Deans cards?graded for free by their expert?

[smotan_02]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

Last Christmas my wife snuck one of my "needs" list and used Deans to finish out a set. I was surprised and pleased as well. She couldn't stop talking about how he helped her and the excellent customer service...

The cards were in the VGish range, a little less than I wanted (my wife has no clue and does not care, lol) so I asked her how much she spent. She refused at first, but after looking at some of his stuff on ebay and his website, I HAD to know. Well...she spent at NM+ pricing and was totally taken. I could have got the cards for easily 1/3rd on BINs in better shape. I lied to my wife and said all was good thanking her deeply for caring enough about my hobby (the gesture is AWESOME) and secretly replaced all the cards.

In my eyes...he took advantage of my wife, he can go f himself. Just my .02$. He knew he had a clueless wife, and acted accordingly. They spoke direct on the phone.

Wow, did you ever call and address this issue with him? Seems like it would be worth a discussion that should give him a chance to to the right thing.

[robw]

Harliduck, thanks for sharing, but I have to say I don't agree with your assessment. I have zero connection to Dean's Cards...never even bought from him. His prices are online. If someone wants to pay retail prices, and not negotiate, I don't believe the seller should be badmouthed. That's how retail business operates. That's just not fair to the seller. We all know an ungraded 1985 Topps Mike Schmidt in less than gem condition (Phillies fan, and just throwing out a rough example) is barely worth the paper it's printed on, but someone will pay $1 or $2 for it. Like you said, this was a gift, and it was a great gesture by your wife. If you feel he actually charged her more than his listed price, then that's another story, and I could agree with you.

Rob Wis.hn.ick

[Luke]

Originally Posted by robw

Harliduck, thanks for sharing, but I have to say I don't agree with your assessment. I have zero connection to Dean's Cards...never even bought from him. His prices are online. If someone wants to pay retail prices, and not negotiate, I don't believe the seller should be badmouthed. That's how retail business operates. That's just not fair to the seller. We all know an ungraded 1985 Topps Mike Schmidt in less than gem condition (Phillies fan, and just throwing out a rough example) is barely worth the paper it's printed on, but someone will pay $1 or $2 for it. Like you said, this was a gift, and it was a great gesture by your wife. If you feel he actually charged her more than his listed price, then that's another story, and I could agree with you.

Rob

I disagree with this. For one thing, it sounds like these were a bunch of commons that John needed for his sets. So, the prices were most likely not posted anywhere online. The dealer could tell that she didn't have a clue about fair prices. She was essentially handing him a blank check for the cards on the wantlist. In my opinion, he has 2 choices:
1. Sell them to her for a fair price, or
2. Charge her a ridiculously high price.
He had the opportunity to name his price, and he chose to take advantage of her. If he had given great customer service, and a fair price, he would deserve to have a post on here talking about how great of a dealer he is. With the way he chose to do business, he deserves the post that says "he can go f himself". All of this, imo of course.

[bobbyw8469]

When I was new to the hobby many years ago, I used Dean's cards to buy some Red Mans. I paid around $8-$10 for commons with no pictures. The cards I got were in really rough shape (P-F) and could have been gotten on Ebay for around $1 each. That was my first and last dealing with Dean's cards. I have never looked back.

[frankbmd]

From Dean's Cards website

"If you will give us the opportunity to earn your business, you will be glad that you did. We guarantee it. We love this hobby and work very hard to insure that orders are shipped 100% correct, mailed within one business day and that the items sent are conservatively graded. If you are not happy for any reason, you may return your order for a full refund".

Your wife may never buy you another card, but the above paragraph from their website would suggest that you had another option.

Giving them the opportunity to earn my business with their pricing is another story all together.

As to grading your own cards, I do not have a problem. Unless you are into TPG grading VG commons, grading cards yourself would seem to facilitate inventory management.

[arc2q]

I'm fine with the prices Dean's Cards charges. They offer a streamlined and guaranteed service that is appealing to many.

I have sold a few decent cards on eBay and been surprised when the auction was over that the winner was Dean's Cards. So he's buying inventory at eBay market values and then reselling. He's got to make a profit.

The service may not be for everyone. My wife only buys cards twice a year as gifts and I know she has used Dean's Cards. I know she is probably paying more than one could get the same cards on eBay but she prefers that for piece of mind. She has said she is not confident buying on EBay and I totally understand that. Dean's has a great, easy-to-use website, great customer service, and guaranteed (as close as possible) authenticity. Ebay is a tough market for novices with scams everywhere. If she's only buying cards once or twice a year as gifts she wants to do so in an environment that is safe and reliable. You pay extra for that security and reassurance. And all the card she has bought were PSA graded for added assurance.

I have looked at his website and think it is pretty nice. And I would not disparage one of the strongest card shops in America doing fantastic business -- it is not an easy market anymore and plenty of people on this site have criticized the old mom and pop card shops going out of business for failing to adapt to the internet.


And.rew Co.rso

[vintagetoppsguy]

Why is it when some people defend these rip off artists (and it's not just Dean's Cards), they use terms like 'guaranteed customer service" and "probably paying a little more" to make their point?

Please tell me what is "guaranteed customer service"? If I buy a card on eBay from seller XYZ and it arrives in the condition as stated within a reasonable time, isn't that great customer service? Should I expect more? What separates Dean's Cards' customer service from seller XYZ's customer service? You say it as if it makes you feel better about your purchase for spending double or triple the price with Dean's Cards than you could have paid with another dealer.

Me: "I just bought this new Toyota Camry at a dealership on the north side of Houston for $27K"

My neighbor: "Well, I just bought the same Toyota Camry at dealership on the south side of Houston for $36K, but the customer service was excellent."

Seriously, don't you realize how ridiculous that sounds? You're justifying the high price with their customer service. Sure, I realize some things in life are worth spending a little more for given their reputation for excellent customer service (like a nice hotel or restaurant), but we're taking baseball cards here. If it gets to you in the condition that is was described, in a timely manner, then that's all that matters, right? I'm not sure why some people equate paying more for a baseball card with the customer service they received.

And as far as "probably paying a little more," there is no probably to it. Can someone show me a card in his inventory that isn't priced at 150% of what the card should normally sell for? And most of them are priced 2 to 3 times retail value.

But in the end it is your money and if you want to spend more of it for a card you can get somewhere else a lot cheaper, by all means go for it.

[arc2q]

David-
You're missing my point about why my wife prefers to shop there and why I believe that is best for her. eBay is not customer service-oriented and it is not a fair market place for the inexperienced. Sure, most dealers are 100% honest, fair, and service-oriented. But there are far too many unknowns and uncertainties for novices and non-collectors to attempt to wade into that market if all they want to do is buy (me) vintage baseball cards for Christmas.

We see multiple posts daily here about rip-offs and fakes on eBay. My wife and many other people who have neither the time nor experience to understand the market cannot use it with any semblance of confidence.

Certainly you could get better deals by scouring eBay or other auctions, waiting for the right deal to come along, and strategically bidding at the right moment. Many people do not have that ability. They want to buy something immediately with confidence it is authentic and assurance it will arrive in a timely fashion.

Your comparison of buying a Toyota from one dealer or another is flawed. To us it makes sense but to someone who is unfamiliar with eBay the comparison would be more like answering an ad in the back of the newspaper with no name of the seller who may or may not even own the car he is selling vs. buying from Carmax. You would expect to pay a lot less buying that car from the ad in the newspaper knowing you are taking some risk that a) the car may be in worse shape than advertised, b) it may have been in an accident, c) it may be stolen, d) it may be fake, or e) the guy might not even show up when he says he will to meet you in a back alley to sell you the car. I would be willing to pay more to go to Carmax for no hassle.

I like eBay. I do not want my wife buying cards off of eBay though because it is fraught with danger. Dean's Cards does not deserve the criticism...if buyers want to pay for the piece of mind that their store brings than that is the buyer's choice. The problem is the countless fraudulent dealers on eBay.

Andy

[nsaddict]

Interesting to hear opinions from both ends of the spectrum. Personally, can't understand why anyone would snag a buy it now, as the same card could be found elsewhere in the same condition for a fraction? This MUST have been a gift from the wifey

http://tinyurl.com/l5ethmc

[PowderedH2O]

The cards Dean sells are WAY overgraded. On ebay, you can see the poor grading. A few years ago I bought some cards from them to complete my 1971 football set from their website. At the time, there were no photos. Too bad for me. None of the cards were accurately graded. One of them was "Ex-Mt" and was a miscut to the point that I had almost 20% of the card above it. Somehow Dean forgot to mention that in the description. The reason he sells very little is poor grading and poor prices.


Sa,m Lem.oine