Post your best (or worst) Ebay "Surprise"

[perezfan]

With the Catalogue Auctions, we are normally 99% sure of what we're bidding on. The photos are accurate and revealing, and the descriptions are written by professionals within the hobby. Granted... there's a couple of who are kinda deceptive, but that's a topic we've already beaten to death.

Ebay, on the other hand, is loaded with sellers who don't know what they have, and often don't know how to describe the goods. In some cases, the sellers are downright deceiving. The Mickey Mantle Ball with an undisclosed broken nail inside prompted me to start a new thread about Ebay "surprises".

I know we have all had them.... some good, but probabaly more that weren't so great. I'll start out with one of mine...

A vintage Mr Met Bobblehead with the Head perched on the neck (via Silly Putty), and no spring. The seller claimed he didn't know that a spring was ever part of it, and that's why he didn't disclose that it was missing. He simply packed it in a shoe Box with no padding, newspaper, bubble wrap, peanuts or any other type of protection. Just a bobblehead in a box. I did get my money back, but this one was so clueless, I just had to laugh.

Post yours, if you have a good one...

[FUBAR]

this was way back when ebay started,

there was a listing for "Two very old black and white baseball cards"

i emailed the seller and asked what two names were on the card...
Satchel Paige and someone else i cant remember.

I asked for a picture of said cards. She couldnt provide a picture....back then, this wasnt that uncommon.

I then asked if there was a date listed anywhere on the card... she said she was an old lady and her eye sight wasnt good to read the small print on the back. She just wanted to get rid of them cause they reminder her of her late husband.

SO i won the auction for $32 i think it was.

I received the cards in the mail and written on the back in huge font that covered the entire card....

"reprint
of
original
card"
1992 TCMA

to say the least i felt duped.....

Now for a positive one...

I bought a generic lot of hockey cards listed as "My hockey cards from when i was a kid" i think i paid 7 $ for the lot.

When the cards arrived, there was about $3500 worth of cards including some i had graded like my Bossy RC which went for a BGS 8.5 and a 72 Dionne which graded an 8 i think it was.... but also a ton of other rc's and star cards from 69 to 82 in great shape.... i couldnt believe i bought the lot for 7$ or 12$ with shipping.

[slidekellyslide]

The Good- I bought a small lot of baseball paper ephemera off of ebay because I could see a Golden Jubilee program for Connie Mack in the lot. I won the lot for the minimum bid of $5...when the lot came in the mail there were two snapshots of a fellow with Connie Mack, the Golden Jubilee program was written in, but the writing told a story about how they had grown up next door to Mr Mack in Philly and what a great man he was...the best part though was a certificate from the American Legion for a baseball tournament that was signed by Kennesaw M Landis.

The Bad- I bought a small lot of what was supposed to be a 19th Century baseball scrapbook from one of those Ebay Live auctions..the auctions stated that the lot included the scrapbook a baseball themed hand fan, and about 100 baseball photos. It was one of those auctions where you had to arrange your own shipping...so I got the number of the shipper from the auctioneer and when I called he told me that it would be about a month before he could ship it...I was not happy, but what could I do? After about 6 weeks I called him back and asked where my package was and he said he'd get it out right away...about two weeks later it finally came and I was horribly disappointed to find out that scrapbook was just the covers...everything inside was torn out..the fan was nice, but there were no photos to be found anywhere. So I called the shipper and he told me that there never were any photos or anything inside the scrapbook...so I called the auctioneer and they said they had no idea what I was talking about. I wasn't out a lot of money, but it was disappointing nonetheless.

The Ugly- I once bought a BIN for what appeared to be a framed album page from an A&G baseball card album supposedly in an antique frame....when I opened the package there was an overwhelming blast of spray paint fumes...the gold on the frame came off on my fingers when I pulled it out...I knew right away I was scammed...the album page was a fake. I blame myself for that one...it was definitely too good to be true.

[D. Bergin]

Early days of Ebay I picked up about a dozen "Fan Craze" cards including several HOF'ers for under 20 bucks. The description simply stated "Baseball playing cards" listed with a few last names and placed in the Playing cards category of Ebay. :D


Worst experiences are probably the overzealous tape jobs done on items inside the packaging, making it impossible to free the said item without damaging it.

I always want to e-mail them and tell them tape is for the "OUTSIDE" of the box, not the inside. The inside is for packing materials and reinforcement.

It's frustrating because you know they think they are doing you a favor by being extra careful with the packaging.

On the other hand, getting photos shipped to you without any cardboard re-enforcement and folded into the mailbox.

I've also had a couple statue display pieces show up broken because they were just thrown boxes without any packing added to protect them.

The worst shipping offenders are actually from the few returns I've taken, usually from people who bought something they simply had a change of heart on. I usually just tell them to send it back without any argument.......it's simpler that way.

Without fail they always ship it back the cheapest way possible.........and nowhere near they way you shipped it out to them to begin with. A little while back I had a guy return a book because he thought it was a hardcover.........even though the description stated softcover and had a nice big photo of the item........not to mention the book doesn't even exist in a hardcover. I sent it out to him in a nice sturdy box, media mail shipping, lots of packing.

Of course he sends it back by stuffing it into a manila envelope with no packing or re-enforcement. The book is totally destroyed and worthless by the time it gets back to me. :mad:

[prewarsports]

GOOD. I bought a small lot of sports items in an ebay auction that ranged from the turn of the century to the 1960's. I did not even really care about the little scorecard in there but when I got it and saw names like George and Harry Wright on it, I knew it was good. The scorecard sold at auction for $4,000+. I paid $16 for the lot.

BAD. I bought what was described as a workmans style glove in the early days of ebay. The pictures were a little blurry, but it looked good from what I could see. When I got it I knew right away it was a 20th century handball glove. Seller refused a refund and this was before paypal and all their buyer protections. I was out about $700 from the premeditated scam.

[mjkm90]

Good-Poorly listed lot of "Cubs memorabilia" that contained the round as well as the scarcer rectangular Cubs tins and a superior example of a 1930s Cubs figural...total $135.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q304/mjkm90/IMG_1188.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q304/mjkm90/IMG_1190.jpg

The bad-Two terrific figurals that showed up completely destroyed. I'm convinced one was destroyed before it shipped because he told me that if there was any problem with the piece to let him know. It was double boxed and well packed yet smashed to bits with no box damage. In both cases I got my money back, but I would have prefered the pieces.

[drc]

I once won a small stack of baseball signed letters on eBay, with advertised folks ranging from the likes of Ed Ball to Carl Yastremski. Unadvertised but included were signed handwritten letters by Jack Glasscock and 1877 pitching triple crown winner Tommy Bond. I've seen only one other Tommy Bond autograph for sale since then and that was a signed index card in a Mike Gutierrez Auction. The Bond letter was a response to NL President Ford Frick and was stapled to a green file carbon copy of Frick's letter, showing the letter came from Frick's files.

[packs]

I was once searching around for CDV's and came across a CDV of every Civil War General and Officer, about a hundred heads all crammed onto the CDV including Grant and Doubleday. I paid $100 for it and then flipped it for $500. A month later, I saw that the person who bought the CDV from me had entered it into a Hunt auction. The CDV sold for $325. Good pay day for me, horrible one for him.

[thekingofclout]

Well I have a big Tupperware box that houses my Bad surprises/mistakes. As we all now know how expensive these Ebay lessons can be... and boy did I pay for my schooling!

At least I was able to learn from some of my mistakes (that's why I have a big box instead of a small one) and over time, a bit more and a bit more.

Because most of these Ebay surprises, good or bad, still fall into the category of good decision or bad.

The life lesson we learned in grammar school, the Three "R's" still apply to collecting. My 3-R's are:

Research, Read, and Remember.

Well, a decade later, and I'm still making mistakes, just less of them and not as costly. But I also reap the rewards of my labor of love. You just have to take the good with the bad. A little Ying and a dash of Yang.

I was given good advice from many. "Don't trust GAI". Nah, I thought, they're Ebay approved. In my bad box there sits a beautiful second year Michael Jordan signed press sheet. Also a GAI Roger Maris 1961 Pin (Pin? I didn't know that GAI slabbed Pins?) in the small version...oops, they didn't make a small version of that particular pin...Shit!

And even earlier than that, I bought a GAI Jimmy Foxx signed George Burke original photo and a GAI Babe Ruth signed 1939 FDC. Damn it...DOH!

The only reason that those two expensive Bad Surprises/Mistakes are not sitting in my bad box is because Marshall bailed me out. It took him several calls to Steve and a letter, but they paid me in four monthly installments. A shout-out "Thanks" Marsh, I owe you...uh..umm... a lot!

Maybe this thread isn't as good as I thought it was! Thanks Mark!

Well that's all I can stomach for now, So after I throw up a few times I'll come back and post some of the good surprises.

Best, Jimmy :confused: :( :o :mad: :)

P.S. That is Marshall FOGEL not Barkman.

[perezfan]

Great stories, Jimmy...

Sorry to spur those bad memories! But I can relate so much to them, as I think most of us can. There are very few feelings in life worse than being duped, but that's how we ultimately learn and progress.

I would bet that most people on here who deny it ever happening to them are fibbing (or at least not telling the whole truth). Nobody knows everything from "Day 1". That's what makes this hobby a great one... the continued learning and sharing of the knowledge.

The Jimmie Foxx Ball that sits in my shadowbox display represents "attempt #2" at an original one. There were lots of other silly mistakes made along the way as well... including some recent big ones (i.e. that damn Cap Anson Padlock!) Some were driven by the hope of getting something valuable for a great price- though amazingly, I never "bit" at any Coach's Corner offerings... even in the early days (thank God!).

I'll stop rambling, but suffice it to say that despite the mistakes and setbacks, all of our collections are better since the advent of Ebay. I know mine is, and that the good far outweighs the bad. Now, I can't wait to read about your "good surprises", Jimmy. There must be quite a few, given the infinite number of gems you've posted here!

[Orioles1954]

The Bad-----A "raw" 1933 DeLong Lou Gehrig which turned out to be a carefllu designed reprint. Luckily, I got my money back.

The Good----(7) Old baseball cards for $2....which consisted of (6) 1980s commons and a random 1951 Topps Team Phillies card! Flipped for $60

The Great----Cracker Jack with blurry photo. Seller wasn't sure if it was a reprint or not and noted as such in the description. I was looking for adventure. $30 later I got the card. A beautiful 1915 Cracker Jack Louis Evans which got a SGC 84!

James

[BrockJacob]

Most of my bad ebay surprises have been items arriving smashed to hell. I bought one of big Blatz bar display statues and it arrived with the arm broken off the bottle figure and it looked like the seller had taken some sand paper to the paint before he packaged it because it looked much better in the photo. The most dissapointed I've ever been about an item is when this Red Sox figural ashtray showed up broken into about a dozen pieces. I didn't pay a bunch for it but its the kind of oddball thing I love and its the only one I've ever seen. I was really bummed.

[perezfan]

Wow Brock... that was a really rare and possibly unique piece. What a freakin shame... I'd be crying loke a baby! It's amazing to me how these things can survive for 70 years (unscathed), and then get demolished the minute you are about to get your hands on it.

I say punishment by lethal injection, to all of the ebay sellers who put no effort into packaging these fragile and irreplaceable items! Or perhaps that was too "Dorskindy" (to quote another recent thread on the card side).

[vintagesportflips]

My best surprise came in a huge group of more modern football and baseball programs (a couple of box loads), mainly Eagles stuff from the 70s and 80s. As I was sorting through it, at the bottom of one of the boxes, was an Eagles player contract from the 40s, a 1960 Eagles yearbook (which aren't that easy to come by), and a folder of a bunch of team used letterhead, etc.
As an Eagles collector, I was ecstatic with that surprise.

Worst surprise. Several years ago, when I was more into nodders, and trying to complete the relatively inexpensive merger series set, I came across a Baltimore Colts merger series nodder, that had a very odd base. The base was more of a wedge shaped base, with script Baltimore, exactly like you would see on the base of a Baltimore Orioles nodder. I emailed the seller, and he assured me that it was all original, and I specifially asked about how the ankle area looked. It looked perfect in the photos, and I thought it was some very rare prototype or something, so I won it. Upon receiving it, although it was not evident in the photos, the ankles had been obviously broken off, and for some reason attached to the feet and base of a Baltimore Orioles nodder. My prototype was too good to be true. I recall an incredible hassle to get a refund too.

[thekingofclout]

the good ebay surprises that are still in my collection.

About five years ago, I came across this familiar image of Matty. I had bought many times from the seller and I had no reason to think it was anything but a TYPE I image of Matty and a stellar one at that even though there wasn't a scan of the back provided.

So, I won the auction for just over five hundred and was very pleased to get such a terrific deal. About a week later, it arrived safe and sound...

16169

and when I flipped it over I bout shit myself! :eek:

16172

There was Matty's name written in pencil while in the hand of a certain Charles M. Conlon almost a hundred years ago. Since then, I was able to acquire a companion piece that further supports my claim...

16175

look at the bottom right corner of the image and you'll see that Conlon was given credit I've researched it ever since and at this time it is evident that this is the only known TYPE I of this image in private hands. I do miss the good old days of Baseball Photography :)

[Kawika]

Awesome with flames coming out the top. That's one for the Net54 Hall of Fame, Jimmy.

[Oldtix]

Ditto to that, David...fantastic stroke of luck, Jimmy!

[thekingofclout]

Ditto to that, David...fantastic stroke of luck, Jimmy!

Agreed Rick. I'd rather be lucky than good, any ole day! ;)