Greg Morris

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by BruceinGa

And I'll add my 2 cents. I've bid on GM cards, probably a thousand in the past year. I've only won less than 100.
Snipe what you think they are worth!
Early this year I returned about 20 cards because I didn't think they were quite the grade advertised. Their customer service politely explained that even though they offer returns it is difficult to service their sellers with a high number of returns. I agreed and am more careful on the cards that I am looking to buy.
I agree that some bidders are looking for that "nm-mint or better" card that will grade as a 10.

So you had to return at least 1 in 5 cards you purchased because the seller over graded them. Then the did accept the return(s) but complained about it. I guess I would be more careful with them also.

My 2 cents. I think they do a better job at guessing the grade than most.

I do find it strange that they have so many bidders like the one I posted earlier. That bidder had 488 bids in the last month on 104 different items. 100% of those bids are with GM. That averages out to 16 bids a day with only 1 seller and the bidder rarely if ever wins anything.

[BruceinGa]

Originally Posted by bnorth

So you had to return at least 1 in 5 cards you purchased because the seller over graded them. Then the did accept the return(s) but complained about it. I guess I would be more careful with them also.

At first I thought it wouldn't be a problem, since they advertise returns, no questions asked. I was thinking that I'll bid on more then return any that I wasn't happy with.
I have adjusted my strategy since then.

[wondo]

Why is this thread, and dozens others, on the pre-war forum? Seems it used to be an unusual occurrence, but now we can post about a guy selling a Mickey Morandini rookie, throw out accusations and include it here. There are post war and modern pages. Throw this crap on them!

[ALR-bishop]

Yes, the pre war board seems infected with post war riff raff these days

[Leon]

When a thread like this, concerning an advertiser, is moved there are conspiracy theorists who will say I am protecting an advertiser. So that is the main reason some threads don't get moved. This one being the second alarm about, what looks to have no supporting evidence other than high prices for great looking raw cards, should be moved otherwise (and might still be).

[RedsFan1941]

Originally Posted by wondo

Why is this thread, and dozens others, on the pre-war forum? Seems it used to be an unusual occurrence, but now we can post about a guy selling a Mickey Morandini rookie, throw out accusations and include it here. There are post war and modern pages. Throw this crap on them!

be happy there are no soccer threads on the main page of a website supposedly dedicated to prewar baseball cards

[greg19]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I do find it strange that they have so many bidders like the one I posted earlier. That bidder had 488 bids in the last month on 104 different items. 100% of those bids are with GM. That averages out to 16 bids a day with only 1 seller and the bidder rarely if ever wins anything.

I throw out tons of bids on his cards but do win my fair share. I usually bid on high grade football and basketball for 2 reasons. I love those sports as much as baseball and I feel that the going prices for these cards are undervalued compared to their baseball sibling. If I can get a nrmt card for $3 or under vs a psa graded card for $30 i'm buying 10 of the ungraded (different players) all day. I'mnot looking to send to PSA nor have I ever sent any cards to PSA. I like to collect what I like and try and find the best grade possible. I just find that he is one of the best when it comes to describing condition. Yes, I have gotten some that I don't feel were as described and couldn't be seen in pictures (some having indents on them that can only be seen when turned into the light) but i'm happy with the majority I receive.

I'm just a small fish in his big pond and rarely spend over 4.00 for a card. I have wo plenty of his auctions for the .79 starting price and I usually average out around 2.00 If I can pick up football and basketball Hall of Famers (obviously not the big, well known players...but still Hall of Famers) from the 50's and 60's in nrmt condition for those prices i'd br crazy not to.

It's like everything else in life. I'm sure a lot of people before the internet had their favorite card shop or TTM dealer. Same with me and Greg Morris Cards. I'm just a happy customer who gets me what I'm looking for to add to my PC at a nice price. I lose way more than I win but in the month of December I probably purchased over 300 cards from him. I don't know him and i'm not affiliated with him in any way. Trough my bidding history I might look like a shill but i'm definitely just a collector looking to add to my collection. I'm sure there are others that bid just as I do with his stuff.

GREG SMITH from QUINCY, MA

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by greg19

I throw out tons of bids on his cards but do win my fair share. I usually bid on high grade football and basketball for 2 reasons. I love those sports as much as baseball and I feel that the going prices for these cards are undervalued compared to their baseball sibling. If I can get a nrmt card for $3 or under vs a psa graded card for $30 i'm buying 10 of the ungraded (different players) all day. I'mnot looking to send to PSA nor have I ever sent any cards to PSA. I like to collect what I like and try and find the best grade possible. I just find that he is one of the best when it comes to describing condition. Yes, I have gotten some that I don't feel were as described and couldn't be seen in pictures (some having indents on them that can only be seen when turned into the light) but i'm happy with the majority I receive.

I'm just a small fish in his big pond and rarely spend over 4.00 for a card. I have wo plenty of his auctions for the .79 starting price and I usually average out around 2.00 If I can pick up football and basketball Hall of Famers (obviously not the big, well known players...but still Hall of Famers) from the 50's and 60's in nrmt condition for those prices i'd br crazy not to.

It's like everything else in life. I'm sure a lot of people before the internet had their favorite card shop or TTM dealer. Same with me and Greg Morris Cards. I'm just a happy customer who gets me what I'm looking for to add to my PC at a nice price. I lose way more than I win but in the month of December I probably purchased over 300 cards from him. I don't know him and i'm not affiliated with him in any way. Trough my bidding history I might look like a shill but i'm definitely just a collector looking to add to my collection. I'm sure there are others that bid just as I do with his stuff.

Glad to know. Since you are commenting on a company you full name needs to be posted.

This is in BOLD at the of of every page. If you write anything concerning a person or company your full name needs to be in your post or obtainable from it.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Glad to know. Since you are commenting on a company you full name needs to be posted.

This is in BOLD at the of of every page. If you write anything concerning a person or company your full name needs to be in your post or obtainable from it.

Guessing his first name might be Greg, hailing from CA?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Guessing his first name might be Greg, hailing from CA?

Maybe the rule doesn't count for paid advertisement.

[cardsagain74]

I've always found them a very solid and useful outlet. Imagine plenty of other people have too and that they have a pretty big following by now. Like the guy above, I'm never surprised to get outbid there, but still regularly find some things that I need at the right price.

As far as condition, the cards are usually about as described. And the occasional times that wasn't the case, the slight misgrading was a little more likely to be in my favor

[Leon]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Maybe the rule doesn't count for paid advertisement.

How about F U A-hole. I was away from the board a few hours. You really can be a dick. His name on his registration is Greg Smith and it will be very verified in the next day or two. I already tried to call him but got an automated answer so didn't leave a message. I will follow up. Oh yeah, did I tell you you are an A-hole? Because you really are.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Leon

How about F U A-hole. I was away from the board a few hours. You really can be a dick. His name on his registration is Greg Smith and it will be very verified in the next day or two. I already tried to call him but got an automated answer so didn't leave a message. I will follow up. Oh yeah, did I tell you you are an A-hole? Because you really are.

Nice.

[greg19]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Glad to know. Since you are commenting on a company you full name needs to be posted.

This is in BOLD at the of of every page. If you write anything concerning a person or company your full name needs to be in your post or obtainable from it.

Updated in original reply

[Leon]

Originally Posted by greg19

Updated in original reply

and of course still verifying ......nothing personal

UPDATE- Greg and I spoke quite a bit on the phone. He is no shiller and I will call one very friendly auction house to confirm the reference (in the next few days). Thanks all.....

LL

ps... apologies to board members for ranting above. Sometimes snarky comments get under my skin.

[carlsonjok]

TL;DR but:

I am a vintage set builder. I like nice quality cards, but I am not a high roller, so I want to do stay within my budget. When I start a set, I pull down the checklist and add in the Beckett book values, which I use as my guide for bidding. I normally looked to get EX-NRMT cards at 35-40% of Beckett high book value and go down from there for lower quality. Over time, I've limited my sources of cards to local shows and Greg Morris' Ebay auctions. That's it. I've dropped all other on-line sellers.

So, I have a few observations about Greg Morris:

1. He tends to grade conservatively. I will actually bid on cards he grades at VG-EX because they tend to be of equivalent to other sellers EX+ cards.
2. I used to clean up on his auctions using my 35-40% rule. Over the last year, this has changed. Where I used to get 10-15 cards in a particularly set break, I now get 2-4 and cards are selling way, way above what I am comfortable buying at.
3. Yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition.
4. On a related note, when I put together my 1955 Topps checklist a couple years ago, Beckett listed the Clemente RC at a book value of $2,200. When I looked the other day, it was up to $5,000.
5. My conclusion is that we are in a market bubble right now and auction results are just way out of line with longer term trends and what we have come to expect having been in the hobby for a long time.

YMMV

[Bram99]

Originally Posted by carlsonjok

TL;DR but:

I am a vintage set builder. I like nice quality cards, but I am not a high roller, so I want to do stay within my budget. When I start a set, I pull down the checklist and add in the Beckett book values, which I use as my guide for bidding. I normally looked to get EX-NRMT cards at 35-40% of Beckett high book value and go down from there for lower quality. Over time, I've limited my sources of cards to local shows and Greg Morris' Ebay auctions. That's it. I've dropped all other on-line sellers.

So, I have a few observations about Greg Morris:

1. He tends to grade conservatively. I will actually bid on cards he grades at VG-EX because they tend to be of equivalent to other sellers EX+ cards.
2. I used to clean up on his auctions using my 35-40% rule. Over the last year, this has changed. Where I used top get 10-15 cards in a particularly set break, I now get 2-4 and cards are selling way, way above what I am comfortable buying at.
3. Yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition.
4. On a related note, when I put together my 1955 Topps checklist a couple years ago, Beckett listed the Clemente RC at a book value of $2,200. When I looked the other day, it was up to $5,000.
5. My conclusion is that we are in a market bubble right now and auction results are just way out of line with longer term trends and what we have come to expect having been in the hobby for a long time.

YMMV

I have bought a lot of cards from Greg Morris. I have lost more auctions than I have won. I have never gotten a card from him that was over-graded.

I probably have about a 33% to 50% rate (with other eBay sellers) of getting raw cards that are over-graded. Another poster above mentioned problems on a card that you cannot see in the scan. I just bought a group of raw Early Wynn cards from different seller and lo and behold, surface issues not apparent on the scan of the key card. It was $50 total for 4 cards, but kind of a waste of money now. I don't have to worry about that kind of stuff with GMC.

I sold a bunch of cards through Greg Morris too. He graded them probably more harshly than I would have. In the end, the cards sold for fair prices. I don't usually get awesome deals anymore when I buy from GMC because they have such a following, but I also never get surprised to the downside with what I get in the mailbox.

Tony

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by carlsonjok

He tends to grade conservatively. I will actually bid on cards he grades at VG-EX because they tend to be of equivalent to other sellers EX+ cards.

Unfortunately I've always attributed this more to GM grading fairly (compared to most other sellers overgrading).

Knew that obviously caveat emptor would always be front-and-center once I got back into the hobby and got acclimated to ebay, but it's even worse than I would've expected.

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by carlsonjok

I used to clean up on his auctions using my 35-40% rule. Over the last year, this has changed. Where I used to get 10-15 cards in a particularly set break, I now get 2-4 and cards are selling way, way above what I am comfortable buying at. On a related note, when I put together my 1955 Topps checklist a couple years ago, Beckett listed the Clemente RC at a book value of $2,200. When I looked the other day, it was up to $5,000.

My conclusion is that we are in a market bubble right now and auction results are just way out of line with longer term trends and what we have come to expect having been in the hobby for a long time.

Could be a bubble, or could just be the market becoming more efficient. If it has to be one or the other, hoping it's the latter

[mattsey9]

Originally Posted by carlsonjok

TL;DR but:

I am a vintage set builder. I like nice quality cards, but I am not a high roller, so I want to do stay within my budget. When I start a set, I pull down the checklist and add in the Beckett book values, which I use as my guide for bidding. I normally looked to get EX-NRMT cards at 35-40% of Beckett high book value and go down from there for lower quality. Over time, I've limited my sources of cards to local shows and Greg Morris' Ebay auctions. That's it. I've dropped all other on-line sellers.

So, I have a few observations about Greg Morris:

1. He tends to grade conservatively. I will actually bid on cards he grades at VG-EX because they tend to be of equivalent to other sellers EX+ cards.
2. I used to clean up on his auctions using my 35-40% rule. Over the last year, this has changed. Where I used to get 10-15 cards in a particularly set break, I now get 2-4 and cards are selling way, way above what I am comfortable buying at.
3. Yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition.
4. On a related note, when I put together my 1955 Topps checklist a couple years ago, Beckett listed the Clemente RC at a book value of $2,200. When I looked the other day, it was up to $5,000.
5. My conclusion is that we are in a market bubble right now and auction results are just way out of line with longer term trends and what we have come to expect having been in the hobby for a long time.

YMMV

My thoughts exactly. I've never had a bad experience with Greg, and I'm prepared to bid on 50 more cards this weekend.