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Shopping Ebay for Dollhouse Kits


jennywren

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Hello everyone, I am posting this as a reminder to be VERY CAREFUL when purchasing dollhouse kits on ebay unless it is specified that the kit is entirely intact. I have been waiting forever to find a Canterbury and to my happiness there were just recently 4 listed on ebay. I got one! And boy did I get it! My kit arrived today and to my disappointment, when I opened the package, literally, in front of me, was a box of trash. Despite the description that "all/most pieces are there" and "someone started but changed their mind", most everything was missing. The entire house was missing. It was nothing but the punched out edges where the pieces used to be. There were a couple of sheets of the furniture still in there but not much. And there were even remnants of hot glue and torn cardboard in the bottom of the box. Now, I accept the fact that not everyone knows about dollhouse kits and what they should look like, however, a responsible seller would have never listed this as a kit. I even went back to review the description thinking I missed something in all of my excitement. I really didn't! Now to be fair this is only the second bad experience that I've had with my dollhouse purchases, but boy was it a whopper! Not only did I spend $46 on a box of trash but there are no Canterburys listed on ebay anymore. I'll have to wait, again. Since I know that everyone gets excited when they find a kit they really, really want, I thought it was important to share this with you all and hopefully spare you the same disappointment.

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I think I can do that. I did email the seller and asked for a refund. I figured that I'd give them a chance to make it right based on the fact that they may not know much about these kits. If I don't get any satisfaction through them then I will leave negative feedback and ask ebay to help. I was just blown away by the whole situation.

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oh how dissapointing ((HUG))

Yes contact the seller immediately. I would also take pictures of the 'kit' contents

I buy little items from e-bay but I have not been brave enough to buy something big for that reason I want to see before I buy!

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I just have never bought large ticket items online, even though I sold for 12 years. There are just too many people selling things they don't know anything about or deliberately cheating people. That's the one advantage to requiring PP payment-you can get it back!

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What a dummy mailing you all that junk! I can't imagine not checking it a little more thoroughly before selling it as a kit. I would sure contact the shipper, and if he doesn't do anything, I would contact eBay and start a dispute, then contact paypal. You sure shouldn't have to pay for it.

I've done LOTS of shopping on eBay and never had a problem like that. I'd be pretty upset! Hope it is resolved soon, let us know.

Julie

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This situation is the best reason to use paypal, because you can file a complaint and they deal with the rest. You should ask the seller for a refund with in 48 hours so everyone is on the same page before you file a complaint/request for refund. Also even if a sale is "as is" eBay requires that the item be as described. The seller will likely want the item and you will have to pay postage to return it to the seller. Sometimes paypal refunds your entire payment, including shipping but not the postage to return it to the seller.

I have a hard time believing that anyone could confuse a kit with possible mising parts from a box of throw away plywood. I hate the new eBay feedback system, it makes this sort of seller fraud easier because the threat of negitive feedback is less.

Please do file for a refund and I wish you good luck with all of this.

Last years I got some serious BAD feedback as a seller, all from one buyer who bid and won 7 auction. I found out that she competes for the same market using a different account for selling than buying. She contacted me after the auctions ended to say she changed her mind. I said it was OK and relisted but then she took advantage of having 7 feedbacks to complain and accuse me of all sorts of things. It lowered my feedback from 100% to 98.5, it was not a problem because it is still good feedback over all for five years of selling and I was able to explain the buyers motive in my reply to future buyers.

When the new system came it was retroactive and my feedback went back to 100% but I would rather have the lower feedback and be allowed to review my selling and buying experiences freely.

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Oh that stinks! And it's always on the thing you want the most! When I won my Willowcrest I did not tell on here because I was nervous something would happen and I would not get it or something but thank goodness I did! I have had times when I was sent the wrong item but the seller always fixed the problem. Twice I had to file a complaint when I had been waiting over a month for a item and not heard from the seller but they came through in the end. I think it's been pretty good for as often as I buy stuff but I only use paypal and rarely do I buy from someone with low feedback or negative feedback.

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Hope it can be made better. Been there, will only buy kits directly from GL for this reason. Do be persistent, It took me a little over a month when I had a problem, but I finally got a refund. Make complaints to both Ebay and paypal after, you've given the seller a specific amount of time to do right by you. Best of luck! Hugs

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You may have to be very persistent with Paypal if it goes that far. Take a screen shot of the listing and/or print it out now especially if it is covered under Buyer Protection Plan. I bought a very expensive costume last September from a buyer with excellent F/B. It didn't come, didn't come, then buyer didn't answer e-mails, then negative feedback started popping up from people who didn't get their costumes. E-bay took down all of this person's listing - gone totally, couldn't even look at them even though you were buyer and listing was over. Made a complaint thru Paypal. They told me I was in the right and should get my money back, but too bad there wasn't any money in the buyer's account. Wrote them back and told them it was covered under Buyer Protection Play, got a canned reply saying the same thing about no money in account. Finally dug thru Paypal's web site, got a phone number and spoke to a person about the fact it was covered under BPP. PP finally agreed and sent me money back, but lesson learned, only real CCs from now on, not debit card or bank account no matter how good feedback is.

Karen

Edited by KarenC
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I just received a Willowcrest kit (yeah me!) that I purchased from e-bay yesterday. I, like you, was very skeptical that all or at least most of the pieces would be enclosed. The seller listed it as "box opened". The price was very good (buy-it-now for $60.00) so I took a chance and I am happy to report that everything is in the box including some really cool advertisements that were from Greenleaf for some of their houses that are no longer available. I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience. It could have easily been any of the forum members looking for that special house. I hope that all will be resolved in your favor.

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I've bought kits off ebay a lot. The only problem I had was once, a window was missing out of one of the kits. You do have to read the descriptions very carefully, but I've only had a couple of really bad experiences with ebay, and none of those were for dollhouse stuff.

I have a Canterbury in the box - untouched...box opened, but everything is there. Contact me if you're interested.

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I had a problem like that with an action figure I bought for my husband. It was listed in mint condition and when I got it, it was all retaped and the figure itself was broken in three places. After filing many complaints, I finally got my money back. It took a while, but if the seller sent something that did not match the description then it is your right to get your money back. I hope everything works out for you. And I hope you do find a Canterbury in good shape for a reasonable price.

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And that's why it's called "evil-bay"...

I don't do e-bay, although most people do - I just stick w/ Amazon although that's really the same thing, lol. Somehow it feels safer (although I guess if you're buying from Amazon it is safer)...

I really hope you find a Canterbury that's complete for a cheap price! Best of luck!

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Similar happened to me. Bought a Franklin kit 'appears to be complete' and received trim and some stair bits. Only got a response after I went to paypal. Got money back, but had to post it back to america from the uk at my cost :lol:

Good luck with your dispute!

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uh oh, I better check my kits that I bought on Ebay. So far I've bought around six, four have been fine. Around Christmas I bought an Alexandria and a Canterbury a month ago that I haven't even opened. The Alexandria was listed as new in box and the Canterbuy said it looked like everything was there. I got it a month ago, my birthday present, I've been wanting that kit for a long time. I'd better go check.

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Sorry you had that bad experience. Hope you're able to get it resolved quickly. I just checked mine, it was all taped up and like breaking into Ft. Knox, but it's as described, some of the furniture is stained and shingles broken up, but all of the house sheets were intact. Good luck, let us know! Ill have to check my Aledxandria tomorrow. Thanks for the alert.

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