An unexpected surprise....through the mail!

[Kzoo]

Hello all, just wondering if this has ever happened to you. Sorry for the long story, but I think it's pretty good...

I purchased a 1938 Goudey Bob Feller on Ebay for $250 through 'best offer' this past December 17th, 2010. I paid promptly and expected the seller, from Arizona, to mail the card out within a couple days (I normally ship items within a day, and expect to be treated likewise by others...but, then again it's ebay...). Ebay 'predicted' that I'd receive the card between Dec. 26th-28th because it was sent 1st class. After not receiving the card by New Year's Eve, I contacted the seller, and his response was that 'he wanted to wait for the holiday rush to calm down' before shipping the card. He assured me that he would ship it immediately after the New Year.

Anyways, he never 'shipped it' until Jan. 5th, or so he claimed. For the next 2 weeks, the tracking number posted on ebay only determined that a label was 'created', but never 'accepted' by his local post office. After those 2 weeks and numerous emails back and forth with assurance from him that it was shipped, Ebay refunded my $250 on Jan. 23rd because the tracking information was basically incomplete. I was disappointed I didn't get the card because I needed it for my set and it was a good price for a PSA 3. I was also happy to get my money back and move on.

So, I gave the guy a 'negative' because I thought he was full of crap and I didn't appreciate his waiting 3 weeks initially in December before he even tried to ship the stupid thing. I've only given a couple negatives in the past 11 years on Ebay, and I thought he deserved it. I figured that was the end of this story, but...

Fast forward just over two months from when he claimed it was 'shipped' to Monday, March 7th of this week...

My wife is 9 months pregnant and due any second......she's actually scheduled to be induced at 8am, but her contractions are down to about 2 minutes apart at 2am that morning and we're headed fast to the hospital. Our second child, a daughter was born at exactly 5am and everything is great. She's spending Monday night in the hospital and previously suggested that since I already did the 'overnight sleeping thing' at the hospital for our first child, that I head home to stay with our son and get some sleep that night. I obviously agreed.

After getting home, I checked the mail that evening and guess what......a package from Arizona postmarked January 5th. The package was undamaged and untampered with and contained the card in it's holder, in perfect shape. I was shocked. Where was this thing for just over 2 months? Strange coincidence it was that day? Weird.

After trying for a couple days this week, the seller finally responded to my email (and story with the good news) this afternoon. I wanted to confirm his email address, again, and this evening I sent him his $250 via paypal (again). Ebay wouldn't allow me to change the feedback given, but he was happy with my honesty.

[Ease]

Great story! Glad everyone was happy in the end.

[bobbyw8469]

I had the same deal with one of my wins from Heritage auction. I also had a card arrive with a long delay from the UK....I am glad the story had a happy ending. It seemed odd to me to believe that the seller would shaft you after getting a premium price for the card via the BEST OFFER option. Makes me wonder where the card is floating around for the last two months? Coppell, TX by chance???

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

I had the same deal with one of my wins from Heritage auction. I also had a card arrive with a long delay from the UK....I am glad the story had a happy ending. It seemed odd to me to believe that the seller would shaft you after getting a premium price for the card via the BEST OFFER option. Makes me wonder where the card is floating around for the last two months? Coppell, TX by chance???

When one of my packages gets held up or lost, Newark, New Jersey is usually always involved in one way or another.