Seller wants refund because Ikaruga DC isn't US version

[kevincure]

Quick Q guys

I sold a copy of Ikaruga DC last week. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8258555480&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESO%3AIT&rd=1)

The title says "US Seller", there's a picture of a game that is clearly not American and has Japanese writing, and the game, of course, was never released in the US. The buyer (seems like a pretty young dude) is now contacting me saying it doesn't play on his DC, and wanting a full refund. I'm leaving the country on Thursday, so this really isn't possible. I sent him an email telling him that the game was never released in the US, and that there's a picture included for his inspection even if he was unsure. I also sent him links to places to buy DC-x, DC gameshark,etc. so he could play the game. What do you guys think?

[-hellvin-]

You did the right thing, not your fault. He may try and hit you with a negative, but who knows. Hopefully he'll look into those sites and pick up something to boot up the import and stop complaining.

[gepeto]

I say send him a copy of the boot loader.



One of them utopia ones. Your format in your auction said ntsc us and canada. In fact it should have said Japan. I see how he could have been misled.

Let him know you will send him a boot disk he will need to use in order to play the game.

I use it with my ikaruga. If you have one you can burn it with disc juggular. The funny thing (from what I'm told) is disc juggular is the only burn soft that can do the dreamcast iso properly.

[Buyatari]

I am going to side with the buyer because

1. you have this in your auction.


Format: NTSC (US, Canada)

2. picture is hard to make out. Us game nerds can tell a Japanese release from US release with a blurry picture but not the average public. They see NTSC (US, Canada) and thats what they think they are getting.

3. you spent more time talking about yourself than the item you were selling.

With a bit more detail about the item you were selling you could have prevented this.

[kevincure]

I certainly didn't select NTSC-U/C; in fact, I've only now noticed it! I think this is the default. I haven't sold on ebay in the last year or so, and they didn't have these autofields back in the day.

That said, though, who is willing to spend 58 on Ikaruga but doesn't know it wasn't released in the US? Do we need to mention "Japanese version" when we sell Radiant Silvergun too?

[Kitsune Sniper]

I certainly didn't select NTSC-U/C; in fact, I've only now noticed it! I think this is the default. I haven't sold on ebay in the last year or so, and they didn't have these autofields back in the day.

That said, though, who is willing to spend 58 on Ikaruga but doesn't know it wasn't released in the US? Do we need to mention "Japanese version" when we sell Radiant Silvergun too?

That's why most sellers immediately state the region that games and other items are from. It may be obvious to you or me, but the average joe may not even realize what game regions are.

It says "JP" on the auction title, but nowhere does it say it won't work on US/European DCs. You kinda sorta let the door open for that one.

[norkusa]

I am going to side with the buyer because

1. you have this in your auction.


Format: NTSC (US, Canada)



Yeah, I gotta side with the buyer because of this too. It may have been the default setting and you didn't mean to choose it but it is listed that way in the auction description and definitely misleading.

Also, the US GameCube version even has the same Japanese writing on the front of the box, so the buyer probably didn't think much of it when he saw it in the pic.

[unbroken]

I am going to side with the buyer because

1. you have this in your auction.


Format: NTSC (US, Canada)

2. picture is hard to make out. Us game nerds can tell a Japanese release from US release with a blurry picture but not the average public. They see NTSC (US, Canada) and thats what they think they are getting.

3. you spent more time talking about yourself than the item you were selling.

With a bit more detail about the item you were selling you could have prevented this.

I agree, you clearly stated "NTSC" in the auction, so of course the kid was expecting to be able to play this on his dc. Let him know about the boot loader, or give him a refund.

[Rev. Link]

I am going to side with the buyer because

1. you have this in your auction.


Format: NTSC (US, Canada)

2. picture is hard to make out. Us game nerds can tell a Japanese release from US release with a blurry picture but not the average public. They see NTSC (US, Canada) and thats what they think they are getting.

3. you spent more time talking about yourself than the item you were selling.

With a bit more detail about the item you were selling you could have prevented this.

Sorry, but I'm going to have to agree with this on all points. I'm sure you weren't purposefully trying to trick the buyer, but your listing was rather ambiguous.

However, the buyer should've spotted the "JP" in the listing title. So this hasn't been a perfect transaction on either of your parts. Like it's been said, offer him the boot loader and see if he'll call it even.

[Daria]

Except even if it does say JP in the title, you can't really expect everyone to know the abbrivation.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Except even if it does say JP in the title, you can't really expect everyone to know the abbrivation.

... not to mention, most everyone who sells Japanese items tend to use "JAP" instead of "JP". :\

[-hellvin-]

Personally I don't think he was in the wrong. The JP in the title as well as the fact its IKARUGA for DC should be a dead giveaway it wont work on a US console. The US/NTSC was a pretty bad mistake, but I've seen it listed as such in MANY import auctions. I don't see why anyone would be looking for this game and not know its a japanese import.

[MichaeltheGreat]

I don't think you were in any way wrong for the auction but I can see how he was confused. I buy anime dvds on ebay and until reading this post, I always thought "US seller" was saying the product was a US seller not that the seller is in the US. I'm probably just weird...

[kevin_psx]

there's a picture of a game that is clearly not American and has Japanese writing,
"Clearly"? Can't even see the cover. How is anybuyer supposed to know this is Japanese? Mis-leading. You'll likely lose the paypal case.



EDIT - False information: NTSC (US, Canada) It's NTSC but not u.s. or canada. No doubt. You will lose the paypal case.



I certainly didn't select NTSC-U/C; in fact, I've only now noticed it! I think this is the default. Having just listed an auction last night -NO- the default is "----" until you change it.

[kevin_psx]

That said, though, who is willing to spend 58 on Ikaruga but doesn't know it wasn't released in the US? (raises hand) Ikaruga wasn't released in US? I thought it was. I've seen it in stores.

What I now see is a seller who made several mistakes. Poor picture. Poor description. Falsely advertising as "us/canada". But not willing to admit that he made those mistakes. He wants to blame the buyer for seller errors. Not good customer service.

NOTE - I'm Being generous with the word "mistakes". Given he chose u.s./canada & took a picture from a very very strange angle & I am inclined to think seller did this on purpose (to hide this was a japanese game).

[Griking]

I certainly didn't select NTSC-U/C; in fact, I've only now noticed it! I think this is the default. Having just listed an auction last night -NO- the default is "----" until you change it.

Actually I think that what ever you used the first auction you posted becomes the default because I've listed plenty of auctions and don't remember ever choosing one option of the other yet some how my auctions all shows as being NTSC compatible.

[XianXi]

Even the title of this thread is misleading. Seller wants refund?


I would just refund it, tell him to send it back. Then just relist it.

[anagrama]

Burn the kid a copy of Utopia and send it along. Everyone's happy.

[bangtango]

You do a world of good if you address the compatibility in your own words. I sell games from time to time and always write my own descriptions, in which I explain what region a game is compatible with. Then I tell potential buyers I will not field questions about compatibility (how to play imports) because I don't want it to come back on me if some one-in-a-million goofus breaks their Dreamcast trying to get it to play imports. I occasionally read posts about someone trying to modify their machine or some other junk and then damaging their system. I mean let them search the friggin' net if they want to find out how to play games from another country. I also tell them no refund if they order a game that is not compatible with their region to find it doesn't work.

With that said, what percentage of DC buyers on Ebay do you expect would know the full list of US games? He probably thought it was just another (US) game, maybe bidding on it since he heard or thought it was rare. I'm sure this same thing has happened over Shenmue II.

[jajaja]

I also agree with the buyer in this case. Not all are collectors and know which games that was released in which countries. Not everyone knows what JP means either. I recommend you to use JAP or Japanese instead.

The default "Format: NTSC (US, Canada)" is also false info even if you didnt mean to have this info. Some sellers also write a notice that the game/movie doesnt work on a US system etc.

Ask the seller if you can send him one of those bootdiscs and hear what he says. If he doesnt want to i would just take the game back. No big problem imo, we have all done mistakes. You live and learn :) Hope it works out ok.

[Kitsune Sniper]

That said, though, who is willing to spend 58 on Ikaruga but doesn't know it wasn't released in the US? (raises hand) Ikaruga wasn't released in US? I thought it was. I've seen it in stores.

Ikaruga was released in North America for the Gamecube. The Dreamcast version was only released in Japan.

[Cyan]

The 'format' thing on eBay sucks, because there's only two options: NTSC (US, Canada) and PAL (Europe). There's no way to select "NTSC (Japan)" Whenever I list a Japanese item, I make sure to leave the 'format' option as "---" to avoid confusion (even if Japanese items *are* NTSC).

Take a look at this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8260665583) auction, where I clearly write in bold:

Please note that this is the Japanese system. Games released in North America will not play on this unit. This system only plays Japanese games.

While it may seem redundant, it goes a long way to avoiding confusion. Also, writing "Japanese" in full in the title helps, but nobody really reads the titles these days anymore. It helps to be verbose in the body of the auction text.

-RS.

[kainemaxwell]

Send him a copy of the bootdisc free of charge. It'll make both of you happy and maybe open the guy up to checking out other imports.

[ClubNinja]

I don't see why anyone would be looking for this game and not know its a japanese import.

You're a casual gamer in the US. Your buddy shows you this sweet game he has for his GameCube. You don't have a GameCube, but you search for the title on eBay and find a Dreamcast release of it. You DO have a Dreamcast. Awesome! You bid.

Entirely possible and I could see it happening very easily.

[Qixmaster]

Kevin,
You get some stupid buyers sometimes, and people who don't read or look at auctions closely are costly and time consuming. If i were you i would refund the guy, send the game to me and i will sell it for you and paypal you some funds while you are out the country. Or you can just have the guy send the gmae back to me and i will tell you when i get it so you can send the refund. I would be more then happy to help you out...
otherwise, just say the F with this and take a neg.

and the little "info field" bar is bullshit. I've seen stadium events listed as NTSC US and the photo is most definaetly PAL. i know not to bid becuase i can see the picture. other people need to know that too. especially when you are dropping 50+ on a game.

some people are just dumb.
-Josh

[kevin_psx]

Kevin,
You get some stupid buyers sometimes, and people who don't read or look at auctions closely


Even if you "read the auction closely" it says US/Canada in bold print. False advertising. May be a mistake. But still false.

The photo is also mis-leading (the edge view hides the japanese writing).



Were I the buyer I'd file a credit card Chargeback right now & get my money back.

[Tan]

if you had said "i imported this new", instead of "i bought this new" or something to that effect you might have been able to argue the point, but the description sounds like you went to any old store and picked it up.