What would you do- Pillow Pet fake from ebay

[mommy22boys]

I bought pillow pets for my children for Christmas on ebay.

They were from a seller in Hong Kong... winning bid was only around $5 for each but shipping was $10 each. So it came out that I paid about $5 less total on each than I would have paid in store. (They are $19.99 at Wal-Mart and Target here.) Well the item description says that they are true authentic pillow pets and even shows a picture of the "My Pillow Pets" tag. The description also said please allow 25-30 days for shipping (I ordered them a month ago.) I felt a little strange about it and even joked to dh that maybe they were making them theirselves and just claiming they are authentic. But I figured it must take a long time to receive an international shipment and since they are for Christmas it didn't matter that they wouldn't be here until November.

Anyways, they came yesterday and they are very similar to authentic ones, just much, much flatter. It's quite obvious that they are not real. I left negative feedback due to the fact that the description clearly states they are real and they are in fact not.

The seller contacted me to offer a refund...so now I'm up in the air about what to do. On the one hand, my kids are 3 and 5 so they are unlikely to notice the difference. However, I know the difference... and I would definitely have just paid the $5 each extra in store to get the big nice fluffy ones if I had known. I realise it is my fault for trying to save a few $$ and going with something that I knew was a bigger risk... but since it did say they were authentic clearly in the description, I thought it would be ok. I do not feel like dealing with the hassle of returning the product.... but I would rather have the real thing. I'm afraid these will fall apart easily as the fabric looks cheap.

What should I do???

[kval07]

Hmm. What does the seller's feedback look like? I always read the feedback becuase I'm so scared of getting screwed.

It is obvious the seller knows that they lied, otherwise why would they offer a refund without you having asked for one? Who would pay the shipping for the product to go back? If you can end this transaction having lost NO money, I'd take the refund, send the stuff back and buy the real deal, just on principle. I would not support a seller who blatantly lies and misleads their customers.

[dookersmom]

I have to agree. I had something similar happen several years ago, and I took the refund. The seller was banned from ebay less than a week after the money was back in my PayPal account! I got lucky. It was only $40 or so, but still! I also had a seller that sold me some nursing pads for a really good price, and then kept "forgetting" to mail them. She gave me my money back and relisted the item for six times what I had won the auction for. Really crappy of her, if you ask me!

[~~Who,Me?~~]

So you paid $30, which you could get back, but then you'll spend $20 shipping them back? Or are they going to pay for that, too? If not, then I'd say don't bother. I'd get more satisfaction from being able to give neg feedback.

I'd try to relist them if I were you. Be honest and list them as knockoffs, but you might be able to at least recover a portion of your money. Or donate them to a toy drive and call it a day.

A bit OT--how were you able to leave neg feedback? I had a buyer who didn't pay, I tried to leave neg feedback. Ebay would only let me do so if I opened a case, so I did. The buyer never responded, a month went by and then ebay just notifies me that the case has expired....and that's it! I was never able to leave neg feedback, I never got my listing fees back.

[CW&M Mom]

From my understanding buyer's can still leave neg feedback...but sellers are the ones that it's near impossible.

[mommy22boys]

To answer some of those questions-

I don't know how I was able to leave negative feedback. I mean I just clicked "leave feedback" and it gave me the option for positive, neutral, or negative. I chose negative because the product description was completely a lie.

I do not know who would pay shipping for me to send it back. I have not yet responded to the email. It is obvious that they know their products are fake because this is the email they sent me for the second one I ordered after I left feedback for the first (ordered one a day later than the other):

dear ebay member:
Thanks for your biding on item: **************
New Pillow Pet Lady bug Stuffed Pillow sz:18lnch(large)
we are from hongkong ,hongkong shipping to usa is need 17-25days so
please wait for us items.
when you receive our item,if you donot like it ,or think it is fake,so
please contact with us ,we are give you good solve it ,donot live us Negative
feedback and less than 5drs, please understand us.
so thank you understand us ,
Thank you for your kindly help!
Best regards from HongKong,

As for their feedback... they have sold lots of pillow pets and they only have a few that are negative, saying that the item is a fake. Some of the positives say like "Thanks so much! Cute item! My grandson will love it!" others are just "Thanks"... I'm guessing that a lot of their customers do not realize they are getting duped. I know how pillow pets are supposed to look because I have seen them in stores and have felt them and know how heavy and how stuffed they should be; however, up until I saw them in stores just recently, I had only seen them on TV and would not have been able to tell the difference.

[kval07]

Oh man, I don't know any sellers who would refund your money if you "think it is fake." They're trying to pull a fast one. Ask if they are going to pay return shipping. Do not say yes or no yet to the refund, but find out if they will pay return shipping. (or if they'll just let you keep them and refund you the money)

When all is said and done, report them to eBay.

[rachellepeters]

Depending on your kids, they probably won't know whats real and whats not. I'd personally just keep them, you're kids will probably love them!

[mommy22boys]

May I just add... what gets me is: If they are gonna try and pass off fake pillow pets... why the heck not just use a couple more handfuls of stuffing! I mean other than the fact that these are flat as a pancake, they honestly do look like the real thing. lol

[$avin'some$]

Take the refund and then report them!