Pony Flipper: sam2600420- undisclosed flaws & inaccurate description

[jrr74]

That is awful.  He/she used the curly hair to hide the flaws of the left ear and eye.  She painted over the symbol to hide the scratch, you can see the lightning bolt is smaller on the DS (hope I got that right (vs NDS )).  And then the whole hair thing?!  Unbelievable!  Where is the integrity? 

[lovesbabysquirmy]

My mistake!  Oops I will edit...

[ChipsteRJ]

Thanks guys for the advice.

Now that I've cooled off a bit I just emailed a confrontational message to the seller requesting that she mark the pony with "RH" I am awaiting a response.

[Stormness_1]

So weird that some of us can't see him. I can see one other pony of hers listed (Baby Tic-Tac-Toe), but that's it.

edit: Now I can see other ponies, but still not him. I was sent a link to the listing, and it's the only way I can see it, clicking on "see seller's other listings" makes him disappear again.

That re-hair is a tough one to spot, and the photos hide the marks extremely well. I'd be so mad if I bought him!

[LadyMoondancer]

Now that jrr74 mentioned it, yeah, they definitely touched up the righthand symbol.  There was a rub on the "elbow" of the lightning bolt that they painted in.  Which would be fine if they had MENTIONED it!  Not okay to pretend like it's original.

BTW I am also wondering if they rehaired the Sherbet they're selling.  It's the same hair color as Thundercloud and the length / way her hair sits doesn't look quite right to me.

[ChipsteRJ]

Certainly makes me think 2X when buying any pony from this seller. I hope none of the previous ones she sold were re-hairs.

I have an issue seeing listings on foreign websites too. Make sure that the ebay you are searching is ebay.com and none of their other international sites.

[ashlyne]

I messaged the seller on Monday and just got a reply.  The seller admits it is a re-hair.   They don't say anything else.

I thanked them for telling me, and also told them that rehairing a pony, recoloring, repainting symbols or any other sort of covering up of flaws and then not mentioning it in a sale is very frowned upon by collectors.  I told them I wanted to let them know it could damage their reputation as an honest seller and cause problems with your buyer, in case they weren't aware. 

It'll be interesting to see if they adjust their auction.   I noticed the symbol repaint too, but didn't flat-out tell them I noticed it.   LadyMoondancer, I agree that Sherbet looks like a rehair.  It's very well done and that's why these auctions (and seller) are so dangerous.   You would think it would be common sense to mention these things, which makes me think it's intentional.   So sad

Post Merge: April 13, 2016, 06:19:56 AM

So weird that some of us can't see him. I can see one other pony of hers listed (Baby Tic-Tac-Toe), but that's it.

edit: Now I can see other ponies, but still not him. I was sent a link to the listing, and it's the only way I can see it, clicking on "see seller's other listings" makes him disappear again.

The auction is set to ship to the US only, so that may be why it isn't showing. If you log out and search on the US ebay site www.ebay.com, he may show up. Or, he might show up if you click on the "worldwide" under Item Location.   Also, the seller spell the name Thunder Cloud, two words.  That may help 

[Wardah]

I messaged the seller on Monday and just got a reply.  The seller admits it is a re-hair.   They don't say anything else.

I thanked them for telling me, and also told them that rehairing a pony, recoloring, repainting symbols or any other sort of covering up of flaws and then not mentioning it in a sale is very frowned upon by collectors.  I told them I wanted to let them know it could damage their reputation as an honest seller and cause problems with your buyer, in case they weren't aware. 

It'll be interesting to see if they adjust their auction.   I noticed the symbol repaint too, but didn't flat-out tell them I noticed it.   LadyMoondancer, I agree that Sherbet looks like a rehair.  It's very well done and that's why these auctions (and seller) are so dangerous.   You would think it would be common sense to mention these things, which makes me think it's intentional.   So sad

I don't see why they aren't mentioning it? Aren't ponies with fixed flaws worth more than flawed ponies? Making them look better brings their value up so why not mention it?

[ashlyne]

I messaged the seller on Monday and just got a reply.  The seller admits it is a re-hair.   They don't say anything else.

I thanked them for telling me, and also told them that rehairing a pony, recoloring, repainting symbols or any other sort of covering up of flaws and then not mentioning it in a sale is very frowned upon by collectors.  I told them I wanted to let them know it could damage their reputation as an honest seller and cause problems with your buyer, in case they weren't aware. 

It'll be interesting to see if they adjust their auction.   I noticed the symbol repaint too, but didn't flat-out tell them I noticed it.   LadyMoondancer, I agree that Sherbet looks like a rehair.  It's very well done and that's why these auctions (and seller) are so dangerous.   You would think it would be common sense to mention these things, which makes me think it's intentional.   So sad

I don't see why they aren't mentioning it? Aren't ponies with fixed flaws worth more than flawed ponies? Making them look better brings their value up so why not mention it?

Well, you're comparing a pony with known obvious flaws to a one that's had those flaws repaired.  Then, yes, the repaired one might be a little more valuable than the one showing all those flaws (although it depends on who's buying -- some collectors prefer all original parts on a pony, even if they are damaged parts,  over new parts that aren't original or vintage.)   

But what we have here is what appears to be a pony without flaws, with what looks like original hair and symbol paint. And since the seller isn't mentioning otherwise, buyer might be fooled into thinking it's a pony with nice and complete original parts.  A pony with all original hair that looks *that* good is definitely going to sell for A LOT more than one that's had parts replaced and painted over, no matter how well those repairs are done.   

[Wardah]

I messaged the seller on Monday and just got a reply.  The seller admits it is a re-hair.   They don't say anything else.

I thanked them for telling me, and also told them that rehairing a pony, recoloring, repainting symbols or any other sort of covering up of flaws and then not mentioning it in a sale is very frowned upon by collectors.  I told them I wanted to let them know it could damage their reputation as an honest seller and cause problems with your buyer, in case they weren't aware. 

It'll be interesting to see if they adjust their auction.   I noticed the symbol repaint too, but didn't flat-out tell them I noticed it.   LadyMoondancer, I agree that Sherbet looks like a rehair.  It's very well done and that's why these auctions (and seller) are so dangerous.   You would think it would be common sense to mention these things, which makes me think it's intentional.   So sad

I don't see why they aren't mentioning it? Aren't ponies with fixed flaws worth more than flawed ponies? Making them look better brings their value up so why not mention it?

Well, you're comparing a pony with known obvious flaws to a one that's had those flaws repaired.  Then, yes, the repaired one might be a little more valuable than the one showing all those flaws (although it depends on who's buying -- some collectors prefer all original parts on a pony, even if they are damaged parts,  over new parts that aren't original or vintage.)   

But what we have here is what appears to be a pony without flaws, with what looks like original hair and symbol paint. And since the seller isn't mentioning otherwise, buyer might be fooled into thinking it's a pony with nice and complete original parts.  A pony with all original hair that looks *that* good is definitely going to sell for A LOT more than one that's had parts replaced and painted over, no matter how well those repairs are done.   

So basically the seller is being greedy by trying to get more than a repaired pony is worth? Like for example a janked pony go for $10 and the same pony in mint condition would go for $20 but a restored janky pony would only go for $15? And then there are some people who would rather spend more and get the minty original instead of the just as good looking restored pony and still others who would rather spend less and get the still janky original one?

[ashlyne]

Ya something like that. *If* that's truly the seller's intentions.   

We know ChipsteRJ sold the original to this person with cut hair, spots, marks and scratched symbols for $41.   I really don't think the restore added all that much value because the mold spots and marks are still there and I don't think there's much of an improvement on the symbol quality.  I probably would value the restored pony at only around $50-60    Even if the hair WAS original, I don't think this Thundercloud is worth much over $80 IMO because of the body flaws that can't be fixed or hidden.   

[LadyMoondancer]

Basically, a pony who has awesome "factory" hair and an unrubbed "factory" symbol is worth more than a pony with a reroot and a touched up symbol.

Now, the restored pony will probably be worth more than a pony with a buzzcut. 

But the problem here is that the bidders don't know they're bidding on a restored pony--which some people don't even collect at all, and which is never going to be as valuable as a pony who is FACTORY mint.

None of this would be a problem if the seller was frank and said "I rehaired the pony and touched up the symbol", but they way they dance around the issue in the auction implies that the hair is the original factory hair.  They are trying to wring more money out of buyers who think they're buying a pony with factory hair and symbols.

Hope that explanation makes sense.

[Galactica]

I don't like that they are passing off a rehair-

more troublesome is the fact that they have not shown the cancer-  I have been tricked like that before and thought it was an honest mistake but now I'm not so sure

[Stormness_1]

Post Merge: April 13, 2016, 06:19:56 AM

So weird that some of us can't see him. I can see one other pony of hers listed (Baby Tic-Tac-Toe), but that's it.

edit: Now I can see other ponies, but still not him. I was sent a link to the listing, and it's the only way I can see it, clicking on "see seller's other listings" makes him disappear again.

The auction is set to ship to the US only, so that may be why it isn't showing. If you log out and search on the US ebay site www.ebay.com, he may show up. Or, he might show up if you click on the "worldwide" under Item Location.   Also, the seller spell the name Thunder Cloud, two words.  That may help 

Yep, tried all of that, too. I can see some of the ponies, but not others. I even went via the link I was sent, and then looked at other listings from the listing, and poof, he was gone. It's really weird. Worldwide, correct seller, ebay dot com, which due to being a new PC, hasn't even got my location yet for shipping, so that's not it. Maybe it's my ebay settings from .au jumping across, but it hasn't found my postcode for shipping quotes or anything, and it didn't log me in, either..

[ChipsteRJ]

Looks like the listing was removed, edited & reduced.

Here is the response:

Thank you for giving me advice. I will update my listing accordingly. I do not sell often.

This was my original message:

Greetings,

I have a MAJOR issue with your listing.
You bought this pony from me. I know his real condition. In your description you fail to mention that you not only re-curled his hair, but that you also completely re-haired him.

Here in the collector community many of us don't mind however to some this is a MAJOR issue.

Generally when you re-hair a pony it is customary to mark the pony on the hoof with an "RH" to indicate that the pony is no longer in original condition.

My wish is that you will seriously consider my advice and disclose all flaws & restored points including the cancer on his front & marking "RH" on his hoof before an unsuspecting collector buys him and finds out the hard way that he is no longer an "original", but a restore.

Here is the edited description:
Title: My Little Pony Mountain Boy Thunder Cloud Flawed Purple Pink Re-Hair RARE
Price: $85

RARE UK My Little Pony Mountain Boy Thunder Cloud Flawed Condition

Condition:
Eyes and Symbols: Eyes are in great condition. Freckles are good. The body symbols are faded.
Hair: No missing plugs. Soft and silky. There appears to be no cuts. His tail looks short due to re-curling. Not factory curl. He has been re-curled.
Body: There are various pen and marker drawings around his body - foot, side, both ears, and face. There is also a cancer marking on his front foot.

He is not perfect, but does come from a pet free and smoke free home.