Beware of Ebay Presells

footballfan

In November of 2004 I paid for 13 boxes of 2004 Sp Authentic Football for $939.74 paying with paypal. The seller was a Ebay power seller with a 99 feedback score. I never received the cards are a refund. I was one of 275 people that this lady frauded for a total of $65,000.00. I was unable to receive my money back from paypal because at the time there policy was you must file a claim within 30 days of the transaction date. I didn't file a claim in the 30 day period because at the time the cards weren't being released by Upper Deck yet. Another policy Paypal has is "Paypal sellers are not allowed to sell goods with delivery dates delayed more than 20 days from the date of payment." But that rule isn't enforced, if it was she would of never beeen able to rip me off. Paypal only enforces the rules that will save them money. The police department were this lady resides told me it is a civil matter and to take it up in court. This lady hired a lawyer and claims she sent the money to another dealer who took the money and filed bankruptcy so she won't issue a refund. I haven't hired a lawyer because I have already loss enough money. Everybody becarefull if bidding on a presell because if the dealer decides to steal your money Ebay, Paypal, and law enforcement probably won't help you.

NBAFan

Same thing happened to me a couple years back. SP Game Used Floor for Basketball was in its initial run and I bought 2 boxes from ebay but paid with Money Order. I waited and received nothing. The seller claimed that he had bought out a dealers supply that had went bankrupt or out of business and never received the product. He told me he would refund my money. So I gave him a chance and told him to keep in contact with me. He didn't, so I filed fraud with ebay and got my money back minus the $25.

boggs301012

SO she sold something she never had. I like to see reciepts to match her story. Sorry to hear that. Good Luck. I asumed you filed an internet fraud case and alerted the PO ? Try contacting her local DA's office and attorney Generals office . Just trying to help .

kingraider75

that is a sad story and just another knock against ebay. There are a lot of honest people out there, so keep hope alive.

Knuckles

I always thought sellers that do pre-sales were out of their minds. They take a huge gamble by doing so.. risk getting a lot of neg's. Production of a product can be late or just late getting to them such is the case with the new McFarlane NHL Legends which were supposed to be out a month or two ago but won't be in stores until next month. People were pre-selling them on eBay back around Christmas time.

I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune footballfan.

Welcome to the boards though at any rate! and thanks for the eye opener.

Axtell

<< <i>that is a sad story and just another knock against ebay. There are a lot of honest people out there, so keep hope alive. >>



Not quite sure how this is ebay's fault? It's not like the rules are hidden or anything, and am sure any auction house is going to have the same set of rules.

I'd follow up with legal measures, as it's apparent the seller worked hard to defraud a ton of people.

WinPitcher

Proving fraud will be hard. (against the lady) possibly against the other dealer. However you can always sue her through small claims.
Do you and her reside in the same state? She may very well had done a "middle" for that material. Now if her story proves bougus then she did in fact defraud.

Steve


edited to add" Im sorry that crap happened to you.

Onlypsahockey

footballfan,

Sorry to hear you got swindled but I have to say I'm astounded at your "oh well" attitude. You're a better man than I because I'd be hunting her down right about now.

That'll be the day someone walks away with my grand!

Please post her name and address so she doesn't rip anyone else off.

Thanks, Bob

Oh yeah, welcome aboard!

easttexascardsandgames

Power seller with 99 feedback?? I know this is beside the point, but to be a Power Seller you must have at least 100 feedback.

It still sucks that you got ripped. When I buy boxes on Ebay there are only about 6 or 7 dealers I would even consider buying from.

footballfan

The Ebay seller who stole my money used Bostonsox 45 as her user id. She has been kicked off Ebay but I wouldn't be surprised if she gets back on it by using a different name. Her name is Holly Learned. 3155 Hillcrest Drive, Norton, OH 44203.

mudflap02

Holy crap -

I know that lady. Some guy tried to rip both me and her off, and we talked on the phone many times. She seemed very nice and was terrified of being ripped off- "If he doesn't send me this case, I'm sunk!". Strange.

Stone193

football
when you paid via paypal - did they take the money from your account or credit card? Even if with your bank, I would have recommended you talk to the bank about not getting your product and what they could've done? If by credit card - paypal is out of the net and now the card company will help you. If she is still in business, she may still be tied to credit cards in some way. Not sure what the time limit is on credit card purchases tho.

Sorry to hear about this and Welcome to adventureland!

your friend
mike

KLS23

Hey guys,

This is not the whole story as I understand. Holly apparently had a distributor that she paid for the product who ripped her off and never delivered. She then went into bankruptcy and obtained legal counsel. I believe she is trying to get her money back from the original party. Anyway, there was a huge thread on this on Beckett as lots of people were affected. I don't know any of the parties involved....but it sounded like Holly unfortunately for her got caught in the middle....the dangers of doing presell......

Ken

footballfan

If Holly was having a problem with her so called distributor she should of informed her customers. Instead she decided to hide her feedbacks by making them private and she ignored and continues to ignore all emails. Also I did business with her not her distributor. It is hard to believe that she sent over $65,000.00 to this so called dealer without receiving product.

ctsoxfan

<< <i>Also I did business with her not her distributor. >>



That about says it all. Unfortunately, it's not her customers problem that she got taken - it's hers. She would need to make good on her promises, regardless - even if it comes from her own pocket. Of course, I can't believe either, that someone would shell out that much money without having some concept of where the product was.

Lothar52

...........she lives 44 minutes away from me....now if i was only a deadbeat with nothing to lose LOL

shambo2000

I had a similar situation happen to me in December of 2003. I didn't receive the cards which were supposed to be delivered in February 2004. I paid with my CC via PayPal. I filed a dispute with my CC in March '04 knowing that my 30 days with PayPal had long since expired. My CC forwarded everything to PayPal and PayPal issued a 100% refund. Don't give up.

envoy98

Just curious...if the seller was bostonsox45?

if so, you need to read this, and if not, you should still read this. From the sounds of things, you are party to this.

Beckett Thread about Bostonsox45

The user that started that thread, stang81, has posted many times here as well, but I don't know if he posted about this specifically.

Hope that helps. If that's not the same seller, at least you can see what others are doing.

Crusader765

Too bad, you could have made some money. The average box has sold for like 145 on ebay.

How far in advance of release does it have to be to get a good deal on a presale? I'm one that likes to do research, and as far as 2 months before the Heritage 2005 baseball release, the presells weren't really lower than the boxes have sold for on ebay.

sagard

<< <i>I had a similar situation happen to me in December of 2003. I didn't receive the cards which were supposed to be delivered in February 2004. I paid with my CC via PayPal. I filed a dispute with my CC in March '04 knowing that my 30 days with PayPal had long since expired. My CC forwarded everything to PayPal and PayPal issued a 100% refund. Don't give up. >>



Did Paypal really refund the money or did they extract it from the seller? I'm guessing it was the latter.

envoy98

I have a couple of guys I've gone through on pre-sells. Unless you are getting it direct from the company (ie. Topps/UD etc) the prices fluctuate on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. With Ultimate Collection and Heritage both, I found pricing to vary rather wildly in the weeks leading up to release. I have had great luck with a distributor I met named Marty, as well as Chris from Blowoutcards (ecwholesale on ebay) and I've heard great things about Shnabbles as well, but have had no personal dealings with them.

Try to always stay outside of 30 days before release though, and find a reputable company/dealer that people you know/trust have had good dealings with. Becoming a powerseller on ebay, especially with pre-sells is way too easy to do. 3 months, sell $1000/month and have 100 fb.

Sorry you got taken, I hope the info I gave you earlier is of some help.

Fabfrank

The guys I've done pre-sells with usually take 10% down and full payment when the product is released. I've never had a problem and feel somewhat protected.