Consignor Frustrations - Probstein

[KC Doughboy]

Update: My cards did arrive safely on Friday and all cards were accounted for.

In response to a couple questions earlier in this thread...

First, I dealt almost exclusively with Wes as he was the one (assigned?) to handle my cards.

Before I ever decided to send them, I asked about what cards to send, etc. I was told that they will typically put cards less than $10 into lots and sell those worth more than $10 as individual cards.

Of the cards he returned to me, there were numerous higher value cards, including a Mantle and several high # 1952 Topps.

When my cards first arrived, Rick personally pulled all of the graded cards and had them listed within 48 hours as 7 day auctions. About 4-5 days after the auctions ended, I had a check in the mail along with a detailed spreadsheet.
The second week they listed most of my raw Mantles, Clemente RC, Koufax RC, etc and again I received the check and spreadsheet about 4-5 days after the auctions ended.
That was the end of listing my cards and the end of communication with me.

I believe that Rick's business model is changing. I believe he has gotten busy enough that he can thumb his nose at any cards that are not quick and simple to sell, ie slabs and Mantles.
I don't blame him if this is where he makes his money and it's not cost effective to deal with any other cards.
I do blame him for failing to tell customers that they are changing philosophy.
I do blame him for failing to communicate.
I do blame him for failing to honor his word.

If you have graded cards or Mantle cards I believe Probstein will do a good job and do it quickly. However, if I'm only listing those cards for sale, I would do it myself. It doesn't take me very long to list a few cards and the potential 2-3% I'd save in eBay fees is wiped out by shipping and insurance fees.

Hopefully this answers all the questions that were posed.

Eric Matthews