That's a sex thing right. They're selling prostitution.
 
altcunningham said:
You know I've had a lot of listings on Marketplace pop up for me with women talking about selling their souls or just posting lots of selfies and talking about how they're selling the shirt they're wearing and the shirt is a very specific size with all their measurements.

That's a sex thing right. They're selling prostitution.
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Maaaaaaaybe? Could be code, like "I'm selling a chest and drawers, wink wink" or sometimes yeah they're selling what they say. Like fetish stuff where they send you sweaty clothing. "I jogged in these undies" etc. or other items of clothing that were worn during other activities with certificate of authenticity etc.
 
Just got this offer on a 30 listing for something that 50 used to go for 50 but you can't even get anymore at least in Canada.
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Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk
 
Schizm said:
What would you guys do in this instance?
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You DO accept returns, even if you state you don't. Ebay will go above your head on it. I had a guy literally want to return a hard to find item because the serial number in the picture didn't match the serial number for the item received. (I had listed that I possessed 3 of this item, same model number, new in box, so who knows what this guy's deal was). He complained to Ebay; they read all your messages so I knew it wasn't worth fighting and just told him I'd be happy to take the return for him (at which point I put his name/address on my blacklist for buyers I'll cancel a transaction on if I ever see them again), took the item back, gave him his money, ate the difference, relisted the item back on Ebay, got the same price from a different buyer and basically lost $10 because the Serial Number King wasn't pleased the first time. It's worth it to keep your positive ratings as high as possible.

Since your item is broken, I'd take the return, try to fix it as best you can and either relist it for only slightly less, or just keep it / trash it depending upon whether it's even worth your time.
 
The other only broken item claim I dealt with was a broken ankle DCUC Robin. It didn't go out with a broken ankle, but I couldn't remember if I tested the ankles before shipping. Don't know if he had I stuck joint I never loosened up. The buyer wasn't in attack mode, so I told him to keep it, use it as a placeholder, and I refunded him. No questions asked, I have no idea if it arrived broken or if he broke it. I filed a damaged item claim with USPS and they sent me a check. This was several years ago, no idea if they are still so easygoing.
 
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