Posted By:
warshawlawI thought I'd weigh in on a few points:
1. The card looks trimmed at the bottom left from the scan, pretty obviously so. Since I collect western stuff and love this card, I think I may have passed on this one for that reason.
2. PLEASE DO NOT DESTROY IT. Even if it is trimmed, it is still an authentic, tough, highly desirable 19th century issue that will find a good home somewhere if you don't kill it. I paid about $75 for a PSA 1 that is a mess and I'd rather have an authentic slightly trimmed card like this one than the one I have now, so it is marketable at some price, especially if a legitimate grading service encapsulates it as authentic.
3. Here is the altered cards law:
§ 21670. Definitions
For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Altered or refurbished" means repair work which has been performed to enhance the value of the sports trading card as a collectible. This work includes, but is not limited to, filling in holes, building new corners, ironing out creases, or touching up the pictures or borders on the sports trading card.
§ 21671. Alterations or refurbishments; certificates; violations; penalties
(a) Any sports trading card that is altered or refurbished shall be accompanied by a certificate stating the exact work done to the sports trading card, the date the work was performed, the cost of that work, and the name, phone number, and address of the person who performed the work.
(b) Any person or agent thereof, who KNOWINGLY [emphasis added] sells or trades a sports card in violation of subdivision (a), shall both:
(1) Refund to the buyer, the full amount paid for the altered or refurbished sports trading card or the full retail value of any nonmonetary consideration received in exchange for the altered or refurbished sports trading card, or both.
(2) Be liable to the buyer for a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation. Each card sold represents a separate and distinct violation.
No one is accusing Will of knowingly selling an altered card, so I think Brent would have an uphill battle using this law to get his money back. He might still have some remedy under implied warranty law. More to the point, we are talking relatively small $$ here and two reputable people, so it seems to me that talking law isn't the way to go. Brent, why not let Will sell the card for you at no commission with a disclosure that it appears trimmed and see what it brings? Will, after reading your listing I feel that you should stand behind the card and refund the difference between the subsequent sale price and the price Brent paid. And you may want to hire a lawyer (plug, plug) to draft a tag for your auctions that will comprehensively cover returns and similar situations so that an unscrupulous buyer (not you Brent; I am talking hypothetically) will not put you into a similar position.