I am having my very first problem with a seller.  Recently I posted a lot of my old director and consultant things on ebay and had a good amount of success.  One of the items I sold was my director ring.  It had about 18 bids and sold for $66.  I had started the auction at $24.99 so I was pleased.  The buyer received the ring and left this feedback "Fast, Easy to work with. Great Product. Would purchase from again. AA++".  I followed up and left her positive feedback as well.  A few days later, she emails me to tell me she took the ring to her jeweler to be sized and appraised and was told that the ring was made of cheap metal and colored glass.  Because she thought she was getting a genuine ring, she wants a refund.  I went back to my auction listing to see if I had mistakingly indicated anywhere that this ring was real and I had not. 

Here's what my auction said: This gorgeous ring was specially made for Brand New Sales Directors.  It was an exclusive award created for those who became Sales Directors in 2006.  I only wore this ring once so it's in pristine condition!!!  This ring can be yours even if you're not a Sales Director yet!

I will ship this item within 2 business days of receiving payment.  Check out my other auctions as I am happy to combine shipping!!!  Please email me once you have won auction to let me know if you are bidding or watching other auctions I have.  Thanks for looking and Happy Bidding!!!

Although this is an authentic Mary Kay Ring, this auction is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mary Kay Inc.

I also ran a search on ebay for "Mary Kay Ring" and several results came up for auctions that have costume jewelry with one or two advertising to be genuine 10k gold or whatever.  The ones that are costume jewelry, don't specifically say "costume jewelry", but it's only obvious. 

Taking into consideration that she did not ask any question about the material content of the ring prior to bidding, and the costs I have incurred for the ebays fees (listing & final value) as well as the paypal fees, I didn't feel like a refund was justified.  So I wrote her and apologized that she thought she was getting a real ring, my reasons above for not granting a refund, and offered the solution that if she did not want the ring I would be happy to allow her to use my listing and picture (it was very hard to find one) to re list it herself so she could recoup her money.  Even more so, since there was a good amount of bidders, and there are not any other class rings up for auction she may even get more than what she paid.  She responded that since she's an "ethical" person and would never try to sell "junk".     What does she think she's selling when she sells MK??? 

So we kept responding back & forth  and finally she filed a dispute with paypal.  That's fine with me because I feel confident that she doesn't really have a leg to stand on and that I didn't do anything wrong or unethical.  I responded to the paypal dispute and now we're back to  just with paypal.

I began getting some emails from other people now so I realized she's "sicking" her friends on me.  Only last night I realize they are people from pink truth because she is blasting me as a  over there!!!!  In fact some of the people who are emailing me nasty messages  are actually from crossovers from here!!!  So now I thought it's time for everyone to see my side of the story so I can properly defend my good name!!!   Anyhow, I would appreciate everyone here taking a judicial stance on this one and I am grateful to all the support you ladies have given 

You're buyer must have been one of those under the influence of pink.  She believes that ALL MK bling is real.  She thought she got a sweet deal and when she had it appraised for insurance purposes (I will bet real $$ on it) she was embarrassed and needed to turn the attention off of herself.  I think PayPal will see your posting and disclaimer and tell her she is the proud owner of true MK bling.

Former MK,
You are right and justified in your actions!  There was NOTHING misleading in your Ebay listing.  No worries, you'll come out on top!  I've had similar situations on Ebay auctions that Paypal had to investigate......they are fair and make decisions based on policy (which you followed).  This gal needs to just retreat..........

Yep, Done, I just read what Tracy wrote in response to that thread...

Former, hang in there and don't get discouraged... 

I have yet to see any MK jewelry that isn't crap -- in fact, at the beginning of the thread, I  at the fact that corporate said it was COSTUME!! 

Still 

Thank you all for your support, I truly appreciate it.  Love It's nice to know that I wasn't off base in my thinking.  As for reporting the messages to ebay, I have chosen not to do that since I believe those women truly didn't know the entire story and were reacting only to what the buyer was saying.  I also wanted to mention that sicknpink has apologized, so kudos to her for being noble enough to do that!     Additionally, Pink Truth herself has responded to the thread on her site and personally PM'D me.  The buyer had previously posted my first and last name and my ebay name, and Pink Truth was kind enough to take that posting off to protect my identity.  Thanks PT for that, I also appreciate your support.    

Barbie Doll (the buyer) had said on the PT thread she would respond here to the issue, but instead decided to email me via ebay.  Here's what she wrote (and yes the poor grammer is hers not mine): "First off after ready all your post, I did NOT think the stones in the ring were real. I'm not as stupid as you think. However, with this said I still think you used the image of Mary Kay and quality products to your advantage. You purposely did not disclose and all but implied that the jeweler looked at the ring and it could be sized. But paying over $70 for metal and glass, I believe what goes around comes around. You gave a good BS story on your link. I am not a "She thought she got a sweet deal and when she had it appraised for insurance purposes (I will bet real $$ on it) she was embarrassed and needed to turn the attention off of herself" That is a real laugh. I just wanted it to fit my finger. We are both getting out of this company, I just have always loved that ring. It just was not the same quality that I had seen before on my friends hand. Not even close. Go ahead and laugh at my expense on your site.None of it about me is true.If I could take back part of my feedback."

Not quite sure what that all means, but it seems to me Chaos hit the nail on the head when she said this girl may still be in a fog.  She seems to think MK jewelry is high quality despite what others who have earned directors rings have said about them.  Not sure why she would get such a thing appraised, but that's neither here nor there.  I just want this ordeal to be over with.  I never posted here to turn this into a  between us, but only to respond to the allegations.  With my name being tainted I felt it important for the entire story to be out there and then people can decide for themselves what their opinion is.  It's unfortunate that she never asked any questions prior to bidding, because this whole ordeal could've been avoided and someone else could have won the ring and been happy with it.  I am a true believer in karma, and I do my best to be as fair as I possibly can.  Hopefully this will be a lesson learned for everyone who reads this who is buying or selling on ebay.  I know next time I sell, to encourage questions, and specifically say all sales final so there won't be any grey areas.  I looked at some of sicknpinks auctions and she does a good job at it.

So for now, we'll have to let paypal decide what's fair and as I have said before, I'm confident she doesn't have a leg to stand on.

formermkdirector - something else I might suggest is to overkill the descriptions for the future. I sold a lot of director and other MK related stuff on ebay, and I sell things outside of MK, too. Though it technically was her responsibility to ask you and not assume the ring was real (based on looking at other people's rings ???? okey dokey), it's amazing how much people will assume on ebay. The more info you can put in your description, the better protection for you. Years, what it's made out of, how many were made, who made it, size, any slight scratches, does it make pretty prism shapes on the wall when you stand in the sunlight? It can be irritating to type that out, but you'll get more and higher bids, less questions, and less to no disputes.

Also, if you want to save on listing fees, you can list your items at much less. You could have listed that ring at 99cents and it still would have gotten up to $66, maybe more. Sometimes, people even assume things based on your listing price (i.e. she might have assumed it was a better quality ring given the higher $24.99 listing price). If you're worried it won't fetch a good price, you can always put a reserve on it, but with the MK goods, I wouldn't even worry about it. They'd buy the dog poo off a shoe you wore to Seminar.

For the sake of everyone here, on PT and ebay, let's put an end to debate/discussion.  I am sure all that were pulled into the situation would like it to end before there is no turning back.  If anyone feels that there is more to say please take it to PM.  Let's get on with helping each other in a positive manner.  That is way we are here after all.