Why would you pay PSA to only authenticate a card?
 

I’m trying to deal with a delusional individual who has two cards I would like to trade for. His two cards have HoweMcCormick’s stamp on the back, which lets me know they are authentic. I have a red Cobb, portraits of Tinker, Evers and Chance and a Walter Johnson pitching which I offered in trade for his red Cobb and Cobb bat off, both in worse shape than any of my cards and with old cellophane tape at top and bottom of the front. His original asking price for both was about $1,000 more than they would be worth (“They’re Cobbs!) and he was convinced no matter how bad his scans, they would probably both get 3s when sent to PDA. Said if I wanted to trade, I’d have to send mine off to PSA so he could make a ”make a more even trade.”
Heard back from him today and both his cards came back “authentic”. “But that’s better because it proves they’re real!” I asked if he asked for them to be graded or only authenticated and he said only authenticated because that was worth more than graded cards.
How stupid are people?

Sometimes unbelievably.:eek:

When I see a vintage card with an Authentic grade I instantly wonder what is wrong with the card.

Doubt it will help but tell him to look at prices on Authentic VS # graded cards on eBay.

Some people are hard to trade with, maybe you can get his cash price down and just sell yours and buy his. Good luck on getting the cards.:)

Authentic cant be altered... correct?

Usually Authentic means it is altered.

I would think posting your gripe here isn't going to help your case from the other persons point of view.

I wouldn't proceed dealing with an individual like that. Be patient and look for other deals with more lucid people.

Someone can feel free to correct me, but my understanding is that a card cannot receive a number grade with the tape on those cards. They are "altered" by the tape. I would wager the seller was told this but is trying to spin a tale.

The other guy isn’t on here
 

He is a “dealer” but everything other than these two Cobbs he’s tried to sell on eBay is bright, new and shiny, with most of it being Pokémon cards and Star Wars stuff. Not really sure how he came across these two, plus four other T206s he told me about today, but he recently did, and is now an expert.

”Why would you pay PDA to only authenticate a card?”

PDA- Public Display of Affection?

;)

Ed, I know why you want the cards but what you offered in trade far exceeds the value of the 2 Cobbs. You know I collect FF Baker and with our stamp backs they are 2 grades lower without. That’s what nice about our collecting habits. Even without the stamps your trade is heavy on your side. I wouldn’t worry about it.

Yeah, tried to figure out how to edit a headline but couldn’t. Thumb-typing challenged

He's obviously not being truthful about the reason they received the "Auth" grade. As you already know, they are trimmed and have tape on them, so "Auth" is the only grade they were eligible for.

Ed, just busting chops, obviously. Good thread.

It's easy to edit a title. Just hit the edit button in the post, as normal, then look in that area again for the words Go Advanced, click on them and it lets you edit a title. (And done.) As for the original subject, good luck, your offer was already way more than fair.

Thanks for the edit, Leon
 

And the lesson.

He seems disingenuous and a liar and is pitching like a car salesman.

I was going to say, to get the ball rolling, you could offer your better-conditioned red Cobb for one of his two Cobbs, straight up. But I'd be nervous that you'd send it to him and get nothing in return because he comes off so shady (bad scans, these cards are not what he normally sells, he lies about grading, etc).

Politely tell him you are no longer interested, thank him for his time, and no longer communicate w/him.

I guarantee they will eventually come up for sale. When they do, just be the highest bidder. If necessary, you can sell the T206s you mentioned and come out ahead.

Good luck w/your decision. Eventually they will find their way to you :)

Agreed. It's good to know when to walk away from a deal. It sounds like you've reached that point with this guy. I doubt you'll be pleased with the outcome if you attempt to complete a trade with someone like this.