Bartsfam Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) Recently my daughter asked me to sell her Wii games on EBay. She is very careful with them, and saves all boxes, and instructions. We tested each game to make sure they played properly. We sold twelve of them, but for one game, I was almost immediately notified that the buyer opened a case against me for a defective game. The buyer claimed that the game would not load up. He won the auction with a $25 bid, plus about $3.55 for shipping. I asked the buyer to return the game, and I refunded the money, and I even paid him back for his return shipping. When I got the game, there was a somewhat large, thick white scratch on the disk, and sure enough the game would not load up. I really do not remember this scratch on the disk. So, I got to thinking that this buyer had a defective game, switched it with mine, and ended up getting a free replacement game. I was skeptical, but the buyer had 1500 transactions with a 99.7% favorable rate. He buys and sells used games in most of his transactions. I have read, from people on these forums, that they trade-in defective games to Gamestop all of the time, because Gamestop doesn't check the games on trade-in. Should I start marking my games to ensure that the returned one is mine? Should I use invisible ink to make a mark, that can only be seen using ultra violet light? Does this happen often to everyone? Edited August 7, 2014 by Bartsfam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theatarifan Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 This is why i don't sell on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I couldn't even imagine a mind so twisted to do something so insane like returning a damaged item It's a very good idea to mark the games! but fortunately most ebay buyers are decent people. It's unfortunate what happened to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGQuarterly Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Did you take pictures of the item when you listed it? If you did, and the scratch is clearly not present in your listed pics, then you may have a case with Paypal. Not sure though since you already refunded him. You should have just refunded the return shipping, and made him wait for a full refund until you received the item. Sorry this happened to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realcool Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 something similar happened to me, I sold a silent hill 4 on ebay and the buyer returned it back to me with his pics saying it was not working, it has a huge circular laser burn scratch and light scratches around the disc. The funny thing is that the disc was in near mint condition when I had sent it and I had also tested and looked at it. Most likely the buyer is doing the old switcharoo, where he buys your nice one and switches it for his crappy known working one. If there is a chance you could save your game, you should probably have it resurfaced but go to the professionally machine any modern RTI ECO machines would polish it to almost a new state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+madman Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I would definitely try to take good high res photos of both sides of the discs you're selling, I don't typically buy used optical media on EBay, but it's quite common on forums for sellers to photograph the "business" side of the disc. The problem is EBay seems to immediately side with the buyers in these cases and I think buyers know this. I prefer to sell on forums such as these for the most part. I won't make as much money, but I don't have to pay listing fees, closing fees, fee fees, etc. and most importantly I'm happy to pass along a good deal to a fellow gamer as I've gotten a lot of great deals over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 A lot of trouble to go through when discs can now be professionally resurfaced at video rental stores for a couple of dollars. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartsfam Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) Did you take pictures of the item when you listed it? If you did, and the scratch is clearly not present in your listed pics, then you may have a case with Paypal. Not sure though since you already refunded him. You should have just refunded the return shipping, and made him wait for a full refund until you received the item. Sorry this happened to you! No. I only took a picture of the "title" side showing the name of the game. I never even thought to take a picture of the other side. This could happen with a game cartridge too. How would you know if the buyer swapped their broken one, for your good one? One more thing...who resurfaces optical discs? I don't know of any place that does that in central Massachusetts..... There are no video game rental stores left in Central Mass.... Edited August 7, 2014 by Bartsfam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGQuarterly Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 This could happen with a game cartridge too. How would you know if the buyer swapped their broken one, for your good one? Sad but true. As someone else said, that's why I won't sell stuff on eBay anymore. People pull the same scam on retail stores. As far as getting a disc resurfaced, look for a place that sells used CDs, movies, etc. They generally have a resurfacer in the store for their own needs, and will often resurface customers' discs for a small fee (couple bucks maybe.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atari181 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) Simple answer is yes you were scammed. Happens fairly routinely with the newer Gen games. An absolute scumbag! Edited August 22, 2014 by atari181 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I've had good luck bringing back discs by cleaning them with a product that takes out scratches in auto plastic. The one I've used is called back to black, but there are others. First, clean it completely with Windex, use a clean cotton cloth and rub outward away from the center. Make sure it is dry completely and then try it again in your Wii. If that doesn't work, go to work with the Back to Black, rubbing in the same direction as with Windex. Before testing, clean again with Windex after the BtB to make sure it is clean and ready to play. I've brought back games that were in a very bad state with this method. I think even one that I had "resurfaced" without success. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieataribloke Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 sounds like a goodway to make sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas10e Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 No. I only took a picture of the "title" side showing the name of the game. I never even thought to take a picture of the other side. This could happen with a game cartridge too. How would you know if the buyer swapped their broken one, for your good one? One more thing...who resurfaces optical discs? I don't know of any place that does that in central Massachusetts..... There are no video game rental stores left in Central Mass.... Bull Moose Music store in Salem NH has a disc resurfacer they supposed to charge to have it done if brought from outside but I only needed this done once so far & they didn't charge. it DID work on an xbox360 game that took "the lens hit" full circumference on disc ... employee there said he used a "deep buff" setting, nether of us expected it to work I imagine Game Stop has these as well but I don't shop there to much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 See if he has the same game for sale anytime soon. If he does, buy it, its probably yours. Then complain it doesnt work and send back the shitty one. You guys could keep doing it over and over and be arch enemies that hate each other....but at the same time need each other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 (edited) I know that there are those who disagree with me, that it's too much of a hassle for buyers to go through, but with sellers being forced to pay for all return shipping in the near future, this kind of thing will increase, especially on items like retro video games that are no longer sold at retail. Got a dead rare atari cart? Buy another on ebay, file an "item not as described" complaint - return your dead cart and keep the good one. Anyone that thinks this won't happen more often now that free return shipping is offered is dreaming. Edited August 27, 2014 by AtariLeaf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 As long as you're not selling playarounds or xonox you should be fine . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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