Buyer Beware these auctions

[ezez420]

Not sure if anyone is watching these auctions but real shady. Selling all high end stuff within 3 days. Guy is using some eBay id with 15 feedback to shill every auction up. Here is a link to his stuff. Complete BS.


http://www.ebay.com/sch/premier-cards/m.html?item=221387505829&pt=US_Baseball&hash=item338bb940a5&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562




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[team-of-rivals]

There's a decent possibility that he in fact, does have the items in hand.....but as you've pointed out.....he's shilling the hell out of them. Idiots never cease to amaze!

[charnick]

just looked at two of the them, the gibson and the rose, and both are FAKE. typeface on the PSA label is a dead giveaway. reported. and yet, the jordan flip appears real.

[soxfan1986]

that guy has some sick stuff for sale.
i hope for the buyers sake that mantle bowman RC is real, its up to $6900

i did see in his feedback that hes sold some super high end stuff in the past.

[pawpawdiv9]

just happened to see this and just so happens this seller has a card that I and another board member are discussing. I passed this thread along and made him aware of this info.
May i ask you Charnick..more in detail on the fakes slab and why you suggest it so to better inform us all.

[Leon]

I moved this from the Ebay BST section to help warn more folks.

[t206trader]

just looked at two of the them, the gibson and the rose, and both are FAKE. typeface on the PSA label is a dead giveaway. reported. and yet, the jordan flip appears real.

I agree with Charnick on this one. If you compare the slabs with other authentic PSA slabs you'll notice that the typeface on the "P"s in Topps look a bit different. Almost as if the oval part of the P is smaller/scrunched up. Other than that the slabs are pretty close. It seems far too coincidental that both of these cards exhibit the same atypical pattern in the P. When you consider this and the seller's relatively low feedback, I'd err on the side of caution and stay away.

[bn2cardz]

The barcode on the Gibson (the only one I looked at) is wrong
From ebay auction:http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODUxWDUyOA==/z/DOIAAOxy0NtTFqOY/$_57.JPG

From cardtarget:http://www.cardtarget.com/ebayauction_image_serve.php?imageID=1987613216&width=355.029585798817

[t206trader]

The barcode on the Gibson (the only one I looked at) is wrong
From ebay auction:http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODUxWDUyOA==/z/DOIAAOxy0NtTFqOY/$_57.JPG

From cardtarget:http://www.cardtarget.com/ebayauction_image_serve.php?imageID=1987613216&width=355.029585798817

That pretty much settles it. Not even the PSA logo at the top is the same. Clearly a printed slab. I knew something was fishy as soon as I saw the label.

[nolemmings]

The fact that the Mantle rookie and the Tinker Uzit are ungraded is telling. Also, I'm no expert on T206s, but the Uzit looks re-backed to me.

For a seller named premier cards, he has almost all his feedback selling women's clothing and accessories. Odd.

Edited to add : The gibsons are clearly two different flips-- the grade "Mint 9" is on two lines of one flip and a single line on the other.

[vintagetoppsguy]

The fact that the Mantle rookie and the Tinker Uzit are ungraded is telling. Also, I'm no expert on T206s, but the Uzit looks re-backed to me.

For a seller named premier cards, he has almost all his feedback selling women's clothing and accessories. Odd.

Edited to add : The gibsons are clearly two different flips-- the grade "Mint 9" is on two lines of one flip and a single line on the other.

Agreed on the Mantle and Tinker and the Uzit looks rebacked to me as well.

On the Gibson, if it is legit, it's possible it was re-slabbed. There is a huge scratch on the older one. If it were mine, I would have paid the $5 (or whatever the fee) to have it re-slabbed.

[t206trader]

It's for sure a fake slab. Here are the Pete Rose's for comparison. One on the left was sold by Memory Lane, just like the Gibson :rolleyes: Those aren't the same cards or even the same barcodes...

[conor912]

The top edge on the back of the Mantle flares up on the right side.

It blows me away what people will bid on a "mint" raw card from a seller with 108 feedback and a No Returns policy. That is just straight up delusional.

[bn2cardz]

The Gibson bar code on the fake would read as 99eee70e (e = error, no number found for this section) The Jordan's barcode is correct, but given two fakes I am sure that one doesn't stand a chance.

[yankees23]

It's for sure a fake slab. Here are the Pete Rose's for comparison. One on the left was sold by Memory Lane, just like the Gibson :rolleyes: Those aren't the same cards or even the same barcodes...

Curious how you were able to track down the real Rose? There is no barcode database with pics is there? Would be nice if there was...although that might lead to even more fraud :(

[t206trader]

Curious how you were able to track down the real Rose? There is no barcode database with pics is there? Would be nice if there was...although that might lead to even more fraud :(

I just Cardtarget.com'ed 1964 Topps Pete Rose in PSA 9. It seems this seller typically uses past Memory Lane auctions so that was the first one I clicked on and Voila, fake confirmed.

[iwantitiwinit]

This is not going to end well. Thanks for the info.

[yankees23]

I just Cardtarget.com'ed 1964 Topps Pete Rose in PSA 9. It seems this seller typically uses past Memory Lane auctions so that was the first one I clicked on and Voila, fake confirmed.

Ah, that's what I figured. Scary

[ooo-ribay]

I'm new here....what now? Contact eBay? Or, as I suspect, could they not care less about this kind of fraud (as long as they get their cut)?

[bn2cardz]

I'm new here....what now? Contact eBay? Or, as I suspect, could they not care less about this kind of fraud (as long as they get their cut)?

I have, but I have tried a lot with previous sellers to no avail. I hope they would take this one seriously because this could cost them a lot more money than make them.

[CW]

Thanks for starting this thread, Ed, and others for contributing! Thanks also to Chris for pointing this out to me. I was this close to buying his SGC 60 '52 Topps Mantle, which I believe is one of his legit cards, but too many red flags for me to go through with it.

[MattyC]

A 52 Mick in SGC 5 for 18k or best offer is obviously a scam. 5s in this market will command 20-30k if not more with eye appeal.

With that kind of inventory the seller wouldn't be having a desperate fire sale.

There are some things in life where "bargain steal deals" are just not possible. Premium, elite items like T206 Wagners and 52 Topps Mantles, for example. A new Ferrari. Everyone would love to have one on the cheap, but it just ain't gonna happen. Good scammers prey on guys looking for the sweet deal. But if one wants the real Rolex, they buy it at the Rolex store, or the like, not off a fold out table on Canal Street in Chinatown.

A motivated seller is one thing but no way a 5 goes that cheap. Too good to be true, which means it isn't true.

[novakjr]

Mostly from looking at the '52 Topps Mantle photos. I curious as to why it's the lone card where the photos are cropped, with the black border added.. If you save and blowup the back of the card, it's quite obvious that the photo's been cropped from somewhere, as a not so black sharp corner extends slightly past the rounded corner of the slab.

Looking back at his past auctions, he recently received positive feedback for the Gretzky. So that might be a good sign. Or it might just be something funny's going on. Look at the bid history on that one, it's crazy. Almost like they were setting up a few false sales on BIG ticket items, so that they could lure people into a sense of security on this next wave of auctions..

However, looking at that one, and even the other cards currently listed, there doesn't appear to be any photoshop done with the scans. Why the 52 Mantle? Could it be that he only had an image that was already cropped, and needed the black border so that it would match that scans in his other auctions? The Gibson does not appear to have been cropped and photoshopped, so again, why the Mantle?

None of this is fact. And for all we know, it could be legit. But based on what I saw in a coupla minutes of looking, I wouldn't feel comfortable bidding on these... Aside from the fact that I'm a cheap a$$, and these are WAY out of my price range..

[pawpawdiv9]

As this was pointed out in my conversations with a board member. He finally remembered where he saw it from. The 52 Mick had a different slab.
He said he remembered it by the scruff mark on his chin. In the end, it looks like our board guy just barely saved himself.

The question now is?? Does It seems legit??
See if they dont look the same????
Here the link of the 52 prior:
http://sports.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=714&lotIdNo=117001
http://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B4%2F5%2F5%2F6%2F4556053%5D%2Csizedat a%5B840x2000%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D

At its CURRENT state:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTEyM1g4MTY=/z/T3MAAOxygZRTF~lL/$_57.JPG

[MattyC]

Hence why I avoid all headaches and won't ever mess with a high-end card unless it comes from a TRUSTED SOURCE.

Peace of mind is worth a lot, and seeking bargain deals often leads one to a veritable underworld of scammers. By avoiding that entire underworld and dealing only with trusted sources for high-end material, one really spares oneself so much time wasted on the whole, "Is this a scam or not?" topic.

[CW]

A 52 Mick in SGC 5 for 18k or best offer is obviously a scam. 5s in this market will command 20-30k if not more with eye appeal.

I don't think the 18K price is too far off (if it was a great deal, someone would have already hit the BIN). SGC 60s don't command the same premium as PSA 5s. In researching past prices on this card, it just doesn't seem like SGC gets as much respect in the postwar market as PSA (prewar being a different story). Centering and surface flaws seem to play a huge role in variations of pricing within a specific grade.

If this SGC 60 Mantle were a legit card in a good slab, the scuff on the surface and the l/r centering make this a sub-18K card, imo (my offer to this seller was under 16.5K, and he accepted it claiming it was the highest offer he received).

I do agree, though, that altogether it was too good to be true.

As Chris mentioned, the card in the SGC 60 auction is the exact same PSA 4 sold by Heritage a few years back. I actually thought the card was simply crossed over to a higher grade SGC slab, but after seeing comments in this thread I'm thinking it might be a photoshop job.

One other thing that looked very strange in the Mantle images is the frosting on the edges doesn't match when comparing front and back scans. Notice on the comparison of the Cobb slab how the frosting on the back mirrors what is on the front (the Cobb is in a known legit holder)

[CW]

Hence why I avoid all headaches and won't ever mess with a high-end card unless it comes from a TRUSTED SOURCE.

Peace of mind is worth a lot, and seeking bargain deals often leads one to a veritable underworld of scammers. By avoiding that entire underworld and dealing only with trusted sources for high-end material, one really spares oneself so much time wasted on the whole, "Is this a scam or not?" topic.

Very wise advice, indeed! http://mindromp.org/forum/images/smilies/thumbs_up_smiley.gif

(I'll learn, sooner or later ;) )

[novakjr]

Looking again, especially at the side by side of the front and back of the mantle. the card appears to be seated in the insert differently. On top of the frosting that cw pointed out, I'm fairly confident, that the photos(photoshopped or not) do not belong to the same card

[savedfrommyspokes]

The site below is great for verifying the authenticity of barcodes:
http://barcode.tec-it.com/

For PSA serial numbers use option code-2of5

Gibson is certainly fake when plugged in here.

[MyGuyTy]

I don't think the 18K price is too far off (if it was a great deal, someone would have already hit the BIN). SGC 60s don't command the same premium as PSA 5s. In researching past prices on this card, it just doesn't seem like SGC gets as much respect in the postwar market as PSA (prewar being a different story). Centering and surface flaws seem to play a huge role in variations of pricing within a specific grade.

If this SGC 60 Mantle were a legit card in a good slab, the scuff on the surface and the l/r centering make this a sub-18K card, imo (my offer to this seller was under 16.5K, and he accepted it claiming it was the highest offer he received).

I do agree, though, that altogether it was too good to be true.

As Chris mentioned, the card in the SGC 60 auction is the exact same PSA 4 sold by Heritage a few years back. I actually thought the card was simply crossed over to a higher grade SGC slab, but after seeing comments in this thread I'm thinking it might be a photoshop job.

One other thing that looked very strange in the Mantle images is the frosting on the edges doesn't match when comparing front and back scans. Notice on the comparison of the Cobb slab how the frosting on the back mirrors what is on the front (the Cobb is in a known legit holder)

Completely agree with this, I don't think I've ever see a $30K SGC 60 Mantle. 20K or a hair over is possible for a PSA 5 if everything checks out completely and it's a gem of a 5. I would say a nice comfortable range for an SGC 60 is 15.5-19.5K

[earlywynnfan]

He told me the items were on consignment. I see he's pulled them all.

[team-of-rivals]

He was feelin' the heat! I absolutely love the fact that Net54 members are 'always lookin' out for one another! Glad to be on board!

[iwantitiwinit]

Told me the same, I told him the Rose was sketchy and people were on to him and he sends me back this:

Dear iwantitiwinit,I noticed as well! Thank you for the e-mail! I pulled the Rose & the Gibson after I received several e-mails. These cards were not mine and on consignment. I hope you feel better about this now as I do not want any issues.- premier-cards.

Great job on outing this guy.

[MikeGarcia]

The penalties for conspiracy to commit interstate wire fraud are substantial . I hope for his sake that his cellmate doesn't think he's cute.

[ezez420]

Good work everyone. This was a great team effort!


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[thehoodedcoder]

The user is no longer a registered user. That pretty much proves he knew what he was doing.

A true scam job.

Kevin

[ezez420]

Along with cards, this guy was selling fake gold bullion also. He sounds very much like the guy in Tijuana that is using un knowledgable and greedy eBayers to pawn off fake goods. Some of you on this board know. And yes he lurks on this board. Hopefully this opens some more eyes.

How the scam works is this guy finds someone through craigslist to sell his cards for a commission. The scammer mails the goods to the person who lists them. The ebay seller who lists thee cards sends out the fake cards in the fake flips to the buyer. Once the seller is paid, the seller then sends the scammer a wire or loads on moneypak cards. If the person who receives the card is not knowledgable, they will be out of luck if they do realize, they charge back the seller who is then out of luck since funds have been sent to scammer. Once ebay seller realizes, the scammer disconnects his magicjack phone and moves to some other moron. Or you may find these exact cards on the internet somewhere in the future.

So in this particular sellers case, premier-cards, he was likely charged back for the fake gold bullion sold and the fake Bobby Orr card sold in the Beckett holder.



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[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

That's a good scam.