Introducing Myself and SportsCardLink

joshnathanson

Hi Everyone,

I have collected sports cards for some time but due to prior time constraints, I'm new to posting on these boards.  Some of you may recognize my name from past purchases I've made on eBay under the username buygradedr and comiclink, or through private transactions. Others may have noticed the SportsCardLink banner ad on the psa web site or the ads for SportsCardLink in the Sports Market Report, and you may be wondering what it is.  Either way, I thought it was a good time to introduce myself and SportsCardLink. The site, which launched on baseball's opening day, specializes in vintage and high-grade professionally graded sports cards (PSA, SGC, GAI, BGS).  On The Internet Sports Card Exchange you can Buy, Sell and Bid on (submit offers on) vintage cards. Some of you are already familiar with
ComicLink, which I founded in 1996 and which specializes in vintage, professionally graded comic books. SportsCardLink works the same way but for vintage cards.

SportsCardLink sellers have already listed quite a few vintage cards on the site, for example:

19th Century Cards (e.g. 1895 N300 Kid Nichols PSA 8 (1 of 1), 1887 Allen & Ginter John Clarkson PSA 6 and more)
Tobacco Cards (e.g. T205 & T206 cards - Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Waltern Johnson and more)
20's to 30's: (e.g. 1914 Cracker Jack Ty Cobb PSA 6, 1933/34 Goudey Ruth & Gehrig's, a few 1939 Ted Williams & Joe DiMaggio cards and more)
40's to 50's: (Williams, DiMaggio, Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Bill Russell, Johnny Unitas, and more)
60's and up: (HOF'ers and high-grades: '86 Fleer Michael Jordans, Wayne Gretsky Rookies, 1983 Tony Gwynn PSA 10, and more)

My goal is for SportsCardLink to be a good source for buyers to fill holes in or upgrade collections, and an additional selling tool for when you have cards for sale. Whether you are a full-time dealer or a collector, I think it will be a good resource to helps you towards your buying and selling goals.  I have gotten some very positive feedback so far from collectors and dealers who already purchased and sold items on SportsCardLink (even convincing me to add a vintage non-sports card section). I welcome private, constructive advice as to how to further improve it for you.  Feel free to email or call me personally to introduce yourself, learn more, or let me know what you think!


Thanks,

Josh Nathanson, President
SportsCardLink
The Internet Sports Card Exchange
buysell@sportscardlink.com
718-246-0400

QUIK

Good luck i will check it out for sure!! Jeff

perkdog

I was wondering when a thread might be started on this subject. So far looks like a great idea, best of luck! Im sure I will be bidding heavy on some items in the near future.

Archaninator

.

Griffins

Josh- Is there anyway to find out who I am purchasing a card from?

perkdog

Well I just signed up. (rubbing my hands together-anticipating my first purchase)

joemaggio

I've bought and sold on ComicLink for a few years and it's a first class operation. Feel free to IM me with questions.

Morgoth

Site looks solid, I love the guy with the 57 Clemente PSA 8 who wants 3400 for it

FavreFan1971

Looks good. I think it is important that we as buyers know who we are buying from. I won't buy a card from any site without some assurance of security.

I really like the layout. I think something like this will over take the crap we find on Ebay. Hope it turns out to be a more trustworthy site than Ebay.

AlanAllen

Thanks for the post, Josh. What sets your site apart from, say, Naxcom?

Joe

colebear

<< <i>Thanks for the post, Josh. What sets your site apart from, say, Naxcom?

Joe >>



Please say the search engine!!!

joshnathanson

I appreciate all the positive feedback so far. The most important question asked here is in regards to safety and fraud prevention. We have it covered. As stated on the SportsCardLink web site:


Safety and Fraud Prevention
SportsCardLink gives buyers 100% protection against fraud, which unfortunately is running rampant in the online collectibles industry. A number of our clients have complained about having sent payment to unknown Internet auction sellers only to realize later that they have been swindled. A frequent tactic on eBay, for example, is for a seller to build up feedback buying and selling low dollar items, then go in for the kill. He will make a copy of the image of an expensive item he doesn't own, and then sell it on eBay. It is a common trick we have seen many times. Multiple clients of ours have lost thousands from this tactic and other scams on eBay and consequently will never buy there again. SportsCardLink protects buyers from these horrors because all items are received by SportsCardLink and inspected before sent to the buyer. This assures that buyers receive what they pay for. Unlike other online sports card venues, you don't have to worry about being taken advantage of by unscrupulous sellers when buying from SportsCardLink - it is the safest place to purchase expensive, investment-quality sports cards from other sellers over the Internet.

Another user asked if it is possible to get in touch with the actual seller of a card. It is not - every card is posted anonymously. This is also answered on the site, as follows:

Confidentiality and Anonymity
SportsCardLink has among its client list numerous high profile individuals that want to remain anonymous, whether buying items for their collection or selling.. Unless otherwise instructed, SportsCardLink will keep buyer and seller information in the strictest of confidence. We realize that trustworthiness is tantamount to having reputable partnerships.

Thanks,

Josh

Griffins

The only problem I see is that everyone, unfortunately, has sellers they won't buy from. A site like this makes it very easy for those sellers to sell their cards to unsuspecting collectors.

joshnathanson

Keep in mind, sellers are also anonymous when they consign to any major auction house or eBay consignment firm. However, feel free to email me privately the names of particular sellers to watch out for (and why). Though you would not be able to boycott a particular seller, we are able to prevent unscrupulous individuals from using the site to sell. We are also purchasing cards outright so if you have information that we don't, I'd like to know. At this juncture, we are only selling cards graded by the big 4 grading companies, so problems with raw cards will be a non-issue. And, if you don't trust the grading of a particular company, then you can just abstain from buying their cards.

-Josh

perkdog

The whole idea sounds pretty safe to me, also I highly doubt PSA would allow a link on its websight if there were any red flags.

mikeschmidt

<< <i>The whole idea sounds pretty safe to me, also I highly doubt PSA would allow a link on its websight if there were any red flags. >>



I'm not touching that one with a ten-foot pole. I'm sure, on the same vein, that extensive background and due diligence is done on all past and present PSA authorized dealers...

perkdog

<< <i>

<< <i>The whole idea sounds pretty safe to me, also I highly doubt PSA would allow a link on its websight if there were any red flags. >>



I'm not touching that one with a ten-foot pole. I'm sure, on the same vein, that extensive background and due diligence is done on all past and present PSA authorized dealers... >>




Mike can you elaborate? Pm me if you would, thanks.

joemaggio

I don't want to sound like shill for Josh (I'm not). Sportscardlink acts as a broker in all the transactions - bidders pay Josh and sellers ship the cards to Josh, who then ships them to the buyer before releasing funds to the seller.

I agree with the earlier post about anonymous sellers - I assume we're talking about some of the notorious card doctors. I don't have an answer for that.

You will see ridiculously high prices on cards as the sellers get to set the asking price. But those prices are negotiable and should come down.

Publius

Josh
Awesome site. You have some great cards for sale.

joe

AlanAllen

Interesting. So you put the cards in escrow, so to speak. Do you do any quality control, like looking for signs of tampered slabs or verifying the 8 that was sold is not really an 8 OC?

Joe

MorrellMan

nevermind - changed my mind about posting this.

joshnathanson

"Do you do any quality control, like looking for signs of tampered slabs or verifying the 8 that was sold is not really an 8 OC?"

Verifying that an 8 is not really an 8 OC is what the grading companies do. It is not our job to ruin a seller's listing if we disagree with a third party grading company's professional assessment. All of the cards posted have scans, so if a card looks off center and is not in a qualified holder, a buyer can steer clear. A buyer can also steer clear if they don't trust a particular grading company. SportsCardLink is an outlet for selling and buying, not a grading company. That said, if a potential buyer calls up for specific advice on purchasing a particular card that is off centered but not marked as such on the holder, I will not shy away from stating my opinion of it, and would educate the collector/investor about the potential difference in value between a nicely centered and an off-centered card, despite the lack of notation on the label. Regarding tampered slabs - yes, we do look for those, in comics and in cards. Long term relationships and trustworthiness - that is the name of the game, and those are the sellers, and buyers, that I cultivate strong relationships with (if you, or someone else reading this post) are one of the trustworthy, feel free to give me a call and introduce yourself!

-Josh

AlanAllen

Sorry Josh, I wasn't clear. What I meant was, often sellers will not disclose qualifiers in an auction title and I was hoping you had a mechanism to combat this type of deception. If it seems like I'm grilling you, it's because I think the hobby needs a viable service such as the one you're describing, and it sounds like you have the experience and resources to pull it off. Best of luck,
Joe

joshnathanson

Thanks Joe - the only mechanism is a manual review of the description and photo. If we see an OC or other qualifier not marked as such, we change the description (and have the seller make sure it does not happen again). Of course, if we do not see something not advertised correctly before it sells, we would certainly let the buyer know so he does not get a card he hasn't bargained for. When it comes to stuff like this, it is not caveat emptor.

-Josh