In The Running For The Most Ridiculous Package Ever Received From Ebay Seller?

In 1952 when Richard Nixon was running for VP with Eisenhower, the Adlai Stephenson campaign discovered that Nixon had signed a restrictive discriminatory covenant when he bought his home that prevented the resale to, or use (except as servants) by African-Americans and people of Jewish dissent. (I know…crazy…and note also that this violates constitutional rights per The Supreme Court since 1948 and therefore was unenforceable, but the Nixons signed this anyway).

Copies of the deed were reproduced and distributed by the Stevenson campaign to make the public aware of what a bad guy Nixon was and to make Nixon’s stance on Civil Rights a campaign issue.

When I saw an eBay seller offering one of these original anti-Nixon deed campaign flyers, I thought it was a very interesting campaign item with a story and much to offer in terms of learning about American history. The campaign flyer, by the way, is not just a copy of the deed. It has text added explaining that it is a copy distributed by the Stevenson campaign.  This is easily seen in the photos in the eBay listing. The offered flyer was obviously folded at one time, no doubt related to exactly how they were distributed (the fold lines are consistent with once being in an envelope, which makes sense as they were mailed). It looked good (authentic, that is) and was $75. I decided to buy it.
 
Below is the eBay listing. Pictured in the listing are numerous photos of an original 1952 Anti-Nixon Stevenson campaign flyer (which, again, is essentially a copy of Nixon’s actual signed document, with a credit line added to explain what it is and to make clear it is an anti-Nixon item being distributed by the Stevenson campaign):

A week later, after paying but before receiving, I saw the seller offer a second example. This surprised me a little but it’s not all that unusual for more than one example of a paper item to survive together. However, a red flag was raised by the fact that the seller used the EXACT same pictures in the listing of the second example as used in the listing of the first example that I purchased (and had yet to receive).

I hoped there was not going to be a problem, and that perhaps he was just too lazy to take new pictures of his second example. Or he felt they were in the same condition so why bother. Still, it was worrisome, especially because the first example I bought clearly had an imperfection shown in the photos: an area of surface abrasion that looked like a place where maybe tape had been removed. Unlikely that two would have the same unusual imperfection. Maybe he didn’t notice. I was trying to be optimistic. I would know soon enough. Literally as I was looking at the pictures of the second example on eBay, I received a notice from eBay that the package had arrived and was waiting for me at the post office. 

So off to the post office I went... I picked up the package. I brought it home. I carefully opened it…

And what I received for my $75 was... literally a just-made color copy! Crazy but true.

He was trying to sell me a color xerox for $75 (plus postage)! Was he attempting to sow confusion regarding the word “copy,” or did he really think I wanted to buy a color xerox for $75?  

For reference, here is a picture of the color Xerox received (just for clarification, all the flaws pictured are IN the color Xerox, as this is a copy of a 1952 original with folds and various flaws, and the surrounding white border is the edge of the color Xerox paper):

I immediately requested a refund via the eBay system, provided the requested explanation as to why, and was easily able to show with pictures that the color Xerox I received was NOT what was pictured in the listing, and that only a worthless just-made color Xerox of an original was received. (Note: The eBay listing pictured an original. The color copy of this original received differs in many ways from the original. The seller actually has, or at the very least had access to, an original, as an original was pictured in his eBay listing).
 
 In response to my request through the eBay system to return for a refund, I immediately heard back from the eBay seller:

Of course I could have let it go. I was returning the worthless copy for a full refund (and there was never any worry or doubt about this; eBay is very good at protecting buyers). But something was bothering me about the response. It's one thing for a seller to somehow accidentally handle a non-authentic item, but in this case the seller is picturing an authentic piece and sending out a color xerox, and making clear in his response that it was his INTENTION to sell me a color xerox for $75. It wasn't a mistake. The only "mistake" that the seller claims to have made was to picture an AUTHENTIC item... implying that from the use of the word "copy" that I shoulda known that the "copy" he was going to send wasn't the 1952 campaign-issued "copy" pictured, but instead a completely different color Xerox "copy" of the original. Even though I was returning for a refund no problem, and had an interesting story to boot, I kinda felt like I was being gas-lighted somewhere here. So I just HAD to quickly respond. And also ask about the shipping label he has to authorize to send me to return:

I soon got a notice that my refund was being processed before I even returned the item. Usually a refund is not issued until it is returned using the label sent via the eBay system (which is authorized by and paid for by the seller). Upon receiving the notice of refund processing, I wrote to the seller to thank him, and to inquire again about sending his item back. This last communication - mine to him and the seller's response back, which I have pictured below…to me, this is what makes this a truly great eBay story! And to be extremely clear: there’s no hard feelings by me to the seller. He refunded my money right away, no problem. All is good. But who buys a vintage item and gets sent a color xerox and is OK with this? How to explain what transpired? What was he thinking? I don’t know. Maybe he just thought he could sell copies, and the fact that the item itself (the real item) is sort of a copy helped to create confusion.  Or maybe not. It doesn’t matter. It’s just an incredibly ridiculous eBay story. The final communication is below:

There it is: no return desired. "Just throw it away if you don't want it."

You can't make this stuff up!

I hope you have enjoyed my ridiculous eBay story. I enjoyed writing it!

Robert Lifson