Question about eBay Seller mwcards
 

Hello,

Has anyone had any feedback regarding mwcards on eBay. Many know who this seller is out of Pittsburgh.

He hasn't replied now to 2-different offers I've submitted in the last couple of months and even increased the price on 1-card from $100 to $150 after my offer yesterday. Just wondering if these actions are common place for his online business? Seems dysfunctional, but I don't own the business.

To abide by Leon's rules, my name is Mario Borgerding.

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Mike Wheat. Old time dealer. Honest as they come.

I've had a few transactions with them and no issues.

Old time dealer - yes. Inventory never changes - yes again.

Hmm...I'm curious because I offered 90% of asking and no reply. Why up the price for a card that has been for sale over 1-year with no bites? Seems a bit off to me.

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Dealer is far removed from current transaction realities.

I have bought some cards from him through best offers. He has not always accepted my offers, but usually responds quickly and has been good to deal with.

I know some sellers increase their price on a card after too many low ball offers from one or more people.

If that is Mike Wheat I have had 2 transactions with him and they could not have been better in any way.

Not sure what happened. Didn't call him out just offered more than VCP for the card. As a seller, I would be happy. Maybe the end result will be positive.

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Very good seller, been in the hobby for years.

I've purchased a few cards from Mike Wheat over the years and have never had a problem.

Very trustworthy seller!!

One transaction.

Not at all good, one of the few negatives I've left in over 15 years.

Trimmed, overgraded even if not trimmed but flaws hidden in the typically overexposed scans. No communication until after I left the negative, then excuses and finally took it back. Then asked me to remove the neg.

But he has a good reputation and has been around a long time. So maybe you'll have better luck.


Steve Birmingham

^^Same as above^^

Bought a T206 Kruger for $110. I had just started putting together the T206 set. Was assured the card wasnt trimmed. Sent in for grading and came back trimmed. I never said a thing but would never buy off of him again. Probably my fault for not knowing better but would never buy off of him again. I took a look at his T206 inventory afterwards. Many many many T206s look trimmed.

I have someone who I have been offering 70-90% of his ask price on a set online for some months now. Each time it posts I submit the same 3 offers. He declines the same 3 offers with no other words.

Doesn't surprise me, some people just treat things differently.

I once bought a card from him that he listed and priced accordingly as a VG-EX. I bought it, noticed there was a giant vertical crease down the middle that you wouldn't notice in the listed images. Sent it in to PSA, came back a GOOD+ 2.5. I was still completely fine with the grade and didn't mind the crease and the overpriced value because the card had outstanding colors and registration. But I messaged him after the PSA results simply to tell him the disparity in grading. I was friendly about it, told him I still was going to keep the card, and my intention was just to give him the heads up.

But no response. Ever. Even after a second email. I was so annoyed that he wouldn't simply acknowledge the situation. Not even asking for anything. An underwhelming "oh ok" would have done. I refuse to buy from him to this day.

I have purchased a few cards from him with no issues. On occasion I see some of his listings and feel they are a bit too pricey for the grade, but that is strictly personal preference. No big deal.

I purchased many cards from him in the past, though not lately. He's GOLD as far as I'm concerned: Always highest quality!
.
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old-style
 

in grading and communication. I think Mike lost active interest in the hobby a long time ago and is now going through the motions with the inventory and customer base he has had for a long time. Not a lot of energy there for things like proactive customer service-

MW
 

+1

I've never had any issues with Mike although it's been awhile since I've dealt with him. Back in the days before eBay he'd publish catalogs on a monthly basis and would run monthly auctions where cards would start at opening bids of $5. Much of my collection came from those auctions. Mike, along with Tom Witek, would spend as much time as required on verbal descriptions over the phone until I was satisfied. Never had any issues with sending something back if I didn't like it. Right now, while the business bears his name, I wonder how much he's even involved any longer with day to day operations.

I also have occasionally bought from Mike. Never any issues.

In my experience, most sellers who list BIN have no interest in VCP prices. If they did, they would list as auctions instead. As a collector, eBay was more productive and fun before the popularity of BIN listings.

True statement, Mark. While you can find deals once in a while from BIN, most of the time they are overpriced. Guess I am learning first hand. Never dealt with MW before but I know most buyers won't pay 1.5-2x price unless demand justifies. In this case, I'm sure the card will sit.

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I respectfully disagree. I will post items at 50-100% above VCP average if I do not want to risk auctioning them. If someone comes in or slightly above the average and the card is average I will accept the offer.

There are cards that are incredibly high end for their grade and demand a rightful premium.

As an example there is a beautiful, perfectly centered PSA 4.5 Mantle that sold for just over $36,000 a short year ago - that card was purchased at more than twice the average and is now still worth well above average.

when buying above VCP with BIN you are also buying for convennce so you don't have to wait months from now and you are also buying certainty.......it sucks to lose by 5 dollars last second in an auction...sometimes on ebay you get ebay bucks 3-5x as well which can get you down into the VCP range..,

Sean and Jake make good points. But, I think my basic premise is still sound: as a general rule, buyers make out better in auctions than in BIN listings. In my opinion, the reason most sellers list BIN is to attempt to sell their items above auction (fair market) value.

I'm not being critical. Sellers are of course free to sell their cards at any price they wish, or not at all. My point is that eBay was a good bit more productive and fun for me before BINs, which comprise the vast majority of card listings.

I agree. From a buyer's perspective, I think it is almost indisputable that there are not as many real bargains on eBay these days. It's not just due to the BIN listings, though. I think it also has to do with the maturing of the eBay marketplace. EBay made it a lot easier for amateurs to put their collectibles up for sale, so they did. In the last fifteen years there's been this massive redistribution of collectibles from the unknowledgeable and inexperienced to those who know the true value of the items. Simply put, far fewer collectibles are still in the hands of people who don't know what they're worth. Hence, higher prices.

I wonder if everybody is forgetting that it's just been a few years since Ebay essentially killed off more then half it's auction business chasing the Amazon model, and killing any incentives for sellers to offer auctions over BIN's by exponentially raising the commission rates for auctions to the same rate as BIN's.

It used to be a sliding scale from around 9% to 2.5%, depending on how much the item sold for, and you only had to get above 10 bucks for the scale to start sliding downward. Now they take 10% across the board (not taking into account TRS discounts), including shipping. The cost to auction a $100 item nearly tripled overnight.

Drove a lot of the established auction consignment sellers (especially the smaller ones) completely out of the business. A lot of the ones that stuck around chose to go with a BIN model instead.

right...actually getting cards at 'market' price are the real bargains now....you get rewarded for that auction that comes out once a year that finally has your card and now you have it.......try getting someone to sell a card at 'market price' you will argue about what that means.......plus if really want a card a BIN is going to be cheaper than getting the card from someone from their personal collection.......there are some cards that go up in price though and the BINs look cheap when they were bought...I know I bought every Jackie robinson psa 8 1954-1956 I could get my hands on 6 or so years ago and many were purchased by BINs and I made money on all of them that I sold this year at auction..

I have bought a lot from him over the years and never had a problem, but I very rarely make offers, I usually just accept the asking price.

+1. Used to be with Wayne Varner in Doubleheaders or Shoebox cards (I've now managed to forget which of the two came first). I've spoken with and occasionally bought from him at shows since at least 1990.

Regards, guys,

Larry

I think Wayne Varner was first as memory comes and goes😀

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Just an Observation
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With many old-time sellers, many collectors hit the BIN and pay asking price (irrelevant if higher than VCP) and receive the card. No problems and seller is considered trustworthy, honest as they come, great to deal with, etc. Actually it's impossible to judge based on these transactions.

But then many others have issues with overgrading, poor or no communication, annoying tactics, etc. To me what's where you learn about a person's character. But too often these are drowned out by those who who bid, paid, received.

I had the same issue with another old-time collector and brought out a chorus of others with similar and other problems. But "How dare we call out a hobby legend"! Didn't matter that the reputation far exceeded reality.