Quote:
Originally Posted by the 'stache
I am trying to protect you, myself, and the good and honest members of this forum that are tired of the crooked behavior that is running rampant throughout our hobby.
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I would guess that I've made ~1000 transactions (buying and selling) in the past five years since I have returned to the hobby. That total includes this forum, eBay, auction houses, and multiple other card and coin forums. In that time I have had a grand total of
0 issues. Knock on wood. Sure I've had a couple of NPB's, but in the end I'm really out nothing but time. How have I accomplished this?
- I've been lucky.
- I use common sense.
- I study high dollar items before I make a purchase.
- I pay immediately.
- I ship
securely within two business days of payment with tracking.
- I make sure the buyer is receiving exactly what he/she is expecting.
- I only pay gift to trusted members of the community.
- I am patient.
- I never "take a chance".
- I use common sense.
I do not believe this site needs a running blacklist because it is in all probability one of the safest collecting communities online. The vast majority of message board scammers are under 18, deal in shiny cards, or both and that pretty much leaves this little oasis on the fringe. I'm sure some will sneak through the cracks here, but as long as you protect yourself in unsure situations the most you should have to face is a hassle and not a loss. Not to mention the liability Leon would be putting himself up against. I have seen many names called out on this forum before and some of them have deep pockets, huge egos, and a retainer already paid in full. The responsibility should be on individual raising the issue, not the forum in which the issue is raised.
If eBay is the market the scares you then just check the CU forums daily. They offer up a half-dozen names for the BBL list everyday. It is like a sport over there.
If you are afraid that you are getting shilled follow this advice someone once gave me: "Never bid more than you are willing to pay." If I put a $500 bid in on an item and win it for $498 I don't look to see if I might have been shilled up. I look and see when/who I have to pay. Until eBay reverses there "hidden bidder" policy it will continue and even if high volume consignment brokers like Probstein took it upon themselves to police the thousands of auctions that they run someone who wants to shill their auction will find an alternate/friend's/new account to do so on.
I'm not trying to insinuate that this thread was a bad idea or that you are wrong for bringing up the issue, I just feel that being smart protects you in 99.9% of transactions and paypal protects you in the other .01%. (If you're the buyer.
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