Can We Believe It?

[GasHouseGang]

It seems sad that when someone comes on the board with what appears to be a very nice PSA8 1952 Mantle and PSA8 1953 Mantle, my first thought isn't "How much", but "Are they real?". The scammers have gotten so good that you can't trust most of these cards unless you know the seller, or someone can vouch for the seller. I have no opinion whether the offered cards are real or fake, I just wish I didn't have to wonder. They are supposedly graded by a 3rd party grading service which was supposed to help eliminate the worry, but even these cards are suspect. We need a solution for this problem.

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

It seems sad that when someone comes on the board with what appears to be a very nice PSA8 1952 Mantle and PSA8 1953 Mantle, my first thought isn't "How much", but "Are they real?". The scammers have gotten so good that you can't trust most of these cards unless you know the seller, or someone can vouch for the seller. I have no opinion whether the offered cards are real or fake, I just wish I didn't have to wonder. They are supposedly graded by a 3rd party grading service which was supposed to help eliminate the worry, but even these cards are suspect. We need a solution for this problem.

I agree, it's sad. And I was one of the first guys to voice skepticism over the cards. I tried to be polite, but a brand new board member, making his first post, trying to sell $100,000 in cards raises red flags. How do you complete that transaction? Paypal? Check? Cash in a public place? None are likely.

[GasHouseGang]

Actually I hadn't even thought of that part of the equation. I've made much smaller purchases and just used the Paypal gift option. But on such a sizable purchase I would absolutely want to see the cards in person. And I would think the seller would want a payment he could trust, like a cashiers check. I think this was discusssed once before and most people said they would go in person to complete the sale and complete the transaction inside the bank for safety reasons.

[dstraate]

If it is a scam he probably picked one of the worst possible venues to pull it off. Most here have been around long enough to require a reputation for a 100K transaction.