[freakydrew]

So I am fairly new to purchasing on ebay. I was looking at this:
Vintage Garrard Type A Turntable w Original Dust Cover! - eBay (item 120515089977 end time Jan-18-10 01:00:42 PST)

It was low when I first looked at it, and it is very rare to get a dust cover for this model. I placed a bid and someone had already set their bid higher. So I got curious to see how high the other bidder went. I put in $152 and change and then that was the high bid. I figured someone would outbid that because there was 2 days left in the auction, of course no one did. The seller was charging $97 for shipping, I emailed and asked if he could find a lower rate, he replied by saying that he would refund portion of shipping when I received the product. So I paid the full amount and figured I would suck up the loss, try and fix this tt up and re-sell it, hopefully not taking a huge loss.
Yesterday I get the following email:
Hi Andrew,

I have bad news. As I was packing the turntable, I accidentally damaged the dust cover. There is now a split in the back of the cover, though the rest of the turntable is unaffected. I would be willing to refund your shipping allowance and ship you the turntable for free to make up for it. If that works, let me know. If not, let me know how you'd like to handle this.

Thanks and I'm very sorry.

So what should I do? Should I refuse the order and ask for my money back? or accept the shipping refund and hope for the best? I do not know what protocol is on ebay for this sort of thing. I don't want m rating screwed up, but I also don't want get something that is broken.
I suppose he did not have to be honest and he could have shipped it and I would have discovered the damage after the fact and he could have blamed shipping?

thanks

 

[JadeEast]

If you don't want a cracked cover ask for a refund.

 

[NiceCans]

Since it is no longer in the condition it was when you placed your bid I would expect you have no concern for your rating being harmed.

However if you feel the unit still worth the purchase price without the dust cover, then by all means take advantage of the offer for free shipping.

 

[freakydrew]

I think I am too nice a guy sometimes and hate conflict! I feel bad for this seller who, I hope, did this by mistake. He has emailed me back offering a full refund. I told him I would let him know by tomorrow. Of course, he can re-auction and may make more money or may make less. I guess I should just get a backbone and ask for a refund

 

[baka1969]

I would stand up for myself and do what you feel is good for you. I'm sure it was an accident by the seller. But, for me, I'd ask for a refund unless the deal was one I couldn't refuse.

 

[Landis]

That would be a good idea!

Just note in the future that when you place a bid it says that you are committing to that bid and cannot refuse to pay it unless it's alright with the seller or some other issue has occurred (such as product being damaged). Note that it does cost the seller money to list these items. (Not much, but it's the whole morale thing)

 

[Palpatine]

Bummer. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Pepsi]

Personally i like my stuff new since cosmetics is a big thing for me with my equipment. So i'd take my money back.

 

[Uncle Erik]

You're justified in asking for a full refund since it isn't in the condition that you bid on. You should also thank the seller for his honesty. Many would have shopped it anyway and blamed the crack on the shipper.

Personally, I'd use the deck with the crack. You can glue it and it would be structurally sound.

 

[mrarroyo]

I would thank the seller for their honesty and request a full refund.

 

[freakydrew]

done, thanks everyone.