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Posted By: petecld

Sorry it's so long but this issue is important to me.

<<. . . I do feel wee need to be careful not to bash them without first making contact with. This blind bashing will run these dealers away. >>

Excuse me, I DON'T NEED THEM - THEY NEED ME! It's MY money they need to survive. If I have an issue that may expose them as (potentially) defrauding other collectors and the issue is brought up on a chat board that they are aware of and where all readers could be considered potential bidders then I would think the seller (billjo in this case) would take extra steps to tell everyone if there is an explanation. But I guess I don't rate an explanation from John Billingley. Guess that means I'm not good enough to bid in any of his future auctions.

As for "running these dealers away" - Good riddance. Does anyone miss the endless list of scam sellers on ebay who sold reprints, copies or obviously trimmed cards? Didn't think so.

I thought one of the reasons boards like this are to educate collectors of outright scams or of potential bad cards? How do you do this without instantly "bashing" the seller? There is a vast difference between "bashing" and "questioning" and I re-read the post regarding the issue and I don't see people bashing him - just questioning. If you have nothing to hide - that shouldn't be a problem.

John Billingley - If you're reading this, I too am a past customer of yours. If you have a logical explanation for selling cards you knew were trimmed without mentioning this when you resold them I would honestly like to know what those reason(s) are. And I'm sure a lot of other people who read this board would like an answer too. How come we don't rate? My approach to this situation is nothing personal but strictly business. The rules are different and I don't rest on past positive dealings with people as an excuse to lower my standards and use semantics as an excuse to re-sell or pass off questionable cards.

I've sold cards on ebay and I've gotten e-mails questioning me about card sizes, condition - "you said one crease - I see two" and so forth and I've never dodged a question and have never took any question personally. I've re-scanned cards for people and they in turn have been high bidders for those cards. I would never think of responding, well, so-and-so said it was ok for me to say or do this. That's a sad response. I realize other collectors are like me - they know there are too many bad sellers, money is important to them, and you need to be extra sure these days. When I have questioned a seller and never received a response then I didn't bid in that auction and won't in their future offerings. I've sold trimmed cards before and you bet for d*** sure I described it that way. Yes, it sold but not for much, but that is the problem with trimmed cards, value is killed. That fact is all the more reason to be clear about a "trimmed" card and a "short" card. if I was in John's situation and a large group of potential bidders were presented with a potential situation to loose faith in me via a public forum then I would want to do all I can to keep that faith by responding in that same public forum and protect my good name. In my experience - silence only protects the guilty.

Buyers don't need to accommodate sellers any farther then paying for our bids. If a seller wants my money then they need to accommodate me AND my questions. That's simple good business practice.

Knowledge is power. Selling cards via a vast communication network like the internet is a double edge sword - good reputations grow just as fast as bad ones.

Whew! I'm done.

Thank you for your time - collect on!