How to Scam and Make $ on eBay...

[bobbyw8469]

WOW!! That green one is such a bad fake, that I can't believe anyone is even bidding on these cards!

P.S. I will be bringing more of this collection to Ebay in the next week or two, so please keep a look out. I will combine shipping for multiple orders.

Oh joy! I can hardly wait......

[CharleyBrown]

wheels,

I don't know for sure if Battlefield is doing shill bidding or selling trimmed cards...

I, too, at one point, actually bid on their items. However, things started to get fishy for me as I bid over VCP pricing for the actual grade they are claiming, and saw my bid topped before the final day.

Battlefield states that the cards they are selling are all from her husband's collection. What I don't understand is how they have already listed at least 2-3 '55 Clementes, 2-3 '53 J. Robinson's, 4 '55 Killebrews... etc. Some of them looking like the exact same card from before.

For 1, I wonder why they wouldn't get them graded. It's clear that they have graded cards, as they have a 1950 Bowman PSA 4 J. Robinson up for auction now. Why would they not send in the other cards to be graded to command a better price on all of the cards?

The second thing that raises my eyebrows is that perhaps they don't have 2-3 of the Clemente's, etc., but rather, a shill bid won the auction, and thus, they are relisting the item.

I hope for your sake that everything is kosher. She does guarantee that all cards are unaltered. I would be interested in seeing how your cards grade at PSA. Are you going to submit them?

Some of Battlefield's new items below:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ROBERTO-CLEMENTE...ht_2798wt_1070

http://cgi.ebay.com/SATCHELL-PAIGE-1...ht_2811wt_1070

http://cgi.ebay.com/JACKIE-ROBINSON-...ht_2811wt_1070

[scooter729]

One thing I always watch for when considering whether shilling is occurring is if there are bids which fall just short of milestone prices. Typically, I get leery when I see bids of something like $99.99 or things along those lines. With bids like that, it would allow a bid of $100 to get driven up to its max, without exceeding that bid.

With that said, I know some people do use that bidding mentality. I have someone bidding on a few of my auctions on eBay right now using that strategy, and I wonder why. I'd love to hear a thought if anyone knows why a normal bidder (non-shiller) would use bids of $9.99, $49.99, etc. and not something like $10.05 or $50.02 to try and just beat a milestone number and not fall shy of it.

[scooter729]

Originally Posted by scooter729

One thing I always watch for when considering whether shilling is occurring is if there are bids which fall just short of milestone prices. Typically, I get leery when I see bids of something like $99.99 or things along those lines. With bids like that, it would allow a bid of $100 to get driven up to its max, without exceeding that bid.

With that said, I know some people do use that bidding mentality. I have someone bidding on a few of my auctions on eBay right now using that strategy, and I wonder why. I'd love to hear a thought if anyone knows why a normal bidder (non-shiller) would use bids of $9.99, $49.99, etc. and not something like $10.05 or $50.02 to try and just beat a milestone number and not fall shy of it.

I just saw a perfect textbook example of the shilling example I referenced above - a brand-new bidder just joined eBay and has made only two bids, both from the same seller despite the items being totally different items (a baseball jersey and a presidential item), while the bid was done for $499, in order to drive the other bidder's price up to the $500 threshold.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Benjamin-Harriso...item4aabd1c931

[wheels56]

this thread has been very helpful. thanks for everyone's thoughtful responses. that last example looks totally blatant, scooter. wow. :-(

haven't seen anything that obvious in the battlefield auctions. i've had some of the exact same concerns others have raised though. e.g., they currently have a 56 koufax up. this is at least the 4th one of these they've had. makes me leery of the whole "from my personal collection" bit. when i first started bidding, i contacted a few winning bidders and they all shared similar concerns but had been converted. at one point, I found two 56 koufax scans that I thought were identical. even contacted them about it. happy to share that correspondence with anyone that PMs me.

also, the fact that they have a second account (at least) is another troubling sign. war_eagle_vintage

anyway, i've beat this one to death. buyer beware, i guess. i may send the kaline in to PSA just for the heck of it. if i do, i'll follow up.

again, appreciate all of the thoughtful replies. really glad i joined the board!

jason

[mintacular]

There was also another example where they described this Koufax as "perfectly centered": http://cgi.ebay.com/DON-DRYSDALE-196...ht_2841wt_1139 And another "great centered" card! (LOL): http://cgi.ebay.com/BROOKS-ROBINSON-...ht_2827wt_1139 You might think of this as nitpicking, but if they are grossly exaggerating or lying about things very visible to the eye they are either dishonest and/or incompetent--both of which will likely result in an overgraded card

[CharleyBrown]

Little update about Battlefield..

I decided for S&G to purchase a '55 Topps J. Robinson that they listed as being superb, stunning, etc. just to see how it would grade.

Just got my PSA poppage today - the superb card came back an astonishing PSA 3.

I can't say that I'm surprised.