What would you do in this kind of situation?

[Warmsignal]

Say one of your most wanted games on your wishlist popped up on eBay for well under the average price BIN. Pictures looked good, and the game looked complete. But then, you check the description to be sure and it says "case, manual, and disc." "blah, blah, blah." "no manual". So it says that it has the manual, and says that it doesn't also. But the pictures show a manual. You can even see the staples on the spine, so you know it's not a printed off piece of paper.

What would you do? Ask, and wait? Or BIN and hope what you see is really what you're getting?

[foxhack]

Ask.

Better to be sure you're getting a good copy than get screwed over.

[theflea]

Yes ask. Most likely its an error. Good luck

[Warmsignal]

Well, I basically figured it out before I ever got a response. Decided to check the sellers other recent listings and found that a few prior to the game I wanted was a game where there was no manual, and "no manual" was written in the description. Then that description was obviously copied and pasted onto all of the games listed after even though they were actually complete. Figuring this, I went ahead and bought it. Then he replied yes, in fact, it is complete.

The only problem that followed was that I was unable to use a coupon eBay had given me, to get an additional $10 off of the game. Told me there was no balance left. Looked this up and apparently lots of people are getting this error. Some hacker has probably stole a crap load of coupon codes, including mine.

[disgaeniac]

Ask.

Better to be sure you're getting a good copy than get screwed over.

[bikingjahuty]

I depends on how good a deal we're talking about. For example, if someone posted a copy of Project Justice on the Dreamcast for $50 instead of its usual $70+ I'd probably ask some questions first, however if it were under $30 I'd probably hit the BIN. Either way, as a buyer you are protected by Ebay's buyer protection so if you end up getting an item that is poorly or inaccurately described, Ebay will force the refund regardless of the seller's stated policies.

I have quite a bit of experience as a seller and buyer on Ebay, and Ebay is overwhelmingly more sympathetic towards the buyer, and will side with them 95% of the time, even in some situations where the seller is probably in the right. As a seller it can be very frustrating, but as a buyer it gives you security in taking chances with sellers that don't accurately/thoroughly describe their item(s). In a few cases I have received items that were inaccurate or deceptive in their description (pictured one thing, got another), and Ebay has sided with me in every instance, forcing a refund. It can be a process if this happens (having to open up a case and wait for Ebay to intervene), but if you're willing to wait a few days, Ebay will most likely side with you and give you your money back.

Just one more thing, NEVER EVER use the same account for selling and buying if you do this. I have had two situations where I opened up a case against a seller for inaccurately describing an item, the seller got pissed after being forced to issue a refund, and decided to take revenge by buyer some of my items (with no intention of  paying for them) just so they could leave me negative feedback. Doing this often resulted in that user getting banned, but because they pisses them off even more, they came back with dummy accounts and continues to harass me. Ebay does not ban IP addresses, so the best you can do is block their individual accounts, but not until they've already falsely bought some of your items and left fake negative feedback. However if you keep your accounts separate for buying and selling, you have nothing to worry about.

[instantreplay]

On a side note, if you had bought it and the manual did not come with the game, you could have filed a complaint with Paypal and they would have refunded your money.

[Warmsignal]

On a side note, if you had bought it and the manual did not come with the game, you could have filed a complaint with Paypal and they would have refunded your money.

Eh, I wouldn't do that to someone. I'd just ask to send it back, or ask for a refund before they mailed it. Sometimes you gotta take a chance and that's on you really. Under normal circumstances I would never buy without knowing for sure.