an NCT sale thingy....

[knickerelasticjones]

Would genuinely like to sample the opinion on this one so feel free....

went to an NCT sale yesterday mainly to get a few toys for my two DCs - especially looking for duplo. The usual scrum but I managed to get a couple of bags of duplo. I was after characters, cars etc as we have blocks already but not much else. The bags I picked up were small semi-opaque freezer bags sealed with sellotape containing little robots figures plus accessories and bricks - £4.50 per bag. A bit pricey for an NCT sale maybe? but duplo is expensive so I thought ok and got them both.

Got home opened the bags - yes there are a couple of figures but everything else appears to be parts of an incomplete duplo set which don't now do anything. A key that doesn't fit anything, little cogs that don't go together, a car with a set of wheels missing etc.

Now, I don't expect to get immaculate stuff from NCT or jumble sales - I got to these kind of things alot (am self-confessed cheapskate) and I totally appreciate that things will be a bit bashed and battered. But I feel somebody has basically collected up random bits of duplo from the house and then flogged them on - putting them in a sealed opaque bag so I couldn't really see what was in there until I got home.

But I am just being naive / fussy?

I am our local NCT Nearly New Sale Co-ordinator. Contact your sales team, tell them what you have discovered and they should be able to get you a refund. You will need to return the item to the seller, but you are right - that is not acceptable and things have to be submitted by sellers as Nearly New, and what you have ended up with is jumble.

Mention the fact that it was in an opaque bag and you took it on faith that, being a Nearly New Sale that it would be a Nearly New set (i.e. complete)

No YANBU I would never sell anything that had no use, selling things in bits is not right and sounds as thoug it was intentionally deceptive due to the bags and the price is rediculous!

oh that's really interesting bathsheba thanks. To be honest I won't bother taking it back this time (as its a little robots set I'm going to sell it to the DCs along the lines of "its the bits of junk that the robots have.....")

Although I wish I'd known that two years ago when I bought a push along walker toy for my DD1. It was the kind that has to be unfolded to allow them to push it - was sellotaped shut at the sale and got it home to find it was completely broken. Had to go straight in the bin!

Sorry, but I would think if you get a couple of figures in a bag that costs 4.50 you're doing ok, anything else is a bonus.

I'm not having a go at you personally, but I have never sold stuff at NCT sales as I get really hacked off at people expecting designer gear for 50p.

RE the broken walker. You should have contacted the organiser as you would have been refunded for that.

I can see your point sunny delight - and to be honest I didn't really have any problem with the price tag. Although I should say there was only one 2 inch high figure in each bag so not the best value for £4.50!

I agree with you about prices though - I also bought a couple of big duplo base boards for £3 each which I thought was a very fair price.

Even if you're not bothered about the money you should still contact your local sales co-ordinator IMO, as if they don't know that useless stuff is being sold then they can't improve things.

I'll think about contacting the local NCT person - I should make clear that in no way am I having a pop at NCT sales. I think they are brilliant and I know that lots of people work really hard to put them on.

I was just a bit surprised by what this seller thought "nearly new" actually meant....

YANBU at all. We, well actually DH, bought a pirate ship game at an NCT sale. It was in its original box and was pricey £7.00 I think, and probably was only about £12.00 new. Brought it home and discovered that some integral parts were missing.

We didn't bother contacting the NCT co-ordinator because I was a helper at the sale and felt she had gone to enough trouble, but I thought it was a really low trick to pull. From the comments here I wish we had, because people like that should be barred from sales in future if they can't act ethically.

Definitely contact the NCT co-ordinator. I have been a similar position and not bothered to contact but last year ended up buying jigsaws with parts missing - I did contact the NCT as although they weren't expensive, nevertheless they were a total waste of money. Can't understand why someone didn't count the pieces before selling, but there you go!

I'd agree with contacting the organiser just to let her know. Ours goes to a lot of trouble to quality check clothing but sealed packages are more difficult. Clothing is returned with a label saying why it wasn't entered for sale; other goods should be too.

To OP, you are not at all fussy or naive, sellers are supposed to sell things which are in good condition, missing or broken parts does not come under that description and there are some very unscrupulous sellers out there.

Perhaps you should raise the issue with the NCT sales organisor and see what she/he has to say. They should have strict quality regulations in their seller's information pack. I've been to an NCT sale in the summer and was not impressed with the quality of items, partly because there were no guidelines for sellers as to what they were permitted to sell. I sold at a different branch and they were very rigorous about how many items you were allowed to sell which minimises the crap that some sellers try to sell.

My 2p's worth.

When I was involved with NCT Nearly New Sales, we did do our best to make sure that what was sold was in nearly new condition, and I know we did reject items. Certainly if someone had bought an item that was so clearly NOT nearly new in one of our sales, I would have been keen for them to let us know so that we could sort it out.

I myself have had many really wonderful bargains from nearly new sales, and would hate to think that other parents were being treated so shabbily.

sunnygirl.