Would you buy from PWCC?

[111gecko]

Sometimes you just really need the card and they seem to always have it..

[Kenny Cole]

No.

[Cliff Bowman]

If they had something extremely rare that I needed I would certainly bid on it but I'm sure it would end at some astronomical price way beyond my offer, legit bids or not. I have never won anything from them and only one time with Probstein in over twenty years on eBay. Like someone used to say, Stuff Trumps All.

[Casey2296]

I'll look at their 1500 card offering and choose maybe 3 cards to watch and while everybody is tripping over themselves overbidding for the fancy stuff, I'll quietly set limit bids and if I get it I get it.

For example: While everybody was salivating over Jackson's, Ruth's and Mantle's I was able to pick up a 1914 Cracker Jack Marquard for under market.

[CobbSpikedMe]

Would not buy from them for any card they offer. I just can't bring myself to give them any of my money after reading what they were involved in and are likely still involved in. No card is worth my self respect. Sorry.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by CobbSpikedMe

Would not buy from them for any card they offer. I just can't bring myself to give them any of my money after reading what they were involved in and are likely still involved in. No card is worth my self respect. Sorry.

Same here. It's obvious Probstein is not honest.

[scooter729]

I'll play devil's advocate - I consigned an expensive ($8K - $10K) card with PWCC that sold last month. I can assure I didn't shill bid or have anyone do so for me.

With 4 days left, it had already reached an all-time high for the card, and then ended another 20% higher than that by the time it was done.

I don't understand why, but I watched a bidding war take place with 8 days left between two people, and another one with 4-5 days left. We all know about sniping and waiting until the last second to bid, but I think other people may just have other strategies - bid early and scare people off, maybe? I don't understand it and wouldn't do it myself, but others do.

So with all that said, I'm sure there are plenty of issues with PWCC having shill bidders and other issues - but there are 100% legit auctions which do run through them as well, and at least some of those record prices are real.

Scott S@r!@n

[trambo]

There have been a few PWCC cards I would've really liked to have made a run for over the past year or so. Can't pull the trigger and not planning to change. I really don't look at their stuff much, either.

[bigfish]

Originally Posted by CobbSpikedMe

Would not buy from them for any card they offer. I just can't bring myself to give them any of my money after reading what they were involved in and are likely still involved in. No card is worth my self respect. Sorry.

agree

[Exhibitman]

I respect the positions of all the 'never-PWCCers' here. This just is not a 100% 'nice' business. There are a lot of cons, crooks, grifters, corner-cutters, etc. Cash businesses and collectibles always attract those sorts. There are also many really great, honest as the day is long, folks and I try to steer everything I can their way.

I guess the bottom line is that everyone has their own line in the sand. I was at a show once and I heard a dealer I used to buy from all the time use a certain really ugly racial slur. Made my skin crawl. I walked away and never dealt with him again. Racism is my third rail; I won't deal with bigots. Too much family blood in the ground in Poland for that...

I am not simon-pure on the question of shoddy or crooked dealers. When Legendary liquidated the Dreier collection I went after and won several of the rare boxing lots even though I knew by then that the people running the AH were crooks (now-convicted felons Doug Allen and Mark Theotikos). I didn't care. As long as the cards were delivered and at the price I was willing to pay I was fine with it. Some of the cards remain centerpieces of my collection.

[Ronnie73]

I used to scan through every T206 auction PWCC had each month but during the past year, I don't anymore and have maybe 5 specific eBay searches for T206's from PWCC, so if they do happen to list one of those five cards, I can take a closer look and if it fits what I'm looking for, I add it to my watch list. I basically have a price ahead of time that I'm comfortable bidding up to. If it goes beyond that price before auction end, I just let it go. If not, I manually bid my max in the final seconds to avoid any artificial up bidding. If I win, great. If I'm outbid, that's fine too. There's never been a problem with slow shipping or bad packaging. That's never been the issue. The issues were always the shill bidding and the actual owners of the cards bidding up their own items. That's why if you manually bid in the last seconds and only bid up to what your comfortable paying, you will never have an issue. Too many people get caught up into being the high bidder throughout the entire auction. That's a dangerous move. There's also the people that turn the bidding into a real competition and have to win, regardless of cost. Just to be the winner. When many times winning the card is actually a losing move. Just play it smart. Know your lane and know when to bail when something doesn't seem right or feel right. That is my entire PWCC strategy. Plus staying away from newer purposely manufactured rarities that sparkle.