Buying from eBay - My Experience

I recently made two purchases from eBay USA, and the experience is quite different.

For the first case, the seller dropped me an email to say the item had been shipped. I waited for 2 weeks, nothing arrived. I emailed the seller, he asked me to wait for another week, if I still didn't get the item, let him know. The very next day, the item arrived in perfect condition. I was very satisfied, I was a happy customer.


With this pleasant experience, I happily went on for my second purchase. The seller also emailed me once the item was shipped. Great! And to my surprise, only after one week, the item arrived. I was very happy. However, when I open the package, I became unhappy. The item is a Canadian silver maple leaf bullion. It is supposed to be in its mint condition, or at least no scratches, etc. The one I received has 3 small dent marks on the chin of QEII, and there is a long scratch line across her face. I was like, what the hell?! I emailed the seller on the same day, and showed her a picture of the bullion. The next morning, I got a reply. Guess what she said? She said she shipped a bullion in its perfect condition to me, the scratches must be a result from the custom's inspection which she has no control of. Based on my experience from the first purchase, I know if the item is packaged properly, there won't be any such scratches! And the seller's none of my business attitude really disappoints me, and she is a top-rated seller in eBay. Her top-rated seller icon is one of the reasons why I bought from her. This is disappointing. I left her a 'Neutral' feedback as giving her the benefit of doubt. One additional point, when I checked her listing of the item again, then I noticed she didn't actually show the head-side of the bullion, only the tail-side. The head-side is exactly the side where the dents and scratches are.

Two purchases, two different experiences. Buying through the internet sometimes really is a matter of luck. You will never know what you will get actually.