How do you.....

LOTSOS

Trade high dollar cards.

Well I guess high dollar is relative because I know some of you have 5 figure cards. I have a trade that I'm going to make with each card worth a couple of K and I'm trying to figure out the best way to protect myself. I contacted him about a different card he has on eBay (3000+ Feedback 100% positive). In the mean time I won an auction for another copy of that card so I didn't need his card. We txt back and forth over a few days about hockey cards and hockey in general and found out he had a card that is not listed that I'd want and I have one that interests him.

Long story short I have a good feeling about this guy and the trade but I'm a bit nervous to ship off my card and just hope for the other in return. So I figured many of you have done this before and I'm hoping for some good advice. I thought about exchanging PayPal cash just so each of us would have buyers protection but figured I'd check for other ideas here.

Thanks,
Kevin

mcpheely

I have made several trades like you're discussing.

When I started, we used a middle man. Find someone reputable, you both send your cards to him/her, when both are received, said middle man sends to each. Obviously that's double shipping costs and a little something to the middle man for the effort.

Now that I've built a little bit of a rep for high end trades, mostly we each just ship and wait.

Trading is dangerous though. Just make sure you trust the person. Hopefully this helps a little.

HighGradeLegends

At a show, yes. With forums or online people i do not know, then no.

thesouthdoesitagain

I done some high trades before and some for cash deals....I have asked a few times about using a middleman (aka Leon on Net54) or some other source. All went smooth without needing it. But I DID INSURE the item...in case of a possible scenario the package got lost or not delivered. I'd also use Registered Mail. Making them sign for the package. Just mae sure both have tracking #'s and go on from that.
*Note: if doing paypal friends (Off Ebay) make sure and use a Credit Card as the pay method.

LOTSOS

Thanks everyone. We worked it out. Basically he bought my card and I bought his through PayPal for the same amount. This way we both have buyers protection, don't have to ship twice, or enlist a 3 party. It cost a few bucks but so does shipping and insuring twice.

Thanks,
Kevin

sushihotwings

It is a good question Kevin and one I have been close to dealing with as well so curious how others might have dealt with it. I guess at some point if the person you are dealing with has lengthy and all positive feedback you just have to take a bit of a calculated gamble. Even with regular sales through EBay you are counting on the buyer not saying you sent an empty box or some other crazy made up scenario. Reputation still means something and if you pull a crazy stunt your business will suffer when you get dragged through the mud.