[meteorite-list] Dealer Refunds

From: Steve Schoner <steve_schoner_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:22:43 2004
Message-ID: <20030628033344.70471.qmail_at_web12705.mail.yahoo.com>

Steve and all,

My policy is simple. Ten days after delivery the sale
is final.

No returns.

However, I have in the past offered larger specimens
of the same meteorite with the offer of an exchange of
the original specimen for the exact price paid, but
only if the piece is in original condition.

If the initial price paid was say $10 per/gram and the
larger specimen is $5 per/gram. Then if I make such
an offer then I will credit the original price against
the price for the larger one.

But the price of the larger has to be significantly
greater than the cost of the smaller piece. And I
make that offer only for pieces such as Glorieta,
Correo, Holbrook, or others that I personally find,
nothing else.

Otherwise, after 10 days the sale is considered final,
no refunds, and credit trade for the same location if
offered.

Steve Schoner/ams
http://www.geocities.com/american_meteorite_survey


--- MeteorHntr_at_aol.com wrote:
> Hello List,
>
> I have an ethical question I would like to get some
> feedback on.
>
> I just got a request from a customer that I give him
> a refund for a specimen
> he purchased a month or so ago from me that he wants
> to return now. His
> request was not based on the fact that the specimen
> was damaged or otherwise in a
> different condition than described when it was sold
> to him.
>
> The request he felt was justified because he thinks
> the specimen is now not
> worth as much as he paid for it bach then. He seems
> to think he can get the
> same thing for a lower price elsewhere. So I assume
> he wants the refund to go
> buy the other cheaper specimen to replace the one he
> wants to give back to me.
>
> While I do guarantee authenticity and that the
> specimens are as described on
> all my specimens I sell, I do not have a Walmart
> style lowest price guarantee,
> that the person cannot find a similar specimen
> somewhere else in the present
> or in the future for a lower price. If someone
> bought something and didn't
> like it for whatever reason and wanted to return it
> promptly for a refund, that
> would be one thing but this is another.
>
> I find this refund request unreasonable and
> bordering on unethical. A
> similar but opposite request would be if I would
> contact buyers a month after I sold
> them a specimen and demanded that they let me buy
> back a specimen I sold them
> a month earlier because new information tells me
> that I sold it to them too
> cheap and that if I had it back at the price I sold
> it, I could turn around and
> sell it to someone for an even higher price. That
> request would be absurd.
>
> As I recall, there is just one dealer that offers a
> written lifetime
> guarantee to buy back any specimens at the customers
> purchase prices. However, one
> would expect that having a stated guarantee such as
> that would help such a
> dealer to generate more than enough extra sales to
> cover the losses when a
> meteorite genuinely drops in value and a few people
> decide to take that dealer up on
> his offer. But without offering that incentive to
> make all the extra sales
> along the way, a dealer could go bankrupt giving
> refunds on demand for price
> fluctuation reasons.
>
> I guess my question is, how would some of the other
> dealers respond to such a
> request? Has anyone had such a request nade if
> them? And for collectors out
> there, do you feel making such a request (and
> expecting it to be fulfilled)
> is reasonable? Would a direct purchase be different
> from an ebay purchase?
>
> Steve Arnold
>
>


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Received on Fri 27 Jun 2003 11:33:44 PM PDT