Advice On Issue With Sold Porcelain To China

If cropped to the edge,.the pixel sizes are the same height and width, then that's a strong suggestion the plate is true in circular dimension. You can also try to fit a square crop around the plate, and see if there's a gap on one side.

How the photo is taken can of course affect this. But if the picture he provided shows the diameter the same across the plate no matter where it's measured, then that's a strong indication the plate is true in circular dimension.

 

I did some cropping with Windows paint. Not very accurate but seems like the shape is quite regular. Maybe few mm difference.
Last message from the buyer:
" I know hand make is not perfect. But your plates out of shape very very much. Do you know what I mean. My English is very limited. Now I want ending this . please give me the address or refund me some money. I do not want open the case. because that is bad for you. I am a honest buyer."

So, I don't know. Maybe nogotiate lower refund. Seems like he either don't understand my request for pictures with better measurements ot just don't want to do it.

 

You send him the measured photos he took, as well as the ones you took before sale, and mention that you don't see any significant distortion.

Then say that regardless, you always want satisfied customers, and will accept return of the plates. Keep it simple and say nothing that suggests you are open to bargaining.

As an aside, Chinese customers do expect perfection when buying items from the Imperial kiln.

 

I don't know if he's bluffing but what if he shut me off and decide to return them. I would agree on return if the buyer was in US but not from China. I think I could have done better on the sale but I screwed up with the listing. It was a 3 day auction and for some reason only one picture was uploaded instead of 12. I did not realize till the last day when I revised and add the rest of the pictures.
As to being from the Imperial kiln, I did not say that in the description. Still not sure if they are Guangxu period. Could be Early Republic or if Guangxu, maybe made for some official but not for the palace.

 

I have no idea whether they are imperial or not, simply that vigorous bidding based on a single picture is a sign that the bidder probably thought they were.

My reading is that after looking at these first-hand he wants them; if he thought they were junk he'd be insisting on return.

 

If the plates are sooooooo bad , & he's soooooooo honest......why is he still asking for money ??

" please give me the address or refund me some money. I do not want open the case. because that is bad for you. I am a honest buyer."

Why didn't you include your address , in an email...or on the shipment?
Cuz if you did.....HE'D HAVE IT ALREADY !

& he's threatening you with a case !!!

I still think you're being played......and showing him that the plates are in as good shape as they should be , is a big waste of time.

 

She ( based on fingernails) sent me new pics. Seems like one is 18.1 cm and the other 18.6 . That is 5mm difference and she keep saying the shapes are so off.
That is 7.1" and 7.3". Plates described approx. 7" in diameter. If case opened, what exactly is not as described here. Maybe should call Ebay for advice?
I offered $200, she goes for $800. Wonder if she's really that devastated by the 5mm.

 

Half way there:

"I will not open the case. Because you reply me friendly. I am a reasonable man. I just ask the post office. to ship the box like yours to USA need 200$ for shipping.so if I return the plates to you , I should lose 200$ for shipping. And you also lose the shipping fee for this deal. so I think you refund me 500$. I accept the plates. That is the best ending. And also very reasonable.
I hope we can do deals in future.
Now please refund me 500$ . I accept the plate.or please give me the address. I return the plates to you. What ever you choose. We are still to be friends. Because we all want to solve this problem .have a good sleep. I am waiting for your reply tomorrow"

Hm, $200 for shipping from China to US? I paid $80 for express mail but that is with the Ebay discount. The parcel was 6 pounds and 11 ounces or 3 kilos. According to http://www.ems.com.cn/serviceguide/zifeichaxun/e_zi_fei_cha_xun.html

shipping would be 615 CNY or about $100.
Also, I did not replied friendly. But I mentioned calling Ebay for advice. Maybe I should do it.

 

Yes, contact ebay and see what they say. Maybe they can see if this buyer has a history of partial refunds - I believe they can check into that if you ask them.

 

Is it the year of the Rat?

 

She ( based on fingernails)

He........based on ...."I am a reasonable man" !

Hey, you got her down to $500......that's better than I thought would happen!!

Approx 7 "....seems fine ....as to whether eBay sees that....who the hell knows ??

You're still being played ....or a case would have already been opened...

Maybe you now have HIM....by the short hairs !!

 

If all of this communication is through ebay, then I agree with the others about contacting them if for no other reason than to give them a heads up.

It was a few years ago, but I had something similar happen to me. I sold several large lots of old chandelier prisms. I had several hundred identical prisms so I thought they would sell better if I broke them up into a total of 4 lots. I stated up front that they needed to be cleaned better, but I had gotten most of the dirt, dust & grime off. I also stated that there were some with tiny nicks & chips around the edges, but that I had removed any with a large amount of damage. I also had the words as is in the title of the listing.

I noticed about halfway through the 7 day listing period that I had missed listing 1 of the lots I had available. I decided to wait until the listings ended & offer the lot to the winning bidder(s), because the bidding was going rather well.

So when the auctions were done it ended up that a lady won 3 out of the 4 & another buyer won the last lot. I offered the extra lot to the buyer who had won the 3 lots first. She replied that she wasn't interested in the extra lot but "she was glad to know I had extras to replace any damaged prisms". I quickly replied that she should reread the description because she was mistaken about me replacing prisms. I then offered the lot to the other buyer & he accepted immediately.

Fast forward a few days & I get a message through ebay from buyer #1 who says she has XX number of prisms that have damage & I need to replace them or send her $XX.XX refund. I explained it to her again in my reply & told her I didn't have anymore prisms in that style. She sent me a reply that stated "if I didn't refund her $XX.XX immediately she would leave me negative feedback".

I got on the phone to ebay right away & told them what was going on. They told me to call back if she carried through with her threats & it would be handled immediately. Sure enough 3 days later I got my 3 big red doughnuts just as she had promised. I called back to ebay & she removed all 3 comments as well.

Later that day the buyer started filing cases against me & these were closed in my favor also. In fact I had called when I got the message about the first case & while talking to the rep she filed the second one. She put me on hold to take care of the cancellations & when she clicked back to me she was sort of chuckling. She told me she had taken the liberty to take care of the the third case while I was on hold. She had also suspended the buyer for her actions.

I will be the first to try to work with a buyer if they are disappointed or if the item arrives damaged, but I won't be bullied & I think this buyer is try to bully you into something you really do not want to do. You have nothing to lose by calling ebay & I think the language is threatening when he mentions filing a case against you.

Also, if you call & you get a rep who doesn't seem to grasp the situation then ask to speak to a manager or hang up & call back. Not all of the reps are equally qualified to help in every situation.

Peggy

 

That is something of an understatement! I refuse to deal with eBay customer service - I told my boss that HE owns the company, so HE can deal with the ijits.............

 

Where is this ebay customer service you speak of?

All I ever get when I call is people in India who barely speak English and know nothing more than is printed on ebay help pages

 

Called Ebay. They were friendly but as there is no opened dispute, not much of a help. I agreed with the buyer on $375 refund. I also contacted few of the sellers who sold items to him in the past and none had issues. So maybe he indeed find the 5mm to be such of a problem.

 

I'm glad you've had a resolution without it going to an opened case, Kard.

 

Well, a $375 problem......but why start from there when you can bitch and whine for $1000 first !

 

I think you did what you felt was the best way to handle the situation. Any of us that have been selling on-line for a long time have had to resolve an issue by doing something that was technically not quite what we had hoped for in the beginning. You do it for many reasons & sometimes it is just to preserve your sanity.

If you made money on the plates than take joy in that aspect of the transaction & just move forward.

Okay Polyanna signing off now.
Peggy