Beckett.com and variation cards
 

I'm sorry if this comes off as a whine, but I need to vent and know if anyone else has experienced this same issue.

For the last 2 months or so I've been actively trying to collect all the variations in Topps/Fleer/Donruss/Score/Upper Deck sets from 1981-1991.

I know to stay away from Beckett listings that aren't clear in describing which version of the card they're selling.

Most are quite clear, however. But, if I've purchased 100 cards over the last 2 months, I've received at least 30 which were the other version of the card I was looking for, even though I'm holding the receipt clearly showing the version I purchased.

I'm not a seller, so I can't speak for the issues in keeping stock up to date, sorting, etc. But this is getting ridiculous. Most times the sellers are smaller dealers, but a few have been from large, well-known dealers. It's all over the board.

I would expect to experience this phenomenon once in a while, but at a 30% rate? I'm sort of stunned. I've gone to looking on eBay, but that's only reliable if the seller has scanned both front and back depending upon which side the variation exists, or else you're contacting them.

Has anyone else experienced this frustration? I just got another 3 cards today - the receipt clearly shows which versions I purchased, but sure enough all 3 cards received are the opposite versions of the ones on the receipt. AUGGHH!!!

Yes, it is a common problem for collectors of variants, like me :(. If I find what I think I am looking for on ebay, I usually send the seller a note asking specifically if I am getting the card in the listing scan. I have had decent experience in using COMC, especially for back variants, and Rich and others have helped by getting many variants separately listed from their common counterparts. And, pricing aside, Dean is pretty good and identifying and selling variant cards separately

COMC is a much easier place to buy, but their shipping delays these days are brutal.

Beckett is notoriously awful about this. Back around 2002-2006, I must have set a record for most refunds as I would buy out every 1990 Upper Deck Mike Witt 702, 1990 Fleer Dave Martinez Yellow, etc, that would get listed there. In a few dozen orders, only one Burbank Sportscards order ever came through (with the Martinez).

TY Al, as the Beckett E&V guy way back in the day and now to some extent to COMC E&V savant (or cleaner up) I get how important that is to our customers. Believe me, there are times while IDing or doing Correction requests I see the two versions set up but not noted. Anytime I see that, I always try to figure out what version goes where and fix anything that got goofed up. So keep posting those and/or keep sending me DM's and/or posting correction requests and I'll keep at it.

Rich

Sometimes the seller just doesn't have enough knowledge of the item, I am sure. That happens a lot.

However, it's fairly safe to assume a good third or more of the sellers on ebay are just ignorant. That covers the site in general, not specific to sports collectibles. SOOO many stupid people! Even when you try to help set someone straight, half the time you get resistance.

I'll keep this very generic, although I should have no problem outing this person, but I won't. They are selling a baseball as hand signed. It is one of those preprinted, souvenir stand balls. Even after providing a near identical example (just a slightly different year - even had some of the same player signatures on both balls) where the other seller correctly IDs their ball as printed, this seller still won't even remotely consider that their ball is printed! Oh, it's also ended 5-6 times or more at less than $10 and immediately relisted only to end for around the same price again and again, but there is a reserve on it so it has not actually sold. Apparently that is meaningless too.