Ebay Buyer bought card, Claims there is a problem

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Christopher Aubert

Christopher Aubert

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Oct 7, 2013
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The buyer bought a EVGA GTX 960 4gb SSC used in perfect working condition on 9/11/16, and he said this:

"I am writing in hopes of preserving my rights under buyer protection. I assembled a computer yesterday with a new power supply and it booted through the graphics card into bios perfectly but 5 minutes later there was pop and arc inside the case and the power supply smells burnt. I disassembled the graphics card enough to inspect the board and found that it was covered with something like an oily dust. I carefully wiped the graphics board clean and inspected it under magnification not noticing any obvious damage or signs that an arc had occurred in the graphics card. But i will not be able to test it again until I have a new power supply available."

First off, what is a "pop and arc"? I did some googling and I cannot find an answer that makes sense. Also, I highly doubt that the graphics card is the source of the problems, sounds like a power supply problem. Also, I don't believe that the buyer protection actually covers things like this, and it's been over two weeks since he bought the card. I don't want to respond before I consult some people that know more about this stuff than I do.

Let me know what you think!
Chris
 
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M
I would respond with a reasonable and professional manner explaining that if the card worked when received which it did then you are not at fault as problems like this are not something that develops over time or something you could have been aware of. Although the situation is unfortunate you are not at fault and this kind of thing is part of the risk of buying second hand with no warranty. I had a similar experience a few years ago with a low quality psu killing a graphics card.
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Are you the one who sold the GPU? Pop would refer to the sound something makes like maybe a capacitor failing. Arc is an electrical term, referring to current bridging from one component to another, like "sparking". Hard to tell what happened in this situation from what you have described, but if the PSU failed and "popped and arced", it is unlikely the GPU caused this.
 
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The graphics card was sold as working and was working when the customer received it, an oily substance is strange though, any idea what that could have been? i vape near my pc and find it leaves residue on the filters if i dont clean then often enough could it be this?

Edit: the oily substance intrigues me, i dont believe that a gpu would just up and die like that, as mentioned by others i would suspect the PSU or another external (to the gpu) factor
 
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I agree that the issue is probably a cheap power supply failing. I should also note that I cleaned the card with some compressed air to get any dust out before I shipped it, and from what the buyer said, the oily dust was on the PCB, so I have no clue, and it's probably highly unlikely that that's what caused some power failure. Should I respond at all? It's pretty clear that the problem is not the card, not sure what I should do.
 
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What is the buyer requesting? If he wants to return the GPU to you for a refund, I would suggest asking him to buy a quality PSU and to see if the system now works properly with the GPU installed. If it doesn't, refund and get the GPU back and test it in your system.
 
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I would respond with a reasonable and professional manner explaining that if the card worked when received which it did then you are not at fault as problems like this are not something that develops over time or something you could have been aware of. Although the situation is unfortunate you are not at fault and this kind of thing is part of the risk of buying second hand with no warranty. I had a similar experience a few years ago with a low quality psu killing a graphics card.
 
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Well he's not exactly requesting anything from the looks of it. The message he sent was put as a question about the item or sending the seller a message, I believe because he isn't actually covered by anything despite what he is saying. The item was in working condition when shipped, so I don't believe I'm at fault here. I'm going to follow what muddyparrot said and respond explaining pretty much what he said.
 
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If he asks for his money back or a refund I would refuse.
You have no obligation to the buyer, the card was in working order and they are having a PSU issue, which is almost never related to the graphics card.
I have heard of people that do these things then either demand you pay for a new power supply or ship you back a box of rocks instead.
 
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Unfortunately eBay/paypal nearly always favor the buyer. All he has to do is open a buyer protection case and they'll just take the money out of your account and refund it to him. Even if you sold it "as is" it doesn't matter, he can still get a refund for up to 30 days. IMO its a really terrible system.

It sounds to me like he has a cheap powersupply and overloaded it or something. Id suggest he buy a new one and try it then.
 
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Does the buyer protection cover that though? He just said that the item was working, and there is no proof that the card caused the power issue, and it's highly likely that it didn't. I looked into the protection specifics and there wasn't anything that said that if a product is defective or doesn't work (which again, there was no proof of) that they are entitled to their money back. It's not like he was sent the wrong item or anything. Yes he can try to get a refund, but there's no proof that the item is defective anyway, if the buyer protection even covers that.
 
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In my experience they have a no questions asked refund policy. I once sold an iPhone in perfect working order only to have it forcibly returned 3 weeks later with water damage.

Also, kind of off topic, but if you have a bank account linked to your paypal I would remove it immediately and replace it with a credit card. At least then if he returns a damaged graphics card you could dispute the charge and let the credit card company handle it, they're much better at that than banks.
 
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Update, I sent this message: http://puu.sh/rqevt/ed95e3e710.png
Then he responded with this message: http://puu.sh/rqexS/a32376505c.png
I'll follow up with another response once he says something more, I assume after he tests out the returned power supply.
 
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>.> I would ask him for make and model, so it becomes obvious if it is a shit unit, get it on record


he got a working gpu, not your fault the guy is using sub-par components
 
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Small update again, I sent a message asking for the power supply details: http://puu.sh/rsvdm/9b62476fd2.png
He responded with this: http://puu.sh/rsveg/d93b64cfd9.png
Of course, it's an off-brand power supply, and of course, the reviews say it's terrible. *sigh* I swear if I get screwed in this because of this terrible power-supply. Once I have more time I'm going to look into the message more.
 
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Well, he sent this message today: http://puu.sh/ruCHy/782952eafe.png
This pretty much confirms that the card is working perfectly and there are no issues with it. I believe this means the case is closed. Just want to thank you guys for sticking out. I don't think I'm going to be selling on Ebay any time soon.

(Btw I'll choose a solution on this thread after a couple days so there is 100% confirmation that there are no issues.)
 
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Just to be sure I want you to have him test that graphics card in another computer, also verify what psu he has and his computer parts.
Just by hearing about the problem it sounds like his psu is underpowered to handle it with his components.
If he starts going off the deep end and threatning to get paypal involved, have him chill out and bring him by here.
 
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I recently lost my 7970 .. i dunno if i should get a ebay one for 100-150 and then return claiming it's not working, i swap it with mine and i get the other one..

I know this is not well done... but i think the 70% of the 7970 are fried nowadays or baked in the oven to repair them for 3-4 months more.. so it's a bit risky to take one from ebay.

What do you guys think ? Thank you in advance
 
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Even though your not the op here but, if you like problems by running mind games as you stated.
Then its on you alone when it backfires with a dispute of false advertisement and a charge back. :/

For the video card though if you need a newer one, save up for rx 470:
https://www.amazon.com/XFX-backplate-Displayport-Graphics-RX-470P4SFD5/dp/B01JM2DF2G/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1475753633&sr=8-6&keywords=rx+470+4gb

or

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Whisper-Graphics-02G-P4-2966-KR/dp/B00SL2TQ2C/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1475753256&sr=1-1&keywords=gtx%2B960&th=1
 
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What you are thinking of doing is essentially theft, you will leave someone out of pocket at least £100. Why do you think this is acceptable? Would you want someone to scam you like this leaving you with a broken gpu and over £100 lighter? If you do this you are scum, sorry to put it bluntly but you are.
 
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Like I mentioned when the customer does a charge back or paypal will do it for them if they are found to be right.
Sure you can swap it out and hope the seller won't notice, most sellers will lay a mark on their items.
If it isn't theirs they will be able to back up that statement with pictures before packing and shipping and receiving back.
Also keep in mind ebay/paypal can pull your message logs if the problem becomes too serious.
https://www.thebalance.com/refunds-and-exhcanges-for-ebay-purchases-1140366

http://community.ebay.com/t5/eBay-Chat/buyer-lying/m-p/2897003

Give this a real good read before you try anything dumb.
I sell on ebay from time to time, I understand the process more better than you do.
 
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