So, I purchased a bike on ebay for the first time last week. This is the original ad:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190565097004...#ht_500wt_1202

I'll begin with the shipping issues. The seller contacted me after I paid for the bike saying that he was supposed to have gotten a bike box to ship it in but wasn't going to be able to do so until Tuesday the 16th. I purchased the bike on the 11th. I told him that was fine as long as long as it was undamaged when I received it. I received the bike this morning (the 18th). My first warning sign was the condition from the outside of the box:



I opened it and it clearly was not a bike box but just a regular thinwalled cardboard box. The next thing I noticed was that the dropout had been allowed to rub on the rim and had paint damage down to the frame as seen here:



Things got worse when I took the bike out and inspected it. There is one area of significant paint damage about 1 inch square on the non driveside toptube near the headtube which was not mentioned in the auction:



There are several other nicks which I'd be willing to overlook had it not been for that area:




The wheels are also not true. Both the front and back rub on a brake pad at one spot in the rim. Nitpicky but the clips also broke on the pedals in transit. The ad mentioned that the tires were worn and would need to be replaced soon. One of the tires in fact has a gash all the way through the sidewall. The bike was described as being in excellent condition and lightly used. I would have described the frame as being in decent condition and highlighted the paint damage. I also would have mentioned the wheels being out of true. I feel the seller was deceptive in the auction. On my part I should have asked for more pictures and more of a description. I wrongly trusted the sellers description and the few pictures that were made available. I thought I was paying a fair price at $150 plus $50 shipping but now I would not have paid that had I been aware of the bikes full condition. I also feel though that I was courteous and patient with the shipping delay only to have something that was very poorly packaged and arrived with undisclosed damage and damage as a result of poor packing. I'd be open to keeping the bike possibly if I was refunded part of the cost (though I would not have bid on the bike at all had I known of the paint damage), at the very least the shipping cost. Any advice on how to proceed? I've never had a sour experience from ebay before and am kind of at a loss as to how to approach this.