Dig This Treasure!

We do have a post about our trip on Saturday but I’ll save that for tomorrow and surprise Erin with this one tonight. I am so incredibly mad right now, I need to just get this off my chest. 

So the vintage zodiac suit (the one that accidentally led us to the dark world of “bulge” photos) ended up selling last week, and I was pretty excited, just because it was a cool suit and I figured it found a good home.

I thought everything was fine and dandy until I received this message this morning: 

Ok, so let’s take a look at the original listing, shall we? 

That’s right, the description of the fabric is: “white with blue and black zodiac symbols all over it." 

So, in fairness, I respond in this way. And for the record, at this point I’m perfectly happy to refund his money for the suit: 

This is the truth– and maybe it’s because I’m used to looking at the suit INSIDE MY HOME, but uhm…the pictures of it are how it looks. And again, it’s described as "white.” And it’s about 40 years old–so yeah, the white is a little yellowed. Apparently just not to his liking. 

So homeboy writes back again, and says this: 

“I did read the discription but usually a picture is worth thousand words.  If you use flash you get realistic results on colors.  Esp. important when selling clothes.   I’m have to see what my wife says .  This was purchase for a 70’s style family portrait and I wanted Quin to match the yellows in my shirt.”

Glad I’m on a first name basis with his son. Also particularly thankful for the words of wisdom. Anyway, after consulting with Adam, my resident eBay expert, this is what I write back: 

“If the suit had been yellow, it would have been listed as a yellow suit, not a white suit. Using a flash on clothing washes it out, which is also problematic in representing an item accurately. This is not, by any means, the first time I have sold clothing on here. In the future, I’d just like to reiterate that colors can often appear inexact in images, and if you’re at all concerned, you should ask in advance of purchase. Especially if the color in a description looks different to you than the color in an image. To me, that picture is just clearly taken in indoor lighting. The suit does not look yellow. I am happy to refund the cost of the suit if you’d like to send it back to me, but I will not refund shipping. At this point, I am primarily concerned about feedback. I don’t think this is an error on my part, but I do not want to receive negative feedback from you. Let me know if you’d like me to go ahead with the refund.”

A few hours later, I get this response:

“‘To me, that picture is just clearly taken in indoor lighting’. This statement is funny to me cuz all there is to compare your color points to is wood table(which can be stained any color), I have to trump you there cuz I am a professional photographer and there is nothing clear in this photo pointing to indoor lighting.

There are off whites that look yellowish. I can go into a paint store and see yellow looking whites all day, therefore the term "white” can be up for interpretation- that being said ebayers will always look to the photo to clearify. I own a photo studio for a full time living and am very familiar with camera settings- most cameras have an indoor mode to set white balance to correct the problem. OR you can put a piece of white paper over the flash to diffuse it. OR put on photo up washed out to show real color and another to show detail. OR take the photo outside under natural light instead of yellow house bulbs. OR in the auction say “I know the photo looks yellow BUT”… OR put “white” in the TITLE knowing it is represented as yellow. Most importantly for your ease of mind I will NOT require a refund. I am just disappointed (less cuz of money, more cuz I planned on shooting this weekend). another note: I took the tone your reply as that you are speaking as an expert seller and I as a novice buyer that would need tips from you, but I also must point out that I have score of 922 and alot more purchases than that. I have bought roughly $400,000 dollars in items on ebay in the last 12 years. No matter how you explain the auction- that you were in the “right” and I was wrong, The auction was still unclear and misleading(unintentional of course).

I am corresponding to you NOT for money off or a refund, but on principle. So if you would simply admit to me in response that the auction could have been more clear and apologize. I will not leave bad feedback.“

This just threw me over the edge. I couldn’t handle it. I mean, this is the sort of argument reserved strictly for husbands/wives and/or close friends and family (AKA "Just admit that I’m right and we’ll drop it”), NOT STRANGERS ON EBAY!!! Adam said, “This guy’s insane, he’s going to leave you negative feedback no matter what. Keep his money! He just has buyer’s remorse!”

Instead, I went ahead and refunded his money, and sent him the following message:

“Wow, you have a lot of time to argue with people on here.

I in no way suggested that I am an expert seller, nor did I suggest that you’re a novice buyer. All I did was reiterate that if you are that concerned about the color of an item being exact and perfect, you ask before purchasing. I’ve offered you a refund; you’ve refused. I apologize for your experience but I do not apologize for the listing. I’m not a professional photographer–I use my iPhone to take pictures of items I post, as do *many* individuals on here. My listings explicitly state to ask any questions before purchase, and the listing stated that the suit was white. Not off white, not yellowish white, but white. The suit is white. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my description of the item.

It’s not my job to get into arguments with buyers–it’s my job to solve a problem that a buyer has. The problem I can solve is refunding your money. You appear to just want to bully me into making a statement that I don’t agree with, which is both odd and a waste of my time. If you want to start coaching sellers on how to more accurately represent colors in eBay listings, maybe you should start a side business.

I’ve refunded your money completely, so maybe you can take that sum and purchase some Rit dye to get the color just right on your son’s suit.”

Fin. (Probably not, actually. I’ll update y'all with my tainted 100% positive feedback when it comes.)

-Sarah