PAL user bought NTSC game from me.

fatherofcaitlyn

fatherofcaitlyn

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I sold a copy of Silent Hill 4: The Room (PS2) to a guy in the UK for $20.99.

Shipping to there is $5.25 after the envelope.

Best Buy was kind enough to supply the game for $10.60.

Paypal and eBay fees leave me with a "whopping" profit of $2.64.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8279772945&sspagename=ADME:B:AAQ:US:1

I get this email today. (Bold added for emphasis and to distinguish his comments from mine.

iv,e just tryed this on my ps2 and it won,t wotk

Since he lives in the UK, I ask him what version his PS2 is.

He says:
my ps2 is a pal version

I write back:
And the game is a NTSC version. If your PS2 is modded, it might work. Other than that, I wouldn't know how to get it to work

And he writes back within 10 minutes:
so what do i do then cause it wont work on my ps2

90 minutes later he adds:
the only thing i can do is send the game back to you and have a refund

Then, he sends me a Paypal money request for $22.39. He had bought insurance, but I refunded it before shipping. I guess he forgot.

I write:
I would like to review the communications before the purchase of the game. Please do not send it back yet.

He writes back 5 minute later:
what do you mean by that

Annoyed, I reply:
Fair question.

Did I tell you at any time before making your purchase that my NTSC format game would function on your PAL PS2?

Did you tell me at any time before shipping your purchase that you had PAL PS2?

Shipping the game to you involved shipping costs and listing fees that I cannot recover. To give you a full refund would imply I misled you into making this purchase.

I have not determined that I did so at this time.

He curtly responds:
so we both fucked up so what do we do

I write back:
I would suggest sleeping it over. When you wake up tomorrow, please explain the mistake I made.

If you were a domestic customer and this was an used game, I could possibly absorb the cost of postage, relist the game and make a smaller profit.

Since you are an international customer and had to open the game in order to determine it was unusable to you, I do not think I will be able to make a profit.

I will not make any rash statements or actions at this time.

If possible, see if somebody on your side of the ocean is willing to purchase the game within a few dollars of your cost.

He finishes with:
yea i would but no 1 in the uk has ntsc machines






Here's where the great collective CAG mind comes into play.

1. Was there some error in my listing?

2. What suggestion would you give this buyer that end the issue without a couple of negative feedbacks being tossed around?

 
Nothing is wrong with the listing.
The item detail even stated that the format is "NTSC: US, Canada" (note to buyer: UK is not in either one of those country. you failed geography and lack common sense).

Why do you even bother shipping outside the US for these cheap auctions?
It is not worth it.

Good Luck getting it resolved.
 
It says NTSC format right in the description. so his fault for not reading it right? If your nice you can reach some middle ground but IMO you don't owe him anything.
 
I wouldn't refund him a single penny. Period. The auction clearly lists that the game is NTSC for the US and Canada. He should have known that he had a PAL PS2 and that the game wouldn't work. You cannot be held responsible for the stupidity of your buyers.

You both have left feedback, so a negative is not an option. He could screw you over by doing a Paypal chargeback. Since there is no delivery confirmation to the UK, you would lose, regardless of the feedback and any emails that you have from him.

Tough call. I *might* consider giving him 1/2 the sale price back. You keep all of the shipping/handling/insurance eBay fees, etc. That's the absolute best that I would ever do in this case.

TBW
 
Personally, id tell him tough luck and save the emails in case of any paypal action. Emails prove that he got it and opened/used it. Auction proves that it was buyer mistake.
 
[quote name='TheBlueWizard']You both have left feedback, so a negative is not an option. [/quote]



Hmm, you're right.

I can finally act like my wife during a business transaction and tell the guy to piss off.

I'm glad some of you here are more observant than me.
 
I wouldn't refund. When I used to ship internationally, I never thought about putting in a warning about NTSC games not working in PAL regions, I just figured someone who wanted the item would know they can't play it unless their system was modded. I guess that was a mistake as buyers don't read.
 
I put this in all my non-portable game auctions:

"Please make sure that your (name of console here) can play games made for the United States and Canada before bidding. If you have any questions, please send me a message through ebay's message service."

I've had a few international bidders ask about my games before, so I've started doing this... the best of all of them was a guy in Brazil who wanted my spare copy of Ikaruga. He was very courteous despite the fact that the shipping costs would have killed any sort of deal he might have gotten.
 
I suffered this also. I've sold .hack// Part 4 New to a guy in Greece. He told he couldn't played the game on his console and requested a refund. I've asked eBAY who would be at fault for this issue and blamed the buyer. eBAY is on side of the seller for buyer's stupidity
 
I wouldn't give him a dime, let him file a claim and just save all the emails. You did nothing wrong except selling outside the states. USA only makes things much simpler, then if someone from across the pond wants to bid you can always change that item when they contact you.
 
[quote name='$hady']USA only makes things much simpler, then if someone from across the pond wants to bid you can always change that item when they contact you.[/quote]
Maybe simpler, but if you offer the item to people outside the US, you could get better prices for your stuff. Games generally cost more in Europe and just about anywhere outside the US so standard prices to you guys seem like good deals to us, not to mention you get stuff sooner. I live in the UK and occasionally import items from the US... like next month I'll be snagging a DSlite, as even with shipping and paypals crappy exchange rate it'll cost me less than £80... When it's officially released over here a few months later it'll retail for around £100.

I'd guess around 25% of my buyers are from abroad - mainly Europe but I do get a few from the US, Japan and elsewhere. I offer to ship virtually all of my items I sell worldwide, and havn't had a single problem from international buyers. Just add a line at the bottom of your auction stating that overseas bidders should ensure the game is compatible with their machine and they are responsible for any extra shipping charges (as shipping costs vary between countries, it's not often I put a shipping cost down for international buyers except very small/light items such as games).

Yes, it is possible you may get one or two idiots accidently purchasing games they can't play (though not in my experience), but at the end of the day you're just as likely to have a buyer in your own country buy something, not be happy with it and cause a load of hassle.

Oh and in regards the OP's situation, yes you are in the right (obviously), don't give him a refund! And like you said if the game is no use to him he could just sell it on... I wouldn't be suprised if he got his cost price back or there abouts.

:)
 
Sounds like you're dealing with some 7 year old kid... I can't believe people that stupid can use the internet.
 
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