[Smurfysmurf]

Well, after that smurfy delivery from Friday, I received more packages today (two were not smurf related) and I am a bit disgusted right now.... about myself and about the sellers.....
1. I bought a huge smurf lot from Germany for quite a bit of money... from the pictures the smurfs didn't look bad and had some variations in it that I need... I was shocked though when I received them today.. .. Just about all have major rubs, one is just about headless. As a part time seller myself, I believe in taking good pictures and in honest description.. . what shocked me so much is that the seller was one of my favorite sellers, that I had bought smurfs from in the past and they always were superb.. .. She had listed the smurf lot as used, so I will take it as a learning experience but I am still disgusted, because quite honestly the smurfs should not be sold, but either transformed into home made creations or thrown away... . I think I will try my hand at the first option, when I have time....
the other bad package was for a smurf blanket, that looked quite good on the picture and shipping was free.. I thought, well let's buy it, you need a blanket for your smurf room.. ... I bought and paid it on 07/24/06.... I still hadn't received it after 10 days (the seller is also from TN), so I asked her and she responded on 08/08/06 that it was shipped...It arrived today and looking at the shipping date it was shipped on 08/10/06.. the blanket itself is very used and washed out ...I am very sorry, but I am utterly disgusted and very mad right now....these two were my first very bad experience with sellers on ebay, maybe it is just what I needed to stop my mad spending spree.... I guess, you always have to look at the bright side....

Looking on the brighter side... .. Ceramic Brainy and the two trinkets arrived today in perfect condition (the PVC smurfs in the same package were not much better than the ones in the lot from Germany though)

Well, I will stop now.... say my evening prayers and go to bed....

I am sorry for the rant, but ooooohhhhhhhhhh I am so mad right now,...... mostly at my own foolishness

[Syd Smurf]

Hi Maureen

You're not foolish at all as you expect some honesty from the sellers and unfortunately from time to time this means that you do get very disappointed, frustrated and yes of course very angry.

It's especially disappointing when you have dealt with a particular seller in the past. I have been there too and it really annoys the hell out of me as well.

Well I am sending off your items today and I hope they cheer you up a little as there are no headless smurfs in this package.....can't believe they sold you a headless smurf.

Dyar

[attombomb7]

hi Maureen!

that sounds so frustrating and disapointing! not very nice of the seller

not to describe things by condition if the photo is hiding what they really

are.. sorry you had such a bad expierance.

[steveparkes]

Hi Maureen,

sorry to hear about your bad packages I've had that in the past before..I've had smurfs turn up in the most awful condition before..I had a king smurf that had had his arm amputated..not nice..I always try to ask about the condition of smurfs now before I buy..hope you're feeling better soon

[Smurfysmurf]

thanks guys

I have had a few hours of sleep now and I should soon be able to laugh about it again

Dishonesty can drive me wild as you have seen, but I get over it...
Life is too short to stay mad a long time

[Rachel]

Hi Maureen,

firstly I have to congratulate you as I think your post has the most angry smilies that I have ever seen in one go.

But seriously...........

I am sorry to hear about these two lots. I think we have all been there at some point, something arriving and it not being as good as we had been led to believe. I think it is one of the pitfalls of buying in large lots as it is so difficult sometimes to see the condition of the smurfs. I totally agree though, as a seller, I always feel that I must try and give an honest description so at least then the buyer knows what they are getting.

As for posting an items very late like your blanket well that is just very poor indeed. A couple of days, well fair enough but a couple of months really is unacceptable.

Good to hear that you Brainy ceramic has arrived safely though.

[Smurfysmurf]

firstly I have to congratulate you as I think your post has the most angry smilies that I have ever seen in one go

yeah, I have been known that when I get angry, I get really angry.......... people have blamed that on my Irish blood...... which probably also explains why I won't stay angry for long....

I have once heard a preacher say about driving in a car, that sometimes there are just not enough words that a Christian can say. That's how I felt yesterday

[Gerda]

Sounds like you need a hug hope things smurf up for you soon!! If it makes you feel better we have all been there




gerda

[Syd Smurf]

My other friend here in Sydney with the name Maureen also had Irish blood....sorry guys, I am just backdating to an earlier conversation I was having with Maureen a couple of weeks ago.

I do like what the preacher said....and yes driving with all of the lunatics on the road can bring out the worse in all of us. I still can't believe that Stace said I was a bad driver yesterday on yahoo....the bumper bar on my car is still attached thank you very much Stace.

Dyar

PS - Ok it's held on with rope but it can still be classified as being attached and I will not accept any other verdict.

[eggie smurf]

I still can't believe that Stace said I was a bad driver yesterday on yahoo....the bumper bar on my car is still attached thank you very much Stace.

Dyar

PS - Ok it's held on with rope but it can still be classified as being attached and I will not accept any other verdict.

If you recall, I didn't say you were a bad driver, I just questioned whether you were a good driver - there is a difference

[Ritter_Schlumpfenherz]

Hi Maureen,

I feel terribly sorry for you, especially since you often traded with her.. Could you please name your seller, since this seller might be on the traders' list in here?

[XoioX2000]

Sorry to hear about your bad eBay spell.

I have found that it can go very well for a long long time and then I'll have 2 or 3 like that very close to each other. It is unfuriating...

As you say it's best to put it down to experience... still, easier said than done... well for me anyway... I tend to be grumpy for a while after.

Burning them slowly would be a sweet revenge...

I heard voodoo dolls works well too...

:)

[Nuts about smurfing]

I agree with you on that David. I had a rough time for a bit on ebay but recently I have been having lots of good luck. The last trade I did turned up broken in the post. The seller had no problems at all giving me a refund even though it wasn't insured. There are some nice people out there!!

[Smurfysmurf]

thanks guys for cheering me up.. .... the smurfs are still soaking in the bathtub and we will see... ... I'd hate to throw around $150.00 away, so I will keep them and see what I do with them to make them my very own special smurfs...

Dominique,
I'd hate to blackball the seller, since all my other experiences with her were great and she didn't really twist me arms to bid so high on the smurfs....

I will have a look at the list though and see if she is on it and if so I'll PM you her name, so you can be on the lookout for her.... She lists her smurfs on the German ebay

[Syd Smurf]

I also agree with David & Mark.....when it rains it pours....but it doersn't have that often but it's still very infuriating when it does and I don't have the ability to burn them as easily as you David.....although some of them I would like to.

Dyar

[Smurfysmurf]

After giving the smurfs a good bath (soaking for two days in the bathtub in liquid washing powder ), the smurfs didn't look that grey anymore.... About three quarters still have major rubs on them and half of them will need a major make over (got the supplies for that from the craft store already ) but the lot also had a few very nice variations in it that I didn't expect at all, like the smurf with the yellow present, the trompeter with the red pants, the torch bearer with the Belgium emblem on it, the nurse with the blue dress and white apron).
Considering what was hidding in this lot and that I spent about EUR 1 per smurf on this lot (In US $ the prize looks very high though). I am still quite satisfied, since even though half of them aren't worth even that much, that leaves me with EUR 2 per smurf, in addition to the postage
I do believe however, they were poorly described (weren't described at all other then used), and had I known the condition of most of them, I probably wouldn't have bidded on them , but over all I am satisfied and excited about the variations I got.

I just wanted to write this, because of my rant last week... .

I still believe that a good seller will describe their smurfs very clearly or better yet take good pictures of the smurfs on sale, so that everybody can see the condition of the smurfs.. I don't mind buying smurfs with little marks on them, but I would like to know about those marks and rubs

[eggie smurf]

It's good you are able to see the good side of the transaction, Maureen! At least you were able to salvage something but I agree better descriptions and better pics always always help!

[Guest]

Sorry you've had a rough time, Maureen. I've noticed a few regular sellers aren't selling on ebay at the moment (myself included), it's simply not worth it for the fees involved. Do you think there are less smurfs being sold and if so do you think this is pushing prices up on the poorer smurfs? I was just wondering really because I haven't been paying much attention to eBay lately and I wondered if a lack of sellers could have an effect on the prices, obviously the higher the prices the more disappointed people are when the smurfs are rubbish. I'm not sure if I am making any sense at all here. I've just noticed three things, prices of smurfs in online shops are going up, wholesale prices are going up, and there seem to be less well known sellers on eBay, or am I imagining it?

As for your blanket experience, I hate things like that, especially with a blanket, it's not the kind of thing you want to be shabby.

[Smurfysmurf]

Karen,
I am not sure. .. I usually look closer at smurf lots, and buy them instead of individual smurfs. I will stop doing that now, because my collection has grown so much, that I no longer need a lot of the "normal" smurfs ...
I also sell on ebay, and always start my auctions at a low price, and I am sometimes very disappointed when rare smurfs sell for a lot less than what other sellers seem to get out of them, but that is the risk everybody takes selling on ebay .... I am still satisfied with my sales though since I only sells my doubles and do it for fun anyway
But you are correct in that I also think sales for smurfs have been down (not in what is available but for what they sell)..... It should be interesting to see how it will go when the Christmas season really starts.
As a buyer, I usually only look at "private" sellers instead of stores, because, frankly, I can afford them better... of course, you always run the risk of ending up with some rubbish smurfs (is there something like this?)

I would be interested how others go about buying on ebay and what their selling experiences are.

[Rachel]

Hi Maureen, I am glad to hear that things are looking a little better and you had some nice suprises afterall.

I would be interested how others go about buying on ebay and what their selling experiences are.

Buying on Ebay, I try not to look when I haven't got much money because I always seem to find items that I HAVE to have...........

I always used to buy big lots so I could keep what I needed and then sell the doubles to fund more smurfs. I think this is how I ended up getting into the variations so much as I just had to keep anything that was slightly different. Also we were very lucky because at the time we got into it, smurf prices on Ebay in the UK were much much higher as there were far fewer smurfs being sold so often a smurf that may have cost us 50p or 60p often sold for £10+ which meant that we could spend even more money on smurfs.