Ok 1 year ago when I just started collecting again, I got involved in an auction for a 1952 Bowman Willie Mays, the seller said it could be real but he did not believe it to be real , but it was listed as unknown. I bid 10 bucks but would not go any higher. I got it and it was not real. I took a dumb risk, but only lost 10 bucks on it, I refused to bid any higher.
Even though it was dumb of me to bid without knowing the facts, I think it's a hell of a lot more stupid to bid in the hundreds of dollars! Right after it happened I got educated real fast, and stayed away from all "UNKNOWN" auctions too.
I don't always bash the sellers for selling fake items, because sometimes they think they have an authentic item when they really don't. It happened to me once when I bought a 54 Topps Hank Aaron from a guy in Canada, who claimed the card was authentic because he got it from his uncle in the 1980s. When I got the card it did not measure. He was confused on how something fake could come from his uncle, but hey, there were great looking reprints made in 1983. I got my money back accept for the $25 for the shipping costs. But that is the extent of how I ever got ripped off in return to collecting 1 year ago.
|