Uncle Bill's Treasures
 

Anybody familiar with the seller Uncle Bill's Treasures on Ebay? Hard to imagine all the beautiful cards haven't been graded.

Oh, but they have already been graded!!! They follow the same formula as Great Lakes auction house. Take nice looking, graded cards or "A" cards, crack them out, and watch the bucks roll in.

Really? WOW

Sounds like a smart business idea to me.

I have been tempted to bid on some of their cards but always wondered, like the OP, why their cards were not graded.

Thanks for sharing that info. :)

I've wondered this myself. If anybody has specific stories I'd be interested to hear.

I have bought several cards from Great Lakes and a couple from Uncle Bill’s. You definitely have to look closely at the cards. Great Lakes rarely offers what he thinks the card will grade.

Great Lakes usually does a very good job in describing the card, if it has any dimples, creases, blemishes, etc. He also will tell you if the card has been trimmed or would not get a grade from PSA. And if the card has a crease or ding, he will show in his pictures.

I do agree he cracks cards and sells as I sold him a card that received a mid grade from PSA. When I saw his name and address, I wanted to see if he was going to crack and re-sell. Sure enough, he had in his next auction.




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I have never bought a card from Great Lakes that was not graded by PSA.


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I've bought from both a few times over the years and even knowing crack and sell methods never had anything come back from PSA as less than a 7...so more or less break even value wise depending on the card. I think they may be related also...

To candiman and that crew likely. similar styles

I bought a 1960 Bob Gibson from Great Lakes a year and a half ago. Card looked really nice. Description used words like "Beautiful" "Outstanding", etc, but no assigned grade. When I got it I thought it looked as expected. Later, when I went to submit it to PSA, looking closer, I could see flaws that didn't show in the listing photos. Corners not quite as sharp, edges showed wear. It took a really close look to see them. I submitted to PSA with a minimum grade of 6 and it came back ungraded so it would have likely gotten a 5 or 5.5.

It was still a nice looking card, but not the 7 or higher I had hoped for. I was also pretty new a the time and didn't know what to look for. I couldn't tell whether the photos were doctored or if it was just how they took the pics that hid the imperfections. I just decided I wouldn't purchase from them again.

Uncle Bill is the king of the crackers.
I purchased 4 cards from Uncle Bill. All auctions ended on the same night. All cards were nicely centered with "razor sharp corners" and looked to be at least 6.5's to 7's. All of UB's auctions have a 14 day return policy. I immediately send them to PSA for grading and received the following:
1961 Topps Mantle (I paid $449) came back 5.5
1968 Topps Mantle (I paid $405) came back 5.5
1969 Topps Mantle (I paid $327) came back 5.5
1969 Topps Alcindor (I paid $510) came back 3.5 because of a tiny wrinkle
I cracked them and sent them all back just under the wire for a full refund.
I subsequently kept seeing the same cards sold and relisted (especially the Alcindor) So give Uncle Bill credit for standing behind his refund policy but he immediately blocked me from bidding on his auctions !!

This is the norm. They prey on the public hoping the cards would attain lofty grades, but alas, they are just all mid grade cards. They are hoping people WILL NOT send them in for grading. The marketing strategy obviously works because so many people do it (Great Lakes, Uncle Bill, Battlefield, Candiman, etc), but leads to a lot of complaints and negative feedbacks.

I will never understand why anyone ever buys “high end” or “high profile” ungraded cards off the Internet (where you cannot tough and see close up); especially from a larger outfit who is very capable of having the cards graded themselves.

I am sorry your experience was unsatisfactory, but honestly, you kind of earned it.

I’m amazed you were able to get your cards graded by PSA and back to you to return them within two weeks. I can’t get anything back that quickly from them.

Wasted a lot of money apparently, but didn't factor that into the equation. Out all 4 cards and out $200-250?

Lesson learned I hope. Stay away from Uncle Bill, unless you don't mind overpaying.

Lucky you! :)

And for all that shake their fist at graders, this is a good example of why most of us prefer graded cards. It's one thing if you choose to crack them out for your own collection. But, there are too many folks trying to game the system and take advantage of others. TPGs are far from perfect, but they do insulate collectors from a lot of this stuff.

I would consider buying raw from other board members. But Ebay is too much of a gamble.

thanks for asking, I've been wondering the same, even thinking he might be in the business of fakes considering all these beautiful ungraded cards. Cracking makes more sense, but no way I touch his stuff. And funny how sellers can block bidders but not the other way around.