Right, I "always" read the full description. Except this one time. Essentially it was an impulse buy fueled by the fact that I searched "Brand New", the seller had 100% feedback, he was in the US, and I made an off-the-cuff best offer which he accepted almost immediately.
Why would I think anything other than "Brand New" when the seller has 100% feedback? There are "Like New" and "Very Good" listing settings for a reason.
Of course this gets worse thanks to eBay. 45 minutes on the phone over my lunch break. About 10 minutes to get the case decided in my favor and be granted the full refund. Then 20 minutes on hold for the Appeals Department to get an answer why my negative feedback for the seller was removed overnight.
My negative feedback for him was "Brand New = opened and used. Seller tries to scam the eBay return process. BEWARE!"
eBay is telling me that my feedback violates their terms of use. The representative says that feedback with the word "eBay" and "return policy" is automatically removed by their system. Huh???
I asked for clarification where people are notified about these restrictions, he says in the "Policy" link at the bottom of their page these restricted word details are provided. I just spent 15 minutes scanning those links and find no info on what words can't be included in feedback, besides profanity.
gbpxl you'll notice searching just his "Brand New" videogames that almost all are opened and used items that he now puts disclaimers like "Game was sold by gamestop and opened by them. Case has no stickers but has light shelf wear. Game will have no save file, is new and unplayed.
I also see he is selling a bunch of Switch hardware loose in "original Nintendo bags", I'd bet these are refurbished items.
edit: I just examined the refund I received and notice that it is issued by eBay, not paypal and not "Solia Online". I've read of this before, and it seems that eBay made the refund just to settle the case, since the seller is claiming that I damaged the item. So the seller gets to keep part of my money after all? Justin / araunah1337 / Solia sure knows how to scam the system.
edit edit: I just noticed something else fraudulent. The seller charged me $3.31 sales tax on my $30 purchase, a little more than 11%. The tax rate for Longmont CO where his shipping address is located is 8.515%, tax rate where I live is 6%. Shipping is not taxable, so don't get that confused. In either case it does not add up.