I hope no one else has the same experience I had with an item I recently bought on Ebay.  I have been a member of Ebay since 1998, and I have always sold new, MINT items.  If the item is damaged in shipment, I have always been willing to refund or replace the item.  My reputation as a seller depends on being honest with the buyers.  Well, I guess that's not the case with all sellers.  And no matter what I've tried to do to be able to return the item for a refund, it has made no difference.

When it comes to collectibles, I really DO want to buy only 'Mint' items.  Whether to save in a collection, or someday resell, or in this case, as a surprise present for my son, and also so he could keep it, and someday sell it if he wanted or needed to.  So I bought one Dale Earnhardt Sr collectible car, one that is very popular, and getting harder to find.  The item said 'Mint in Box' and showed a picture of the car, and the outside cover of the box.  I ended up paying $100.00, (because of the $40.00 shipping price), which I also thought was against Ebay policy. 

The box comes, and it is in NO WAY mint!  First of all, the car, in its box and sleeve, was sent by putting white paper around the sleeve, and mailing it.  Somehow during shipment, it got very wet, and when I opened the white paper, part of the sleeve was now attached to it, and tore right off.  Okay.  Then the cover of the Action box has a hole punched in the top of it, all the way through, and about 1/4" big.  Okay.  Then you open the box, and there is NO top styrofoam in the box.

Well, I don't consider this 'Mint in Box'.  The seller never would respond to my numerous emails, requesting that I could return the car for a refund, since it was damaged and a present.  No reply.  I was going to file the Buyer Complaint with Ebay, since I paid with PayPal, I was sent there and filed their complaint.  After investigating it, PayPal decided, no, it didn't constitute me getting a refund.  And after many emails with Ebay and PayPal, they still aren't making him do a refund.

So I guess anyone can sell anything on Ebay, and CLAIM it is 'Mint in Box', when really it isn't?  My nephew is a huge Dale fan, and he knows that half the value of the car IS the box and packacking.  If I had known that the top styrofoam was missing, I wouldn't have bid on it in the first place.  And who knows, maybe the car was in mint condition before it was shipped; but if he had even put it in a shipping box, it would have saved the box and sleeve from being ruined. 

Well, thanks for letting me vent.  It is extremely frustrating, after being a good seller for years, that now as a buyer, there is NO recourse.  I'm about tempted to just put the car up for auction, just to get it out of my sight.  Then right about the same time I filed the buyer complaint, a person with a new user ide (possibly the same person), bought a perfect car from me, and instead of leaving a normal feedback, leaves me a negative one, saying simply 'i left feed back 3 times'.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.  Please tell me how you can leave more than one feedback per item; you can't.  I am still waiting for Ebay's investigation of that feedback which was left as a negative for absolutely no reason.

If anyone has any ideas, I sure would appreciate it.  And if anyone would like to avoid this person, they are 811900.  I mistakenly thought that sellers on Ebay were honest, and I also thought that Ebay would look out for shady transactions on here.