[smurfguyssister]

Hi. I'm new to this community. I look for smurfs for my brother who's the smurf collector in the family.

Recently I bought an original praying smurf PVC on eBay to give to him as a Christmas gift. The picture was blurry and the seller didn't mention flaws. I emailed the seller before buying. She replied that it was in excellent condition with no mention of flaws.

When I got the smurf it was in poor condition and not gift material: minor paint wear, a hole on a foot, and, most significantly, many large significant abrasions on the red PVC. "Rubs" would have to be a mild term for these abrasions. One looks like a knife scrape, for example.

I asked the seller for a refund. She replied after I could complain to PayPal. Her emails since have been rude and evasive. Im filing a claim with eBay now but the form says I need to get an appraisal from someone who has physically handled the item for a misrepresented item claim.

Does anyone out there know how I can find a smurf appraiser? In Northern California? I've already gone to more trouble than my claim's worth, but I think people like this seller shouldn't get away with the things she's trying to pull.

[Fram]

Hi. Welcome to this board. I'm sorry I will not be able to help you. I hope someone else here knows more about this (there are some Americans around here).
I hope you or your brother will be on this board in the future with happier stories!

[Rachel]

Hi, firstly welcome to the board.

Secondly, sounds like you are having a bit of a nightmare after trying to do such a nice thing for your brother. To be honest, I am not quite sure what to suggest. I am wondering how would Ebay classify someone as a "smurf expert", technically it could be another smurf collector, if that is the case you would either have to try and find another collector living close to you or send the smurf by post to someone. Maybe Ebay might take the word of an antiques or collectibles expert in which case you could take the smurf to a local shop. It does actually sound a bit daft but would Ebay accept close up photos for them to verify damage?

Could you post pictures here for us to see?

[hugofilia]

Welcome to the club and hope you will be a regular reader and replier.
So much fun here and all in good spirit.
I am surprised in a sense that Ebay ask for an appraiser for a smurf.
There are many dealers of smurfs but appraisers??.
Many of us know the approx value of most smurfs( i do too) and it is not always accurate as sales on ebay is the reference in many smurfs sales.
Maybe Ebay would take the " der schlumpf Katalog1V" as an appraisal but it is also a reference.
I can ,personnaly, tell you that a mint pair of praying smurfs ( originals not faked) is around $ 220.00 US most of the time, if there are rubs and show abused i would risk $ 90.00Us BUT that is only my opinion , i have sold thousandss of them in 5 years and ones can never be certain of the value as it varies from one wek to the others and also with differents seasons it changes also. In general i would say these prices are fair. Please other smurf collectors help me if i am wrong.
You could get lucky and find them much cheaper also but it is pure luck.
Hope you get satisfaction
John

[Syd Smurf]

Hi there

I just want to wish you a warm welcome and we hope to see you &/or your brother on here in the future.

I agree with what's written above and would also like to ask for a photo if possible to see the extent of the damage. Did you pay a lot for this smurf?

The thing is...you mentioned that the seller claimed there was no damage which you say there clearly is so from the start you have been mislead from the seller it would seem.

Please let us know what happens and if you need any help please feel free to ask any of us here.

Dyar

[IndigoSmurf]

Hello & welcome to the board!

Sorry for your bad experience!!

I recommend you look into making a claim with Paypal. They do a refund for payment minus some fee for certain cases (I'm not sure what kind of cases though).

Christine

[attombomb7]

Hello & Welcome


I am not a dealer but I am a collectorsoI really can't helpmuch!

but the people above are dealers/sellers with excelleant advice!

do you have a form?? you need filled out for that claim?? if so maybe

someone here can help on that!

[smurfguyssister]

Hi, thanks for all the supportive and friendly replies to my praying smurf problem.

To answer all your questions:

I can't provide a picture because I'm not equipped to do that -- I'm relatively new to the internet too. I've shown the smurf to several people, including a dealer. All describe the condition as "poor". I've seldom seen a PVC with that degree of abrasion.

I filed a complaint with PayPal but PayPal couldn't process it because I filed it over 30 days after I paid. That's because: I got the smurf two weeks after I paid, and the seller didn't reply to my emails until after my 30 day PayPal deadline. (I should have filed earlier but there was a death in the family so I didn't keep track of deadlines.)

I also think it's odd that eBay wants an appraisal. Regardless of the value of the item, the issue is that the seller led me to believe that the item was in far better than actual condition and I bought it on that basis. For that reason I think that eBay should evaluate it based on value on eBay rather than book value.

I've thought of going to antiques dealers, etc., but, as some of you have pointed out, it isn't clear what eBay wants. My brother would actually be the best appraiser for the smurf at hand but that would be a conflict of interest. I guess I'll send eBay an email and ask details about what they want for an appraisal.

I paid over $60 for the smurf assuming it was in excellent condition with no notable flaws. That's low by your estimates and by my previous understanding. However, I've tracked praying smurf prices on eBay for the past few months, and I believe I paid what seems to be the going eBay rate for a smurf advertised as being in excellent condition.

Thanks again. This is a pleasant chat room. I'm sure I'll have happier stories in the future. For those with an interest in the issues this topic has presented, I'll let you know what happens.

[Syd Smurf]

Yes please keep us informed as I am interested in the process and what happens when someone complains about something like this.

Just to let you know that there are quite a few fake versions of the Praying smurfs on ebay as well. These are worth a lot lot less than the authentic ones and can often get confused for the autentic ones as to someone who doesn't know them well they look pretty much the same. They can sell for around 20 euros and I have seen some go much higher as well although they are not worth that much.

Best of luck and I hope you can get this sorted out

Dyar