Book Not Available

Mark Rosenberg

This discussion was created from comments split from: Rash of Non Paying Purchases, Some Questions.

Steve McAlpine

As a buyer I have had it happen twice through Hip with the same seller, where I won an auction - paid - and then was notified that the book had sold elsewhere and my money refunded. What can I do as a buyer? I understand that I got my money back, but in one of the two cases I quit bidding on the same book from another seller and lost out on both because of it. I am almost positive I won the books at below market value and that is why I didn't receive them. One of the reasons that I have developed a strong dislike for ebay is because of the feedback system. Are sellers penalized at all for not delivering as promised? I told the seller that I didn't understand how an item that was on an auction - could be sold elsewhere. I would understand a book that is listed at a set price - but an auction? Any feedback would be appreciated

Mark Rosenberg

As a buyer, if you have an issue with an order, we recommend that you try to resolve the issue with the Seller, and if you are not satisfied with the resolution, please leave appropriate feedback. We review all feedback, as well as issues with canceled orders, etc. and will take appropriate action with a Seller when needed, including suspending their account if appropriate.

Regardless of the above, just to note, if you are referring to one of our weekly curated auction events, we work closely with our sellers to provide these events each week. In many cases, our team will hand curate popular books from a Seller's inventory, which we send to the participating seller to review and approve (as well as ensure that all books are available).

Aidan H

My guess is that the item was bought out of their ebay store and they failed to cancel the auction here. Same could be true of an item bought here that around the same time is bought out of an ebay store (not surprising in the case of a book that got hot overnight). Sellers want to spread out their exposure. I just learned about this site yesterday, despite being a pretty active internet comic collecting person. It looks great. Maybe some more targeted advertising via facebook? I get comic ads, but don't remember HIP.

Steve McAlpine

It just happened again to me. Kermitspad is the seller. Bid on multiple books based on your weekly circulation email that I received. Won bidding on one book. Paid within 36 hrs, only to receive a day later a refund on my purchase. As much as I hate to - I left negative feedback. I understand if a seller puts a book on multiple formats. It has happened to me 3 out of the last 4 auctions that I won from this seller, where I didn't receive the item that I won. Once a book is put on auction - especially a 1 cent starting price - I would assume that it is pretty much guaranteed it will sell - and would require being at least suspended - if not removed - from other selling platforms? The books that I won I paid anywhere from $15-30.00 for - so I'm not getting an item for nothing. You would have to figure that the Flash 133 I just won for $14.00 on the auction - would have been available to me if I would have paid $40.00. I spend about $100.00 a week on ebay and was hopeful for this site. I have reached a crossroads where I don't know if I either just need to avoid this seller - or avoid your site. I'm easy to work with and cant imagine that I'm the only one having this experience with this seller.

Mark Rosenberg

Hi Steve,

I'm sorry to hear you have had this experience when participating in our auction events. We'll follow-up with the Seller in more detail to find out what happened here, and take appropriate action. I can also go ahead and offer you a $25 credit on HipComic for the inconvenience. I can send this to you via PayPal, is your PayPal email address the same as your email you have on file with us? If not let me know, and I'll reach out to you (outside the forums) to confirm.

Steve McAlpine

Mark-
The seller has offered a credit to me for a free book - which is fair. You don't need to do anything. I know you probably get it from both ends of the spectrum: buyers like me who have problems with sellers - and sellers who have to deal with deadbeats. This seller needs to get a control on their systems or inventory because I did check their feedback history- and my same problem has happened to multiple others. Its a shame because otherwise, when I have bought books from them, I have been happy with the quality and service and at least the repayment is prompt when he does cancel. My frustration is that I am trying to rebuild a collection that was stolen from my parents home after they passed that I stored there for 30 years. I am mainly looking for silver/bronze age books and when I win them at a reasonable price - and pay for them - then don't get them - I get very frustrated. Check out their history - because if Hip is your business - you might want to find out if a seller is causing potential damage and either work with them to correct the problem, or limit them until they prove that they have corrected the problem.

Christopher joy

Tried your site for the first time (I use Ebay/Meraci/MCS/Reece's-spend @300 a week) bought a book for 60.00 paid asap...today I get a refund and the seller has it up for 139.00 Guess if that's your biz model...I'll move on.

Ted Tyszka

As you no doubt realize, everything sold on this site is by independent store operators. Your issue is specific to a particular dealer, and has nothing to do with HipComic's business model. If you have a complaint about a specific dealer/transaction, you should contact admin through the Contact Us button, below.

Christopher joy

Thanks, Ted.

Stephen Aldridge

I've experienced the same issue as Steve McAlpine. Bid and end up winning a comic below market value only to hear that the comic was already sold out of there store inventory and I get a refund. I end up keeping a log of bad dealers and then do not buy anything listed by them. It's always very disappointing to win an auction only to hear a day later that the item doesn't exist.