The holo pattern is different and the card I got has edge wear and a giant gash on the top. Clearly it is a different card. It’s possible this was a mistake, the card came in one of those penny sleeves that has a opaque back and maybe the seller had multiples but I want the card I bought, I paid well over market for a clean copy.
Is there some way I can contact the seller? My mother is Japanese so I can communicate with them but I’m not sure how to contact them or if there’s any way to rectify this issue.
If I’m truly SOL, I’d like to learn how to leave a bad review and how to avoid something like this in the future.
Typically buyee won’t do anything. I’ve had completely different items arrive with no recourse. With that said it’s still worth a shot to message buyee and explain the situation.
This would only need to happen to me one time for me to never buy from that platform ever again. That is a terrible buyer experience.
I’m sure the risk is worth it financially, since on average you come out well ahead. However, psychologically I don’t think I could get over being scammed in a transaction and having no recourse, even if it was offset by plenty of good transactions.
Props to those that are willing to deal with this, because I just can’t, even if it means leaving money on the table.
Yeah, I guess eBay’s model is the exception then. Though, theirs is almost too buyer friendly. As we know it exposes the seller to reverse scams.
Fortunately I have always been able to find the things I want from Japan on eBay. I buy sealed Japanese Modern products directly from Japanese sellers on eBay.
I realize for more specific items you don’t have that same luxury.
Yep been there. Notably from a seller I’d bought from before a decent amount. Only when the purchases started exceeding 5-10k yen did I end up receiving more damaged copies of the same card (this and an Alakazam GS). The seller ignored all communication. You win some and lose some, has been my experience. Generally, buying directly from Japan saves a lot of money, it’s just unfortunate that you sometimes get shafted in the process.
Oof. I’ve heard enough of these stories to definitely scare me away from buying singles through a proxy. Unless it’s a different story with Tenso (which I have an account with), but I definitely wish there was a clear path to Japanese singles that included more robust buyer protection
Is it possible for me to leave a negative review and block this seller? As a first experience this is really disheartening but I’ll give Buyee another chance.
The only recourse you have is IF you purchased the protection plan for them to inspect the item. In that case contacting them might lead to something altough they try and squeeze out of responsibility like most companies do.
If you didnt i wouldnt waste my time emailing them we have all be shafted from Japan i judt got some japanese error cards arrive as the standered copies wven after paying the sellers buy it now price.
Win some lose some. If you need singles with protection ebay is your way to go or use a bigger store like Cardrush to minimize chances of issues
Unfortunately not really. Buyee won’t leave a negative review for the seller on yahoo, you may be able to contact them and have them block bids on the seller from other buyee users, but even that may be challenging.
Getting screwed on cards from Japan is an unfortunate reality these days. I’d recommend sticking to large, trusted sellers when you’re just starting out. Over time you’ll get better at sniffing out what’s suspicious and what’s legit. Never spend more than you’re willing to lose. Sadly, buying from Japan is nothing like eBay.
I recently bought a lot of 15 bulk Eevee cards for a fair price for both sides. Then Buyee contacts me and says the seller said you get to only pick one of the 15 cards in the photo. Their description was so sketchy or poorly translated for me to see it right away. Luckily, Buyee cancelled the order at my request due to sketchy listing practices.
I bought my Zorua raw from a 9 feedback buyer on Yahoo Japan thru Buyee. Couple guys on discord said seller was legit but spending that much on a card and leaving it up to fate is a bit nervy.
Absolutely avoid Buyee, unless you’re buying cheap cards you can afford to lose or graded cards from a reputable seller.
Not only does Buyee not afford you any of the protections otherwise given to Japanese buyers, they can actually expose you to additional risk. I have seen instances where sellers with otherwise good ratings see that the buyer is a Buyee account and decide to send a card that wasn’t what was listed…knowing full well Buyee will not only give them a good rating for a scam, but also essentially prevent the buyer from recovering or communicating with the seller.
Also, Buyee’s customer service (if it can even be called that) is abysmal.
Might have mentioned this somewhere… Maybe I shoud make a post of common tricks and traps in Japanese auctions in Articles.
Most Japanese auction sites including Yahoo JP and Mercari adopts a similar checkout flow which is common in Japan but unfamiliar to most foreign or proxy users:
You pay for the item
The payment is put on hold by the auction platform
Seller has 14 days to ship the item, and must mark their item as shipped
Once you receive the item, you must check the item condition and then click the Item Receive button provided by the platform. Once the button is clicked, the payment will be released to the seller, and you basically lose any chance to file claims unless in extreme situations (i.e. legal issues)
If the seller didn’t ship the item within 8 days of winning, you can start filing complaints, but if the seller had shipped the item and you neither clicked the button nor filed a claim with 14 days, most auction sites will click that button for you automatically.
So for the starting post of this thread:
If you didn’t purchase any kind of insurance options on Buyee, then you’re out of luck. Buyee basically will just perform some really simple checks such as not even the same card and go click the button, forfeiting any chance of claims.
Buyee made it really clear to sellers that they are Buyee accounts, and a lot of shady sellers would use this to their advantage. Sadly swapping cards is one of their common tricks due to the difficulty of post-transaction claims.
One worse thing about Mercari is that YJP allows you to click the button only in step 4 and leave feedback later, but Mercari requires you to leave feedback at the same time, so absolutely no post-transaction feedbacks.
You can do a credit card chargeback and buyee will freeze your account, after the chargeback is complete pester buyee and eventually they will unfreeze the account. Include multiple photos and hopefully where the buyers puts conditions they put unused or close to unused and include that the one you received does not match that condition. I’ve done this once before so it might not be the best advice but it worked when I did it.
