My experience with investinbaseball, a Net54 Advertiser

[yankeeno7]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

I am not certain of legal issues, but see no moral problem with correcting an obvious pricing error. This is a common practice in other industries, and even websites such as Amazon.com. I work for a car dealership. If an ad is posted with an incorrect price, we print a retraction. I remember a used car worth around $25k getting priced at 2,500. We received several calls and emails the next day. We did not sell the car for 2,500.

I see a moral problem with someone trying to take advantage of a seller's honest mistake and buy a card for 10-20, or even 50% of its value. Like Matt said, had I seen a card like that on a BIN, I might have hit the buy button. But I certainly wouldn't hold it against the seller when he catches the mistake and cancels the sale.

Really? You see a moral problem with the buyer in this case? SMH.
And no, there is no problem correcting a price BEFORE it sells. Like I said, the seller could have asked permission to cancel and if the buyer did not agree then the seller had the obligation to go good on the sale.
This is not a car for sale of a mis-advertised price. It is a collectible on an auction/selling website that has an explicit contract.

This type of thinking is why I have distanced myself from this hobby 90%.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by yankeeno7

Really? You see a moral problem with the buyer in this case? SMH.
And no, there is no problem correcting a price BEFORE it sells. Like I said, the seller could have asked permission to cancel and if the buyer did not agree then the seller had the obligation to go good on the sale.
This is not a car for sale of a mis-advertised price. It is a collectible on an auction/selling website that has an explicit contract.

This type of thinking is why I have distanced myself from this hobby 90%.

If it was an obvious error for well below the market value of the card, then yes, I see a moral problem with not only trying to take advantage of that mistake, but then taking the next step of posting in a public forum in attempt to hurt the seller's reputation. Bad form in my opinion.

[yankeeno7]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

If it was an obvious error for well below the market value of the card, then yes, I see a moral problem with not only trying to take advantage of that mistake, but then taking the next step of posting in a public forum in attempt to hurt the sellers' reputation. Bad form in my opinion.

If it happened only once, ok, I would let that slide and the buyer did. In fact, he let it slide and gave the seller another opportunity only to have the same thing happen again. Bad form to out the seller? I disagree. Tough to call if a pattern but the seller himself came here and said that he has multiple mistakes every day. How often is this happening? Is it ok for him to continue to do it to many buyers every day? Now the pattern is there.

The seller has hurt his own reputation by his own doing. Quite a liberalistic approach to not let the seller have any responsibility.

There are deals on ebay all the time. Mistakes, people looking for quick turnover, what ever the reason. Is the buyer suppose to know this was a mistake? Should he be messaging the seller to tell him that he thinks his prices are too low? It's unreasonable to put that on the buyer.

[HRBAKER]

Ted is obviously performing a valuable quality control function here.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

If it was an obvious error for well below the market value of the card, then yes, I see a moral problem with not only trying to take advantage of that mistake, but then taking the next step of posting in a public forum in attempt to hurt the seller's reputation. Bad form in my opinion.

I totally agree.
.
.

[Exhibitman]

Legally, if the mistakes are blatant errors, like listing a $1000 card for $10.00, a seller is usually able to cancel a transaction based on the obvious mistake. An objectively clear mistake is grounds to rescind a contract. If the numbers are a lot closer than that, though, like $650 instead of $1000, and the mistake is one of degree, it is a lot harder to prevail.

That said, from a customer relations perspective, canceling orders and telling a customer "too bad" is a poor idea. When I make a mistake with a client I do some sort of make-good.

[skelly]

I actually saw the 52 Mathews. Spoke to my wife in the next room. Explained that we might be a few hundred dollars poorer, and then went to buy the card literally 2 minutes later and it was gone. Never thought it would come up here in a thread.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by yankeeno7

Really? You see a moral problem with the buyer in this case? SMH.
And no, there is no problem correcting a price BEFORE it sells. Like I said, the seller could have asked permission to cancel and if the buyer did not agree then the seller had the obligation to go good on the sale.
This is not a car for sale of a mis-advertised price. It is a collectible on an auction/selling website that has an explicit contract.

This type of thinking is why I have distanced myself from this hobby 90%.

It seems we have opposite views on this one so perhaps we'll have to agree to disagree.

I will add that a seller who has 1000s of cards listed will probably make a few mistakes per day, I know I would. If a potential buyer is actively searching for them I'm sure he could find them. It may not just be a coincidence this happened twice. That being said we don't really have enough information to make that determination as the OP hasn't mentioned what cards he tried to buy at what price. Sean said one was a 52 Eddie Mathews for $650. As 1s usually go for over a grand, and this could have been a nicer example, I probably would have canceled that transaction as well.

[KCRfan1]

Jesus Christ. People are human and are going to make mistakes. Life is way too short to get hung up on this or to take it so personally.

Move on.

I don't understand why this is being aired publicly.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

Jesus Christ. People are human and are going to make mistakes. Life is way too short to get hung up on this or to take it so personally.

Move on.

I don't understand why this is being aired publicly.

Then you should read the posts more carefully. We're a vintage baseball discussion board and we discuss vintage baseball cards. We've been discussing ebay sales here for over a decade, and sellers who also participate on this board and who advertise here, are even more susceptible to discussions. Odds of being discussed go up exponentially when they make mistakes. Not sure how you could have missed any of that.

Ted, thanks for posting.
Sean, thanks for responding.
Everyone in-between, thanks.

[Jason]

Seems like alot of mistakes,my bads,and misunderstandings seem to follow this seller. Just saying.

[KCRfan1]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Then you should read the posts more carefully. We're a vintage baseball discussion board and we discuss vintage baseball cards. We've been discussing ebay sales here for over a decade, and sellers who also participate on this board and who advertise here, are even more susceptible to discussions. Odds of being discussed go up exponentially when they make mistakes. Not sure how you could have missed any of that.

Ted, thanks for posting.
Sean, thanks for responding.
Everyone in-between, thanks.

Thanks.

I did read the posts, and understand this is a vintage baseball discussion board discussing vintage baseball cards.

Businesses are going to make mistakes, and consumers need to understand that just because a mistake was made, the business can tell the consumer that a mistake was made and the price should be.....A business may not always take this course, but they certainly have the right to do so.

However, some people will piss and moan over pricing and raise a fit. Regardless of what the item is and the price involved, the business somehow " owes " it to the consumer to sell the item at the marked price. That's just not the case and it's an unreasonable expectation for a consumer to assume that.

We just have different views about how this was handled.

[vintagetoppsguy]

This thread reminds me of the '75 Brett thread a few months ago. Anyone remember that? A buyer bought a PSA 9 '75 Brett RC on eBay for $500 (normally a $1500? card).

It was a pricing error by the seller. How did the seller handle it? He honored the sale. Here are his own words:

"The George Brett card in question came from my collection . I am slowly selling many of my graded single cards as well as other ungraded cards .
My son has been selling cards for awhile and I asked him to handle the transactions for me at a commission percent . I would give him the cards with descriptions and prices and he would post them. The Brett card in question was given to my son to sell for $1500.00 BUT he misread the price and posted it at $500.00 and it sold immediately before I could proofread his postings to check for accuracy and proper pricing. When I noticed the error I wanted to cancel the sale for the gross error in the price but my son and I decided to live with our error and let the card go for the $500.00 in order to prevent a potentially bad situation from eBay and the buyer .
I am sure if we had canceled the sale for the pricing error he would have been mad too and notified eBay ...so you see we were in a lose - lose situation ."

There is no legal obligation to complete the deal. Moral obligation? Yeah, somewhat - maybe not to complete the deal, but to do something for the customer (sell at/slightly above cost, discount on another item, or something) especially when it happens 2 separate times.

If we went to a store to buy something and we get to the register to pay and the item rings up significantly more than the posted price and the store refuses to honor their price, it might leave a bad taste in our mouth. If it happened on 2 separate occasions, then the customer has a legitimate complaint.

[Republicaninmass]

Just to clarify a bit

TWO items in question


One was a Frank House "Yellow tiger" BIN at 7.95

Most didn't know about this error until they saw my sig line, and saw threads addressing it on these very boards, I've since removed it from my sigline to prevent other pricing errors. I understand that a seller can't know every price of every card, therefore LOW POP cards and VARIATIONS can slip through the cracks. That is unless you see a N54 buyer, who you know personally, hit the BIN within seconds of an item being listed.

Recently there was a Charlie Maxwell PSA 7 priced at $117, a bit high for a PSA 7, right?

Until you see a N54 member hits the BIN within seconds of it being listed. Then checking VCP only to learn that it is a very low pop card and it sells for close to $300.

Honorable mention: Thinking back...

The very first time this happened was the seller's partnership with Greg Morris cards. Named seller was informed that there was a Cass Michaels gray back listed in Morris' 1952 topps set break. I was the high bidder and the auction was taken down due to a "listing error". No explanation no nothing.


I've bought countless cards via ebay BIN and auctions, including these types of cards as well as other errors. Many from major sellers, such as Dean's cards, Joes vintage Sports Cards, Kit Young, etc and the only pricing error that has ever come from a specific seller, albeit twice, who knows me and what I collect personally from these very boards. That is the one variable and it's absurd.

The real kicker was his text message, after I refused to respond to him through email...

"Thanks for catching my pricing errors".

Again, my purchases should not be scrutinized because I am a member here and myself, as well as my collecting habits are known personally. The seller has admitted he doesn't check the listing price, but he checks when the item is paid for, before being shipped.

Aside from these listing/pricing errors, there isn't anything of interest from the seller, so my revenue will not be missed.

[KCRfan1]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

This thread reminds me of the '75 Brett thread a few months ago. Anyone remember that? A buyer bought a PSA 9 '75 Brett RC on eBay for $500 (normally a $1500? card).

It was a pricing error by the seller. How did the seller handle it? He honored the sale. Here are his own words:

"The George Brett card in question came from my collection . I am slowly selling many of my graded single cards as well as other ungraded cards .
My son has been selling cards for awhile and I asked him to handle the transactions for me at a commission percent . I would give him the cards with descriptions and prices and he would post them. The Brett card in question was given to my son to sell for $1500.00 BUT he misread the price and posted it at $500.00 and it sold immediately before I could proofread his postings to check for accuracy and proper pricing. When I noticed the error I wanted to cancel the sale for the gross error in the price but my son and I decided to live with our error and let the card go for the $500.00 in order to prevent a potentially bad situation from eBay and the buyer .
I am sure if we had canceled the sale for the pricing error he would have been mad too and notified eBay ...so you see we were in a lose - lose situation ."

There is no legal obligation to complete the deal. Moral obligation? Yeah, somewhat - maybe not to complete the deal, but to do something for the customer (sell at/slightly above cost, discount on another item, or something) especially when it happens 2 separate times.

If we went to a store to buy something and we get to the register to pay and the item rings up significantly more than the posted price and the store refuses to honor their price, it might leave a bad taste in our mouth. If it happened on 2 separate occasions, then the customer has a legitimate complaint.

So we're expected to hold the seller to a moral compass, and not the buyer? I would hope we want the seller and buyer on the same moral ground.

If we look long enough and hard enough, pricing errors can be found in ANY business. There are shoppers ( on the internet or brick and mortar ) who troll looking for those mistakes and try to take advantage.

Businesses are not in business to give things away. Most reasonable customers understand that. It falls back to, if it's too good to be true then it probably is, in terms of the price in relationship to the item.

[Stampsfan]

Several thoughts come into mind on this thread...

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

If we went to a store to buy something and we get to the register to pay and the item rings up significantly more than the posted price and the store refuses to honor their price, it might leave a bad taste in our mouth. If it happened on 2 separate occasions, then the customer has a legitimate complaint.

But if you went into the store, and it rings up incorrectly for a lower price, would one own up and say it rang up incorrectly?

If you walked out of the grocery store and noticed the toothpaste didn't ring up at all, would one go back in and pay for the toothpaste? I know I have, and one has to live with themselves and their decisions.

As for looking for deals on eBay, I find SP's on eBay from large dealers who price their SP commons the same as DP commons. I don't take the time to research with the seller that they know this particular '53 Topps common is an SP, and perhaps should be ten bucks more in this condition. I buy the card. I've also bought discounted lots where I really only wanted one card.

I've also been guilty of purchasing items that I later found out I could have had a little cheaper. Now I'm 98% a buyer on eBay, but I believe in my word. If I made a commitment to buy something, it should be honored.

Further, if I see three cards in the same condition on eBay, I'm gonna buy the least expensive. That should go without saying.

Finally, if the '52 Topps Mathews listed for $650, it had better be a real beater. But unless it should have been priced at $6500, or $560, or $5600, I struggle to see how the price should have been $1000 or something. That is really poor data entry...

[begsu1013]

pretty simple stuff...

ya'll have dealt in the past. don't let your prides effect the outcome. is it worth losing a customer/dealer/fellow collector over who was actually right or wrong?

sean:

slow down. take your time. do it right the first time. the issue isn't the pricing error...it's the fact that it seems to be happening way too often and it IS frustrating. for most it's a hobby...people don't want unnecessary headaches when it comes to collecting. that's what work is for (see all the hoops, screenshots ya had to provide). offer to send ted a reasonable store credit for the repeated headaches. it wasn't his fault. if ya'll work it out and he buys another card that you've made another mistake on...own it, eat it and send him the card regardless.

ted:

haven't really looked to see if they were grossly underpriced errors and if they were set wide as stated. if he has genuinely helped ya out in the past, then it is three strikes, you're out. take a store credit, keep him on his toes and perhaps give him one last shot. but if he screws that up, then....


edit to add: thanks for posting, ted. i don't see anything wrong w/ it.

[bobbyw8469]

and no, there is no problem correcting a price BEFORE it sells.

The problem with that is, on obvious pricing errors, the listing sells within minutes, if not quicker!!! Sorry, I am on Sean's side with this one.