Can't fight City Hall- eBay protecting their large sellers (probstein content)

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by lancemountain

I purchased 7 cards from Probstein on the 10th of December. They were all from a modern set and clearly from the same consigner as they all were the same player, same set and very low serial numbered.


I won all 7, two for a very low price and the other 5 for about market average. I paid not thinking too much about it. Fair play-service and shipping was quick and Probstein had delivered my cards in a few short days. It needed a signature and was returned to my main HUB and it took a sweek for me to retrieve the package. Cards were packed well and were in good shape.

As I was entering my new cards into spreadsheets (date acquired, price paid, ect...I do enjoy this part) I poked through and low and behold I was shilled. The bidder o***l with 11 feedback. This person has 100% bidding activity with the seller. Every bid was on these cards within the last few minutes.



So I contact Probstein and explained in a well thought out and polite email that these cards were clearly shilled. I was hopeful that he had not paid the consigner the fees yet and we could reach an agreement. He replied with this:



He knew darn well I would run into a big, fat wall.

I called them, I emailed them, I reported the auctions, I waited on hold with them, I spoke with eBay employees that I could literally just barely understand a word they were saying. eBay customer service is basically useless and so I resigned myself to that there would be no recourse.

Well the only recourse left would be to leave appropriate feedback, right?

Well the last kick in the teeth was all the negatives have been removed.


Probstein makes eBay a lot of money...as long as he says he's against shilling it's good enough for them. FWIW I was shilled for $62.00

With all the problems associated with Problemstien I am at the point that I blame the problem 100% on anybody stupid enough to bid on his auctions. JMHO

[lancemountain]

Originally Posted by bnorth

With all the problems associated with Problemstien I am at the point that I blame the problem 100% on anybody stupid enough to bid on his auctions. JMHO

I agree with you 100%

I was unaware of how institutional it really was and that is why I have posted this thread. I will never bid on a Probstein card ever again

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by bnorth

With all the problems associated with Problemstien I am at the point that I blame the problem 100% on anybody stupid enough to bid on his auctions. JMHO

Ben- Well said my friend. These threads go back to when Moby Dick was a minnow. Hello!, dont bid on his freaking auctions!!

[dclarkraiders]

I have won several Probstein auctions and may have been shilled but I don't sweat it. I do my homework before I bid so that I only bid the maximum that I am willing to pay. If I win great. If I lose, I'll get the card from other sellers, sources, etc. I understand your angst but $62.00 is a small price to pay for a lesson learned. Good luck in your future collecting endeavors.

Duane Clark

[drcy]

I have won several Probstein auctions and may have been shilled but I don't sweat it. I do my homework before I bid so that I only bid the maximum that I am willing to pay.

To achieve the same result, if you aren't shilled in an auction do you flush a $20 bill down the toilet? Most collectors would prefer to keep the $20 and use it towards purchasing something else. Let's just hope that by 'homework' you don't mean following past shilled auction results.

[lancemountain]

Originally Posted by drcy

Let's just hope that by 'homework' you don't mean following past shilled auction results.

Yup!

Shilling is everyone's problem

[1952boyntoncollector]

just bid under market value like guys keep saying...........

[slipk1068]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

just bid under market value like guys keep saying...........

I suspect this may get interesting.

[Mrc32]

Originally Posted by lancemountain

Yup!

Shilling is everyone's problem

No it isn't. It isn't Probstein's problem. He keeps getting record prices.
It isn't ebay's problem. They keep getting more fees.

[Jewish-collector]

I don't understand. If I set a snipe for a max bid in the amount I am willing to pay, how can anyone or anything force me to spend more than that ?

[mybuddyinc]

Originally Posted by dclarkraiders

I have won several Probstein auctions and may have been shilled but I don't sweat it. I do my homework before I bid so that I only bid the maximum that I am willing to pay. If I win great. If I lose, I'll get the card from other sellers, sources, etc. I understand your angst but $62.00 is a small price to pay for a lesson learned. Good luck in your future collecting endeavors.

Duane Clark

Agree 100%, other than I've only won one of his auction. It was for a lesser known 1921 Zbyszko Exhibit. I was willing to pay $100 for it (tough wrestler), but I knew I would be probably shilled up to that. So I sniped at 50 something and won, happy. If I lost, no big deal, I'd rather wait and even pay a bit more down the line.

Secondly, GREAT for him (sarcastically, of course) for shilling OP out of $62 !!!!! Hope it's worth losing a customer that might potentially spend hundreds in the future !!!!

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by dclarkraiders

I have won several Probstein auctions and may have been shilled but I don't sweat it. I do my homework before I bid so that I only bid the maximum that I am willing to pay. If I win great. If I lose, I'll get the card from other sellers, sources, etc. I understand your angst but $62.00 is a small price to pay for a lesson learned. Good luck in your future collecting endeavors.

Duane Clark

+1. Well its nice to get a bargain now and then, most great collections in any field are not built on them. Bid the max you are willing to pay, evaluating as best you can the item's past, present and future potential value, and you will never be cheated.

Best wishes,

Larry

[packs]

I don't understand that logic though. The maximum you're willing to pay isn't the winning bid. You're essentially saying it's no big deal to pay the most you're willing to pay. But to me it is a big deal because I didn't have to pay that much in the first place.

Do you guys use coupons or ever buy things on sale? Or do you insist on paying MSRP for all your purchases?

[Kenny Cole]

Originally Posted by bnorth

With all the problems associated with Problemstien I am at the point that I blame the problem 100% on anybody stupid enough to bid on his auctions. JMHO

I would guess that a large percentage of his buyers aren't members of this forum and thus have no idea that there's a problem. I actually threw a bid in on a card last week, didn't get shilled. Got it for less than market value. That happens occasionally.

[BlueDevil89]

Mention that you intend to document the incident and file a complaint report with your state's district attorney's office. ebay will connect you to a manager and you should get some satisfaction then, depending on how your wish to resolve the matter.

[lancemountain]

Originally Posted by BlueDevil89

Mention that you intend to document the incident and file a complaint report with your state's district attorney's office. ebay will connect you to a manager and you should get some satisfaction then, depending on how your wish to resolve the matter.

I would exhaust every avenue to nail this guy, believe me. It's not the $62, it is the principle and I am willing to stand up to this crook.

The problem is I can't get on the phone with someone to make this threat!

[drcy]

"I can assure you, doctor, that I can make things unpleasant for you and your staff, if you have one."-- Kramer