HEEEEEELP!!!! Need advice, QUICK!

[Skeeterdeee]

[Skeeterdeee]

Along with Windstones, I also collect pins from the Hard Rock Cafe. I listed a few of my pins on ebay and someone REALLY wanted one of my pins and offered me A LOT of money for it. He bought it and paid and I was getting ready to pack it up when I noticed something weird about it. It was so weird that I went back through my ebay feedback to see who I bought it from initailly, then I searched that seller’s name through the Hard Rock forums. Turns out that the seller I bought it from sold 800 COUNTERFEIT PINS around the time I bought this pin from him.
My buyer wants the pin in the mail FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, but NOW I don’t know if it’s real!!!!!!! I don’t want to send him a fake pin that he paid a good bit for, but I’m not sure if it’s authentic!! I DON’T KNOW!
Should I send him a refund and tell him that I believe it’s a fake?? Should I mail it and tell him about my research and let him decide if he wants to look it over?? I don’t want to unintentionally cheat anyone!!
HELP!

[Jerusha]

First of all, take a deep breath and remember that you did nothing wrong here… you are a good honest seller and even if it is a counterfeit, it was an honest mistake that you are doing your best to rectify.

If I were in your situation, I would contact the buyer first (before shipping it or refunding the money). I would explain the situation, just as you have done… that you bought it believing it was genuine, that you found some oddity about the item itself and that you’ve since discovered it might be counterfeit. Then I’d offer them these two options: 1 – A full refund, no item shipped; or 2 – Item will ship once it’s been appraised and confirmed genuine by a professional (or, if it is in fact a fake, a full refund will be given). Let the buyer decide what they’d like to do next. With any luck, the buyer will appreciate the time and effort you’re taking to make sure they’re not getting cheated.

I would NOT ship the item as is, for the full amount the buyer’s paid, even if the buyer asked me to. If it IS a fake there’d be all kinds of trouble just waiting to happen… they could “look it over”, find that it’s genuine, then tell you it was a fake and demand a refund, for one. So my most important advice would be: get the item looked at by a pro yourself! Do NOT leave it in the buyer’s hands to determine whether it’s the real deal.

Good luck!!!

[Adaneth]

I think Jerusha’s advice is spot on. What a bummer for you! 🙁

[Skeeterdeee]

Thanks guys! I couldn’t sleep last night because it was bugging me so bad. I sent the buyer a message telling him all about my research and my suspicions and he agreed to a refund and thanked me for being honest about it. I truly believed it was genuine and I paid a small fortune for it in the first place 😥 Now I’m stuck with a worthless piece of sparkly junk. The LAST thing I wanted was to be thought of as a dishonest seller!
If I report the whole situation to ebay will they waive the selling fees? Even though it was bought and paid for? Or am I stuck with that too now? 😥
This whole mess was my own fault, I should have really examined it a long time ago, but I completely trusted that the seller I got it from was an honest seller.

[Skeeterdeee]

Oh! He just left me a positive feedback!! **breathes sigh of relief** I feel awful that I was ripped off on ebay, I would hate to do that to someone else.

[Laurie]

Ok, first leave feedback, then To get your fees back, go to

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/cancel-transaction-process.html

[Skeeterdeee]

Thanks Laurie! That gave me a step by step on how to do it! Just what I needed, thanks so much!

[Laurie]

You’re welcome. BTW, if you have the buyers real email (NOT ebays) if you get the pin checked for authenticity let him know either way. If it’s real, he may still be interested and you won’t have to go thru ebay. 😉

[Skeeterdeee]

I just went over to their forums (I don’t really use their forums, it’s not as much fun as this one!). And I found him among the club members (I have to pay $30 per year to be a member and have access to their forum. BLAH! I might as well use it!). He was very nice about it all and said “mistakes happen”. The members of the club hold meetings at the restaurant once a month and they told me to bring it out one of these days and one of the experts can look at it. I feel so much better, everything seemed to work out okay.

[bayoudragon]

I truly hope it’s genuine. Being ripped off stinks. 🙁

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