Biggest Mistakes as Buyers/Sellers

[glchen]

My biggest regrets on buying all involve around pricing. There are a bunch of times that I negotiated myself out of a rare card because I was a cheapskate. I would push the seller down and down again to try to get the best price, and in the end, he decided to sell it to someone else, and I realized that I should've just taken his offer. Similar things with setting snipes on ebay. Sometimes, I figure this card will go for a really high price, and I can't really afford it, but I'll just put this lowball snipe out there just for the heck of it. In the end, the winning bid is just one increment higher than my snipe, and I'm in shock. I would probably still have lost, but sometimes, it's hard to get over the thinking that if you had just bid a little more, you might have won the card, and it might not have been a total steal, but it still would have been an extremely good deal.

There's also the flip side of course, where I don't know what I am thinking, and I overbid for a card, especially those that aren't even rare. I've done this so many times that I kick myself and promise that I'll be tougher w/ my buying in the future. That of course, leads to what happens in the previous paragraph.

[zljones]

When I first started collecting again as an adult I made a stupid rookie mistake. I saw a really crappy beat down Hank Aaron rookie card in auction on ebay. The seller was from Canada, the background behind the cartoon characters on the back was white instead of green. And the card looked downright kinda funny. Againt my better judgement, I bid anyway and paid $100 for the card and $25 for shipping. I also never asked the seller about the measurements of the care either. Stupid!

I get the card and low and behold it was a dirty, worthless reprint. I bugged the seller to death that it was sold a reprint. He said he got it from his uncle in the 1980s. He said a friend of his said it was real. I told him it did not measure up and that the background behind the cartoon was white. he refunded the money but did not refund the shipping. I lost $25 then sent it back to him.

A few months later the dirty reprint was returned to me as unclaimed, the seller never even picked it up from the P.O. he had me send it to. I was stupid but made a rookie mistake returning to the hobby, plus I did not know vintage cards, I then took it upon myself to do the research to make sure I never got ripped again. Now it should be really hard to rip me off now.

[GregMitch34]

One could mention mistakes for hours if not days. What about a mistake that turned out swell? About 20 years ago I bought a Hugh Duffy Mayo Cut from a store in NY. Got home and did a little research--even pre-Internet--and discovered that this card did NOT have a black back and was therefore a reprint. Fortunately, the dealer let me return it and pick out another card for about $300. Turned out to be a well-centered Matty t206 with a Cycle back--when few cared about backs. Later graded at PSA 4 and still have it. Might be the only one.

Of course, would have done well with the Duffy, too -- if it had been real!

[ethicsprof]

glad it worked out for you!
It seems like an especially good deal in 2012 but 300 for an ungraded Matty
20 years ago seems a bit high somehow. Perhaps it's just my remembering
buying my first matty 28 years ago(which was the first T206 I every purchased) at my first card convention---and got it for around 15 bucks.
all the best,
barry

[wazoo]

Those are all interesting stories and I really enjoyed reading them. I understand the pain that might have been felt for missing certain deals. After reading that story about the Mathewson, that is just amazing! What a beautiful card. Me being so young, I never had the opportunity to buy rare t206 cards for such good prices. Thank you.

[howard38]

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[Hot Springs Bathers]

Without question selling off my collection not once but twice! Ouch!!!!