A scam artist?

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Posted By: Mike Peich

Hi Folks,

I bid (and lost) on a Cy T-3 last evening. This morning a I received a barely literate e-mail from someone in the UK offering to sell me a similar card for one-third the price. His eBay name is trufelt, and his feedback seems okay. Does anyone know anything about this person? I'm having a hard time believing that someone who buys cards for 99 cents can sell me an expensive T-3 for peanuts. Any feedback is appreciated.

Regards, Mike

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Posted By: Rob M (ramram)

Unsolicited offer. Overseas. Gotta beware. There has also been problems with scammers hijacking legit ebay accounts with solid, established feedback and then making these kind of unsolicited offers (recent article on MSNBC's internet site). Not necessarily the case here but, you know the old saying...if it sounds to good to be true.....

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Posted By: runscott

He already knows what the card will bring on ebay - that's how he got your i.d. So why doesn't he put it on ebay? All the scam signs are there.

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Posted By: TBob

There was a T3 reprint set offered years ago. The size is much different and some people have tried (knowingly or unknowingly)to pass them off as the real things. The giveaway is the reprints are much smaller, about the size of modern baseball cards.

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Posted By: Mike Peich

Thanks Rob, Scott and T-Bob for the responses. You've confirmed what I suspected, and I am familiar with the reprint set (have one myself). The old adage does come into play here: if it looks too good, it's probably not legit. I appreciate your comments.

Cheers, Mike

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Posted By: Rob M (ramram)

Of coarse, since he solicited you, I suppose you could try putting the shoe on the other foot. Tell him to send you the card for your review and if it's legit you'll pay him his mark plus a little extra!

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Posted By: Hankron

In these types of cases, the question to ask (oneself and perhaps the seller) is, "Why would someone offer me (a total stranger) something for $15 that he knows he could sell for $100 to someone else?"

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Posted By: Hankron

I wish to point out that, even when not looking at a picture of the item, most scams or iffy offers are exposed or hinted at by the description of the item and sale. Ordinarilly, there are either red flags or huge leaps in logic that many buyers are blind to.

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Posted By: Hankron

The following are examples of strange logic in scams that people actually will fall for.

"This card will certainly grade a Mint 9 by PSA, and that means it's worth $10,000! However, as I don't want to pay the $7 dollar PSA submission fee, I will sell it to you for $900."

"This T206 Honus Wagner is worth $200,000. However, as I need the $400 right away to pay this month's dorm rent, I will sell it to you for $50,000."

Though often on much smaller scale, eBayers (and anyone who's bought from Ken Goldin) commonly buy into these types of logic.

And to end with a typical (though made up) television Ken Goldinism : "I could easily sell these Al Leiter signed commerative bats for $2,000 right now, but I'm going to give them to you for only $600." (Answer: If Ken Goldin could sell a Al Leiter bat for $2,000, he'd sell it for $2,000)

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Posted By: David Seaborn

While I feel the last nugget of advice is generally true (and almost certainly true in this case), this is not a hard and fast rule, there are exceptions. Afterall, just a few posts ago a board member bought an ungraded card for ~$650 and got it graded. He could now sell it in the $8,000-$9,000 range. If the original owner would have paid the $7 to get it graded he would have done very,very well. There are deals out there, you just have to hunt for them. In the vast majority of cases, the advice in the previous post by Hankron is correct though.

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Posted By: Hankron

There are always deals to be found and honest sellers who don't know the value and rarity of what they have. My examples involved people who were well aware of the 'upside' and used it as part of the promotion. Specifically, a line I make is between someone who doesn't know something is worth $1,000 and sells it for $100, and someone who claims that something is worth $1,000 and who's sell price $100.

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Posted By: Hankron

I will add, that I like hunting and searching for deals as much as anyone else. Anything I buy I buy because I think I can resell it for more or the item is otherwise undervalued (Doesn't always mean I'm always right!). At one time or other, I'm sure all here have bought something because the seller (and often the other bidders!) didn't know how valuable it is.