'A' for honesty

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Posted By: David 

For a welcome change, this seller accurately describes the NASA item.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1834207346

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Posted By: MW

David --

With all due respect, I strongly disagree with you. By mere virtue of the fact that this scrap of paper is listed under the category, "pre-1950" baseball cards, the auction is deceptive.

Some hobbyists -- especially those who are just getting started -- cannot distinguish between actual baseball cards and worthless scraps of paper. Clearly, this item is improperly listed in this category; furthermore, it was never designed to be marketed in this fashion. Let the seller list this item in a different category where it belongs -- "pre-1950" worthless scraps of paper.

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Posted By: David

I understand your point. Do you beleive that the 'e-cards' cut from vintage notebooks and Allen & Ginter 'cards' cut from 1880s tobacco albums should be banned from the Pre-1950 cards section? I'm not trying to bait you, just curious where you draw the line ... And thanks for the National Chicle link.

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Posted By: jeff

MW,

I agree that this item is mis-listed, but let's be careful what we call "worthless."

After all, we all collect scraps of cardboard; sometimes actual scraps of paper, as David points out. Value depends on a lot of personal and social factors.

A related example: in the map collecting hobby (I don't collect that stuff, but I read a few articles a few months back), some hobbyists and historians are incensed that others are buying old atlases and cutting them up, selling individual pages as wall hangings and the like.

50 years ago, those scraps of paper were worthless. Now there is a market for them.

We should also be careful about how technical we get about proper listing in ebay categories. Scott has an e95 set in "singles:pre-1950." It's a set! Frequently, baseball collectors (including me) list boxing and football stuff in the baseball section. Cross-listing is a similar phenomenon.

I don't have a problem with that--I wouldn't find Scott's set if he didn't list it the way he did. But these common practices indicate that eBay's categories are understood by collectors as guidelines. And sellers of magazine clippings are probably right that they are likely to find more interested bidders in the singles:pre-50 category than in the "memorabilia" or "misc." sections.

Jeff

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Posted By: MW

David --

Can you give me some examples of the "cards" you have listed? Wouldn't cutting these "cards" (Allen & Ginters) from tobacco albums be kind of stupid, since it would devalue the albums? Although I'm not quite certain whether you are referring to a scrapbook or an album. Also, wouldn't there be a difference between a thicker cardboard stock and a flimsy magazine stock? Some items, as in the two examples you have given, are used for advertising; therefore, some collectors would view them as more legitimate than a non-advertising piece of scrap cut from a magazine. Still, I would not classify either of these as baseball cards similar to other strip or box cards.

In any case, scraps of paper cut from Spalding baseball guides do not qualify as "baseball cards." They're crap and that's all there is to it.

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Posted By: MW

Jeff --

My mistake. NASA and AAA graded scraps of paper cut from Spalding baseball guides have little or no value to serious collectors of vintage baseball cards and I sincerely doubt they ever will. Millions of "Mint" examples can readily be made. There is no scarcity and almost no demand.

Your cross-listing example is not applicable. In one case, cross-listing can be utilized to increase exposure for a LEGITIMATE item. In another, it can be used to try to legitimize a bogus item. Which case do you think this is?

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Posted By: runscott

I would love to see a "vintage reprint" category, and also a "vintage baseball memorabilia" category. Finally, I don't like the "graded" category at all. I have put my graded cards in the "graded" category this time, but I didn't like doing it. Ebay could combine the two categories like they used to, and we could very easily do searches on "PSA,SCD,SGC..." to locate the graded cards of our choice.

It is very tiring to continually see jackasssports reprints with titles that do not say "rp,reprint" or anything else. It is easy for real vintage cards to get lost among all the garbage that he sells...well, he doesn't actually sell much.

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Posted By: runscott

...in the above post. He has worked hard to secure his reputation as a misleading mega-dealer of mis-categorized garbage.