Thoughts on Buying from Legendary

[smtjoy]

Interesting thread.

IMO shilling is happening a lot more than alterations, I have alone been shilled in over 10 ebay auctions in the last couple years that I know of, it was easier to tell when bidding records were not private on ebay but you can still tell today if the seller does not cover all their tracks. I was amazed at how often it happened. I can only imagine adding in all the auction houses how high that number would be. I also think the pressure of getting top prices for the consignor would be enough reason for auction houses to do it because it can only lead to more consignments down the road plus more cash for them.

That said I think alterations are a much more serious issue to the hobby. Take a guy like Scott Succor who was submitting thousands of trimmed cards to PSA, getting 2/3 of his subs turned down for that but still getting 1/3 past the graders. For one I cant believe PSA didnt do something about that as they had to know what was going on and thats just one guy. He was only doing micro trimming, what about the real experts in alterations of cards, now these scare me. The people who can take a T206 cobb 4-5 and turn it into a 7-8, now thats scary and is a reason I much prefer the lower graded cards with wear. Not really sure what can be done here because if these cards are getting past the graders, its trouble.

While people get upset and lose money on shilling, they only do so because they were willing to spend the money in the first place. I dont think most of them will be leaving the hobby but hopefully they get smarter. To me the alterations have the damage that can get people to leave the hobby, if your prized card in your collection that happens to be graded turns out to be altered, ouch. You lose money and you are left with something you do not even want.