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Posted By: Paul Moss

That's a pretty broad stroke of the brush to paint the CA crowd as being mostly crooked. I guess that the statement could be made for any state where one has had bad experiences.

The reliance on the Feds and Postal Inspectors to actually do something about the matter is a longshot at best as experience has taught me that unless they have multiple complaints, the dollar amounts are 5 figures or greater, and enough rock sold evidence at hand, they are totally useless. I see that one of these complaints mentioned on the board has been ongoing since 3/07. Doesn't that clue anyone in that this does not seem to have been a priority with the Feds? Sure, a file was opened, BFD, that's probably as far the situation will go unless they receive a ton of complaints. Does anyone truly believe that squad cars will roll as agents kick in the front door of the perp. hours after the complaint is filed?

The general public is at the mercy of the scammers. The Feds don't bother unless the dollars are large, and to pursue the matter in civil court costs more than the amount lost. Attorneys want a five or ten grand retainer just to handle the matter, and even if successful, you have to collect. Good luck!

Craig's list? Craig's list? Are you kidding me? Anyone with a modicum of intelligence is aware that the site is nothing more than a total trash sale, whores offering their services, knock-off products, fakes, defective products, the occasional retail item being resold at too high a price by the unknowing and ignorant, as well as every scam in the book all to be offered in one place. It's a toxic dump that on the best of days, would make an EPA hazmat team shake in their boots. Are people really naiive enough to think that they have "discovered" an opportunity to make a killing by buying ultra-liquid cards at a bargain level by jumping on an advert at this site? Sorry, nothing personal, but you'll get no sympathy from me. Craigs List receives nothing in the way of a percentage, or fee of any kind, so frankly, I hold them blameless. Do you really believe that any sophisticated collector is going to sell valuable cards via this method? That's like meeting Leon behind the local 7-11 and buying from the trunk of his car. I just don't see this scenario becoming reality.

Ebay on the other hand should do FAR more in the policing of their site. They have a fiduciary interest in the item being sold, please spare me theie "We are only a sales venue by connecting buyer with seller", and as such have a far greater liability in regard to merchandise on their site. I can't tell you the number of times I have gone through their complaint process reporting bad, fake, and deceptive items only to have witnessed zero response and the lot running its course to be shoved down the throat of some unsuspecting buyer. It's to a point where I no longer bother.

Holders:

It's been four or five years since the Wiwag deal. What provisions and measures have ANY of the grading companies taken to ensure the security and authenticity of their product/service during this interim period? NONE (Unless you consider GAI's change of flip design. Whoop-de-freakin'-do). It is probably far more cost effective for all the companies to sweep the matter under the rug than to take appropriate steps to counter these problems that surface from time to time. I don't know. I don't have the answers and no one is paying me to come up with any. All I can do is the best I can by inspecting every holder that crosses my path as consignments come in from all parts of the country. I have only found one, an SGC card that had a couple of glossy areas on the edges of the black gasket and a frosty look on one of the seams. The card looked OK, I broke it out, resubbed, and it came back the same grade. Probably a repair from being dropped, but better safe than sorry.

Look, this sort of thing is nothing new, and common sense should always prevail. Better to pass on something that looks too good to be true and err on the side of caution. As for avoiding slabbed cards owing to these few events, Oh Puhleez! I read where someone got ecoli from eating a burger in Oregon. Does this mean I stop eating red meat? Paranoia is so unbecoming, caution should always be the rule regardless of whatever is unfolding in the marketplace.