Not happy with the History Shop!!

[Glenn66]

Last week I found a cased 50 year long service award for sale on Kai Winkler's History Shop site. I didn't want the case as the medal will go into a wall mounted display case so I asked about splitting the case and medal up.

'No problem' they say, we'll knock off 100euro from the original price and you can have the medal for 400euro. i replied stating that a 50 year case is worth more than 100 euro but no they said, the case is damaged and we will only get 100 euro for it.

As I've been after a nice condition 50 year medal for awhile i bit the bullet and paid up. Now what do I see today?

That same case is on their website for 175 euro!!

If you look quick on their site you'll see the 'sold' cased award for 500 euro right above the 'for sale' case for 175.

The lying gits! I've spent good money in the past with Kai and basically they have lied and cheated me! I've emailed telling them i won't be dealing with them anymore but I doubt they'll care.

Just venting...hope this is the right forum for grumbles.

[operaman]

I understand what you are talking about.I collect stamps and I can remember having to buy a complete sets of stamps and I only need one or two in the set,broken sets of stamps are very hard to sell.If all you wanted is the medal why would you be upset with the discount the guy gave you and why does it matter what he gets for it on another sale.I see your point but I think the seller has a point as well.I remember a stamp dealer telling me,Never let any one who is buying your collection ''cherry pick'' your stamps. You buy all or nothing.Good advise

[Glenn66]

I'm upset with the discount he gave me as he lied. He said the box was damaged and not worth more than the 100euro discount he was giving me. Now it seems it WAS worth more and suddenly his 500euro boxed set is now worth 575 seperated. In hindsight I should have bought the set and sold the box myself but I trusted that the dealer knew what he was talking about. He knew all right...how to squeeze some extra cash out of a deal.
Anyway, it's not the end of the world. I just know where NOT to spend my money in the future and who NOT to recommend to other collectors.

[M18922]

Lying like that looks very bad for a dealer.

[BOB COLEMAN]

Undoubtedly, he is looking at this as a business decision. The case alone will be harder to sell by itself than if it was with the medal. I am sure he is factoring in the time he will have to keep the case in inventory. I understand your frustration. A dealer will never buy something at the price for which he will sell it. The price quoted can always be discounted. When it does sell, you will never realize what the final price was.

[Wagriff]

He pulled a dirty trick,but I'm not too surprised. One sees things like this all the time,these days. If I were you,I would simply not patronize their business anymore But I would be sure to Tell them I was not,and just Why not,along with reminding them of your frequent and costly prior history you have invested with them and that you will never recommend them to Any of the many other collectors that you are in touch with. Let them know for certain that they are losing a past valued customer and perhaps even more for their little "trick". William

[Glenn66]

Hi William, yes that is exactly how this afternoon's email conversation with Kai went. I reminded him how i had offered 350 for the cross which if he had accepted that and still sold the case for 175 was still 25 more the the combo price he originally wanted. He replied that we had both got what we wanted from the deal however he conveniently forgot that I got the cross at 50 euro more than I wanted to pay and he got the case still in his hand effectively for 25 euro. I reminded him of my past purchases and I even provided a list of my next intended purchases that he would not now have the opportunity to sell me. He was kind enough to ask if I had ever taken advantage of his discounted sales periods (possibly somehow making us even?) before reminding me not to tell him how to run his business.

End of the conversation was when I asked to be removed from his email list.

Oh well, live and learn...I guess his loss is another dealer's gain.

[Walkwolf]

In agree with Bob.

They are in business to make money and must also have room
to negotiate if someone makes them an offer.......

[Adrian]

Hi Glenn,
At the end of the day, I'm not sure anyone will boycott House of History becasue of this as Kai has some very nice items (albeit at the higher end of the price range) and a reasonable reputation. He is a dealer and can do what he like with his stock after the deal was done. It's not like he's ripped anyone off for thousands or is peddling fake items and the deal was obviously favourable to both parties or it wouldn't have taken place.
Burning bridges is a risky thing to do IMO.

[operaman]

I agree that you got the short end of the stick.Look on the bright side the medal is not fake and you needed it for your collection.