Who got this smokin’ deal on this Goudey Foxx??!
 

Geez Louise, probstein half-awake this morning??

https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/362404164...2047675.l10137

Thats my card and it was missing a 1 in front of it..

Tough break Sean.

What is the tough break? I would bet the sale got canceled and it will get relisted correctly, at least that is what Sean has done before. Can't really expect someone to take a hit like that because of a pricing error.

Well, is that what happened or did Probstein already ship the card?

Aaaaaaa yeah you can. If I walk into a store and it says milk is a dollar a gallon you better give the gallon of milk for a dollar. It’s bad business any other way. People make errors every day in life that cost them, do they get a redo?
It’s not like the card listed it self. Anyone who has listed a card on eBay knows
That you have to create the listing and then it ask you to proof it. Then you get to Look at the listing and push LIST IT.

Rick and staff work very hard to list items and quickly, it is very understandable that, in haste, someone missed a digit. I have grace with them and I urge you to do the same.

It's unfortunate that this is the attitude of many people in the world today.

It’s unfortunat that you think integerty and trust is a bad attitude. Look if they want to negotiate a deal where they don’t loose as much money on the deal that between them. But any company worth there salt will HONOR the mistakes they make.

+1, IMO its one thing to give away $2 for a mistake, such as the case with incorrectly pricing milk, it is an entirely different thing to give away $1k. That amount could seriously effect many small businesses and I wouldn't blame any small business, like an ebay seller, from refusing to honor a mistake like that.

Yeah, while I would like a great deal if someone said they made a mistake I probably wouldn't freak out. It does depend on how it's handled. One of the very few negs I have given on ebay was a seller not selling at an offer made and they waited 4'ish days to cancel the transaction. They also made up a story about the cards being fake so that is why they canceled it. I called BS and gave them what they deserved. Had they been truthful I probably would have just not left feedback at all....

Another probstein pricing error
 

there have been other pricing errors lately with probstein. New hire?

There is a giant difference in canceling a BIN pricing error and canceling an auction that did not get the results you were hoping for. I don't think we should apply the same logic in sellers honor.

I think any seller would be well within their right to cancel a sale like this and it would be petty to give revenge feedback for an honest error. I would have certainly bought it but not been surprised at a refund. That price is crazy.

-1 IMO https://www.delawareonline.com/story...ss/20582211/if you call a 15 million dollar business small then good for you. This is a old article so I’m sure it’s doing better then that.

So if people came into the store all day buying milk at that discounted price that’s not a problem? 1000 people came in to the store and wanted it at that price or a rain check for it?

I’m not saying they should feel good about the mistake they made. There is no law holding them to it. This is when integrity comes in to play. If you don’t value your customer then why should they or anybody else do business with you? If you can’t trust that you bought and paid something and will receive it then why buy anything from them?

If you want to avoid this way of thinking then you have to man up and honor you mistake.

The question is not can he not honor the transaction. Of course he doesn’t HAVE to. But what should he do as a multimillion dollar business owner that made a mistake in a hobby that’s foundation is trust and integrity.

Trust and Integrity are earned, never a given.

Here in Mass at least, it's not just good business to honor a marked price, it's the law.

It's at least partly to stop bait and switch schemes. Home depot had a stack of shelves in boxes with a pretty nice one on top that had the price sign hung on it by a string tied through the uprights.
When I was putting my two boxes in the car, I noticed that what was actually in them was the cheap shelves that I wouldn't buy at any price. Complained, eventually got a manager after asking if they knew what bait and switch was and that it was illegal. Showed him the shelf holding up the sign and what was actually in the boxes. He balked until I told him he was lucky I just wanted the two I'd bought at that price and not as many as I could load into the van. I got my two shelves, and he had the sign removed immediately.

Who's the customer here - the buyer or the consignee? If the transaction goes through, one guys screwed out of $1k (doesn't get something he deserves) and another gets an item at a fraction of market value (gets something he doesn't deserve). What's right about this?

Huh? Honoring the sale is unfortunate? IMO the prevailing attitude seems to be making excuses and irresponsibility. Seems there's an entire sector of our population that doesn't believe in consequences for one's actions.

There's insurance for this; called Errors and Omissions. If Probstein doesn't have it, then he's s*** out of luck. The buyer should demand the card at that price.

Your right but the consigner didn’t do anything wrong. This was a error of the seller. Cosigner didn’t say sell this card for whatever you can get for it. He said there should have been a 1 infront of thy price. The only person who should be screwed is the seller. Maybe this is the problem in the world. You body should pay for your mistakes but you.

So, to the people who are stating that you should always honor the listed price, even if it's clearly an error...say you are going to list your house for sale for $250,000 and you accidentally type a period instead of a comma in that number which causes your ad to list it instead for $250.00, you're saying that you are going to have the honor and integrity to just eat that mistake and go ahead and sell it for 250 bucks?

You’re making too much sense.

To me it is a question of integrity and honor. When an obvious pricing error is made, you don't try to take advantage of the person or business. My father taught me that when he was buying a pool table. When the clerk rang it up, the total came up much less than it was actually supposed to be. He pointed out the error and paid the correct amount. I believe that when you treat others right, they will do the same to you. I certainly would understand in this situation and wouldn't try to get a 1250 card for 250.

I disagree with the above. Probstein is big enough seller that EBay won't do anything. EBay wouldn't do anything for me when I won an auction cheap and the seller refused to send the item. As has been pointed out, that is a completely different situation, but EBay can't force them to ship the card.

Both the consignor and the buyer are the customer in this case. If auctioneer made an error on the listing they should step up and add the "1" to the consignee's check and ship the card. Both customers are made whole.

This idea that the consignee should lose out on an error is ludicrous. This idea that auctioneer gets to walk is also ludicrous. The buyer should actually makes out but that's his/her lucky day...

By the way in most states a misquoted price on a shelf or in a sale flyer is held accountable in most retail environments until retracted by the retailer once discovered...

I agree.

I don't believe this is true. What states is that the case? It definitely isn't the case in Illinois.

Let me ask you and others on here, if this was on BST, would you ask the seller if it was a mistake or would you try to by the card? Maybe it is just me, but I couldn't buy an item for 20%.

In NY, NJ and CT.. There are tough consumer protection laws on retail... I remember Home Depot, Lowes, Dick's Sporting Goods and Stop N Shop getting pinched on pricing errors... And they made good via honoring the errors and or giving rainchecks if they ran out of the item(s)

As for the BST I would PM the seller if that was correct price... Can't say though that I have ever seen that on the BST though!

We should run an experiment and try it....see how many PMs the seller gets on his obviously mis-priced card.

You are absolutely 100% incorrect here. While a store might honor the price in your example because it’s so small, they do not have to honor an incorrect price that was published by mistake and it happens all the time, usually when the decimal was misplaced.

This is not the same as bait-and-switch in which it’s deliberate.

I live in CT and the retail laws are very tough. I know that if something rings in at a higher price at Stop N Shop they give it to you for free (maybe up to 5 of the same item).

In terms of the pricing error I agree that integrity goes both ways. If its obvious (like in this case) that there was a pricing error, maybe the auction can be cancelled and the seller (not the consigner) can give the buyer a $100 credit towards another auction. This way the buyer gets something, the consigner gets what he paid for (reselling the card for $1250), and the seller really only misses out on the commission on that particular card.

About 10 years ago when I first started selling on the BST, and more naive about T206s than I am now, I listed a common that had a more desirable back than I realized. I received a couple of helpful PMs rather quickly (i.e., correcting me, not asking if it was the "real price").

About 10 years ago when I first started selling on the BST, and more naive about T206s than I am now, I listed a common that had a more desirable back than I realized. I received a couple of helpful PMs rather quickly (i.e., correcting me, not asking if it was the "real price").

If it was published in a circular and you went to the store for that reason. Then that is false advertisement. This is not allowed and must be honored or dealt with by the law in many states. Maybe we are not talking about decimals.

If you get a misquote from a roofing company that’s in your favor of a thousand dollars and you agree. How if that your fault? And the company will honor this mistake. But enough with the apples and oranges.


The issue here is what it is. The buyer didn’t know it was a mistake. For all they knew it was a great price. The card was listed after being proofed by a professional multi million dollar company.

Most likely the buyer did know it was a mistake. Few people buy something for 250.00 not knowing if it was worth 25 or 1250. The value of the card is easily researchable online. There is no law that will make Probstein honor the sale. It would be one thing pricing a cheap card at 20%, but not on a 1250.00 card. No one should expect to get the card mailed to them in a case like this.

About three or four years ago, there was a Titus T206 priced significantly under its value. It wasn't a $1,250 card, but IIRC the card was a couple hundred off what T206 Titus' were selling for at the time.

There was a huge thread on here about the ethics of buying the card. Many of the posters on here took the stance of "too bad for the seller."

+1

Agreed.

There is no way I let an item of this value walk out of my store at that price. And I have no problem telling a customer that. As a retailer, we do the best we can with prices and mistakes are made.

Reasonable errors can be resolved, however ANY customer expecting a 1250 item for 250 is being unreasonable.

I seem to remember something about an eBay sale being a contract....

It's interesting to see people side with the seller here. If a buyer told you they bid the wrong amount by mistake I think people would be singing a different tune as to the validity of that excuse.

I agree with this statement 100%.

Here’s the thread: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...ighlight=Titus

Being an engineer, I look at numbers with a discerning eye all the time. Statistics, prices, totals, etc. On a regular basis I see items priced as .99c (.99 cents). It bugs me, but I've never tried to buy the item for less than a penny and wouldn't expect a store to sell me the item for that price. Or buy a hundred for $0.99

Anyone else notice this or try to make the purchase?

Here’s a nickel. I’ll take 5. Keep the change.

^^^^^^^

agree!!!!!

Mistakes happen. And if this kind of thing happened to me as a buyer with an established seller like this, I wouldn't expect to receive the card nor would I file a negative against him or her.

I couldn't have a card like that in my collection, if it had been won at the expense of others, in such a negative manner.

Honesty is the best policy.

If a bidder told you they put in the wrong amount by mistake would you ban them from future bidding, insist they pay for the item they won, or say that's ok and relist?

Once again not the issue that we are dealing with. You don’t list a card by simple pushing a few numbers real quick. Check the eBay community Boards. Many people have this issue. They are not big time like probstein. And yet most shipped and took the lose. Beware of all the people here saying that integrity and honesty is not the answer. At least we see your true colors.

Don’t be confused by have to’s and should. It’s even against ebays rules to cancel the purchase. He’ll get a defect for it. People are literally standing by and saying yeah break that rule then with the same breath. Saying what’s wrong with the world today? Hahah I wonder ?

I only ask because I've seen past conversations about bidders who hit the wrong number and the consensus is usually that people believe the person is either lying or they should pay what they bid.

My personal opinion is the card should be sold to the winner and if the consignor had an agreement with the consignment company for a sale price of $1,250, then it's the consignment company's responsibility to pay the difference to the consignor for the mistake. A sale is a sale and the price should be honored.

It is funny because I had a guy buy an item from me a few days ago, then sent a message saying he bought the item by mistake and wanted to cancel the purchase. I just cancelled the purchase and relisted the item. Mistakes happen, people should be understanding.

Most states that I'm aware of allow for price mistakes to be corrected by publishing a retraction. Quite often these are the result of an error by an advertising company and not the business some of you here would like to take advantage of. Trying to stick it to a seller for an obvious mistake is a terrible way to do business in my opinion.

That's assuming a lot out of the buyer though. Maybe the buyer is just a person who wanted the card and found it at a price they could afford. Not everyone is out to flip, and I don't think honoring a sale is taking advantage of a seller. The consignment company should make the consignor whole while making the buyer whole as well. That's a good way to do business.

Then why does EBay punish the seller for this infraction? Is eBay wrong to?
Breaking a direct rule in the business you have is a terrible way to do business.

Agree with this .

Kind of sad to see some of the replies. I've nit numerous BIN on Ebay and email the seller to let them know that they probably made an error and can cancel the sale so that they don't have to deal with the attitudes of some people. It's all about Karma.

To me, it's all about attitude of BOTH the buyer AND the seller and it's sad that it has changed over the years...

50 years ago:
Seller: "Sorry, I made a mistake on the price, but I'll give it to you for what it was advertised"
Buyer: "No, it was an honest mistake and I won't hold you to it."
Seller: "Thank you for understanding. Let me make it up to you by...(fill in the blank).

Today:
Seller: "It was a mistake and I'm not going to honor that price or do anything for you."
Buyer: "You have to sell it to me for what it was advertised. It's the law!"
Seller: "F you!"
Buyer: No, F you!"

Because Ebay always takes the side of the buyer. Well almost always. Try buying something on Amazon at a price that is an obvious mistake. Even if you place the order and pay for it there is a good chance it will be canceled and refunded when they catch the mistake. The same is true of many companies, as it should be. I dont want to pay a higher price because they need to make up for losses from customers taking advantage of honest mistakes.

They side with the buyer because the customer is always right another good business practice.

50 years ago? as someone who has been a small business owner since 1975, even as recently as 10 years ago people were civil and understanding toward each other. although to be fair it SEEMS like 50 years ago. :):):)

If I'm buying or selling a card, I want both parties to be happy. If I'd purchased this, I'd very much expect the seller to cancel the sale and would be completely understanding were that the case. Just like I would expect people to understand if I made a pricing error. I don't care how big the company is, it's not a business making a mistake it's the individual that did the listing. If it comes to him getting in trouble/potentially fired, or me missing out on a card, I'll take the later every day. It's just a baseball card.

On a side (but not too distant) note, I recently bought a graded card pretty cheaply off of ebay, because it had a wax stain on back. After I purchased it, the seller almost immediately sent me a message making sure that I knew the card had an 'ST' qualifier. He told me I could cancel the sale if I wanted to, because he wanted to make sure he only had satisfied customers. Yowza, talk about great customer service. Of course I was fully aware of what I was buying, but this seller definitely earned my future business.

So we should all just make mistakes and expect for nothing to happen? Really?
Life does not work that way. Own your mistakes !

It seems like a few need this. https://www.artofmanliness.com/artic...p-to-mistakes/

Ebay's T&C specifically state the buyer has entered into a legally binding agreement to pay for the card. Are we to assume this is unilateral, and possibly not enforceable? Can an auction house sue and win vs. a non paying bidder? Mistake do happen, and Ricks employees would rather put where the item is in the stock room and their name in the listing rather than a description, or a back scan of the card. Though I did see they have been adding some.

Today at the show, I was at Rick's table. A young lady asked me if she could help me. I told her I wanted one of those PSA 5 Jimmie Foxx's for $250. She just gave me a confused look...the joke fell flat.

There are certain customers a business is better off without. I get the feeling you fall into this category.

Wrong a business needs all of its customers. If ever signal one is treated right then there should be any issues.

We all make mistakes and, when I make one, I apologize. But, when someone makes a mistake in a listing and needs to cancel, I accept their apology--I don't need their money or them to get punished.

Sorry, but you're wrong about this. I learned it the hard way. I used to think the same thing, thought I needed every customer. But once I figured out that wasn't the case, it made my business run a lot smoother. There are just some people that aren't worth the hassle of doing business with. Doing business with them can actually cost you other good customers because you're spending your time dealing with the problem ones instead of focusing on the good ones.

Right, it's just common sense. This is why the option exists to ban bidders on Ebay. And why Amazon just banned the accounts of a bunch of serial returners. Some customers will cost a business either money, time, or the loss of other customers. And the ones that are out there trolling for pricing errors to take advantage of wont be missed by most business owners.

I don’t think the word “honor” should be tossed around in a case like this. Honor only applies when a person has made a conscious decision and then goes back on it. A simple mistype, IMO, no.

I saw the listing probably minutes after the card was purchased. I don’t blame the buyer for snagging it, but I also would not hold the seller to it. BUT you better believe I would let THEM bring that up!

As far as “needing every customer”, or “the customer is always right”, I personally would not a customer who would hold me over the coals for an obvious mistake. Good riddance. My 2c

20% of your clients make 80% of your problem...or something to that affect. I've had to fire clients before. I think in this case it was blatant, but as in my Dean's cards debacle, he set the price, and then when the card sold he went back and realized he made a mistake, resulting in the one and only auction I remember Dean's cards ever listing. Again there is nothing I can find holding the seller accountable. Unlike Frank Prisco, Piedmont auctions who just takes thousands of dollars and never refunds or sends the cards

So.... did the card actually get sold for $250? Kind of doubt it.

It looks like the card is up for sale again for $1500 (same seller). I suppose that's got a 1 in front along with another $250. What happened to $1250?

Looking at other 1933 Goudey Foxx cards with a "5" grade, the final price range has been from about $550+ up to over a grand.

I guess you could look at the $250 BIN and determine it was most likely an error based on the seller and the volume of nice card listings they have.

If you were to have purchased it with the BIN price of $250, I suppose you could look at it like one heck of a bargain, but in the back of my mind I'd believe it was an error would just accept the excuse that it was listed in error.
I wouldn't like it, but I'd just accept it for what it is. I probably wouldn't neg the seller but would ask for a little latitude or $100 credit on a large purchase (lets say over $400) just to take some of the sting away. Or just be a generally good person and just say phuc-it.

Now, if they shipped the card to me and then asked for it back a week or two later, then things might be a little different.

Also, if this was a card that was not a BIN and it was listed in error and went the full distance, then I'd have to figure the price would have been much greater than the $250 starting price because there are a lot of savvy buyers out there and things like this just don't get past everyone and certainly not for a huge discount.

Same thing happened to me with a P42 back I had missed. This community has a lot of great folks.

I couldn't disagree more. Been in business for a long time....just like this forum. Not all members are good members. If your crap to equity ratio is upside down you will get the boot. A few members thought they were exempt. They weren't.

This is pretty false. A business needs good customers. Tolerable customers. Not customers who think they can shit the bed and get away with it just because they're a customer.

sales of stuff like houses and cars are different than retail sales. A retailer, at least in Mass is required to honor the marked price.

sales of cars and Houses require P+s agreements contracts etc. And there are outs for a lot of circumstances like that. With a house it would be "you listed it at $250, I offer that." Followed by "sorry I don't accept that offer" (This even happens at listing prices more like the 250K..)
Cars are close, but it gets odd.
The place I worked there were two sales people who could authorize their own deals on behalf of the dealership. One weekend, one of them authorized a deal at like 2000 under cost because he wasn't all that good at math. The sales manager caught it Monday, everyone got a stern taking to, and the customer got a great deal on his purchase. And while he wasn't fired, he wasn't allowed to approve his own deals anymore. And the rest of us called him "give it away Dave" for a month or so.

I bet you deal with a lot of both in your profession.

So I’ll admit I’m wrong on this side. But not the sale being honored mistake or whatever.

Massachusetts explanation of the retail pricing requirements.

http://www.mass.gov/ago/consumer-res...uirements.html

Abbreviated version, leaving out exceptions like rope and live animals etc.

The Attorney General’s Item Price Regulation, 940 C.M.R. 3.13, applies to non-grocery stores or to the non-grocery items of a mixed-product retailer. The regulation requires, among other things, that such merchants mark goods offered for sale with the selling price by either affixing a price tag or sticker on the product or its packaging, and states that it is an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Statute, G.L. c. 93A, to fail to do so.

Sellers are obligated to sell goods at the correct price, which is the lowest of the advertised price, the posted price, the sticker price, or the checkout price, and must clearly and conspicuously disclose to a buyer the exact nature and extent of the seller’s refund, return or cancellation policy prior to completion of the purchase transaction.

Heh, so also pays treble damages, wonder if this is the case with Ohio.

I'm all for steals. If something at a show is severely underpriced and the dealer says that they are sure that's what they want to sell it for, then go for it. It's on them to be knowledgeable about their product. But that's not the case here.

Clearly a pricing mistake. Most likely the buyer recognized that it was a pricing mistake as well. I'd have to assume very few people are looking to buy a Goudey Foxx without having an idea on what the going rate is.

Would it be cool if they honored it? Sure. Do I think they're bad people if they cancel the transaction? Absolutely not. People make mistakes. It's not like it's a modern card and they're cancelling the transaction because the player has gotten hot and prices have shot through the roof after the purchase.

If some of y'all think that sellers should be so honorable and fall on the sword, then shouldn't the buyer also have to have some decency? Shouldn't he have messaged them making sure that that was what they intended to price it at?

/end rant

The seller creates the listing, proofs the listing, then asked if they want to list the item.Thats plenty of opportunity to avoid a “mistake”. As a grown man and business owner not some guy just selling cards. Giving the buyer only has to press buy it now. You can’t say they need to do anything it’s being offered at this price from a professional company that’s been doing business for years.
Owning your mistakes is a part of life. Not all mistakes are avoidable this one is.

So what happens if I send a 50k 52 Mantle to probstein to list and some assistant of his puts it up for 5k by mistake and it instantly sells? Is he supposed to eat the 45k or am I?

I don't get this need to screw someone over for a simple and honest mistake.

Who knows we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. It’s not that simple or honest of a mistake. The only person getting screwed is the buyer. By a blatant mistake and unhonest way of handling it.