Deans cards?graded for free by their expert?
 

Sorry if this has been posted in the past. What a strange business model? One of their experts "professionally" accesses a grade for every card. And creates their own special flip? Am I alone in thinking this is weird? More than healthy prices to boot! They have a total of 87,000+ cards in their inventory (some are psa,sgc) with 32 feedbacks in the last month.

http://tinyurl.com/lmkdjz7

Lol! 1 sale a day. Their prices are just absolutely ridiculous.

I don't think it is strange. Before there were grading companies the only way to advertise a card was for the seller to give it a grade. We used to buy cards from price lists, The Trader Speaks or SCD and cards were graded Vg/Ex, Ex/Mt and so on and this was without seeing an image of the card. My comment was in regards to their grading style and nothing to do with their prices.

One cool thing about there flip is you can scan it with a smartphone or tablet and upload the scans.I have purchased a few cards from them recently and agree with the assessed grade.

Are they accessible without using the QR code?

I think they're on to something with that. The reason grading in coins got any traction was the old certificates didn't even have pictures. Swapping coins was common. About the time slabbing came around the people doing the certs started adding pictures.
Slabbing worked well for coins, the holders were a bit better than most. It was also a natural for cards since many people put the better cards in screwdown holders. It didn't work for stamps. It's just too hard to put the slab into an album. They still grade, but with a cert that has a picture added.

A minimal holder with an available scan wouldn't be bad at all. But if it's only the QR code it's just too easy for someone to have their own and direct it to a fake website.

I'm not a big fan of having the huge sticker obscuring half of the card back though, even if it is on the holder.

Something in between could work very well.

Steve B

77k of their listings are auctions...ebay is offering 1M free auction listings from 9/15 through 9/25, thus their current high inventory level.

In September they have sold close to 80 items in 20 days. Still not a lot of sales for 90k items.

Jeff

I met Dean this year at the National and he seemed like a nice guy and interested in helping me with my collecting needs.

We talked for a few minutes about baseball cards and after taking one of his business cards, I walked away pleased to have met him.

As far as his Ebay auctions, I recently purchased a card from him and I must say his customer service was flawless and his description of the card's condition was honest.

I'll bet if there is a card you are interested in, maybe contact him and see if he will work with you on a better price. He was willing to work with me on prices at the National.

My two cents.

Jantz

Deans Cards
 

Last Christmas my wife snuck one of my "needs" list and used Deans to finish out a set. I was surprised and pleased as well. She couldn't stop talking about how he helped her and the excellent customer service...

The cards were in the VGish range, a little less than I wanted (my wife has no clue and does not care, lol) so I asked her how much she spent. She refused at first, but after looking at some of his stuff on ebay and his website, I HAD to know. Well...she spent at NM+ pricing and was totally taken. I could have got the cards for easily 1/3rd on BINs in better shape. I lied to my wife and said all was good thanking her deeply for caring enough about my hobby (the gesture is AWESOME) and secretly replaced all the cards.

In my eyes...he took advantage of my wife, he can go f himself. Just my .02$. He knew he had a clueless wife, and acted accordingly. They spoke direct on the phone.

Wow, did you ever call and address this issue with him? Seems like it would be worth a discussion that should give him a chance to to the right thing.

Dean's Cards
 

Harliduck, thanks for sharing, but I have to say I don't agree with your assessment. I have zero connection to Dean's Cards...never even bought from him. His prices are online. If someone wants to pay retail prices, and not negotiate, I don't believe the seller should be badmouthed. That's how retail business operates. That's just not fair to the seller. We all know an ungraded 1985 Topps Mike Schmidt in less than gem condition (Phillies fan, and just throwing out a rough example) is barely worth the paper it's printed on, but someone will pay $1 or $2 for it. Like you said, this was a gift, and it was a great gesture by your wife. If you feel he actually charged her more than his listed price, then that's another story, and I could agree with you.

Rob Wis.hn.ick

I disagree with this. For one thing, it sounds like these were a bunch of commons that John needed for his sets. So, the prices were most likely not posted anywhere online. The dealer could tell that she didn't have a clue about fair prices. She was essentially handing him a blank check for the cards on the wantlist. In my opinion, he has 2 choices:
1. Sell them to her for a fair price, or
2. Charge her a ridiculously high price.
He had the opportunity to name his price, and he chose to take advantage of her. If he had given great customer service, and a fair price, he would deserve to have a post on here talking about how great of a dealer he is. With the way he chose to do business, he deserves the post that says "he can go f himself". All of this, imo of course.

When I was new to the hobby many years ago, I used Dean's cards to buy some Red Mans. I paid around $8-$10 for commons with no pictures. The cards I got were in really rough shape (P-F) and could have been gotten on Ebay for around $1 each. That was my first and last dealing with Dean's cards. I have never looked back.

From Dean's Cards website

"If you will give us the opportunity to earn your business, you will be glad that you did. We guarantee it. We love this hobby and work very hard to insure that orders are shipped 100% correct, mailed within one business day and that the items sent are conservatively graded. If you are not happy for any reason, you may return your order for a full refund".

Your wife may never buy you another card, but the above paragraph from their website would suggest that you had another option.

Giving them the opportunity to earn my business with their pricing:eek: is another story all together.

As to grading your own cards, I do not have a problem. Unless you are into TPG grading VG commons, grading cards yourself would seem to facilitate inventory management.

I'm fine with the prices Dean's Cards charges. They offer a streamlined and guaranteed service that is appealing to many.

I have sold a few decent cards on eBay and been surprised when the auction was over that the winner was Dean's Cards. So he's buying inventory at eBay market values and then reselling. He's got to make a profit.

The service may not be for everyone. My wife only buys cards twice a year as gifts and I know she has used Dean's Cards. I know she is probably paying more than one could get the same cards on eBay but she prefers that for piece of mind. She has said she is not confident buying on EBay and I totally understand that. Dean's has a great, easy-to-use website, great customer service, and guaranteed (as close as possible) authenticity. Ebay is a tough market for novices with scams everywhere. If she's only buying cards once or twice a year as gifts she wants to do so in an environment that is safe and reliable. You pay extra for that security and reassurance. And all the card she has bought were PSA graded for added assurance.

I have looked at his website and think it is pretty nice. And I would not disparage one of the strongest card shops in America doing fantastic business -- it is not an easy market anymore and plenty of people on this site have criticized the old mom and pop card shops going out of business for failing to adapt to the internet.


And.rew Co.rso

Why is it when some people defend these rip off artists (and it's not just Dean's Cards), they use terms like 'guaranteed customer service" and "probably paying a little more" to make their point?

Please tell me what is "guaranteed customer service"? If I buy a card on eBay from seller XYZ and it arrives in the condition as stated within a reasonable time, isn't that great customer service? Should I expect more? What separates Dean's Cards' customer service from seller XYZ's customer service? You say it as if it makes you feel better about your purchase for spending double or triple the price with Dean's Cards than you could have paid with another dealer.

Me: "I just bought this new Toyota Camry at a dealership on the north side of Houston for $27K"

My neighbor: "Well, I just bought the same Toyota Camry at dealership on the south side of Houston for $36K, but the customer service was excellent."

Seriously, don't you realize how ridiculous that sounds? You're justifying the high price with their customer service. Sure, I realize some things in life are worth spending a little more for given their reputation for excellent customer service (like a nice hotel or restaurant), but we're taking baseball cards here. If it gets to you in the condition that is was described, in a timely manner, then that's all that matters, right? I'm not sure why some people equate paying more for a baseball card with the customer service they received.

And as far as "probably paying a little more," there is no probably to it. Can someone show me a card in his inventory that isn't priced at 150% of what the card should normally sell for? And most of them are priced 2 to 3 times retail value.

But in the end it is your money and if you want to spend more of it for a card you can get somewhere else a lot cheaper, by all means go for it.

Interesting to hear opinions from both ends of the spectrum. Personally, can't understand why anyone would snag a buy it now, as the same card could be found elsewhere in the same condition for a fraction? This MUST have been a gift from the wifey :rolleyes:

http://tinyurl.com/l5ethmc

The cards Dean sells are WAY overgraded. On ebay, you can see the poor grading. A few years ago I bought some cards from them to complete my 1971 football set from their website. At the time, there were no photos. Too bad for me. None of the cards were accurately graded. One of them was "Ex-Mt" and was a miscut to the point that I had almost 20% of the card above it. Somehow Dean forgot to mention that in the description. The reason he sells very little is poor grading and poor prices.


Sa,m Lem.oine

David-
You're missing my point about why my wife prefers to shop there and why I believe that is best for her. eBay is not customer service-oriented and it is not a fair market place for the inexperienced. Sure, most dealers are 100% honest, fair, and service-oriented. But there are far too many unknowns and uncertainties for novices and non-collectors to attempt to wade into that market if all they want to do is buy (me) vintage baseball cards for Christmas.

We see multiple posts daily here about rip-offs and fakes on eBay. My wife and many other people who have neither the time nor experience to understand the market cannot use it with any semblance of confidence.

Certainly you could get better deals by scouring eBay or other auctions, waiting for the right deal to come along, and strategically bidding at the right moment. Many people do not have that ability. They want to buy something immediately with confidence it is authentic and assurance it will arrive in a timely fashion.

Your comparison of buying a Toyota from one dealer or another is flawed. To us it makes sense but to someone who is unfamiliar with eBay the comparison would be more like answering an ad in the back of the newspaper with no name of the seller who may or may not even own the car he is selling vs. buying from Carmax. You would expect to pay a lot less buying that car from the ad in the newspaper knowing you are taking some risk that a) the car may be in worse shape than advertised, b) it may have been in an accident, c) it may be stolen, d) it may be fake, or e) the guy might not even show up when he says he will to meet you in a back alley to sell you the car. I would be willing to pay more to go to Carmax for no hassle.

I like eBay. I do not want my wife buying cards off of eBay though because it is fraught with danger. Dean's Cards does not deserve the criticism...if buyers want to pay for the piece of mind that their store brings than that is the buyer's choice. The problem is the countless fraudulent dealers on eBay.

Andy

back
 

Click on the link in the first post. This card is listed as 5-EX. Now take a look at the scan of the back of the card. Is that EX?

I am sorry that this happened to you ...as a collector, I realize my wife wants to help my collection also. To avoid something like this from happening, I ask for paypal gift certificates. Wife still feels like she helped, I pick the cards.

Andy,

First, let me say that you are lucky in the fact that you have a wife that desires to buy you cards as gifts. That's pretty awesome. I just got married, but I don't think my wife would ever buy me a card as a gift (at least she didn't do it in the 5 years we were dating). However, if she expressed that desire, I would give her a list of dealers that I would recommend, and probably a list of dealers to stay away from (and Dean's Cards would be on that second list).

I understood everything you said, but there are many, many other dealers that offer good customer service that are a lot more reasonable on their prices that you wife could shop from. I'm certainly not trying to get into your marital business. If you are okay with your wife shopping there for you, by all means continue. All I am saying is there are a lot more affordable options - not to mention the last few comments that were made about Dean's over grading their cards.

You all know that there are two sellers who sell under the name of Dean's cards right?



Jantz

Jantz, Could you please let all that don't know these 2?

Yeah, that occurred to me later. One sells at a number of shows and is for
Richmond I think. The other runs the very large website card business known as Deans Cards. Both fine men.

Years ago when I first started collecting vintage I bought several times from Dean. At first I loved his site's simplicity and ease of use. After a while, however, I realized how expensive he was compared to other dealers and stopped buying from him. At one point during this time my dad bought me a complete set from Dean which came in an 800 ct box. When I got it, I opened it, checked the key cards, and put them back in the box. Four years later I decided to put the set in pages and as I did I realized a card was missing...then two...then three...then 78. There were 78 duplicates, 78 missing cards, and two team cards with team stickers stuck right on them. Because it was four years later I figured I was SOL but decided to call them anyway. I talked to a guy (not Dean), explained the situation, and he told me to email him a list of the missing numbers. I did, and a week later a box showed up, free of charge. I thought that was pretty amazing. When I opened the box, they still screwed up 3 or 4 cards which I still had to go track down elsewhere. You can take this story as a positive or a negative, depending on how you choose to. The guy could have just told me tough shit, but he tried to fix it. In the end though, they still came up short.

I don't get this crowd sometimes. I mean, just next to Jesus in how ethical you are. Dean didn't violate anyone or break any laws. From what I can tell, Dean invests into keeping his inventory up so charging a premium to a person with money that was buying a gift is not that awful. She was happy and was treated well from what I read. He did spend his time fulfilling her requests. There are lots of crooks in this hobby and Dean is not one of them. So what he made a couple bucks. Should I hate the Pandora bracelet lady that gets a premium out of me when I buy them for my wife or mother? I'm a dude buying overpriced metal and glass. Not much different from a woman buying baseball cards made of paper and ink.

Eric S

You should if the lady charged you $300 for that Pandora bracelet when every other jewelry store in town has it priced for $100.

your comparing baseball cards prices to baseball card prices on cards of similiar nature and condition to draw the conclusion that the price is fair....then you use the anology about a bracelet and paying above scrap metal value for it. i think a better anology would be to compare it to the same braclet at a higher price.

either that or you need to change your argument to say that all cards are not worth more than the cardboard and ink value. this is where your argument falls apart....right? anyone that read your sentance can clearly see your anology is drastically flawed.

if 95 percent of the world sells something at one price and 5 percent sell it for 3 times what the rest sell that is a different scenario. it doesn't make someone a crook but it also isn't the best business practice in the world.

the people selling it at 3 times market value clearly know its marked up 300 percent. i think people see greed when others do that. i think its understandable that they see the greed in that and don't like it. did they do anything wrong? no absolutely not. does that make it 100 percent ok. probably not. turn the question inward to yourself. would you be happy knowing you paid triple a price when you could just as easily got it for the list price if you knew what you were doing?

lack of knowledge plays a part here. had you known...you would have never paid triple the price. supply...demand. when the cards are readily available no person of sane, sound or mind having knowledge would pay that price. this basically means while not praying on people, his business model does though however only attract people that do NOT know what they are doing.

it doesn't take much to see my point here.

kevin

Too much to read while the fights are on. My only point is that it's just baseball cards. They are really not that big of a deal.

I'm not going to defend my post...but for clarity-

It was only a little over $100 in post war commons...definitely not enough to ask for a refund and negate the wonderful gift and effort my wife made. She did not tell him anything other than give him a list (according to her, as she again is proudly clueless) and the cards arrived creased and some off center...and after cross checking the invoice, she was charged NMT pricing. She got a box, with Deans Cards name on it, and she wrapped it, never even looking (like it would have mattered, lol). I NEVER expressed unhappiness with the cards to her, and after seeing what she was charged simply said if she ever wants to do that again...:D:D...here is a better and easier place and gave her the name of a more reputable (in my eyes) dealer suggesting only that this is who I use on occasion either through Ebay (she hates Ebay) or direct.


Never thought to ask for paypal gift certs...but then again, never thought she would get me cards either...

So again...I stand by my F him comment, and in my eyes the principal matters here, not the small dollar amount of the fact we are talking about mere post war commons...to me in my opinion he took advantage of a knowingly clueless buyer...take it for what you will. Not trying to be Jesus or hold to unthinkable standard...but I think if ANYONE here felt their wife was taken advantage of for whatever reason, you'd be pissed. And that's how I feel.

I know how you feel... my girlfriend bought me a couple cigars for my birthday this year, and they were dry and old (clearly should have been thrown out). But she walked in and said "two cigars, please" and they took full advantage.


I think its a crummy thing to do, especially when they knew she didnt know anything about what she was buying.

Richard

Dean Han-ley of Dean's Cards

Lar-rie Dean of Dean's House of Cards

It could be easy to get the two mixed up.


Jantz

Deans Cards is a frickin' joke!!!

I'm upgrading my 1972 set, so I'm constantly trawling ebay for many of the commons I need. Without question, every time I see a card priced ten times what other sellers have it listed for, I know it's our ole buddy Dean once again. It just makes me laugh how ridiculous his prices are. Clearly the guy has a screw loose and has no concept of reality. And sure, he's not doing anything illegal. A fact his apologists love to point out, as if that somehow justifies his exorbitant pricing techniques.

Case in point. The card on the left is what the esteemed Dean grades an 8. Yes, with 4 bad corners and other issues, he gives it an 8!! And his opening bid is...mind you, it's just the OPENING BID...$10.80. Yes, ten dollars and 80 freaking cents for a common you can usually grab up for under a dollar.

The card on the right is a different auction by an unknown seller. I wanted to find a card quite similar to Deano's offering and this was basically the first one I ran across that wasn't in rough shape. It has pretty sharp corners and is a little off center. The price? A buy it now of $1.79, which is about 1/6 of our hero, Dean's, opening bid price. One sixth!! And that $1.79, in itself, is way overpriced.

Attachment 115092

Keep in mind that I didn't search this out to find a pathetically overpriced Dean card. I searched "Deans Cards 1972" and used the first listing found there. You can be absolutely certain that each and every one of his other cards is similarly price bloated. He/his company annoys the living bejesus out of me!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of you guys may want to look at Burbank Sportscards. It's one of the very few sportscards shops in Los Angeles to have survived the past couple decades. They have a large inventory and the owner is as honest as it gets in this business. Cards are accurately graded though sight unseen you should expect centering issues. Pricing is generally on the higher side(I remember they always used to use high Beckett in the 90's. but no where near the prices of Deans cards. And they can be somewhat negotiable.

+1. Love Burbank. Rob Veres & Co. are outstanding to deal with.

I've picked up some lots of 1960, 1961 and 1968 Topps this year and decided to finish out the sets. Needing anywhere from 10-30% of the cards in each set mostly in EX or better, I found most of them on ebay and finished the rest up at the national this year. In doing so, like a lot of other people, I saw Deans cards frequently. There was ALWAYS someone with similarly conditioned cards for 1/2 or less the cost of Deans cards. Everyone has a model they work on on ebay, but 80 cards sold out of 80K in a month isn't one that will net you a lot of money.....maybe they're trying to drive people to their website. I don't have specific experience with them but I would be equally mad that they took advantage of my wife and I'd see it the same way. I have dealt with some great people who have fantastic customer service in finishing these sets off including:

Joesvintagesportscardsii
Mantlerules
Battersbox

And a bunch of others for singles here and there. The above three have great photos, fair prices, healthy inventory and ship lightning quick. I'm not associated with any of them in any way but good people should get a note too. The best thing about Deans is that I can usually tell from the prices and quickly go past them. I don't begrudge them for charging whatever for their cards, I just don't buy anything from them.

It's amazing how people will justify paying double, triple, or more for something because they are "comfortable" with the company or they have great customer service. Does it not occur to them that they could have 1/2 their purchases at a less reputable seller never appear and still be ahead? And with Ebat buyer protection I doubt people even lose out on 1% of transactions.

What a great country to be able to have the luxury of grossly overspending. More money where that came from!

$563 for a trimmed T206 Gandil?

Dean wanted to buy a Pete Rose rookie from me. I was willing to take PayPal. They wanted me to ship first before they paid. NOT the way I do business!

Like many have already pointed out in previous posts. Dean's cards prices are absurd. I have never purchased anything from him so I can't speak to his service level and until he gets a whiff of reality in his pricing I never will.

I would also be upset as John was if my wife or another individual with limited hobby experience was sold the lot she was. What I can't understand is how these people can't comprehend that if they had treated her right, she would most likely be a repeat customer. It seems so many of these dealers only think of slamming someone in the transaction at hand without any regard to building future business.

I will echo the post about Rob at Burbank...been going there since it was a coin shop owned by his father and Rob had a small case and bid board for cards.

Rob's prices are a little high but his customer service is great and always offers a money back guarantee.

Joshua

Dean's Cards
 

Again, for me this situation is not about anyone's wife, mother, kid, etc. It was great your wife cares enough about your hobby to want to get you something you were looking for-a thoughtful gift-price wasn't the issue for her. The issue I have is about the badmouthing of someone that really didn't do anything wrong. If the seller wants to be known as a high-priced dealer, that's a reputation he chooses. Many, maybe most, people will not buy from him. This doesn't mean he is necessarily doing anything wrong. We in the hobby know everything is negotiable, and maybe that's why he sets the bar high-again, I don't know said seller, so I cannot vouch for him personally-just looking at the facts presented. Go into any retailer, and they are happy to sell you an item at full retail price-the next person in the door might have pulled up an online coupon and paid 25% less for the item. Nothing wrong with that....respectfully, that's my point here.

Don't understand why the defense of this seller. Yea, everyone gets it - their cards, they can sell them as they want. But the era of selling VG cards for NM prices went out in 1983. No excuse for it now.

From the presented numbers in this thread, it seems unlikely that this thread will hurt his business.:D

My question though is how does he feed the ten employees on his web site unless more card collectors are bigamists than we think.:eek:

I don't understand the defense of this seller either. It boils down to this:
-Horrible grading. Cards never undergraded, always overgraded. That's not an accident.
-Obscene prices, even on cards available by the hundreds elsewhere

It's a business model that only sustains itself by taking advantage of novices and the clueless. End of story.

To me that's an unethical business model. I refuse to give them business.
-Brent Ingr@m

Deans Cards
 

My Two cents -

Deans Cards - fair /honest dealer , great service, great inventory, a bit high priced

Only a bit?

I can buy this '52 Topps Dickey from Dean's for $1103.99...
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/1952-Topps-40...dNQ~~60_57.JPG

The same card that Probstein sold for $601.02 back in May of this year...
http://www.cardtarget.com/ebayauctio...9.230769230769

There are 1000's of cards like this in their inventory that are priced 2X, 3X or more than what they're worth. I would say that is more than just a bit.

Deans Cards
 

I give it an 8

got a good beat and can dance to it

Ralph G