Getting sick of the more obvious frauds

[Seattle799]

From my limited experience, if you're looking to make sure you don't get ripped off, the B/S/T forum here is a safe place. From my (again, limited) experience, few here are willing to sacrifice their reputation to rip you off for a hundred bucks. My dealings here have all been positive.

But as always, be careful out there.

[teetwoohsix]

Hi Colby-

I think there will always be people who will try to take advantage of someone if they have the chance. Not just in this hobby, but in life. It sucks, but there's ways to avoid it. Some people will risk their reputation over a couple of bucks-it's pathetic but true.

I've never been burned on Net54, and have made some great contacts and usually try to stay buying from people I've had good dealings with. It's always good to have a few raw cards of whatever you collect so you can really get to know them-you will see that it makes it easier after awhile to notice something that "doesn't look right".

And finally, there's many people on this board who are willing to help if you have questions before you pull the trigger on something- don't be afraid to ask for help. Many decent board members with a ton of knowledge who will help a fellow collector. If I can ever help, feel free to contact me (I'm no expert, but if I don't know the answer I may be able to point you in the right direction).

Don't let scam artists discourage you from enjoying the hobby. They usually get outed and squashed like bugs.

Sincerely, Clayton

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Seattle799

From my limited experience, if you're looking to make sure you don't get ripped off, the B/S/T forum here is a safe place. From my (again, limited) experience, few here are willing to sacrifice their reputation to rip you off for a hundred bucks. My dealings here have all been positive.

But as always, be careful out there.

Define "rip you off." There are plenty of board members who are happy to buy a card on eBay for $1000 and list it on the BST for $4000 three days later -- right after posting it on the pickups thread as their "holy grail."

[Leon]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Define "rip you off." There are plenty of board members who are happy to buy a card on eBay for $1000 and list it on the BST for $4000 three days later -- right after posting it on the pickups thread as their "holy grail."

Good point Jeff. As an example, several years ago I was able to get an E136 Home Run Kisses card that is some kind of pre-production card or test card. It is on completely white and very thin stock. It was several thousand dollars. It got graded fine and I know the provenance of it and several experts agree it is what it is. I posted it on the board as a new pick up. Next thing I know a board member, who I know very well, tells me he has a 1911 Zeenut the same way and he wants $1500 for it. I tell him, well, I dunno, why don't you send it to me and let me check it out. If it's good and like you say, then we can talk price but the price quoted isn't out of line for what it supposedly is. I got it. It was a very regular Zeenut that was just a little light from exposure to the elements. I had plenty just like it. He said, ok....how about $15.....so I bought it. Caveat emptor.
While there are almost no absolute thefts from the BST you can still get taken advantage of. The very large majority of collectors here won't do that but there are almost 4000 members now so there is a bit of almost everything. If I can ever help anyone, especially our younger collectors, please PM me.....best regards

[calvindog]

Leon, that is a hilarious story! $15! That poor seller probably had to think about getting a job. How awful!

[Shoele$$]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Define "rip you off." There are plenty of board members who are happy to buy a card on eBay for $1000 and list it on the BST for $4000 three days later -- right after posting it on the pickups thread as their "holy grail."

You noticed that too huh?.....

Goes back to the original point...just more and more "sellers" lately who think NOBODY else follows what things sell for on Ebay or in other auctions

Just encountered another douchebag last night trying to pull the same bull$hit with me, it's getting worse and worse it seems with every passing day. There's definitely a lot of really great and legit sellers here, but then the "others"......not so much.

[ullmandds]

If u dont want to get ripped off...educate yourself...its as simple as that! Much easier to do these days than 20+ yrs ago.

[Ease]

Glenn, no offense, but there's no need to curse in every post, it actually belittles a lot of the valid points you make. I like to think of this place as the "gentleman's forum", and I think a lot of others do too. I curse a lot in real life myself, but I try to keep it to a minimum on here.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Ease

Glenn, no offense, but there's no need to curse in every post, it actually belittles a lot of the valid points you make. I like to think of this place as the "gentleman's forum", and I think a lot of others do too. I curse a lot in real life myself, but I try to keep it to a minimum on here.

Thanks Eric, I agree. I PM'd another board member about his constant cursing last night...it is in another forum on the board, not this main page. A few minor cuss words isn't a big deal but if it gets to be too much then that isn't a good thing. And no F bombs or more vulgar language will be tolerated at all. I like to think that I can let my 16 yr old daughter read the board and me not be worried about it.

[Runscott]

Eric, not making excuses, and Glenn and I are on good terms, but some of the recent posts by somewhat newer guys got me thinking about the cursing.

I live in Seattle, where the 'F' bomb is just another word to anyone under 30. They fling it without hesitation, anywhere they happen to be, without regard to anyone around them. It might slightly offend super-old people who weren't born and bred in the PacNW, but natives and anyone in their 50's or younger barely seem to notice. And of course, any of the 'lesser' curse words are just standard stuff for younger people, regardless of where they are from. There are exceptions, but they are rare (my kids, for instance).

I don't know about the East coast, but in the South the situation was different. Even the cruder businessmen types would generally keep that stuff within their smaller groups - not fling it around when talking with baristas, etc. Old people would be horrified, younger people might wince a bit. The only exception, really, was drunks, but they could be avoided in public.

Those are extremes - I don't know what it's like in California or Florida; the midwesterners certainly have cleaner mouths but I don't know - perhaps that is changing?

So, given that it's totally acceptable to be as foul as you want in some parts of the country, in musical lyrics, radio talk-show hosts, etc., what's okay in an internet forum? Basically, my thinking is that it's probably perfectly acceptable in so many forums, that there's no longer such a thing as a 'gentlemen's forum', or at least there won't be in the near future. The progress of technology has allowed us to dispense with 'watching our language' - there are no bars of internet soap.

No ill-will toward Glenn with this post - I'm sure he just uses those words to emphasize his points. I'm just curious how others feel about this. It would be interesting to get thoughts from various parts of the country.

Also, I use 'douchebag' frequently - in my opinion it applies to many on the internet, and doesn't seem like too offensive of a word.

[Ease]

I totally get what you're saying Scott, like I said, I curse a lot in "real life" myself. I too would like others' opinions on it. Times are always-a-changing.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Eric, not making excuses, and Glenn and I are on good terms, but some of the recent posts by somewhat newer guys got me thinking about the cursing.

I live in Seattle, where the 'F' bomb is just another word to anyone under 30. They fling it without hesitation, anywhere they happen to be, without regard to anyone around them. It might slightly offend super-old people who weren't born and bred in the PacNW, but natives and anyone in their 50's or younger barely seem to notice. And of course, any of the 'lesser' curse words are just standard stuff for younger people, regardless of where they are from. There are exceptions, but they are rare (my kids, for instance).

I don't know about the East coast, but in the South the situation was different. Even the cruder businessmen types would generally keep that stuff within their smaller groups - not fling it around when talking with baristas, etc. Old people would be horrified, younger people might wince a bit. The only exception, really, was drunks, but they could be avoided in public.

Those are extremes - I don't know what it's like in California or Florida; the midwesterners certainly have cleaner mouths but I don't know - perhaps that is changing?

So, given that it's totally acceptable to be as foul as you want in some parts of the country, in musical lyrics, radio talk-show hosts, etc., what's okay in an internet forum? Basically, my thinking is that it's probably perfectly acceptable in so many forums, that there's no longer such a thing as a 'gentlemen's forum', or at least there won't be in the near future. The progress of technology has allowed us to dispense with 'watching our language' - there are no bars of internet soap.

No ill-will toward Glenn with this post - I'm sure he just uses those words to emphasize his points. I'm just curious how others feel about this. It would be interesting to get thoughts from various parts of the country.

Also, I use 'douchebag' frequently - in my opinion it applies to many on the internet, and doesn't seem like too offensive of a word.

Very well put Scott. I, and the other mods, wouldn't want this place to be sterile. And when I am around my own friends I admit to using the F bomb frequently. But I wouldn't dare do it around my little girl, her friends or most adults in the area of Texas I live in. And as long as there is an edit feature on this board, and I get to try to keep it civil, this will mostly be the forum Eric is speaking of....with all of our little spats and arguments in between. We don't need, or want, potty mouths on the forum. It's that simple. Anyone that doesn't like it is welcome to their opinion. I hope that doesn't sound too harsh?

[Shoele$$]

Originally Posted by Ease

Glenn, no offense, but there's no need to curse in every post, it actually belittles a lot of the valid points you make. I like to think of this place as the "gentleman's forum", and I think a lot of others do too. I curse a lot in real life myself, but I try to keep it to a minimum on here.

I trust that you're not this sensitive in every day affairs? There's more cursing on women's forums than I've ever done here. So if the word bull$hit is just way too offending, maybe being locked in a bubble and avoiding people in public and over the Internet is a better option. Must be another overly sensitive liberal

How about we ban cursing now? Try going over to Europe and bringing that overly sensitive American attitude.....they'll laugh.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Shoele$$

I trust that you're not this sensitive in every day affairs? There's more cursing on women's forums than I've ever done here. So if the word bull$hit is just way too offending, maybe being locked in a bubble and avoiding people in public and over the Internet is a better option. Must be another overly sensitive liberal

How about we ban cursing now? Try going over to Europe and bringing that overly sensitive American attitude.....they'll laugh.

I've been to Europe plenty of times - spent a lot of time in cruder areas (actually sought them out sometimes) in Paris, Dublin, Munich - basically everywhere. Perhaps things have changed, but while they definitely were more liberal regarding nudity, and they do laugh at us for plenty of other reasons, I didn't hear more cursing. We kind of have a stranglehold on that in many parts of the U.S.

And no one would argue with you that cursing is the way many people choose to emphasize their points on the internet, but if you can win people over to your views without it, you are even more impressive.

[kcohen]

When my kids were little and I started to hear F bombs and such. I told them that I didn't much care how they talked with their little friends since I wouldn't be around to hear it and there was nothing I could do anyway. But I did make it clear that it was a reflection on me and on their upbringing.

The lesson I tried to impart was that, if you're going to cuss, you have to learn how to cuss and when to cuss.

Personally, I don't care if people cuss here, it's simply a reflection on those that do it. Just like with cheap hustlers on BST, it's part of the forum I don't care for but I'll never lose any sleep over it.

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by Ease

Glenn, no offense, but there's no need to curse in every post, it actually belittles a lot of the valid points you make. I like to think of this place as the "gentleman's forum", and I think a lot of others do too. I curse a lot in real life myself, but I try to keep it to a minimum on here.

You might want to watch it.....Glenn is a 3rd generation mob family member!!!

[teetwoohsix]

I cuss frequently but not in the wrong places or around children or elderly people. Mostly amongst friends or family, in a humorous way. Or if I'm $%#@$% pissed about something

Sincerely, Clayton

[Ease]

Originally Posted by whitehse

You might want to watch it.....Glenn is a 3rd generation mob family member!!!

Glenn, I look forward to meeting you in person at the National.