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#1
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Dylan
I just recently had close to 400 dollars stolen from me in a transaction. Paid and never arrived, seller no where to be found. Also, with all the posts regarding counterfeit cards made to look legit, i was curious to know how many of you guys have been a victim of either cards not arriving after paying, or receiving a counterfeit and being unable to receive refund. Maybe some can share there own "worst" experience, I'm sure I'm not the only one |
#2
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Steve M.
you are not the first, nor will you be the last. I had an experience that I am way too embarassed to talk about. |
#3
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)
About $30K - I got it all back but the stress (at that time) was really bad. Lots of A-holes out there, some braver and some more stupid than others - but A-holes none the less. |
#4
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Dave
Luckily I haven't been taken for any money...yet. I did come close. When I first got into vintage cards I bought two 1933 Goudey cards a Dazzy Vance and a Joe Cronin. I didn't know enough about the set when I looked at the scans online. I paid $125 for both. When I got them in my hands the backs were in black letters on really white cardboard stock...looked way too fishy even for my uneducated eyes at that point. Luckily I raised enough cane with the seller that I was able to send the cards back and get my money back. I don't buy Goudey's anymore. Luckily with my passion being T206's I'm pretty confident I could spot a fake T206, now some of the other pre-war cards...I don't have that confidence as of yet. I think it can be hard to know for sure until you get any card in your hand. I've seen plenty of scans of T3's, but never held one...so I'd feel less than certain I was buying real until I got hold of a couple. |
#5
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: John S
I had one rip-off on eBay...seller cashed my check, never sent my item, and did not respond to emails, etc. I did get about 75% of my money back through eBay. Not bad for over 1000 transactions but I am usually very careful about who I buy from. I took a chance with a seller that did not normally deal in cards and had marginal feedback...and lost. |
#6
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Steve f
Dylan, I hope you can get retribution somehow. |
#7
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: joe brennan
One of my first transactions on e-bay I got ripped off. Seller had all the red flags, except I didn't know anything about red flags at the time. It was for a Jordan rookie card. M.O. low feedback, no card. I was alerted by other e-bayers after I already sent money. Got 75% back from e-bay and learned a quick lesson that hasn't happened again. |
#8
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Mike
In the early 90's I gave a couple hundred dollars to a very well known national dealer, as a down payment, in hopes that he could find a Foxx Diamond star for me in grade 7 (or at least the equivilant of a 7 at the time) or better. You got it, no card and no money returned. Lesson well learned. |
#9
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Dave
Sorry to hear about your bad experience Dylan. I was ripped off back in 2001 by an Ebay seller in Pennsylvania. After doing some research I discovered he had ripped other people off during the same time frame. I contacted the other buyers, and we all contacted the police department in this guys town. To make a long story short...the guy ended up being prosecuted, and eventually paid back some of our money, and we got the items as well !! It turned out the seller was a college punk who had was trying to make quick money for drugs. |
#10
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: MVSNYC
too embarassed to say...but it cost my friend & i $2000. |
#11
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: warshawlaw
Blatant fakes doctored to look old so they made it past the scan. Never got my money back. |
#12
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Mark Evans
I've got several. I bought a Goudey Ruth from a dealer at the Chantilly show some years back that was rejected by SGC as a reprint. I was able to track the dealer down and get my money back. Number 2: I stupidly sent $100 cash in the mail to an eBay seller who denied receiving my payment. He was later banished from eBay. Finally, I bought an autographed Mantle ball that is quite possibly the work of convicted master forger Greg Marino. By the way, if anyone out there happens to know the kinds of balls Marino used, please let me know. Mine is a Rawlings 1981 WS ball. Thanks. Mark |
#13
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Joe Tocco
I was taken for $800 on a pre-order for some football cases in 1998. A criminal created a shell corporation, pre-sold the cases under its name (about $30,000), then the corporation declared bankruptcy. No money or cards. I'm sure a judge or jury would have "pierced the coporate veil" and found the scamster liable, but he was in Nebraska and I in California, and the only interested Nebraska lawyer I could find wouldn't touch the case for less than $1200. |
#14
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Anonymous
I bought a set of Goudey HOFer reprints for $20 in 1974, which was a lot of money back then. I thought I was sitting on a goldmine for 20 years before I figured out they were fakes. |
#15
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: shane
I sent a kid $1100 for a 1954 Ted Williams Wilson Weiner card back nine years ago that was "too good to be true." The kid was 25 years old and had ripped off five others totaling $25,000 that week. We tracked the kid down and then tracked his parents down. Nothing was ever done about our money or his future. |
#16
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Sean
Back in 1986 I purchased my first pack of Topps and continued to spend every penny I had for 10 years (probably totaling $5,000+) and I sold them last year and got a $100... |
#17
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: barrysloate
I think everyone, myself included, has made some very bad deals at one time or another. |
#18
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Glenn
Hmm, where to start? Several hard lessons learned, one at a time. I guess the theme is I'm an easy mark, or I was for a couple of years anyway. |
#19
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Scott Elkins
I was ripped off when those fake second chance offers first came out for $1200 and another $800 on eBay when someone sold a fake E97 Young. I was able to get some of the $800 back from eBay and a collection agency however on that one. |
#20
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: ScottIngold
Scott, |
#21
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Mike
At the Cleveland National a few years ago, I had like $500 in my pocket in a rubberband. Sure enough I had a little hole in my pocket and $200, slipped out of my pocket as I walked in. Man, that was upseting. |
#22
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Dan Bretta
I have had nearly 100% positive experience in this hobby, but I did have a small problem with a seller recently who I will never deal with again. Randy Inman auctions out of Maine - formerly Philadelphia I believe. I won an ebay live auction lot from them that was supposed to be a lot of old baseball photos, an 1880's Our National Game album and a Orcherade baseball fan circa 1910. Before I bid on the lot I emailed and asked about the photos because they weren't shown in the auction picture - the response I got was "too many to list, a very quality lot"...so I took a chance and bid knowing that at the least I will get the Our National Game album which has 6 lithographic pages of early baseball scenes and the Orcherade fan and a bunch of mystery photos. I won the lot in Late November and I emailed the company a few days later because they did not send me an invoice...they finally sent me one a week or so later, but it did not have shipping information on it, so I emailed them again and they said I had to pay some other guy for shipping...no problem I called the guy who was their shipper and he told me to call him back because he was holding up a 100lb mirror at the time...so I called him back about 30 minutes later and he said that he was on the freeway headed to Florida and that he would call me back...so he called me back and took my address and said that he didn't know when he would be back from vacation, but when he got back he would mail the stuff to me...I asked him how much the shipping was and he said just to wait until I got the stuff and then to go ahead and pay him...well approx 4-5 weeks passed and I still hadn't gotten the stuff so I tried to call the shipper and he said that it was on it's way to me via UPS and I should have it within the week....when it finally came to me I opened it up and there were no photos, the Our National Game album was completely gutted and was just a front and back cover..the fan was really nice though. So I called Randy Inman auctions and all I could get was an answering machine...they never did call me back after repeated calls to them so I turned it over to ebay which did absolutely nothing for me - they wanted me to take it to an appraiser to have the stuff appraised??? - I told the ebay people that the stuff I was supposed to get was not all there...how could I have it appraised if I don't have it???? They still denied my claim. Well a few weeks passed since I got the stuff and the shipper calls me and wants his $35 for shipping UPS Ground which cost him $7...I told him the problems I was having with Randy Inman auctions and that if he could get them to contact me that I would send him his $35.....I have yet to hear from Randy Inman. |
#23
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Mike
I bet a lot of people were ripped off during the early years of Ebay, when everyone's feedback was low. Now, feedback can be one of the most important aspects when it comes to buying vintage cards. |
#24
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Scott Elkins
I will not mention his name out of respect to Leon - not wanting to get anything started on the board. I do give Leon kudos, as he did try helping me recover my money from this individual with no luck. Leon even mentioned taking donations from the board to pay me back what this person stole, but I don't want hand outs. I have made this person SEVERAL offers to make good. I even told Leon to tell him I will buy a card from him (through Leon) and simply subtract the amount he owes me - he would not do it. Finally, Leon gave up on him as well as myself. It will be NICE if he is in Cleveland this year and I can meet him face to face about this however. |
#25
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: joe
I paid 1150.00 for a raw T205 on EBAY on December 6, 2000. The seller is from San Antonio Texas. It took about a month for me to get it back from SGC and it was deemed counterfeit. I talked about this card on the board before, has a shiny finish like laquer. Emailed and talked to seller on the phone and he said it was to long of a period to get a refund, said I could have switched the card. He also claimed it was originally in an SGC holder and he took it out because he did not agree with the grade. |
#26
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Darren
I paid for several HOF T206's in Ex condition (including Young portrait, Cobb bat on, Lajoie throwing) by check and have never seen the cards. This was my first purchase on Ebay about 6 years ago. |
#27
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Jim Dale
Have to say I've been extremely lucky and never had an ebay experience like so many mentioned on this thread; but my worst experience was seeing at least one big time dealer shill bidding (power seller no less) and eBay do nothing about it. He's still on there, I don't follow his actions any more to know if he still shills or not, but I just don't trust the guy as far as I can throw him. He's a table dealer in Southern Cal as far as I can tell. |
#28
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Scott Elkins
Everyone has had kind words and regrets my situation - it is really appreciated, as I thought some might have said I was whinning like before when I mentioned this. |
#29
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: leon
My only concern is that if there is a "thread" or area where these "bad" folks are mentioned is that there are 2 sides to most stories. I am not sure I want to get in the middle of mitigating and having a trial for folks. I am not saying that folks shouldn't be taken to task (* I believe it was me who said you could post what you wanted about this person quite a while back)....so I am not trying to protect anyone. I just don't know if I want this kind of thing on the board, permanently, with all it entails. Right now I am undecided.... |
#30
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Scott Elkins
I agree with everything you stated. That is why I have not done anything on my board like this yet and am asking for people's opinions. |
#31
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Marty Ogelvie
I keep a list taped to my monitor of ebay usernames that have gotten one over on me in the past. |
#32
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Dan Koteles
bought a h.r pufnstuf dvd, says buy it now 9.99 I snapped it and while I bought the the frickin Partridge family for 29.99, 10.98 shipping...that she listed the buy it now at the wrong price. Says it was supposed to be 39.99....it this my fault ? Isnt this a legal contract ? It should be legal for both parties. |
#33
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Chris
Dave...that college guy in PA didn't happen to be at a Penn State branch campus and sold a lot of unopened vintage material on Ebay?.....If so, I paid a personal visit to him to get my money back(and he had no idea I was coming). I have never seen someone so scared to death. Long but great story.... |
#34
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Dan Bretta
I hate dredging up old threads, but I thought it appropriate here to say that Randy Inman has finally contacted me within the last week and tried to make things right. I'm not certain what happened, but since I could get not response from him I contacted the Maine Antique Digest with whom he has been mentioned numerous times in articles....he may even be an advertiser with them, I don't know, but for whatever reason he has decided to make good so I didn't want to leave that out of this thread. |
#35
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Ken W.
Early in my prewar collecting: |
#36
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Dylan
Well Ken sorry to hear you fell for the reprints. I hafta say though, i could never imagine spending any real money on something before investing some time into learning about it. And even before I knew anything about vintage cards except that the HOF's sold for many times more then the commons I realized that there were plenty of educated buyers on ebay that if a card was real it would sell for somewhere near its value. There are good deals to be had, but anytime you see a CJ Wagner selling for 60 dollars you know someone is throwing away 60 dollars. |
#37
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: JK
Ive been lucky enough to have not been ripped off by anyone on ebay yet. My worst experiences have involved lost cards. A few years ago I sent an e98 cy young plus another e98 common to SGC for grading via UPS - I started getting worried because it never showed up on UPS's tracking as being in transit. Unfortunately, the package was never delivered to SGC and is probably still floating around in the UPS system somewhere. Shortly thereafter (and I mean within a month or two) I struck a deal with a board member for an sgc 50 (or psa 4) e93 cy young and a psa 6 e93 delahanty at what would be considered great prices by today's standards. Those cards were lost in the mail and never arrived - fortunately the cards were insured in both instances and nobody ended up being out any money. |
#38
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Scott Levy
Dumped about 1k into a (soon to be found out) bleached Snodgrass. We needed the variation too which is what made it so damn upsetting. |
#39
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Dave F
Scott, how did you end up determining it was bleached? Or did you send it for grading? |
#40
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Jimmy Piccuito
I was at a show helping a dealer and we found out that a good customer of ours ran off with at least 5,000.00 worth of stuff and continued to steal more. The sad thing he was doing it to other dealers as well. He did finally get caught by another dealer and was arrested, but nothing really happen to him. I think he is still selling on eBay. |
#41
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Frank Evanov
Doctored cards of the 1955 Clemente rookie, 1953 Bowman Berra etc in excess of $10K from one of today's most active card doctors. He can be seen regularly hanging out at the GAI and SGC booths since PSA has banned him long ago. |
#42
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: E, Daniel
Frank, is he a board member/contibutor? |
#43
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Adam
I have only had one bad experience. It was on eBay and it involved a seller who wanted payment only by money order (it was for a high priced Mickey Mantle card). I bought a post office money order and, after waiting a solid month for the card, I contacted him since I still had not received the item. He claimed he never received my money order and thus he never sent me the card. |
#44
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Dylan
Wow Adam interesting, i usually assume that people looking to scam wouldnt actually own the card or item their listing. This guy actually owned the Mantle and just decided he'd rather keep the money and his card |
#45
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: quan
adam great story. only time i wish i was smart enough to have been a lawyer after reading it. |
#46
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Pcelli60
Got a real nice T205 Speaker that was touched. He claims he didnt known it. Dispite the 25 years experience his business card states, he should have known it. I was still new to collecting the set. I did have the presense of mind to take it the PSA tables at this show. Without them I purchased a 650 card that would not grade..Got a full refund and have not purchased from this dealer in 5 years. |
#47
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: howard
I've been lucky since my worst experience only cost me two bucks and it was my fault anyway. I bought a '68 Oliva that turned out to be a Dover reprint. |
#48
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Fred C
Two words: |
#49
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: Steve Murray
Now that is a name out of the past!!! |
#50
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Worst Experience Collecting
Posted By: sean
I just recently got duped into buying a 1960 ty cobb signed fleer sight unseen for $475 that was supposedly psa/dna from an autograph catalog I received in the mail fro a Joseph Butler. He seemed very legit and knowlegable over the phone. He todl me to make the M.O out to a carl meyer. a week later I started thinking about an auction form a few months ago where I won a signed 33 goudey. I got emails than saying the guy was selling fake autographs. So I looked up that transaction and they guys name: carl meyer |
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