Options
A New Low - Kid's Collection Stolen From Storage Unit

Hey Guys -
I know you hear a lot of these kinds of stories and a lot of them are scams, but I'm 99.9% sure this one is on the up and up. Got a lowball offer on one of my "Best Offer" items and after I replied with a gentle "you've got to be kidding" reply, the woman wrote me back and told me a story about how she had a storage unit that had been broken into and her son's collections were among the things taken. Apparently he was a big Will Clark fan and she was trying to buy a bunch of stuff on eBay to replace what was lost before she told him about the theft. She didn't know exactly what he had but he apparently collected everything - rocks, shells, coins, stamps. I'm sure we know the type
Anyway, I have spoken to the woman and like I said, I'm almost 100% positive this is legit. Her story struck a bit of a chord with me because I was a big Will the Thrill fan myself.
I sent her 105 Clark cards I had lying around free of charge. Don't sell them much anymore anyway. She was very thankful and said "I wish there were more people out there like you..."
My reply to her was this:
"...I think that MOST people are kind and generous and willing to help out. It's just the BAD ones that get all the publicity..."
So I thought I'd throw this story out to you guys and gals on the board, as most of you all seem like good people. If you have some Will Clark cards or other Will stuff lying around gathering dust and want to get this kid's collection jump started again, please PM me and I'll reply with the address.
I know you hear a lot of these kinds of stories and a lot of them are scams, but I'm 99.9% sure this one is on the up and up. Got a lowball offer on one of my "Best Offer" items and after I replied with a gentle "you've got to be kidding" reply, the woman wrote me back and told me a story about how she had a storage unit that had been broken into and her son's collections were among the things taken. Apparently he was a big Will Clark fan and she was trying to buy a bunch of stuff on eBay to replace what was lost before she told him about the theft. She didn't know exactly what he had but he apparently collected everything - rocks, shells, coins, stamps. I'm sure we know the type

Anyway, I have spoken to the woman and like I said, I'm almost 100% positive this is legit. Her story struck a bit of a chord with me because I was a big Will the Thrill fan myself.
I sent her 105 Clark cards I had lying around free of charge. Don't sell them much anymore anyway. She was very thankful and said "I wish there were more people out there like you..."
My reply to her was this:
"...I think that MOST people are kind and generous and willing to help out. It's just the BAD ones that get all the publicity..."
So I thought I'd throw this story out to you guys and gals on the board, as most of you all seem like good people. If you have some Will Clark cards or other Will stuff lying around gathering dust and want to get this kid's collection jump started again, please PM me and I'll reply with the address.
0
Comments
My feeling about people is exactly opposite. I firmly believe that most people are out to screw their neighbor (or at least will screw them if the chance came up and it meant a financial gain for them). With this said, I don't trust many people outside my immediate family. Heck, I don't even have neighbors.....I live behind the woods all secluded away from people. With this said, I get irritated when someone offers me a lowball offer and I'll generally let them know my feelings. I don't believe this lady for one second. I think she scammed you!
Rich
Rich, you are wrong! Nuff said.
<< <i>Moose:
My feeling about people is exactly opposite. I firmly believe that most people are out to screw their neighbor (or at least will screw them if the chance came up and it meant a financial gain for them). With this said, I don't trust many people outside my immediate family. Heck, I don't even have neighbors.....I live behind the woods all secluded away from people. With this said, I get irritated when someone offers me a lowball offer and I'll generally let them know my feelings. I don't believe this lady for one second. I think she scammed you!
Rich >>
Is this a joke? Yeah, I'm sure scammers are making tons of cash off of all the Will Clark cards they're scamming from people. Their next targets will be to scam Kal Daniels and Matt Nokes rookies....
MooseDog, I applaud your efforts and would have 99.9% faith in the woman as well.
had stolen MY cards back then, I'd be crushed! Will Clark? ... ya, I have a sizeable lot of RC's I'd be happy to
send! Even if they're going to some idiot out there looking to pull off the next biggest scam, SO WHAT!?!
It won't cost me much, and I'll get to feel like I did a great thing!
Russ
ALWAYS Looking for Chris Sabo cards!
Farve: Can you prove it? I hope I am wrong.....However, I don't think I am. The person that does my deliveries is a retired cop. He tells me that studies have been done that proved that 90% of the population would steal if given the opportunity IF they knew for certain they would not be caught. I knew the percentage was high, but I didn't realize it was that high.
The bottom line.....
Don't trust anyone outside your immediate family.
Rich
Remember that kleptomaniacs steal small items for the thrill of it, not because of any inherint value in what they are stealing. Similarly, scamming a few Will Clark cards would still garner a thrill to the scammer, even if it isn't ARod or Pujols or whoever.
I guess the way I see it is if she's that bad off that she has to try to scam to get will clark stuff she needs them more than I need them sitting in a closet. If she really was stolen from, people giving her stuff to replace what was lost has to make her feel great. Been there myself, it's no fun. Mine was a $25K car stereo they cut out of a corvette with a sawzall.
<< <i>Moose:
My feeling about people is exactly opposite. I firmly believe that most people are out to screw their neighbor (or at least will screw them if the chance came up and it meant a financial gain for them). With this said, I don't trust many people outside my immediate family. Heck, I don't even have neighbors.....I live behind the woods all secluded away from people. With this said, I get irritated when someone offers me a lowball offer and I'll generally let them know my feelings. I don't believe this lady for one second. I think she scammed you!
Rich >>
This will probably be enough to send Stone into one of his "vacations" from the site.
PhilG: It sounds like you almost certainly have Paranoid Personality Disorder vs. Schizoid Personality Disorder.
To the OP, you gave the cards away with the intention of doing the right thing. Regardless of the outcome, I have no doubt that it made your day to know you're helping out someone else.
<< <i>Moose: It's not a joke. Heck, the lady already tried to low ball this guy.
Farve: Can you prove it? I hope I am wrong.....However, I don't think I am. The person that does my deliveries is a retired cop. He tells me that studies have been done that proved that 90% of the population would steal if given the opportunity IF they knew for certain they would not be caught. I knew the percentage was high, but I didn't realize it was that high.
The bottom line.....
Don't trust anyone outside your immediate family.
Rich >>
More stupidity. So let's see-- 90% of the population would steal EXCEPT for one's immediate family. Are we to assume, then, that only 10% of the population has an immediate family member?
And as far as 'studies' go, there are 'studies' that show 10% of the population is gay, 17.5% of all children are sexually abused at some point, and so on and so on. You can make a 'study' to prove just about anything. But let's say you're right, and this woman is a scammer. Who cares? In this case there are two scenerios.
1) She's telling the truth. You send her a bunch of cards you don't want, and will never miss, and he son is elated.
2) She's lying. You send her a bunch of cards you don't want, and will never miss, and she makes $1.25 reselling them on Ebay.
It's basically a freeroll, since you don't 'lose' in either case. This isn't like sending someone a stack of NM T206's-- for Christ's sake, it's WILL CLARK.
Who the hell cares if someone gets one over for some freakin will clark cards, it's the thought, gesture and acting on intuition that matters here. For cryin-out-loud, it's will clark, not Hank Aaron or Babe Ruth!!
Ditto.........what he said - we pretty much posted the same reply at the same time - High Five!!
Who Cares? I sure do if I'm the one getting scammed. I don't care if it's for 25 cents or $2,500 as its all about the principle to me. I've been in retail for 12 years now, and i have caught plenty of grown adults stealing low end items during my time. The thing that really killed me is that most of the time these people had plenty of money in their pocket that they could have used to pay for the item.
Rich
That being said, I'm happy to help out this collector, if MooseDog is convinced by her story, I'll put together a package of cards and send them off. It may take me a while (up to a few months) as my box of duplicates is currently in a different time zone, but I'll do what I can when I'm able.
In the meantime, I think someone should contact the A-Team, as whoever did this deserves to get his a** kicked.
I actually agree with you. However, from my perspective of people, you would have to get rid of more than me. I am the way I am in order to protect myself and my family. According to the retired cop as stated above,you would have to get rid of 90% of the population plus me. I simply don't trust people and the way I act and my actions in real life reflect that. Like I said earlier, I don't subscribe to the theory which states.... to treat people the way you want them to treat you, but instead I follow my rule/theory which is .... "I treat people the way they treat me".
Rich
Good: I helped a little old lady across the street the other day, so she could get to the bank
Evil: Yes, but what if she was carrying a loaded revolver?
Sheesh!!!
<< <i>Oy Vey!! Issues, issues............UP NEXT, CU members debate the difference between GOOD & EVIL
Good: I helped a little old lady across the street the other day, so she could get to the bank
Evil: Yes, but what if she was carrying a loaded revolver?
Sheesh!!!
yeah but we're talking about eBay here, and anonymous people behind computer screens.. not old ladies trying to cross the street..
i agree with RichG too.. i tend not to trust very many people..
edited to add - and where i come from, lots of old ladies carry revolvers..
If you believed the lady its good enough for me. Like others said, you dont lose either way, and the benefit of helping out someone in need is far greater than the possible loss of some relatively worthless cards.
RichG, the world is what we make of it, nothing more, nothing less. If you go through life believing everyone is a cheat, being bitter and untrusting to a fault then you are only contributing to the problem. Every now and again treating someone to a kind gesture may just come back to you twofold. Karma is a funny thing.
MooseDog, feel free to PM me with any info, Id be glad to help out the lady/child.
-- Yogi Berra
I hear you, and I am nice to people. Actually, I'm very nice to the people who are nice to me. However, I sure in the heck will not be nice to some person who tried to lowball me!
Rich
<< <i>bri:
I hear you, and I am nice to people. Actually, I'm very nice to the people who are nice to me. However, I sure in the heck will not be nice to some person who tried to lowball me!
Rich >>
Dear Esteemed Members of CU,
I'm about to make a startling admission. One day a guy walked in to my store with an outstanding collection and asked me how much I'd be willing to pay for it. So, I low-balled him! He took the offer! I still feel guilty to this day, especially when I'm paying my taxes, or my electric bill, or my rent, or my wife's bill from the hairdresser, or whatever.
Signed, Every Dealer
"Dear Esteemed Members of CU,
I'm about to make a startling admission. One day a guy walked in to my store with an outstanding collection and asked me how much I'd be willing to pay for it. So, I low-balled him! He took the offer! I still feel guilty to this day, especially when I'm paying my taxes, or my electric bill, or my rent, or my wife's bill from the hairdresser, or whatever.
Signed, Every Dealer "...........................
The life-blood of the retail collection-resale business is the ability of the dealer to
buy items for substantially less money than he can resell them for. The collectible
retailer does not have a "traditional wholesaler" to order scarce collectibles from.
If I am retailing toasters for $20.00, I probably paid about $8.00 for them when
my wholesaler delivered 48 of them to me. If I paid any more than that, I would
not be able to make a profit; no profit for me, no toaster store for my community.
Fair and standard business dealings are not something that I personally feel guilty
about. Being the greater bearer of sophistication in a collectible transaction is not
a shameful act; it is simply the nature of the market.
I also do not get mad when somebody lowballs me. I just do not do the proposed
deal with them.
Toasters and MOST collectibles are NOT a "storehouse of value." When someone
buys either from a retailer, there should be no expectation that the value of the
items will increase. If someone wants to buy collectibles cheap and "guarantee"
themselves a profit on resale, they should open a store and sit there all day in
hopes that enough people will come into buy something and sell something to
enable them to pay the lease-rent and other expenses.
I cannot tell you how many times people have brought me collectibles to buy
and said, "I see you are selling your item for $10.00, can you buy mine for
$10.00?" No, I cannot. I can pay you less, and expect to keep the item on
the shelf for a while.
WalMart does not feel guilty when they sell a toaster that cost $1.90 to make and
deliver, for $19.73. The same "contrition not required" principles apply to all business
operators, including Collectible retailers. Do doctors and lawyers have to feel guilty for
charging HUGE fees to people who have not got a clue what they are paying for? Nope.
Have I ever hit "homeruns" and done well on items I purchased from people who
knew less than I did about those items? Sure. Have I ever paid too much and gotten
stuck with junk? Sure.
But, as a product of Catholic schools, I would be lying if I did not say that I DO understand
the "guilt" associated with having "bought stuff REALLY cheap from bewildered/desperate sellers."
When those feelings come upon me, I take a nap.
storm
Those that said they'd have something for the kid I'll get you the address when I get home late tonight. Don't have the info here at work.
Minnie Minoso Master and Basic
1967 Topps PSA 8+
1960's Topps run Mega Set
"For me, playing baseball has been like a war and I was defending the uniform I wore, Every time I put on the uniform I respected it like the American flag. I wore it like I was representing every Latin country."--Minnie Minoso
What if she found a 1986 copy of Beckett and thinks the cards are worth real money?
Who cares.
I applaud those who are willing to trust and give away what is not very valuable to them, but perhaps is worth much to another.
Sometimes you just have to be kind hearted, leave it that and forget about negative possibilities.
If you would like to PM me I'll send a few also.
Keith
<< <i>Remember guys, you are trying to debate with RichG...the guy that lives in the woods very faraway from other people. LOL >>
whats wrong with that?..
<< <i>Wow, two pages so far. Interesting comments for sure. Me, I tend to trust people first. Like I said, I am almost positive this is not a scam. As many pointed out, we're talking Will Clark here, who, great player that he was, isn't very hot where cards are concerned. I mean she could have said, "Oh, by the way, he likes Albert Pujols too" (or Barry Bonds, or Alex Gordon for that matter).
Those that said they'd have something for the kid I'll get you the address when I get home late tonight. Don't have the info here at work. >>
Good for you Moose.
Scam or not - your heart is in the right place and the act of charity, empathy, kindness and generosity are done without regard for anything in return.
I believe in seeing the glass as half full - if I got wrapped up with what others do? I wouldn't be able to even get out of the bed each day.
TV reporting has skewed people's outlook of the world - I believe there are way more good people and acts of kindness than we are aware - tho I recommend one stays off the highway during rush hour!
mike
<< <i>I remember well when the Will Clark Fleer RC was a hot item at $50. What year exactly did that all go to hell? >>
I'm pretty sure it topped out around $35 in 1989 or 1990 when Will was at his peak. The card was strong for a long time, but slowly declined, much like Will's career. As a big fan, I've long been disappointed that Will didn't age more gracefully. I wish he would have bought a gym membership, as it coulda made all the difference for him...
With regard to me living in the woods and away from people......I do exactly what I preach. I hate people who say one thing but do another.
Rich
<< <i>5th scale and pandrews:
With regard to me living in the woods and away from people......I do exactly what I preach. I hate people who say one thing but do another.
Rich >>
i wasnt saying anything negative about it.. hell i grew up in the woods.. i'm all for it..
Rich
well.. in all fairness, there is no better source than hearsay from a deliveryman telling you about studies he heard about a long time ago.. that's pretty conclusive evidence right there.
*rolls eyes
As for anyone questioning how a kid could be a Will Clark fan, think about this, at one point all of us were six, seven years old. He could have met the Thrill one day outside the ballpark and Will signed something for him, making him a lifelong fan. Little moments like that are the reason why guys are fans of the Will Clarks, Jim Abbotts, and in my case, the John Ceruttis.
On a side note Moose, if you don't mind me asking, did her Ebay feedback back up her story? i.e. has she been on Ebay long enough to have acquired a bunch of items via auctions?
Forget blocking him; find out where he lives and go punch him in the nuts. --WalterSobchak 9/12/12
Looking for Al Hrabosky and any OPC Dave Campbells (the ESPN guy)
<< <i>On a side note Moose, if you don't mind me asking, did her Ebay feedback back up her story? i.e. has she been on Ebay long enough to have acquired a bunch of items via auctions? >>
Good point, I didn't even think about that...just checked her ID, she just signed up in April and has been buying (mostly cheap) bulk lots of Hot Wheels, Star Wars, and Masters of the Universe stuff, a couple of Will autographs and a 1987 Donruss RC mounted on a plaque (remember when those plaques were all the rage?) - all of which she did mention the kid had collected.
I'm convinced NOW.....Good thing she didn't try that silly "My Babe Ruth signed baseball landed in the neighbor's yard and now a big dog has it" story, though
<< <i>
My feeling about people is exactly opposite. I firmly believe that most people are out to screw their neighbor - Rich >>
I try as often as I can but her husband is home all too often.
Please pm me the lady's name and address so she can scam me out of a few Will Clark cards.
Jim
<< <i>
<< <i>
My feeling about people is exactly opposite. I firmly believe that most people are out to screw their neighbor - Rich >>
I try as often as I can but her husband is home all too often.
Please pm me the lady's name and address so she can scam me out of a few Will Clark cards.
Jim >>
PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!
<< <i>Couple of points to think about. This world is all about karma. Moose, good karma will come your way. You are doing something that doesn't amount to much but a few pennies worth of cards and postage. You could be sending cards to a woman that is genuinely sincere and her son will be elated. If she is lying, bad karma will befall her.
As for anyone questioning how a kid could be a Will Clark fan, think about this, at one point all of us were six, seven years old. He could have met the Thrill one day outside the ballpark and Will signed something for him, making him a lifelong fan. Little moments like that are the reason why guys are fans of the Will Clarks, Jim Abbotts, and in my case, the John Ceruttis.
On a side note Moose, if you don't mind me asking, did her Ebay feedback back up her story? i.e. has she been on Ebay long enough to have acquired a bunch of items via auctions? >>
SO if the "kid" was 6 or 7 when Clark played that would make him how old now?
P.S. I believe the story, just saying.
Minnie Minoso Master and Basic
1967 Topps PSA 8+
1960's Topps run Mega Set
"For me, playing baseball has been like a war and I was defending the uniform I wore, Every time I put on the uniform I respected it like the American flag. I wore it like I was representing every Latin country."--Minnie Minoso
<< <i>
SO if the "kid" was 6 or 7 when Clark played that would make him how old now?
>>
I was born 2 years after Mickey Mantle retired, but I still collect him. Mays was a horrible Met when I was 3 yet I dont turn his cards away. Clark could have been his big brother's or dad's favorite player.