I experienced a few bad ebay purchases with lego box either mild, moderate or severe damage from sellers missed the small tears/damages but claiming mint condition, poor packing skill in spite of request of protecting the lego box well.... Now, another stupid experience ..."open box new". It came down to my mistake anyway when bidding on some set recently. On the listing, the seller categorizes the item "new", meaning the item "new, unopened, unused, undamaged.." but tricky part is in their "detailed" description, "open box new"....another unique term the sellers come up with. Surely, I should have read it thoroughly but first time ever, I missed this one because I guess I trusted the seller categorizes it as "new". I won the bid and for some reason, I decided to read the description and found out this new terminology "open box new", meaning the seller open and test the item and the item sure working. According to the seller, the lego set was returned from a customer with some bags opened, so they opened all the bags and "verified" all the bricks". Apparently, there was no use to argue with the seller about the conflict of categorizing the item as "new, unopened..." and "open box new" because seller said that I should have read the description and it was not their fault and it was ebay's fault because there was no other way to categorize the item except "new" and "used". Since it is "not assembled", it is "new". And it is "open box new". From the seller's negative feedbacks, there were a few negative feedbacks as to this "open box new" deal. So I am expecting the worst.

Here is some food for thought: If a LEGO brick has never been connected to another LEGO brick, is it considered new? If it has been connected is it now used? Minifigures that come from sets (not series minifigures) are packaged with other LEGO's but are sold as "New" separately. How do we distinguish "new" from "used"?

I think these are outstanding questions.....perhaps when they get answered a link on the home page to a definitions section would be helpful?

Here is the definition of new from the Brickpicker FAQ page.

What is classified as a

Here is the definition of new from the Brickpicker FAQ page.

What is classified as a

I agree with SCB, the Brickpicker definition doesn't carry over to other websites and wouldn't be universally applicable. Perhaps something along the lines of a thread with tricky wording to watch for. The 'open box new' wording is a new one to me and something I will in the future be on the lookout for so thank you OP. I think this is another good example of buyer beware on Ebay and make sure you read those item descriptions thoroughly.

I purchased a hobbit unexpected gathering recently that was "Open Box New" the seller listed it as new and all of the items arrived sealed in their little bags, he just shipped it in a different box. I was perfectly happy with my transaction as I got just what he listed and clearly explained in the description what it was, I saved a bundle too. If the price for a set is low, try to find out why before buying it, I understand your point of view, but you really need to read the complete description and terms before making a purchase on Ebay.

I experienced a few bad ebay purchases with lego box either mild, moderate or severe damage from sellers missed the small tears/damages but claiming mint condition, poor packing skill in spite of request of protecting the lego box well....

Now, another stupid experience ..."open box new".

It came down to my mistake anyway when bidding on some set recently. On the listing, the seller categorizes the item "new", meaning the item "new, unopened, unused, undamaged.." but tricky part is in their "detailed" description, "open box new"....another unique term the sellers come up with.

Surely, I should have read it thoroughly but first time ever, I missed this one because I guess I trusted the seller categorizes it as "new".

I won the bid and for some reason, I decided to read the description and found out this new terminology "open box new", meaning the seller open and test the item and the item sure working.

According to the seller, the lego set was returned from a customer with some bags opened, so they opened all the bags and "verified" all the bricks".

Apparently, there was no use to argue with the seller about the conflict of categorizing the item as "new, unopened..." and "open box new" because seller said that I should have read the description and it was not their fault and it was ebay's fault because there was no other way to categorize the item except "new" and "used". Since it is "not assembled", it is "new". And it is "open box new".

From the seller's negative feedbacks, there were a few negative feedbacks as to this "open box new" deal.

So I am expecting the worst.

You can file a "not as described" case on eBay and probably win and get a complete refund. At the very least, it will give the seller motivation to work out a solution with you (which eBay would prefer).

eBay's definition of "New" for Toys is clearly spelled out here

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/item-condition.html#collectibles

A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item (including handmade items). See the seller's listing for full details.

In your case, the seller has listed his item as "New" on eBay and it simply isn't as eBay has defined it which is all that matters in Buyer Protection cases.

In other categories, eBay has a "New (other)" condition that they obviously should extend to Toys.