Ethics Question

[nielse16]

I bought Super Smash Bros. Melee for GameCube at a thrift store and listed it on Craigslist for $52 (insert water damaged). I tested the game in my Wii and it worked fine. I sold the game today for $50 (he said it was all the cash he had before I went to meet him). About an hour and a half after getting home, I had the following text exchange with the buyer:


Buyer: Great
Me: Crap dude. It worked in my Wii.
Me: Did that happen at boot or during a game?
Buyer: Mid game
Buyer: Whatever
Me: Dang, I'm sorry man. Can you take it somewhere to have it resurfaced? I could give you a couple bucks back.
Buyer: Thanks for being honest but it's fine I'll clean it up or something
Me: Well this sucks. I was not the original owner of the game. I put it in my Wii with my GC controller and it worked. Disc looked clean. Thought it was fine.
Me: I'm Really sorry it crapped out on you. Take it to one of the retro games stores and have it resurfaced. I'll PayPal you the cost.
Buyer: Thank you for your honesty.
Me: OK, let me know. I'm sorry this turned out to be a hassle.

So, who is a fault here? Do I have any further obligations to the seller? Was what I offered fair or should I offer a full or half refund?

[irixith]

It might be the game.

It might also be that the GC disc drive is dying, or the fan is malfunctioning. I'd lean in that direction, since it happened mid-game.

I think you've been a champ already, offering to do what you've done.

[Exhuminator]

The guy bought a game that was used and you claimed to have water damage? And all you said was you tested it for a bit?

If those things are true, it's the buyer's fault if this didn't work out well for them. Just because a disc works for a bit does not mean all of the data on the disc is in full working order from start screen to credits. It's not your fault. But if you feel guilty about it give him half his money back to clear your conscious.

[Fragems]

Pretty much you did what any good honest seller would do you tested it for a bit and it worked as far as you could tell. Buying used always has a risk attached to it since there is no device or software that can quickly/efficiently with 100% certainty thoroughly test a game. Plus on top of lingering software issues there is always the chance of selling to someone with possibly faulty hardware. Offering him some cash for resurfacing like you did was definitely the way to go since he was able to partially play the game.

[joehero]

First off it sounds like you didn't swindle him nor is he asking for a refund. Seems like an honest mistake.
What I would do is ask yourself, if you were the buyer how would you feel? Would you feel ok with the transaction? Or would you feel like you were owed your money back?

[Gunstar Green]

As others said you made a good offer at a solution to a problem that wasn't necessarily your fault and they don't really seem interested in pursuing it further. It's also still possible and maybe even likely it was a hardware issue.

I say just follow your conscience on this one. Do what makes you feel best.

[Sarge]

Could be a lot of things. Gamecube discs are tricky to resurface, though, the folks around here won't do them.

I'm paranoid as all get-outs the few times I trade stuff in to GameStop. I can't fully test in all instances, but I try to rip any 360 games to the hard drive, for example. But yeah, there's no telling where the damage is... assuming there is any. I've got a copy of Melee I've had for years, and every now and then, it poops out on my GC. I still don't know if it's the game or my system.

If he asks for a refund, give him a refund. If he doesn't, that's on him at this point. I think you've been very upfront and honest with the buyer.

[nielse16]

Thank you all for your candid responses. To update the situation, I had the following exchange with the buyer later that (Saturday) night:

Buyer: Do have have a Kirby game for GameCube?
Me: No, sorry. Did you get the game to work? I put the error message into Google and talked to a few people. Did you play it in a GameCube or Wii?

And nothing more from him. Honestly, I'm a little confused, but I guess he was fine with things. If he contacts me again, I will be using some of the advice you gave me. Thanks Racketboy community!