everybody enjoys posting thier best pickup, what about the one you were taken on the worst

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Posted By: Dave

I enjoy seeing the nice cards everyone picks up monthly. But i'm sure some have spent some major dough to be taken, either card in worse shape, fake, altered etc. Luckily I havent been taken on a big purchase (yet), latest was a t206 huggins portrait, that was supposedly in a SGC 5.5 holder and broke out, i paid $250 for it, sent to psa, and came back a 1

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Dave, gutsy threat you've started. I had to laugh when reading about your advertised SGC 5.5 which became a PSA 1. Seriously, that's funny. Was it the nail through the Miller's head that gave it away? I don't have enough time in the day to list all the time's I've been ripped off. Beyond the shill bidding, the supposedly NM raw cards that had rounded corners and creases upon arrival and the trimmed cards I've been sold...ugh. This could be a long thread.

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Posted By: runscott

Great thread.

I have NEVER bought a card thinking it was real, and turned out to be fake.

The only cards I ever bought that I thought were 'good' that, upon receipt, I thought 'might' be tampered with, were a lot of Bowman football cards in high-grade PSA holders. But, I'll admit, I wasn't sure - just felt funny about the way some of them looked.

I have bought a few cards that were described as EXMT or better, that ended up having hairline creases, and two that had undisclosed pinholes. In all cases, I either disclosed the damage and still broke even, or I sent them back to the dealer.

I realize I'm in the minority, but there are some good reasons why I haven't been 'taken' yet.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

I don't think that you are in the minority runscott. I have overpayed for cards. And I am often disappointed with what I get, compared to what I thought I bought. But sometimes it goes the other way.

But I haven't been ripped off. And I haven't made gross errors. And I attribute that to a great extent to the training which I continue to get on this Forum. Which consists primarilly of "don't be stupid".

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Posted By: David Vargha

1939 Play Ball DiMaggio Sample Back (raw) that looked NM+ but was trimmed. The seller ended up getting NARU'ed.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: leon

I have bought numerous fakes and reprints before, accidentally. I would say in my whole collecting career I am probably out less than $50 though, on fakes and forgeries. I have almost always gotten resolution. Unfortunately when you do a lot of buying and selling on the internet you have to take some calculated risks. Sure has been a good learning lesson.....that and caressing my cards ...

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Posted By: Steve M.

One "big" burn in my naive youth that I am embarrassed to reveal. So put me in the burned once column. But as they say "burn me once shame on you, burn me twice, shame on me". Happy to say no "shame on me".

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Posted By: warshawlaw

1. I purchased two OJ's that turned out to be laser prints. NARU'd seller, same as always. The last raw baseball OJ purchase I ever made. BTW, the rotten scumbag seller's name is J. G. Henderson from Johnson City, Illinois and he defrauded me in December 2004.

2. I purchased a PRO (I know) graded N28 that was trimmed. Ate a bunch of money on that one.

3. I purchased a 1953 Bowman Spahn in a CSA 7 holder that turned out to have been altered. Ate a bunch of money there too.

The weirdest one I had was a purchase of 3 exhibit cards: a Salutations Gehringer, a Berra and a Kaline. The Gehringer was real and worth more than what I paid for all three; the other two were reprints.

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Posted By: Russ Bright

Generally seems to be my fault. I misread an auction and by the time i've bid it up i paid too much. but recently i misread an e-mail and thought it was a variation i didn't have (T205) and paid 240 for a card that in my right mind wouldn't have paid more than 120 for. I needed the variation so badly i overpaid. Worst part is that the graded card doesn't look anywhere as nice as the 2 RAW versions of the card that i picked up for under 50. (sigh). It's taken me a month to catch up financially as i only get one big splurge a month. The seller told me that (after explaining my mistake) someone on B/S/T there would buy it... but nowhere NEAR for the price I paid. They're going on ebay in this condition (graded) for under 150. I feel burned, and it makes me wary of using B/S/T again.

I wish (even if it was my fault) that the seller would have offered me a partial refund or return. them's the breaks! I'll be more careful next time!

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Posted By: Dave

I can only relay the reasons behind starting the thread in this manner...remember when you were 12 years old and you got in trouble at school along with your buddy? And your sitting there in the principal's office getting scolded (or spanked back in those days).. Kinda stupid, but remember how you'd end up smiling or laughing, not because you screwed up, but because your watching your buddy that also screwed up. No guarantee with these cards, but after you screw up, can somewhat giggle that others do the same.....

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Posted By: James Gallo

I tend to take a risk or two on some stuff but haven't been burned too badly.

I bought a PSA 4 CR Stallings only to have SGC give it a 20 because of some obvious paper loss on the front by the name. Totally my fault and I bought the damn holder instead of the card.

I had wondered why it went so cheap.

I bought another CJ that was supposed to be stained on the front, but it wasn't stains from the candy, someone had stained the whole front.

All is all I haven't done to bad and I haven't gotten anything fake yet.

These errors are blown away by my CJ matty that I took a shoot on and got a very nice SGC 20 for pennies on the dollar.


James Gallo




Looking for 1915 Cracker Jacks and 1909-11 American Caramel E90-1.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

Russ: If I understand your post - you paid more than you should have for a B/S/T card, then changed your mind about the purchase. Then what? The seller didn't want it back, or you didn't ask him .... and you are listing it on ebay for less than what you paid. Tell us more, maybe we want your error.

But what is the B/S/T problem? Certainly some offers are not as low as the seller will go, while others are. But what?

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Posted By: Steve M.

Russ, you misread the email and explained that to the B/S/T seller? If so "shame on him/her"

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Posted By: Russ Bright

The problem is, I thought I was buying one card, and it ended up being ENTIRELY another card. I thought it was a tough variation I needed for a fair price. I ended up paying 2 times more than actual value for a normal (not variation that I already have 2 copies of) graded T205 card.

I checked on ebay (and cardpricer and vintagecardprices) and the card in the condition i bought it in has gone anywhere from 88-140 dollars. If i were to list it on ebay I would lose money. If i were to sell it on B/S/T, i would be hard pressed to get anywhere NEAR what I paid for it. People here are generally informed, and it would be very hard to pass this off.

I understand that it was my fault thinking that it was the wrong card. It was my fault to not ask for scans. I read what I wanted to read. The instant I recieved the card I was writing an e-mail explaining my mistake to the seller. It's not that I changed my mind. i thought i was buying another card then the one that I recieved.

Originally the seller told me anything over 200 would buy the card. I send 240 for shipping and insurance because i was so excited to be picking up the rare variation and wanted to make sure that I would get the card. Only to find out it wasn't the rare variation at all.

All around i did bad things in this transaction. I understand that. It would have been nice for the seller to offer me something more than "I'm sure you'll find someone who wants it on B/S/T"

I get paid 1600 dollars a month (once a month), and between rent (750) and student loans (420), i'm already cutting into food money when I make a card purchase. If i decide to forgo eating for a week or 2 to supplement my collection, that's fine with me. But when I feel ripped off and am still starving... it just burns...

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Posted By: leon

As someone who buys and sells frequently I would have taken the return. Please email me privately about who it was that wouldn't, if you don't mind. I have done that exact same thing (sold a card and the buyer thought it was something else) and taken a return...BST or personal sales I will take returns. I generally will not on cards I sell on ebay...unless I make the mistake..as ebay is a true auction format. regards

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Posted By: Mike Mattison

I won an Aaron rookie in a PRO holder that was graded a 2.5 on eBay. By looking at it from the scans you could tell it was a 10(1) poor. I paid accordingly with the intention of sending it to SGC to get it into the proper holder. When I received the card it was trimmed. Which didn't come accross in the scan. The seller failed to mention that little fact. I was pi.. mad.

Now the funny part. After I picked up an intact Aaron rookie, I relisted the card with full disclosure of the trimming with a BIN for what I paid, fully expecting to take a bath on the card. When I checked my eBay account the next morning, someone had hit the BIN! It was the guy that sold me the card in the first place. He even left me positive feedback.

How crazy is that.

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Posted By: Jason L

trying it all over again to make more money?...
sounds awfully odd if that wasn't his intent.

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Posted By: quan

paid about twice as much as it was worth because seller said it was a "rare" variation. 2 years later i sold it for half of what i paid for it. so yes, you can actually lose (somewhat big) money buying prewar cards . my mistake was not consulting with people that had more expertise than me in those cards and having blind faith/trust in the seller.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

Russ: rent is not necessary. You can live in your (beater) car like I do. And a weekly hotel visit gives you an opportunity to entertain a member of the fairer sex (after showering). Also student loans are not subject to your education being revoked. So, I conclude that you can buy even more cards and eat all month if you fine tune your operation, like the rest of us. And don't minimize mooching.

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Posted By: joe

I bought a T205 Cobb on ebay in 2000, sent it to SGC, it was deemed counterfeit. I contacted the seller by phone and he would not return my money, claimed I switched the card. He also claimed he sent it to SGC and broke it out of the case because he did not like the grade. I contacted ebay, USPS, government agencies about fraud, and Judge Judy show that is on TV. A total loss on my part. Funny thing he is known by at least one board member and is suppose to be an ok guy. Always wanting to find a way to get the money back, but I don't think so. This was before I knew about this board, maybe different results if I had this board access at the time.

Joe

Ty Cobb, Spikes flying!

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Posted By: Anonymous

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Posted By: Eric B

Dumb mistake on my part. About 25 years ago I had a sheet of 8 cards. I don't remember them all, but they did include a 53 Mays, 54 Aaron, 52 Banks and the rest were All-Stars from 52-55 (no Mantle though). I remember being disappointed with the 54 Aaron since it was badly off-centered - not knowing about the way they were designed. I went to a big show just after I heard someone say that the 71 Topps were the "next big thing". Someone at the show had a bunch (not a dealer), maybe 300 of them, and I traded straight up. I misunderstood him and he wanted to trade them for just one card, but I gave him the whole sheet.

That one still haunts me.

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Posted By: runscott

Forgot - I did buy some fake circa-1915 Sporting News Supplements (the tall thin ones) once and still have them. The seller offered a refund, but they were real nice semi-actual-size reprints and I wanted the Nap Rucker, so I kept the lot!

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Posted By: fkw

My biggest screw up this year was adding one too many 5's on a snipe bid. I wanted to bid $255 But bid $2555 and ended up winning a card for $650 that was worth about $350- $400.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

jcmtiger - please consider the fact that friends need to be wary of sellers who have a history of not standing behind what they sell.

I do not care who it is, although I may have a differing opinion. We share experiences here, and iron them out when possible.

Reveal your problem and maybe it can still be resolved. Or maybe you are wrong.