Real or Bogus 1933 Goudey Ruth #149

[sportsstuff629]

Thanks to everyone for their feedback. I had the same feelings as what most of you are calling out. I asked him why he would ever consider selling this card for $800 when he can get it graded and get $2k+. He said he just needed to get cash quick and had no desire to wait 2 months to get it back from grading. I also offered to pay for the grading ahead of time just to see if he would bite and he turned that down as well. I've been buying for 20+ years so my gut told me not to do this transaction but I would love to eventually learn the tricks of looking at a card itself in order to determine if it's real or fake. I did find some good resources out there for how to spot a fake Ruth #144 but couldn't find any on this particular card. The one thing I find interesting is the fact that many of these old Ruth cards still sell for several hundred dollars even though the listing clearly states they are being sold as "unknown", with no guarantee to their authenticity. I personally don't understand why someone would want to pay that much for a fake. i get not everyone can afford the real deal but it just doesn't seem like a good investment to spend that much on a reproduction, no matter how good it looks.

[hcv123]

When you handle enough of the real stuff - the fakes jump out at you. Lots of great advice already given. When they start up again - get out to shows and handle more of the cards you intend to buy (If you can't/won't do that, buy graded only or risk learning a VERY expensive lesson- Ones like the Ebay listing you linked will start to look as fake to you as it does to others in this thread.
That you made it to the point of conversation (what's there to talk about regarding an obvious fake) with the owner makes me scared for you. All said in the interest of helping.

[sportsstuff629]

Appreciate your candid feedback. I may seem a little naive but in reality my gut usually steers me right. In 20+ years I have been fortunate in that I have only ended up with 2 or 3 reprints in all. Not bad given how many I've purchased over the years. Thanks again, I do appreciate the advice and I can't wait for shows to start back up.