Latest card grading scam

[JasonL]

he simply returned a damaged card to you. If that is the case, what does he get out of it?

Is it the same card you sent him, or has it been switched, and then put into a cracked slab, seeking reimbursement?

[Exhibitman]

I sold one card several years ago that the buyer said arrived in a broken PSA holder. I had him send it back with the envelope. Son of a gun if there wasn't a diagonal break in the holder and a diagonal tire track across the envelope. The mailman must've dropped it and driven over it! Funny thing was, the card had only one hairline crease and I sold it raw for more than the lost sale.

[buymycards]

A bubble mailer just doesn't cut it for a graded card. You need to sandwich the slab between two heavy pieces of cardboard, then put the whole works in the bubble mailer. The mailer alone doesn't provide any protection for the plastic slab without additional reinforcement.

Marking the package "fragile" is fine. The acceptance clerk will handle it gently, and the delivery person will handle it gently, but the machines along the way that process thousands of parcels per hour may damage the card. Also, the way that local Post Offices receive parcels in the morning can also contribute to damage. We receive several large hampers, some of them with hundreds of the small parcels that are mixed in with larger parcels sitting on top and that small parcel on the bottom may have several hundred pounds of mail sitting on top of it.

Rick

[barrysloate]

I always use two pieces of foamcore board when I send a single graded card in an envelope. I've still had a couple of them break in transit.

[Jewish-collector]

Just send it registered mail next time.

[M's_Fan]

You will really never know if the customer did it or not, but my suspicion is that he didn't do it. I would just refund the money and move on, and pack better next time.

This does make me think I need to pack the expensive cards better...

[egbeachley]

Originally Posted by JasonL

he simply returned a damaged card to you. If that is the case, what does he get out of it?

Is it the same card you sent him, or has it been switched, and then put into a cracked slab, seeking reimbursement?

Not really a scam, per se. But it appears as though it was purchased to be resubmitted. But during the process of removing the card he damaged it. Instead of taking the loss he decided on a refund.

[WhenItWasAHobby]

I've received one that was cracked in half and upon closer inspection I could see where the holder was deformed as if the plastic had melted slightly. When I showed the damaged holder and the mailer to the people at the post office one guy said with quite a bit of certainty that it appeared as if someone tried to run it through a scanning machine for flat items and it got stuck among some hot machinized parts inside the scanner and that's why the plastic sagged a bit.

[SteveMitchell]

It has been mentioned that a padded envelope is insufficient protection for slabs. I agree. Boxing is the only way to reasonably assure that slabbed cards will arrive intact - and they are still subject to the usual crushing or loss.

Two years ago I received TWO PSA slabbed Hall of Fame metallic plaque-cards in a padded envelope. BOTH slabs were snapped in two and the metallic plaque-cards ruined!

Boxes are the only way to reasonably assure safe delivery, and even then nothing is guaranteed.

[mintacular]

I think there is a false security of the "padded mailer". It makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside that you put a card in this mailer but if you look at it objectively, does that mailer REALLY add enough cushion to prevent a heavy item from crushing the article inside it?

As stated, behind closed doors padded mailers (even those marked "fragile" chuckle...) are potentially tossed around carelessly, dumped by certain machines with other heavy boxes, etc., or worse yet run through quickly via a mail machine with heavy belts, etc.

A few months ago I received a graded cards from Joes Vintage on eBay (a $40 t205 common VG) and was a bit surprised that it came in a 400 ct set box and apparently he has learned the lesson the hard way...

My guess is that 10-20% of of graded cards put in a padded mailer are cracked/damaged in the process. You can sandwich them with cardboard to knock that % down probably well below 5%. Yet the only sure-fire way is to send it in a cardboard box. JMO