Item I sold on ebay broke during shipping...options?

[cthulhu522]

I too have had something similar happen with a video game. It was a somewhat rare game that sold for about $50.00 used. Anyway, I went to clean it with my lense cloth for my glasses, and there was a piece of dirt or something. It scratched it up real bad. I checked it and it worked fine. I knocked off 20% and shipped it free. He was happy, and I was happy. Positive feedback was left for all.

[Joeczar]

I had something like that happen too. I sold a GI Joe HO scale train set with most of the plastic Joe and Cobra vehicles. As I was getting it ready to ship, my son who was two at the time picked up a Cobra tank, and it crumbled in his hands. I notified the buyer and offered to take some off of the price, but said that was ok, they really wanted the train.

My advice: do what you did, be upfront with the buyer, things usually go smoother that way.

[RotterdamTerrorCorps]

So what do I do? Honestly the TD sold really cheap, only $100, I hate to offer a discount even further when this is very repairable.

Imagine you have an excellent bargain when buying a car. When the salesman is getting everything ready for you, due to seller's fault one of the tires gets ripped apart. "Sorry sir, but it is repairable! You already have a good deal. Here are your keys. Goodbye!" Would you accept that?

Just be honest to buyer, explain the situation and give some options. Do offer a small discount. I think it is ridiculous to say buyer already got it really cheap. Auction did not go as high as expected and on top of that something broke. That is a normal risk in trading/selling. Happened to my few times as well. Strangest case ever was a thumb breaking out of the blue. Was packing item, I see something lying on table, was thumb. Contacted seller, still sale, but shipped for free to compensate.