The Corner Penthouse

This is another in a series of articles about eBay, who covers up the deceitful business practices of its sellers, while turning its feedback system into an utter joke. I will do my best to inform the public about eBay's scummy practices and the bad sellers that operate on the platform, so other buyers can avoid them. The bad seller I will be writing about today is Brian West of La Vergne, Tennessee, operating under the eBay ID: cottoncatfish

On January 27, 2026 I purchased a Planet Hulk Blu-ray from eBay seller "cottoncatfish" for $9.00, plus $0.78 tax ($9.78 total). The Blu-ray was listed as being in "Like New" condition, as seen in the screenshot below.


Since the listing DID NOT HAVE A PHOTO OF THE PLANET HULK BLU-RAY in it, only photos of other Blu-rays, I had to assume that the "Like New" condition was correct since I could not see the item beforehand. Further down the listing, the seller confirmed the "Like New" condition, right below eBay's definition of the condition, which states, "Like New: An item that looks as if it was just taken out of shrink wrap. No visible wear, and all facets of the item are flawless and intact. See the seller's listing for full details and description of any imperfections." (Remember this, it will be important later.)


On January 30th I found a folded-over blue padded envelope in my mailbox. I was already getting bad vibes when I noticed that the sender was listed as "B W", and not with a proper name. That's really shady. I would find out later that "B.W." stands for Brian West.


The padded envelope felt way too thin to have a "Like New" Blu-ray inside. A "Like New" Blu-ray, of course, would be one that is in the original case with the original artwork. Remember, eBay describes Like New condition as "an item that looks as if it was just taken out of shrink wrap". Well, inside was just the Planet Hulk Blu-ray DISC ONLY inside a thin plastic disc holder (not a Blu-ray case).


Lionsgate, the company that produced the Planet Hulk Blu-ray, NEVER released it in "packaging" like this, so this is NOT an "item that looks as if it was just taken out of shrink wrap". For comparison, below is a photo of a Planet Hulk Blu-ray that IS in Like New condition, courtesy of another eBay seller.


Since the Planet Hulk Blu-ray that Brian West sent me was NOT in the stated condition, and I had no use for a disc only copy, I submitted a return request right away.


Given that it's a low-price item (only $9) and Brian listed it with an incorrect condition, I expected that the return request would be approved right away and without issue. A normal person would have realized that they were wrong to list a disc only item as Like New, and since it's a low-priced item, they wouldn't have made a big deal over it. Brian West is not a normal person.

Below are the series of messages exchanged between myself and Brian West through the return request. There isn't a need to include much commentary here as the messages speak for themselves. Let's take a few minutes to... LAUGH at Brian's poor grasp on the English language. Be in SHOCK at the things Brian says to his customer! CRY over how Brian refuses to learn from the facts I put forth to him.






The message form has a character limit, so my next message had to be broken up into three parts. Furthermore, eBay's form removes line breaks, ruining the message. The screenshot below is how I originally wrote the message before eBay's form massacred it.



At this point, I realized that I was dealing with a mentally unstable individual who would not handle this properly. So, I had to contact eBay's executives to make things right. On February 3rd, I received a reply from Elvira J. of the eBay president's office. Although she got the name of the Blu-ray wrong - I can see why she would make that mistake because Brian's listing is VIOLATING eBay policy by listing multiple DIFFERENT items/SKUs in the same listing as "variations" - she did refund my original $9.78.


In addition to giving me the refund, she stated, "You may dispose of the item as you see fit and don't need to worry about returning it." At this point, I considered the matter closed. I wasn't going to have any more interactions with Brian West, and was just going to let the matter go. I guess Brian couldn't because on February 5th, he actually approved my return request?!? You know, the action he should have taken a week earlier instead of slinging insults at me.


Now, I had no reason to send the disc back to Brian at this point. I got my money back, so as far as I was concerned, I was square. However, there were two reasons why I proceeded with sending the disc back. First, I figured that the pe-paid return label would tell me who "B.W." was. Sure enough, it did. (Photo below) Second, sending the disc back meant that Brian West had to pay the return postage. At least it would cost him something for treating me so poorly.


The package was sent to Brian on Friday February 6th at the address provided, and he received it on Monday February 9th. Would Brian be happy that he got his disc back and go on his merry way? No, of course not. As soon as he got the disc, he decided to INSULT ME SOME MORE! Within hours after USPS delivered the disc back to him, he sent me two unwarranted messages (one with text, one with an image - combined in the screenshot below) in which he thinks that just because the disc boots to the main menu means that it's NOT defective.


Did Brian try to play or rip the entire movie and all of the extras? Of course, not. Brian would rather just continue spewing his hatred. Notice that he made sure to insult me, again, by calling me incompetent. Again, the defectiveness of the disc wasn't the big issue. It's that he listed it as Like New, WITHOUT A PHOTO(!), but it did not come with the original case, as is expected for a Like New condition item.

Let's go through this one last time... A "Like New" item is one that is complete, and looks brand new, only it's not factory-sealed. A "like new" Blu-ray consists of the original case & artwork and the disc, and optionally, a slipcover and inserts. The disc by itself is only PART OF THE COMPLETE ITEM. It is NOT "Brand New", and it is not "Like New". It's not even "Very Good" or "Good", because those descriptors also imply that the original case - which is part of the item - is also included. A disc by itself is "Acceptable". To list it with any other condition descriptors is fraudulent.

On February 4th, I left the appropriate negative feedback on his page, with four images showing his fraudulent listing and disrespectful messages.

Blu-ray was listed as "Like New", but was disc only. Per eBay's definition, "Like New" means it comes in original case. No photo of Planet Hulk Blu-ray was in listing to show I'd NOT receive "Like New" item. Disc was also defective, proven with a very long disc error report. After submitting return request, seller sent MANY DISRESPECTFUL MESSAGES, rather than admitting he was wrong to list disc-only as Like New. Had to contact eBay execs to resolve matter since seller is IMMATURE & DISHONEST.

As can be seen in the screenshot above, he replied with, "All items were/are listed correctly, buyer just does not want to accept responsibility for his inability to comprehend the listing. Terrible buyer, hope to never do business with, ever again." Man, Brian West will always be a dishonest asshole, huh? This report has already proven that the item was NEVER "listed correctly". Does Brian West really not comprehend what Like New means?

Anyway, I followed-up his reply with the following message that, I hope, makes Brian West realize that his disrespect has consequences.

Hey Brian. You were just added to my PUBLIC "Bad eBay Sellers" list on The Corner Penthouse. A full detailed article, with screenshots of all of your disrespectful messages, has just been written about you. I warned you that I was documenting everything, but you continued to be rude. Next time treat your customers better, especially when one of them is a consumer advocate. You never know who you're being rude to, Brian.

All Brian had to do was admit his wrong-doing from the start, correct his bogus listing, and refund me the $9 I paid for his junk. Most people would have done that and moved on with their life because the low-cost item isn't worth the effort. Instead, Brian West chose to be a jerk, and even after getting the item back, he just couldn't let the matter go. Well, I warned him that I was documenting everything, and since he didn't heed the warning and correct his behavior, as a consumer advocate, I had to post this public bad seller report to warn everyone of what to expect if they mistakenly buy an item from Brian West of La Vergne, Tennessee (not to be confused with any of the good Brian Wests in other parts of the world). You do NOT want to have anything to do with this specific Brian West.