Well, you guys were right about wax on eBay...haha

jamesryanbell

I bought 5 1978 Topps packs recently from a seller with pretty good feedback (98.5% or so, with thousands of feedback responses), kind of on a whim. The communication was absolutely minimal with this seller. I received the packs in the mail in a packing envelope with no other padding than the envelope itself. Two packs were torn a little bit, and two were basically open in the back (lack of wax, heat..??). I opened 4 of the 5, and big surprise....not ONE card that wasn't a common, and not ONE common that wasn't beat up in some way. I didn't even get ONE pristine card in any way. Judging from the way they were sealed, I just know I got scammed. Also, as a side note, he didn't take Paypal, and I sent him the money order within one day of winning (Priority Mail). I didn't get the packs for almost 2 weeks.

I was going to leave him negative feedback in all honesty, but I only have 10 feedbacks myself, and I wanted to see if he was one of these retaliation feedback leavers, and...he was. If anyone gave him a negative for any reason, he trashed them really bad.

Also, I emailed him to tell him that I was awaiting his feedback FIRST, because I paid him quickly, and he already had enough info to leave me feedback (even though I hadn't gotten the package from him yet). He absolutely wouldn't reply - ever. He waits - on EVERY sale - to let the other person leave feedback first as a defense. If you don't decide to leave feedback, and just wait it out, he will never leave you feedback. If you leave neutral or negative, you get trashed. If you leave positive, you get a canned response that he leaves with every buyer.

So anyway, I just left questionable positive feedback, out of fear that my feedback would be marred (I only have 10, so I can't afford that, especially if I did nothing wrong).

Lesson learned.

The seller was overtimecards. Anyone had experience with them?

Man, when I was growing up, I bought wax all the time, and almost NO ONE did this (mid to late 80's). Now it seems like everyone does. What a shame.

RipublicaninMass

just goes to show you that a seller can build up a huge rep, even leaving feedback last.

jimq112

Ryan, if you only have 10 go ahead and give him what he deserves. If he gives you one back just open a new account and start over. If your other 10 are good people will believe you. Just tell the truth.

Mine was 12 when I left a neg. I paid, paid for insurance, got nothing. No email response. No phone response. Left the neg and got one a few hours later. Not a big deal.

jim

wolfbear

Agree with jimq112 - neg the jerk to warn others
and if he negs you back just start over again from scratch ...

jamesryanbell

I already left a shaky positive feedback. Maybe next time I might pull the trigger on a negative. I just did what I thought would be best at the time.

onlyanumber

Post his id so that we can add him to our don't buy from list...

LWMM

<< <i>Post his id so that we can add him to our don't buy from list... >>



overtimecards

jimq112

wow you gotta give the guy credit for guts or something!

selling "unopened" packs of 1979 topps.

You are bidding on 5 unopened 1979 Topps Wax Packs with 12 cards in each pack. Possible RC of Hall of Fame Shortstop Ozzie Smith. Unopened wax is the best way to find BGS 9.5 or PSA 10 cards.


also has

You are bidding on 1 1979 Topps Nolan Ryan card #417. Card is in Mint condition pulled directly from a rack pack and placed into soft sleeve and hard case for protection. As I have about 50 of these for sale centering will vary
You are bidding on 1 1979 Topps Pete Rose card # 650. Card is in Mint condition pulled directly from a rack pack and placed into soft sleeve and hard case for protection

So he opened rack packs but is selling the wax packs he didn't open?

jamesryanbell

<< <i>Post his id so that we can add him to our don't buy from list... >>



I did. It's at the bottom of the post.

Overtimecards

jamesryanbell

<< <i>wow you gotta give the guy credit for guts or something!

selling "unopened" packs of 1979 topps.

You are bidding on 5 unopened 1979 Topps Wax Packs with 12 cards in each pack. Possible RC of Hall of Fame Shortstop Ozzie Smith. Unopened wax is the best way to find BGS 9.5 or PSA 10 cards.


also has

You are bidding on 1 1979 Topps Nolan Ryan card #417. Card is in Mint condition pulled directly from a rack pack and placed into soft sleeve and hard case for protection. As I have about 50 of these for sale centering will vary
You are bidding on 1 1979 Topps Pete Rose card # 650. Card is in Mint condition pulled directly from a rack pack and placed into soft sleeve and hard case for protection

So he opened rack packs but is selling the wax packs he didn't open? >>



Yeah, I guess I should have looked at other things he was selling.

BobaFett72

"I was going to leave him negative feedback in all honesty, but I only have 10 feedbacks myself, and I wanted to see if he was one of these retaliation feedback leavers, and...he was. If anyone gave him a negative for any reason, he trashed them really bad. "

This guys feedback would probably be a lot lower....you mentioned it was 98.5 with THOUSANDS of feedback, that still means he has a fair share of negs.

I saw some footage with Pierre Whatshisname, the founder of Ebay... he said "wear your negative feedback like a badge of courage" when you stand up to bad sellers.

Easier said than done... but its a thought.

Stone193

James

Sorry to hear about it. Did you say how much you paid for the 5 packs?

I once bought 10 Topps Red Back packs from Rotman Auctions (they used to have retail also years ago; don't think they do anymore? I actually bought new wax from them also).

Well, I opened the packs and all of them had corner wear! And the kind of dirty appearance that only comes from handling.

Luckily - I had done a lot of business with them and they trusted I didn't do a "switch" on them.

It was 400$ which is not a little money.

I'm kind of affraid of wax anymore.
mike

baseballfanatic

<< <i>James

Sorry to hear about it. Did you say how much you paid for the 5 packs?

I once bought 10 Topps Red Back packs from Rotman Auctions (they used to have retail also years ago; don't think they do anymore? I actually bought new wax from them also).

Well, I opened the packs and all of them had corner wear! And the kind of dirty appearance that only comes from handling.

Luckily - I had done a lot of business with them and they trusted I didn't do a "switch" on them.

It was 400$ which is not a little money.

I'm kind of affraid of wax anymore.
mike >>




I used to LOVE when Rotman had their own mail/phone/internet auctions (along with CU, Boxlot, etc) because everyone was concentrating on Ebay and these places were holding auctions with EVERYTHING slipping through the cracks!
These were the times when a LOT could be made flipping from auction site to auction site.
I picked up 3 items from Rotman in early 2000 for 240.00 and flipped them for over 4K on Mastro and Ebay.
I remember Alan Rosen listed a ton of game used jerseys, tickets and early yearbooks on CU when they had a short lived attempt at online auctions and he ended up taking a bath on almost every item he listed....

lostdart58

98.5% feedback is NOT pretty good!!.....in fact is is pretty bad as far as feedback goes!!

storm888

"I'm kind of affraid of wax anymore."

///////////////////////////////////////

And, rightfully so.

It is too bad that we are unable to let new EBAYers
know that one cannot safely buy "unopened packs"
on EBAY, from sellers who "look OK."

BBCE is the ONLY seller from whom I would EVER
buy expensive unopened material. Even they admit
that mistakes can be made, but they stand behind
their products.

Obviously, to experienced EBAYers, the OP should have
NEGd the rip-off seller. 10 FBs - on a buying account -
is not worth trying to protect; it would have been better
to start over.

storm888

"98.5% feedback is NOT pretty good!!.....in fact is is pretty bad as far as feedback goes!! "

///////////////////////////////////////////

Yup.

But, EvilBAY continues to keep the myth alive.

Newbies need to be educated to look at the
total number of NEGs, NOT the %#s. Any seller
with NEGs for non-delivery or fake product must
be avoided.

larryallen73

I opened 4 of the 5, and big surprise....not ONE card that wasn't a common,

I realize this is only one of many reasons why the seller is clearly a scammer but I encourage you to never stop at this. I say this because I have opened dozens of boxes which I bought new back in the early 80's and know with 100% certainty they were not opened. You can go through several packs in a row where you get nothing but commons and you can go throw entire boxes without getting the prize card. Also, some scammers leave in some superstar cards but they are OC or in some other way worthless. Thus, you always need to look at the whole production before deciding if you have been scammed. It sounds like you have... and I am sorry. Just giving my thoughts for your future purchases. Good luck for better deals in the future!

Estil

You played right into that bad sellers' hands. I'm sorry, but you should've left the NEG; to hell with retaliation. And always think twice before buying from a seller that has a history of retalitory feedback; good sellers take responsbility for their mistakes.

jamesryanbell

<< <i>You played right into that bad sellers' hands. I'm sorry, but you should've left the NEG; to hell with retaliation. And always think twice before buying from a seller that has a history of retalitory feedback; good sellers take responsbility for their mistakes. >>



Very good advice bro. I'm going to look for retaliation-oriented feedback RIGHT OFF THE BAT next time (if there is a next time).

I just picked up an '89 UD Dale Murphy RevNeg for $9 that I'm about to send to PSA. I got it the same day, and it is absolutely flawless (that at least helped my day a little bit).

stevek

You should neg this weasel SOB!

Frankly, as a seller to a buyer, I couldn't care less if the buyer has a few negs because I fully understand how many weasel card sellers there are on ebay. As long as your address is confirmed by PayPal, you're really not going to have any problem whatsoever from any sellers when you have a few negs - and sellers won't care about your feedback rating when you already have a number of positives.

jimq112

<< <i>You should neg this weasel SOB!

Frankly, as a seller to a buyer, I couldn't care less if the buyer has a few negs because I fully understand how many weasel card sellers there are on ebay. As long as your address is confirmed by PayPal, you're really not going to have any problem whatsoever from any sellers when you have a few negs - and sellers won't care about your feedback rating when you already have a number of positives. >>






As a seller unless it's a real high dollar card or you see lots of negs saying scam, I don't care at all and I'm happy for the bid!

WinPitcher

Frankly, as a seller to a buyer, I couldn't care less if the buyer has a few negs because I fully understand how many weasel card sellers there are on ebay. As long as your address is confirmed by PayPal, you're really not going to have any problem whatsoever from any sellers when you have a few negs - and sellers won't care about your feedback rating when you already have a number of positives


I agree with Stevek

also, he may still issue you a neg as your 'positive' is what i call a negative that tries to look like a positive, it has happened before.

Sorry this happened to you James. Buy packs only from steve hart.

Steve

jamesryanbell

<< <i>

also, he may still issue you a neg as your 'positive' is what i call a negative that tries to look like a positive, it has happened before.

>>



He didn't. I already stated that he gave me canned feedback that was a positive..."great buyer" etc.

WinPitcher

ahhh sorry i must have missed that but be careful some weasel sleasy guys will do it.


Steve

grote15

Overtimecards is one of the most notorious pack factories on ebay. He's been selling resealed 1978, 1979 & 1980 wax on ebay for years now. No doubt that the only reason he no longer takes Paypal is that he was getting too many chargebacks. I'm frankly amazed that his FB rating is as high as it is. Check the gum in those packs. I bet it's the wrong size, too.

jamesryanbell

<< <i>Overtimecards is one of the most notorious pack factories on ebay. He's been selling resealed 1978, 1979 & 1980 wax on ebay for years now. No doubt that the only reason he no longer takes Paypal is that he was getting too many chargebacks. I'm frankly amazed that his FB rating is as high as it is. Check the gum in those packs. I bet it's the wrong size, too. >>



We need to keep a running list of vendors that are factually known for re-sealing.

WinPitcher

I would only buy packs/boxes from steve hart. no need for a list.

Steve

1966CUDA

I bought two 10-pack lots of '78 Topps football from him about a year & a half ago.....didn't get ANY stars, just commons!! I don't think I left feedbak either way, just rememberd not to ever buy anything from him again!

-Claude

ps: Steve Hart rules...I've never had anything but great stuff from him!!

storm888

"I would only buy packs/boxes from steve hart. no need for a list."

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

If everybody followed that maxim, there would never
be another one of these threads on this board.

The problem is that there is little/no way to warn folks b4
they have already learned the hard way.

rana

overtimecards has been ripping people off for ages. He always seems to ship poorly packed as well. There have been a few discussions about this thief on these boards over the years. I once even bought some packs from another seller and found them to be resealed, but only 2 of the 10 years were doctored, so I told him I didn't know who his source was or who resealed them, but they were definitely resealed by the same person. He replied that he bought those two years of packs form overtimecards. Needless to say, I was not surprised at all. He sells cheap, but only because nobody buys from him twice.

In a perfect world, eBay would care about removing bad sellers like this, but they only seem to care about getting their commissions.

I also strongly suggest you never buy form a pack seller who runs private auctions. 98% of those people are scammers. As mentioned, he also sells lots of "mint stars" form the same release he sells the "unopened wax" packs of.

basestealer

Just wanted to chime in that overtimecards has been listing (5) pack lots of late 70's wax packs for a while now--I included him in a lot of unopened product I purchased a while back for an informal study. His process isn't exactly clever, as a few of the cards in the middle of the packs had gum stains, the cards were not shuffled correctly inside the packs, and of course as others have said they are all commons.

1) He sells in 5 pack lots so that when you don't get anything but commons you will conclude that it's only the luck of the draw, and you didn't open enough to determine they were tampered with. The odds of not pulling a superstar in 5 packs is greater than if he were to sell an entire box this way

2) His auctions are private, thus hiding the buyer's identities because he is aware previously burned buyers might be tempted to notify new bidders of his track record

3) He is super greedy as opposed to kinda greedy in that unlike pack tampering specialists, he doesn't even seed semi-stars into his lots, and he makes little or no attempt to repackage the pack as it came from the factory. In some cases the gum is only partially complete, and one pack was missing a card.

ldferg

kudos to this board for shining the light for me on overtimecards long ago....

ctsoxfan

Too bad you didn't see one of the many threads on "overtime cards" on this forum over the last few years - he is a very well-known pack resealer and scammer.

By the way, there are other honest wax sellers / dealers out there besides Steve Hart. I buy from Steve too, and he's great, but you guys make it sound like every other person selling wax on eBay is a scammer (and Steve must love that!). There are indeed other honest sellers of wax out there, and you shouldn't necessarily be putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak.

jamesryanbell

<< <i>Too bad you didn't see one of the many threads on "overtime cards" on this forum over the last few years - he is a very well-known pack resealer and scammer.

By the way, there are other honest wax sellers / dealers out there besides Steve Hart. I buy from Steve too, and he's great, but you guys make it sound like every other person selling wax on eBay is a scammer (and Steve must love that!). There are indeed other honest sellers of wax out there, and you shouldn't necessarily be putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. >>



Like who? Can you name some names for us?

basestealer

There are honest sellers of unopened matieral out there. The problem isn't necessarily that everyone is a scammer or resealer like overtimecards, the problem is that even honest people cannot always verify their product if they were not the original purchaser on the year of issue. And with vintage wax, very few are the original purchaser--most of these boxes and packs have changed hands so many times that you don't have to just worry about the integrity of the person you are purchasing it from, but you have to worry about the integrity of every single person through which ownership of the box or pack has passed.

Cokin75

Overtimecards is good ole Harry Trueman, Jr. isn't it?

storm888

By the way, there are other honest wax sellers / dealers out there besides Steve Hart.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Yup.

But, once the best one is found, I just don't see any point
in taking any more chances.

grote15

Overtimecards is good ole Harry Trueman, Jr. isn't it?

Yes it is.

I also agree with ctsoxfan that there are many good deals to be found from other sources for unopened product, both on ebay and off, but the key is to know who you're dealing with, know what to look for as far as signs of resealing, tampering, etc. and to do your homework. No doubt that Steve is the best source for unopened product, but the packs and the boxes that Steve are selling are coming from private collections, after all, and it's quite possible to pick up some real nice vintage product from those private collections at a great price.

stevek

I wish people would stop talking about all the great deals they get from Steve Hart - now he's probably gonna start busting all his packs himself.

jamesryanbell

<< <i>Overtimecards is good ole Harry Trueman, Jr. isn't it? >>



Yes, yes it was.

jamesryanbell

I'm still scared to buy wax from anyone but Mark or Steve. There are some GOOOD deals on eBay for older wax, but it's too much $ to chance....

packCollector

seach these forums , he has been written about before. he has been selling those things for 5 years !! biggest crook going!!

F1ferrari

I just recently bought a box of unopened 1982 Donruss on eBay. I got a fairly good deal ($60) and I just hoped I wouldn't get ripped off. When the box arrived it was sealed with clear plastic, which I thought was wrong, but when I flipped it over, it had a 'Baseball Card Exchange' index card/label inside the plastic, and I felt relieved. I busted the box and got a nice Ripken, and about 150 card I needed for my set.

Pittfan

I can't believe that clown (overtime cards) is still allowed to sell anything on ebay. He got me a few years back. Hopefully someday his luck will run out and he will get what he deserves.

grote15

I too can't believe overtime is still at at, selling homemade wax packs after all these years. Every so often he gets called out on it, and someone leaves him a justified neg, but I'm shocked at how many positives he gets, too. Obviously, those buyers are not opening the packs and/or not experienced enough to spot resealed packs. I remember when he was even buying lots of commons and semi-stars and wrappers under the same userid (overtimecards) until someone called him out on it. I've also noticed that he has a couple of alt selling IDs for his never-ending supply of 1980, 1978, 1979 baseball and 1984 football wax.

cohocorp

98.5 % feedback is really bad in my opinion. wouldnt buy from him in the first place.

ldferg

agreed with the majority here. overtimecards...enough said.

i'm sorry you had to learn a lesson, but it could've been much worse.