Another Ebay feedback conundrum.

[A.L.]

So I bought one of these http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 4015811542 from this guy as a birthday gift for my dad and it turns out they're Russian CDR bootlegs, inkjet covers and everything. I'm kind of pissed. The price and the dorky p'shopped cover should've tipped me off but the guy has an excellent feeback record with no mention of this, even pos. fdbck from people who bought the same thing.

My first impulse was to leave neg. feedback w/ a note about it being a CDR, my second was to leave neutral with the same note, my third was to email the guy and see what his stance was. I don't really care about the legality of him selling a boot', I just have a personal vendetta against CDRs (@#$!ing cdrs, @#$%) and feel royaly screwed whenever I'm duped into paying for one.

He hasn't left feedback yet, probably waiting for me. What would you do? Right now I'm leaning towards neutral feedback. I'd email him but I don't really care about getting my $10 back, I just think it's lame he's selling CDRs to people who don't know any better. I'm a little worried about a retaliatory freakout, though, via -feedback or otherwise. I've never been pushed enough to leave -feedback myself so it's kind of like jumping into the deep end for the first time.

This is more of an informal poll than anything else. Or hey, anyone got any juicy ebay feedback horror stories to share?

PS: I'm not into the traveling wilburys. sorry.

[bedbug]

I'd leave neutral feedback with a message explaining why. Like you said - not so much for retaliation, but just to let other people know what they're getting.

After doing that, I'd report him to ebay. Selling boots isn't permitted on ebay. It's bad enough when it's a concert you recorded yourself, but to take a commercial release, stick it on a CD-R and make $10 a pop is pretty low. How sleazy!

[A.L.]

Well, here's the thing, I have a feeling he didn't actually make the CDR himself. CDR bootlegs are apparently huge in Russia, even of super-obscure, non-major or even non-indie-major label acts. I have a feeling he imported them on the cheap. Either that or other folks are using 'made in Russia' as a front. So called Russian CDR bootlegs of out of print albums are a new hot e-commerce trend, it seems.

[coniferouspine]

First of all, if you're not happy with the transaction, then I'd care about getting your $10 back, just on principle. By not asking for it back you are being cheated and only perpetuating this guy's mediocre performance on Ebay selling stuff with vague or even misleading listings. Which will cause others to get burned down the line as well.

Take it in stages and increments. If you feel like you're not going to give your dad a CD-R for a present (I probably wouldn't, but hey, that's just me), then you should contact the seller and explain the problem to him -- that it was intended as a gift and that his listing does not say it is a CD-R or a bootleg or even that it is Russian in origin -- and ask for your money back. It's not the item you thought it was based on his description, or lack of description, in his listing. If he says no, then you tell him that bootleg CDs are not allowed to sell on Ebay (even if the person didn't make them) and you'd rather not complain to Ebay about him but you might. Then see what he says to that. Then do the next step, actually report him. Oh, and contact Paypal if that's how you paid, they have a process for this as well. Do all this other stuff before you leave him feedback, the feedback should be the last thing you do because it's really your biggest threat to him and could have the worst repercussions to you.

Although my own opinion is that the feedback system is over-rated and Ebay's gotten so crappy lately that almost everyone out there has a few negatives now, so I don't worry too much about people leaving me negative feedback in retaliation. Negative feedback for a seller looks a lot worse than negative feedback for a buyer, and it adds up over time. Neutral feedback explaining the problem after you get your money back promptly is what I've done in similar situations.

Maybe I'm just hopped up on coffee at the moment, but I think you really need to stick up for yourself in this and not just roll over!

[Rigsby]

I guess i agree with everything that's been said, but i get pretty pissed off at this sort of thing. I mean, after you've got your money back, you've still paid out for the postage, and though that might be a small amount, it's still annoying and somewhat unfair. I'm pretty much done with eBay i think.

[Rigsby]

Also, the seller states he's in the US, not Russia.

[Current Resistance]

yeah that seller not only broke international laws....he sold you CDRs dude!

you should get right up PISSED at him, demanding satisfaction.

You found out a lot of things about the item NOT listed in the auction as well, which is a no-no on ebay.

[Rob Christensen]

Last time I checked, which has been a couple of months, there were TONS of bootlegs on eBay. That said, I think I'd leave a "neutral" - you got the item described as far as the music goes, but the description said "CD", not "CD-R", which to me is a huge difference.

Will your father be disappointed? Years ago I bought a bootleg of "On The Beach", plus some outtakes, that I paid over $20 for. It turned out to be a CD-R, but I was still happy as hell just to have a copy of that album.

[swingdoc]

Wowzer. tough one. On the one hand, you kinda want to hand him his ass. Its one thing to sell half-assed stuff, its another to copy CD's and sell them as new ones. On the other hand, its not that tough, I'd scorch him.
Say something like: "breaking federal laws by selling copies of CD's..fast shipping though."

[A.L.]

See, I guess the thing that keeps me from flying off the handle is the impression I get that he doesn't really understand what he's doing or what the big deal would be. I get the feeling that he ordered a shipment of these things, thinking 'cool, a good price on this comp' and doesn't 'get' the difference between CDs and CDRs or why one would be less desireable than the other. He's just selling them like he sells other CDs, oblivious.

Clearly the people buying these things from him are clueless as well, given his pretty spotless feedback record.

Ok, anyway, I'll email the guy and let him know what's up, if it turns out he's a snotwad then I'll nuke him.

I love ebay, actually. Still. Ebay is amazing.

[Rigsby]

Last time I checked, which has been a couple of months, there were TONS of bootlegs on eBay. That said, I think I'd leave a "neutral" - you got the item described as far as the music goes, but the description said "CD", not "CD-R", which to me is a huge difference.

Will your father be disappointed? Years ago I bought a bootleg of "On The Beach", plus some outtakes, that I paid over $20 for. It turned out to be a CD-R, but I was still happy as hell just to have a copy of that album.

This is obviously a huge important difference, some people want boots, and that's all good, but copies of regular records advertised in a way that makes it seem like you're getting the original is just lying and morally wrong.