Sad State of the Hobby

[samosa4u]

I'm a night owl, and so late last night somebody on eBay put up a nice set of cards with a $2,000 US BIN. It was a very good deal. These cards were in great condition and if they had graded high, then I would have doubled my money - maybe tripled. I did send the seller a message prior to heading to bed and he thanked me for my purchase. The following morning (today), he cancelled the order and refunded me my money. He told me his daughter spilled a drink on them. And just to show you how dumb this guy is, he immediately re-listed the cards for $9,000 US with best offer and it sold quickly (according to Slabwatch - $3,200 USD).

I told this guy that if he had wanted more money, then all he had to do was ask. And yes, I negged his a** as well. I looked him up on Facebook too. He is a young father with a baby daughter and I am not going to post his name, nor will I post his eBay ID. He doesn't deal much on eBay, and so you people don't need to worry about anything here.

Now, I love seeing the hobby on fire. I own many cards and I love selling at a profit. However, when things like this start happening, it can be hard to enjoy it. It's just so sad how people can step on each other's toes, and how sellers can back out or even blame their own children for their own mistakes.

[ullmandds]

Yes...I think this is why most serious collectors don't deal with ebay/facebook. There is way too much bullshit that goes on!

[Snapolit1]

So you were about to get something woefully undervalued by the seller, who does very little business selling cards, under priced perhaps as much as 300%, and then someone got to the seller, told him he was making a serious mistake, and then he turns around and pulled the rug out from under you with a bullshit story. And then you do detective work, find out who he and his kids are, and then agree not to out him, a young father with a baby.

I don't know dude, I think I would just move on at this point. Not sure your coming out of this looking a whole lot better at this point than him. A nasty email message, sure. Going beyond that for personal information about his life seems a bridge too far.

[jchcollins]

I got the old "Out of Stock" trick pulled on me late last week with a Mantle card from a seller who is somewhat well known, and also a prominent member of the YouTube community. It took some time, but I eventually got a story that may or may not be true on why my order was cancelled nearly 3 days after I had paid. Regrettable, but all too common in today's hobby. I was pretty steamed about it, whether it was really the guy's fault or not.

[jbsports33]

This is one reason I slowed down a bit buying, and just trying to be slow with what I still have left before shows come back. I feel that I have been priced out on many cards, all years modern and vintage. I agree I am still looking for the best deal and when something comes along and you cannot finish the transaction it can be tough. Good luck with the next one you find, there is always more stuff! just move on

Jimmy

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

So you were about to get something woefully undervalued by the seller, who does very little business selling cards, under priced perhaps as much as 300%, and then someone got to the seller, told him he was making a serious mistake, and then he turns around and pulled the rug out from under you with a bullshit story. And then you do detective work, find out who he and his kids are, and then agree not to out him, a young father with a baby.

I don't know dude, I think I would just move on at this point. Not sure your coming out of this looking a whole lot better at this point than him. A nasty email message, sure. Going beyond that for personal information about his life seems a bridge too far.

+1
Isn't that the truth.

One of my favorite lines is from the Flim Flam Man. Someone asks George C. Scott what a flim flam is and he tells him "Son, that's when a man with experience meets a man with money. The man with the experience gets the money and the man with the money gets the experience."

There are a lot of inexperienced people out in the market right now. Some are selling too low and others are buying way too high. Although this story ended with the seller getting a fair price, he gave up some of his integrity to get there, which is an expensive lesson on its own.

[Tao_Moko]

I like how all of this bs is supposedly new. Bad deals date back long before any of us mouth breathers were around.. The online voyeurism is the sad truth of it all. I had a terrible interaction with a seller on ebay thats widely respected on this forum about a month ago and then a really honest and respectful transaction with a new seller today. Good days and bad just like always. Honesty would have been preferred so I agree with the OP on that. But, scouting the dude out over baseball cards.........

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by Tao_Moko

But, scouting the dude out over baseball cards.........

What's wrong with looking people up on Facebook? I always like to know who is on the other end, that's all.

Now if I had sent him a message on Facebook and said something like "hey punk, I found you! I am gonna' get you now!" then yes, that would be a different story! LOL!

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

So you were about to get something woefully undervalued by the seller, who does very little business selling cards, under priced perhaps as much as 300%, and then someone got to the seller, told him he was making a serious mistake, and then he turns around and pulled the rug out from under you with a bullshit story. And then you do detective work, find out who he and his kids are, and then agree not to out him, a young father with a baby.

I don't know dude, I think I would just move on at this point. Not sure your coming out of this looking a whole lot better at this point than him. A nasty email message, sure. Going beyond that for personal information about his life seems a bridge too far.

Thanks for your stupid comments, Steve.

He did all this for $1,200 USD, that's right, $1,200 USD. If he wanted more money, then all he had to do was ask (and I would have done it!) Some people would have outed him and even reported him to eBay, but I did neither, so I don't know what the hell you're talking about.

[BRoberts]

I'm sorry this is happening to you.

[Republicaninmass]

At least he didn't shill them up

[Tyruscobb]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

So you were about to get something woefully undervalued by the seller, who does very little business selling cards, under priced perhaps as much as 300%, and then someone got to the seller, told him he was making a serious mistake, and then he turns around and pulled the rug out from under you with a bullshit story. And then you do detective work, find out who he and his kids are, and then agree not to out him, a young father with a baby.

I don't know dude, I think I would just move on at this point. Not sure your coming out of this looking a whole lot better at this point than him. A nasty email message, sure. Going beyond that for personal information about his life seems a bridge too far.

I agree with the original poster. He is not the one that: (1) did not properly do his homework; (2) listed the cards; (3) came up with the buy it now price; (4) agreed to sell the cards at the listed price; (5) breached the contract; or (6) lied about the reason for breaching the contract.

It’s not his fault that he got a good deal. A sale is a sale is a sale. A man’s word used to mean something.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Tyruscobb

I agree with the original poster. He is not the one that: (1) did not properly do his homework; (2) listed the cards; (3) came up with the buy it now price; (4) agreed to sell the cards at the listed price; (5) breached the contract; or (6) lied about the reason for breaching the contract.

It’s not his fault that he got a good deal. A sale is a sale is a sale. A man’s word used to mean something.

Well said.

And we have all inevitably had sellers' remorse at some time, by pricing things too low. It's just part of the deal. Seller needed to man up, and refrain from his blatant lying. Integrity seems to be dying a rapid death these days.

[mq711]

The sale should have been completed as agreed upon but the seller made an extra $1200 with no negative recourse; not even having his ebay handle outed on a hobby website. What’s to keep him from continuing to do it?

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Well said.

And we have all inevitably had sellers' remorse at some time, by pricing things too low. It's just part of the deal. Seller needed to man up, and refrain from his blatant lying. Integrity seems to be dying a rapid death these days.

not me, I always have buyers remorse as all the good cards I've purchased, I've set records for the fellas. Never sold a card on my life.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

I'm a night owl, and so late last night somebody on eBay put up a nice set of cards with a $2,000 US BIN. It was a very good deal. These cards were in great condition and if they had graded high, then I would have doubled my money - maybe tripled. I did send the seller a message prior to heading to bed and he thanked me for my purchase. The following morning (today), he cancelled the order and refunded me my money. He told me his daughter spilled a drink on them. And just to show you how dumb this guy is, he immediately re-listed the cards for $9,000 US with best offer and it sold quickly (according to Slabwatch - $3,200 USD).

I told this guy that if he had wanted more money, then all he had to do was ask. And yes, I negged his a** as well. I looked him up on Facebook too. He is a young father with a baby daughter and I am not going to post his name, nor will I post his eBay ID. He doesn't deal much on eBay, and so you people don't need to worry about anything here.

Now, I love seeing the hobby on fire. I own many cards and I love selling at a profit. However, when things like this start happening, it can be hard to enjoy it. It's just so sad how people can step on each other's toes, and how sellers can back out or even blame their own children for their own mistakes.

This reminds me of around 1990 (or so) when people were pre-selling wax cases. The price from the manufacturer could have been about $250 and people were taking pre-orders for $400. Then the price of OPC baseball started to skyrocket. People were paying $1200, $1600 for pre-ordered cases. When the first cases were delivered, the people that pre-sold for $400 were screwing the people that paid for cases in advance and refunding the buyer their money so that they could sell them for another thousand more. People got so G-damn greedy, it was really pathetic.

It was a frigging orgy of greed. A-holes coming out of the wood work just looking to screw someone. I set up a few dealers on Coin-Net back then. Coin-Net figured it out and offered a portal for sports card dealers (yes, way back in the dial-up days). These dealers would let me scan Coin-Net and I could see all of the screwing that was going on.

GREED - GREED - GREED, looks like it's coming back in full force - it's always been here but when things start escalating and getting crazy, then it gets really bad.