First bad Trademe trade 24th February 2007
My first bad Trademe trade, the seller was trying to squeeze everything out of me. On the 10th of February 2006 I saw an auction for a cheap Microsoft keyboard (I already had a nice keyboard, but it was cheap and therefore wanted it). Before buying I proceeded with caution. I asked the seller the following:
Is it in good condition and would you be able to parcelpost it? Thanks.
And he replied:
yes it is in good condition apart from the missing thing on the underside which you flip up to raise the keyboard. yes would be able to parcelpost
Note he said it was in good condition. Further down the track I received the keyboard and to my surprise found that it was indeed in the worst condition ever. Let me describe it to you. The spaces in-between the keys were filled with dust, spilt coffee, feathers, unknown scum stains and bubblegum. To summarise, it was in anything but good condition. I asked for a resolution to this problem and he offered a refund, but this would mean I would have to send it back (not worth it). I told him that it was in really bad condition and he failed to recognise that. I proceeded to give him a neutral feedback. He retaliated. I sent him images of the keyboard. He replied with:
I’ll tell you what I’ll do
He gave me negative feedback; obviously losing the battle of truth and honesty and ability to analyse ‘good condition’ from ‘bad condition’. I questioned his actions and he said he felt hurt that I called him a liar and that I gave him a netural feedback. He went on further to say:
What do you expect from a keyboard which has been sitting around for months waiting to be put on tm [trademe]. You shouldn’t expect secondhand things to be in mint condition and you should ask more specific questions next time.
Alright. This guy is obviously stupid. He makes up a stupid excuse that it’s been in storage for ages. I bring it down to neglect and lies. How can storage leave the keyboard with coffee stains and feathers and all kinds of grundge and bubblegum. No exceptions - that is in bad condition.
To save my 100% positive feedback reputation, I quickly acted and fasely appologised (the internet is great to hide a false face) and removed the feedback. He did so soon after. Take a look at the pictures to follow and judge for yourself - would you call this keyboard in ‘good condition’?
Click on the images to get in-between the keys.
Are you serious…. for a cheap second hand keyboard what did you expect. Yeah the bubble gum was bad, but stuff gets inside used keyboards, condition was good meaning the numbers are not worn off, no keys are missing, and no keys get stuck down. I do agree the gum could have been scraped off, but you were sounding like you were Expecting it to be new
I explicitly questioned the condition of the keyboard and that by no means is in a clean condition - Unless you’re living in a vacuum cleaner, well then your standards would indeed be much lower.
You obviously don’t know TradeMe do you - there are good deals to be had, and obviously I was misinformed and as a result was blindingly lead into thinking this was a good trade. Besides, keyboards are as cheap as chips - they can range from 10$ for a quality new one, up to $300…
There is a fine line between “good condition” and “bad condition”, however in this case, it was most obviously in bad, or rather, crap condition. Reason? To dishonestly push through a trade.