An ebay tip ......

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Posted By: leon

I just got off of the phone with Michael Goldberg, of SGC fame and fortune, and we were talking about ebay.....and the deals that can be had. He said they get quite a few calls about ebay stuff, with respect to the item being legit or not. The legit part is very important but there are also a lot of scammers, as we all know. One good way to see if someone has stolen a scan is to ask for another one of the card...maybe the back of it, if it's not shown. Also, asking for a larger scan can help weed out scams too. If someone can't, or won't, send another scan then a red flag of caution should go up. Just thought I would relay a tip. Any others?

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

I guess these factors are no-brainers for most of us, but for anyone just starting out, beware of these things:

--If it's a baseball item, be very cautious if it's being offered from outside North America.

--If you're suspicious of a seller, be sure to check out what else they are selling. If the rest of the material being offered doesn't quite fit in with what you're thinking of bidding on, this can often be suspicious. T206's and XBoxes don't normally go hand-in-hand.

There are so many other factors, but I am drawing a blank today. I'm sure many members can add more to the above.

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Posted By: jay wolt

View the sellers feedback.
If his feedback is zero and he's offering Ty Cobbs, Babe Ruth's
& Mickey Mantle high grade items. Proceed with caution.

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Posted By: Alan U

Some of these are pretty basic and go along with the suggestions already mentioned:

-look at both what the seller has bought and sold in the past and see if it fits in with what they are selling.

-sending them a question of any sort can sometimes weed something out, Leon's suggestion of asking for additional scans is really a good one

-if it looks too good to be true, it probably is

-Alan

edited for spelling

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Posted By: Rich Klein

Another stopping point for me

Rich

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Posted By: Scott S

Raw cards of only star players. If someone came across a real find in Grandpa's attic, Grandpa probably would've had some Charley O'Learys mixed in with his Cobbs and Cy Youngs....

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Posted By: D. Bergin

If you are a low bidder on a higher end card on Ebay, be very wary of 2nd chance offers. They are most likely coming from a phisher and not the actual seller of the card.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Good tips. Keep 'em coming. Maybe we should compile everything from this thread and put it in a special area on the site. It would be of great benefit to first-time eBayers and new collectors. Here are a couple more:

--Be wary of out-of-focus pictures or pics that are cropped in a way that you might suspect the seller to be hiding a flaw or blemish.

--This is kind of an expansion on one of my previous thoughts. Check the seller's past listings. Are they offering baseball memorabilia along with Billy Mays household products, gold bullion from the Atocha and Thighmasters? Has the same bidder successfully won one of each? This is an obvious sign of shill bidding.

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Posted By: Alan U

To add to the "2nd Chance Offer" phishing... it's never a good idea to transact ebay business by clicking on a link included in an e-mail, it's better to go to the ebay site and work from there.

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Posted By: Red

Although it should be obvious, it's also important to follow all these tips before you send the seller money, not a week or two after and you're wondering where your card is at.

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Posted By: Matt

Another one is that for sellers who accept Paypal, check to ensure that they have the $2000 protection that comes from a confirmed bank account and not the $200 protection that anyone can get for signing up 5 minutes before.

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Posted By: Jimmy

Many times I look to see if the seller has a place of business or website, maybe see what else they might be selling and if they might be familiar with the item in question. There are many times I will just buy from sellers I know, unless there are items that really look hard to pass up then I would look into some of the suggestions above. Some great info

Jimmy

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Posted By: John

To the person who stated they would not bid on private auctions, i can understand your reasoning why, shill bidders. but as a seller myself with over 1200 feedbacks i have been selling under private only auctions for the past 6 months. to me its a matter of privacy for both the seller and buyer. many people buy items only to flip them immediatly after with no intention of ever holding them. i myself do this and do not always want people looking at what i just bought it for and basing their bids on the steal i may have gotten a card for. feedback remarks are good enough, people dont need to know what ive bought or sold. i dont need to let a criminal in my area buy an item from me and ask to mail me payment after reviewing my feedback and finding out all the high dollar items i've purchased and am holding. just my opinion.

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Posted By: Mike Mccullough

If the item is of a certain value I always ask the seller if I can look at it in person. I also ask for a phone # and am willing to at least receive a call if they dont feel comfortable giving out there ..
If a seller is not willing to cooperate with my requests I move on..

Afterall, when you buy a car, dont you at least give it a test drive, check under the hood, etc, etc???

I see no reason why a buyer of a high end collectble wouldnt want to examine what he is buying instead of just blindly clicking the buy it now button or throwing out some uneducated bid..

I guess it all comes down to what makes you nervous...