Do eBay sellers really know what C-9 means? (NOW W/ DETAILED SHOCKWAVE PICS) I'm loving how it's 50% odds that when I win an auction that has a TF's condition emphasized as C-9, the toy usually arrives as if my nephew's in kindergarten have played with it for an entire weekend. Now I know that grading is very subjective, but to state that something is C-9 and it is scuffed, stickers are marred and chrome/clear plastic is weathered? I ended up buying a G1 Shockwave that was stated as C-9+ (yes, the plus) condition and it looks C-7 at most. What do you guys recommend? Should I file a Paypal claim or what? If this was a lesser expensive figure I wouldn't care, but I just dropped $152.50 on this guy thinking I was getting a good condition specimen. GRRRRR
This is why I explain in DETAIL every little thing about the items I'm selling.......and I DO NOT put "C-anything" in it. I'm not the professional grader of these items, I'm just there to sell things legit and as they are. I don't sugar coat it--I'll tell if it's used/worn or good/excellent/new/MISB or if it has bent corners on the box, etc. Most people who sell these graded items don't actually know what they are--they're trying to make a quick sell and they'll label it "great" simply because it's good enough for them. It's hard to really know what you're getting because you run the risk of hitting a shady seller like that. I'm not sure what can be done about it--wish I could help.
Have you contacted the seller yet? Do you know what you want to make amends for the incorrect listing? If you'd be happy with the figure, but want a partial refund, I'd contact the seller first. Of course, that may be subject to reading his feedback to see whether he seems reasonable. That said, if you want to avoid everything and get your money back, file a Paypal claim for "item not as described" and go from there. Whichever way you go, definitely proceed. These sorts of things really irk me about eBay.
You have some pictures for your shockwave? for $153 I would expect : Excellent to Perfect hose, intact GunTip/LazerSight/Crotch, Unbroken Battery Cover(Maybe stressmark, which is very common), Working Sound/Light(2 modes), No "Short Leg" Issue, no shoulder split. If you have all those, then your shockwave should be at least in C8 condition unless it has alot of playwear on the plastics, which is very unlikely because that will usually cause one of the issues on top. Generally speaking, a seller's past feedbacks would be a better indicator to show how reliable his words are.
I'll take some pics and post. Maybe you can give me an estimate of what you think it's worth. I would be open to a partial refund with this guy. I'll try to take pics from all angles to give the best views via my descriptions.
C-9 is a term. If it's not AFA it's just a nonsence term. If a seller says: It's C9 or C10, the first thing you should ask yourself is: "Does this guy work with toygrader, or CGI?". If he (probably) doesn't, it's just a fan based grade, and that is worth exactly bubkiss
Here are the pics as promised. You guys decide if this is a "C-9+" as the seller stated. I never really knew what "crusty" meant until I received this. LOL The figure is even missing the rub sign! What grade would you give this? C-7? C-6? Now, I know grading is purely subjective, but this scale below is agreeable with my standards. C-10 Sealed figure in package Flawless. C-9.5+ Mint figure that is out of the package, but has no flaws. The figure may have been recently removed from the package. C-9.5 Near Mint to Mint figure that may have the slightest flaw such as an extra dot of paint or a tiny dot of paint missing. C-9 Near mint figure that may have some small spots of paint wear. C-8.5 Excellent to Near Mint figure with more paint wear. Still an excellent looking figure, but was probably played with and may have more paint loss as a result. C-8 Excellent looking figure that may have some playwear on the usual places (hands, feet, or head). Also might have some dirt or fading of the figure. C-7.5 Good condition. Has some playwear, and some noticeable flaws, but still looks like a very nice figure. C-7 Good condition. More extensive paint wear on spots, and maybe some overall wear. Still a displayable figure.
That's not so bad - all he needs is a little TLC. Take him apart, clean him up, clean/sand the screws and maybe you can buff the super glue and some of the scratches off. You can even fix the yellowing with H2O2, and maybe get a repro rubber hose. I'd call that about a C-8 if it was clean, and I would mention the repairs and other flaws. If it wasn't christmas (no money right now) I'd be happy to take him off your hands and fix him up.
Like others have posted here, I would be very cautious with how people on EBay throw that term around. If you really care about having the best quality figure, either go AFA, only bid on auctions with numerous hi-def, close-up pics, and/or closely look at a seller's feedback. This is like people claiming GI Joes are "99% Complete" when they are missing 2 guns and a backpack--complete BS, but it happens more often than it doesn't.
I'd send it back if it was me. I'm not too worried about condition (C-7 to C-8) range is fine for me but since he said it was C-9 it should be really near perfect with a few minor flaws. I never claim C-anything in my auctions. I try to describe them as best I can and usually get specific questions from potential bidders. Even if they are near mint I will still say they are played with. To be honest dealing with people who want flawless transformers can be a pain in the @ss.
As you said rating is purely subjective. Someone's C8 might be someone else's C6 and so on. I also never post C categories in my auctions. But I do tell what damage there is.
Exacty what Sangron said, I will never say an item's c-something because chances are I'll get one of those pricks that say "oh theres a very fine scratch, though I used a magnifying glass, it's no more than a c-5. I'm going to paypal". I personally do my best to describe the condition and then if they complain I just show them the listing and tell them to tell me how they figure it's not in the condition I described it as. As for your Shockwave, he should have said what was wrong with it.
My opinion: 1. SuperGlued Arm, in my opinion anything repaired doesn't deserve a C9, especially for those you can tell. Swapping parts usually are fine with me as long as nothing WAS damaged, and the mold is the same(Varariation can be a pain). However glue is a different story, I don't think anything glued should claim a C9 2. Heavily yellowed, the 3rd and 5th picture shows this clearly, not only the lazer sight has yellowed, the whole "top" part of shockwave has heavy sun damage. 3. from your #5 picture, it seems you got a broken Battery Cover. The battery cover also seems came from a different figure because it gets no sun damage, of course, it could also be the cover uses a different type of plastic. 4. Shockwave have 3 different chest sticker variations, so this one seems ok. Sometimes purple sticker can turn to blue under long term sun explosure(In my case it was the constructicons), so I understand your worry. 5. Cracks on the hose, I can't tell exactly how bad it is from the picture(the worst I've seen is the wires got exposed) But since the whole top part is yellowed, I doubt the Sun would go easy on the hose. 6. Dirty Gun barrel, for a $153 figure I would expect it to be clean, however this is only a minor issue. But I do hate cleaning, it's very time consuming.(I spent 4 hours to clean up my constructicons because of the Candy stain) Is the seller a transformers fan?(Check his buying/selling feedbacks), if he is, then he definitely should know this is not a "near-mint" figure. With all those issues above(Repaired/Yellowing/HoseCracking), I don't think the figure deserve anything more than a C7. You can think like this way: 1. Excellent condition Gun Barrel usually don't cost your more than $15 shipped(I see $10 all the time) 2. Shockwave Battery Cover Unbroken $25-$40 (I've seen $20, $25, $30, the $40 one usually don't sell) So the worst price you would pay for the above two would be $60(No way I'm paying that price on those two parts), and in this case you are still paying $93 for a body with so many issues(And on top of that your battery cover is broken) Personally I don't think this figure is worth more than $100(I would pay less than that). Does light and both sounds works?
The first thing you should do is try to contact the seller and talk about the issue. Then try to get a partial or full refund. It's a good idea to be nice with the seller if you want things to work. If the seller doesn't want to issue a partial refund then you should file a Paypal claim for a item not as described.
I agree. And I would definitely try for a full refund; with that amount of discolouring it's worth next to nothing IMO.
