Building Karma

Christmas day, I received an e-mail from one of my Ebay customers. She wanted to return an item.

The item had been listed as a 1966 Major Matt Mason action figure. I didn't do too much research before listing the item... I knew it was a figure from the Matt Mason line of figures, that would be good enough for the collectors and then let them figure out which one it is based on the pictures.

I do a lot of my auctions this way... saves me time, saves the buyers money because I always put my opening bid at $1.99

So this lady, she got the high bid back on December 3rd for this action figure, $30 plus some change, which is a pretty good return on my 25-cent investment. It was a Christmas gift for her husband, so it sounded like my toy was getting a good home :)

Christmas morning came, the husband opened the gift and immediately knew this was not a Major Matt Mason action figure. "Major Matt Mason has crew-cut hair; this is the wrong head!" he told his wife. She was so very sad about this! SHe mailed me immediately to find out if I had the correct head.

Not understanding her request, I replied that there was only one head, that was the head in the picture from the auction.

So she opened an official Ebay Complaint.

Official Ebay Complaints are why a lot of sellers have stopped selling on Ebay. The buyer in any transaction can simply claim that the item does not match the description or that the item never arrived in order to get their money back. As a seller, you are screwed because you only have two options; offer an exchange or have Ebay review the complaint. Having Ebay review the complaint is the worst thing you can do because ebay will 100% of the time side with the buyer and then just automatically refund the money without you even getting your item back.

Official Ebay Complaints screw the seller no matter what.

Since I knew that the best course of action was to have the customer return the item for a refund rather than just have them get a free refund AND the tiem through a dispute, I decided to do some further research on the item I had sold.

The husband was correct; this was NOT a Major Matt Mason action figure... it was Major Matt Mason's buddy, Douglas Davis. Douglas Davis is the second rarest figure in the entire line of Major Matt Mason action figures, which would be kind of awesome in and of itself. Matt Mason's are pretty easy to come by, but a Douglas Davis? I'd get at least TWICE as much for him by relisting! But there was something wrong about him... Douglas Davis figures all came in yellow space suits, but MY Douglas Davis was in a WHITE suit. WHy is that?

More research.

Ends up this is even RARER than a Douglas Davis... this was a figure that was sold only at NASA Space Centers some time in the late 60's. No real information is available on them because they are SO RARE, only a fistful of them have ever been sold at private auctions with undisclosed prices.

Cash register bells chimed in my head as my eyes turned in to dollar signs! "Fine, lady! You want to have your $30 back and accuse me of selling a fake item? Go for it! And then I'll turn around armed with all my new information and sell this sucker for a couple hundred dollars! MWA HA HA HA HAAAAAAA!"

But then I felt bad. This lady had purchased an item from me, an item that I thought I was only going to get maybe $5 for. An item I paid a quarter for at a garage sale. She gave me $30 that went towards one of the best Christmases we've ever had, and all she got for her money was a disappointed husband on Christmas morning. Inadvertently, I had ruined Christmas :(

So in the end I did the right thing. I sent her an e-mail apologizing and offering to refund her money if she would return the item, but then I told her why she might want to keep the item instead of returning it. I sent her all my links and all my information on the item to back-up my claims. I let her know just how awesome of a deal she had gotten in this auction, and I wisher her a Merry Christmas.

She thanked me and closed the Official Ebay Complaint :)

I am feeling really good about the way I handled the situation... and very proud :)

ECCCConundrum

This year, the Emerald City Comic ConEmerald City Comic Con will be THREE DAYS instead of just two. I'm excited, but there are quite a few... complications.

Normally this is pretty easy. I have my nieces stay the night with me Friday night, we get up and leave the house at about 5am Saturday morning, and we're some of the first people in through the door. Sunday, I go alone and meet-up with various friends, at the very least hang with The T-Dawg for the day and probably share a ride with him.

But how do you deal with a convention that starts at 2pm on a weekday?!?!

How early do you get in line to ensure that you're one of the first in the door?

Do the nieces come for all three days?

And what about Molly this year? She's 4, I think she's old enough for a taste of convention once again (she went to her first con when she was just 3 months old)!

SO! Just free-balling an idea here right now. Let's see how this works. If anybody has any input/suggestions/revisions, feel free to drop 'em here.

On FRIDAY, we'll be all loosey-goosey. I'll take Molly with us, we'll get there at 1, get in the doors at 2, have as much fun with Molly there as possible. Hope/pray that they have a Costume Contest on Friday night this year because Molly would like to enter the contest :) Have nieces meet me there, we all leave the convention together at... cripes, they don't close till 8 that night?!?!?

Okay, in my head I thought it ended at 6, then I could drive Molly up to my Parents house or to her aunt and uncle to spend the night. But if it doesn't end till 8? I may have to reconsider... maybe plan something with Dan & Kayla to take Molly in exchange for my expertise in guiding Aurelia through the con? Let's put that on the back burner for now...

On SATURDAY, it's business as usual. Wake the girls at 5am, in line by 6am, first in the door, blah blah blah... awesome Day 2!

Day 3 is up in the air. Both nieces have expressed interest in going all three days or at least two, and since a 2-day pass costs the same as a 3-day pass... hmmmmmmm...

It's about time I did the driving on a Sunday. Troy has driven us there the past two years at the very least, so yeah it's my turn. Crystal usually has no need for Day 3 of the convention... she loves it, but usually needs at least one full weekends day just for herself in order to survive. So if Troy uses the third day of her 3-day pass, rides to the convention with Haley and me, Britt meets us there (because she lives right down there)... by golly, this just might work!

Best Present 2010

For as long as I can remember, it's gone like this.

Molly will say "Mommy! I have a secret for you!" and then whisper "I love you" in her ear. Then she'll say "Daddy! I have a secret for you!" and then whisper "You're silly" or "You stink" or "Tickle me" in my ear.

Most of the time I take it in stride because I realize that I'm her *pal*. I'm her constant companion and side-kick. I'm her bestest playmate. We're buddies, and she knows that 90% of the time we're teasing. Teasing is a way to show affection, I get it... but sometimes it just really hurts.

The only time she'll say otherwise in when Crystal will point it out. "Molly, why don't you ever say you love Daddy? You should tell Daddy that you love him, too" and then she'll say it. IOt feels good, but kind of empty... like an apology from the bully who just got beaten by his dad. Even if he means it and sees how wrong he was, he's still only did it because somebody told him to do it.

But starting Christmas Day, Molly has gone a new direction. She came up to me and said "Daddy I have a secret for you..." and I asked her what the secret is, expecting a request for tickles or a comment on how much I stink.

She paused for a second, got right up in my ear and whispered "I love you" before giving me a kiss "...And you stink".

Since then, with no prodding or suggestions from anyone other than her own mind, she has told me about 27 different times that she loves me now.

It's the best Christmas present I ever got :)