SKEPTICISM..WHY??

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• jeffcbay Posts: 8,951 ✭✭✭✭

  May 6, 2009 6:04AM

  que?

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• WinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭

  May 6, 2009 6:04AM

  It's called due diligence
  
  
  
  Steve

  Good for you.

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• lsutigers1973 Posts: 11,093 ✭

  May 6, 2009 6:37AM

  If you were in the market for a PSA 7 1952 Topps Mantle and the only one you could find was on eBay from a seller that up until now had only sold toys or shoes or whatever, you wouldn't be a little suspicious? Even if he/she had only sold low end items and you are willing to spend that kind of coin, you wouldn't want to buy from a reputable dealer that had sold high end items?

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• Mintacular Posts: 1,138 ✭✭✭

  May 6, 2009 6:51AM

  Good point LSU--(I think you were tempted to write "she" only but caught yourself, eh? I'm totally kidding here, woman sellers are equal in my book...

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• gumbyfan Posts: 5,168 ✭✭✭

  May 6, 2009 6:53AM

  
  
  << <i>WHAT IF.. i was a blue collar worker, did some work, was not paid and offered some hi end cards for my services.. get em graded and decide to sell them??? very suspicious??? >>
  
  
  
  I'd be very suspicious about this. I accept payment in cash and occasionally in certain instances it's heavier & louder counterpart - change.
  
  As for your overall question, WinPitcher summed it up perfectly.

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• stown Posts: 11,321 ✭✭✭

  May 6, 2009 7:31AM

  
  
  << <i>OK, just had to ask why all the skepticism????? If a guy sells a high end card, right off the bat, everything in his life is checked out...being cautious is everyones right of course, but when a guy lists a high end card.. it's why?? he never sold anything like that before....I have tons, yes tons of cards that are lower end in value that i am/have been selling, but eventually am going to unload the big boys.. that is just how i appreciate my collection, keeping the best for last..now, i imagine when i list them, there will be the gossip of...."he only sold low priced cards, how can we trust this seller".. all his ebay feedback came from low end sales.. I am glad not all ebayers read these threads..lol OR WHAT IF.. i was a blue collar worker, did some work, was not paid and offered some hi end cards for my services.. get em graded and decide to sell them??? very suspicious??? your thoughts please and be nice!!! lol >>
  
  
  
  While I could go on and on about interweb scams, the fact there's no face-to-face interaction via eBay, and so on and so forth, it can easily be summed up in two words:
  
  Caveat Emptor

  So basically my kid won't be able to go to college, but at least I'll have a set where the three most expensive cards are of a player I despise ~ CDsNuts

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• TheTalkingWalnut Posts: 444

  May 6, 2009 9:26AM

  It's a legitimate question for the same reason why we have constitutional rights; if everybody who looked guilty was actually guilty, we wouldn't need a court system. We could just toss the "guilty" in a dungeon and go back to burning books or whatever we were doing before.
  
  There are a lot of scammers on ebay, that's hardly debatable. But as an honest horse-trader with decades of experience wheeling and dealing and as someone with experience calling auctions, seeing the inside scoop from working at different auction houses and being a licensed appraiser to boot, I can understand what jivan is saying.
  
  Case in point: me. I've collected sports cards since 1976 but have been mostly dormant since the big flameout of the early 90s. In December my cousin died and left me a shoebox full of late 60s stuff. That is true, but I don't blame a single person for disbelieving any part of it. So if I were to list some of these cards on ebay after selling everything from original Yellow Submarine animation cels to rusty Grand Cherokee parts over 10 years, that wouldn't make my situation or my integrity any less true, but it would probably appear odd to many people.
  
  My two cents is that people are naturally inclined towards laziness. They want simple, easy to remember phrases to live by like 'if it's high let it fly; if it's low let it go' or 'only terrorists buy one way airplane tickets' or something equally non-braintaxing.
  
  If every ebayer who sold nothing but sports cards was honest and every one who sold a cross-section of stuff was a crook, it would be pretty easy to figure the good guys from the bad guys. But it's not that easy. Use your head and use a little common sense, it's not that hard to spot a scammer from an honest wheeler dealer. And remember that in a free market situation, if you're too scared to buy from someone because you don't understand their past or their motives, the free market will snatch up a truly good deal rather quickly.
  
  
  
  
  

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• thunderdan Posts: 3,036 ✭✭✭

  May 6, 2009 10:12AM

  Given how much fraud exists on eBay, skepticism is a very necessary attribute to possess if you are a purchaser of hi-end sportscards on eBay. For me, it's far better buyer protection than paypal could ever provide because it steers me clear of potential problems.
  
  For example, is there a chance that an eBay user that just set up an account yesterday is truly selling a raw, authentic, unaltered, "mint" '52 Mantle? There's always a slight chance, but extremely unlikely given human nature and self interest. This is an extreme example, obviously, but examples across eBay abound.
  
  A PSA 7 Mantle being offered by a guy with low feedback and short tenure who has only ever sold mattresses on eBay does raise questions in my mind. There are lots of red flags one can consider. Some are willing to look past some while not others.
  
  In the end, it's about being an educated buyer and protecting against fraud and scam artists while still being able to find the card(s) you want.

  
  
  
  

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