ebay item misrepresented....what solution?

[ohiominnie]

I recently bought a cross stitch kit from ebay. The description says the following:

This auction is for a NEW in Package Janlynn Suzy's Zoo Christmas stocking cross stitch kit from 1989. This New kit contains: 14-count AIDA fabric, cotton floss, metallic thread, cording, backing, fabric, needle graph and instructions. The design is Suzy and her friends on a vintage wooden sled going down a hill with snow covered trees in the background.

***As always more pictures available upon request!***

POLICIES

All sales are final.
Item is as presented/listed/described in this auction to the best of my knowledge.

​

I received the kit today and there is obvious water damage to the front insert. The back of the package shows that the fabric has small stains in three places. It is sealed, and I'm a bit afraid of what might be lurking inside, but will not open it b/c then the seller could say "well, you opened the thing, it's yours!"

What do you think is reasonable? The seller states that "Item is as presented/listed/described in this auction to the best of my knowledge" but if you ask me, she has pretty lousy knowledge if she cannot see water damage and stains! I have messaged her and am interested to see what she says. I feel the item was grossly mis-represented though.

What's a fair resolution? I've already paid $5.35 in shipping to get it. I'll spend close to $4 to get it back to her.

It does say "more pictures available upon request" but I don't think with the way this seller takes pictures it would have revealed the truth (based on her other auctions, all pictures are horrible)

In years of ebaying this is the first time I've had an issue (so I guess that's a plus!)

 

[KristinU]

I'd wait a couple of days for her to respond then I'd ask the same question of eBay if you don't hear from her. A couple of years ago I won an auction for a diaper bag-backpack that was listed as new, and the photo was fuzzy - but it was a name brand and I was able to find lots of detailed photos elsewhere so I thought I knew what I was getting...well, when I got it it was SO not new! The paint was all worn from the zipper pulls, the fabric was obvoiusly "broken-in" and there wasn't a changing pad included like it would have been if it was new. I was fuming! Like I'm sure you are! So I wrote to the seller (a power seller) and he promptly refunded my paypal payment and told me to keep the bag. I was a bit harsh in my e-mail to him and talked about going to eBay about it...and he recommended that I not be so threatening in the future. Honestly, he didn't give me a chance to negotiate - just simply refunded my $$$...I would have sent it back had he wanted me to, but I guess I came on so strong that he worried about my stability and that I would go ranting to eBay. Hopefully you'll get a positive resolution out of this whole thing.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

take photos of the package and ask if you can open it to inspect the contents. If they are OK then keep them, if not you should be able to send it back.

BUT the auction does say it is from 1989 so box damage is almost to be expected unless it says mint.