Hey guys, I'm looking for some unbiased opinions on a sale I did on ebay to make sure I'm not being unreasonable. Being that I'm new to Ducatis, I want input from guys who have been around them and dealt with the swelling tank issues.
I received a spare tank with my Monster and decided to sell it as part of my spare parts garage purge. As told to me by the prior owner, the original tank did start to swell so he pulled it off and let it sit empty while he used this tank in the meantime. He then swapped them back prior to selling the bike. My current tank fits perfectly and doesn't look like it has any swelling or ripples in the surface although that's besides the point.
The buyer is now wanting to return it as "it wasn't as described". I've been on ebay for 15 years and luckily this is the first issue I've had.
This is an album of the pictures I put in the ad:
https://imgur.com/a/XkcKtY4This is the ad description:
For sale is a Monster S2R 1000 fuel tank. It's an OEM spare I have but no longer need. It came with my bike and I believe it may have swollen a little at some point as the stripe sticker has some air bubbles in it (the stripe can be removed and/or replaced). However, it has sat empty for quite awhile so it should have returned to its original size. There are no current signs of it swelling such as ripples or odd formations in the surface of the tank. There are a couple of nicks in the paint as pictured but it is not dented. Feel free to contact me with any questions.I listed it in used condition and stated that returns were not accepted. I'm not an ebay business; just a guy selling stuff he doesn't need anymore. The gist is that he's complaining about stuff clearly pictured or stated in the ad. It almost sounds like he thought he was getting a brand new tank though I'm not sure how anyone could actually infer that from the ad. I know the tank isn't perfect and priced it accordingly at $200 plus shipping which is pretty much cheaper than every other red/white tank on ebay and even in better condition than some of them.
These are his messages:
I received the tank. It has clearly swollen quite a bit. re-striping is not an option as tank must be repainted.Item is not as described. Please tell me how I can return this item.
Your ad says it's an OEM spare no ripples or odd formations. The tank is clearlynot a spare. Has been used. The label is melted and there are ripples in the paint under the stripe there is signs if swelling in the underside where the tank mounts. I would have to repaint not just reapply a stripe. These are not bubbles in the stripe. These are ripples in badly matched paint.
My responses are essentially as follows: yes it is a spare tank that I received with my bike; yes it is used as clearly pictured and stated in the ad; the label isn't melted, it's wrinkled from having the seat rub against it; I stated it was probably swollen at some point, the ripples are just on the stripe but not actually part of the tank (I could rub my finger along the stripe and see that those are air bubbles plus the paint adjacent to the stripe is smooth). I don't believe it was ever repainted. The striping and color match perfectly with the tank I have on my bike.
I asked him to fit it on his bike and see if it actually is swollen as he thinks but he hasn't. I didn't fit it myself but didn't expect it to have any significant fitment issues as it went through the same process of drying and sitting empty that my current tank did. I've also seen it mentioned many times on the various forums that letting the tank sit was a solution to reversing the swelling.
Do you guys think it's unreasonable for me to not return it? I don't want to make a fellow bike guy feel like he got screwed over but at the same time I think I described it accurately. At the end of the day, you're buying a 10+ year old tank from a batch of tanks that have widely known issues so I don't think you can expect it to be perfect.
