How to Scam and Make $ on eBay...

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Leon

As for cards on ebay....no doubt there are a ton of folks trying to play on other folks greed.

This is one of the reasons I have absolutely no problem with the “found in grandpa’s attic…don’t know if it’s real…selling it as a reprint” stories. You have to ask yourself, who’s worse? The scammer trying sell some BS story, or the buyer so consumed with their own greed thinking they struck gold and are going to make a lot of money. In my opinion, it’s the buyer with the greed. After all, isn’t greed #2 in the seven deadly sins?

[npa589]

I can see both sides of this. Stupidity on the buyer side, absolutely. On the seller's side of things, it's beyond scumbaggish...

In summation: the parties involved in these auctions are a matchmade in heaven!

[egbeachley]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

This is one of the reasons I have absolutely no problem with the “found in grandpa’s attic…don’t know if it’s real…selling it as a reprint” stories. You have to ask yourself, who’s worse? The scammer trying sell some BS story, or the buyer so consumed with their own greed thinking they struck gold and are going to make a lot of money. In my opinion, it’s the buyer with the greed. After all, isn’t greed #2 in the seven deadly sins?

The buyer, who wins a $5,000 card (if real) for $200 may have bid $5,000. Hard to say they were greedy.

[wheels56]

Hey gang,

Brand new to the forums -- been using the site for a few months. Recently, my 9 yr old got into collecting and that naturally got me back into the hobby. We're both hooked. Anyway, I've been slowly starting to put together the Topps sets from the 50s, mostly buying lots of the commons, but starting to move up the food chain. I'm a bit wary given everything I've read in these forums and elsewhere about the dirty side of the hobby.

What finally convinced me to register and join the board was this thread. I've participated in many of the battlefield auctions, but have always had a sinking feeling about them. Just a gut feel that something wasn't quite right.

Anyway, in most of the auctions, I've bowed out early as the prices have run up, but I have won a few (56 aaron, 56 clemente, 55 kaline). My general rule is not to bid more than 1-1.5 grades less than my assessment of the cards given the scans and the description (which are always a bit hyperbolic). I'm very happy with the Kaline and the Aaron, but the Clemente was a bit disappointing. My fault though, because the printing imperfections on his face are clear in the scans, in spite of the "Amazing color and awesome eye appeal!!!" description.

Questions: how can one detect shill bidding? Also, does anyone know anything about this seller or have an alternative point of view? Any recommendations on honest sellers for 50s cards?

fwiw, here is the kaline:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

and the clemente:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

1,000 apologies for the novel on my first post. Promise to be more concise in the future!

Cheers,

Jason

[mintacular]

Jason, my original thread was not intended to torpedo Battleship per se but more so point out a raw vintage model that seems to exaggerate a card's "pristine" condition while ignoring obvious flaws. To add insult to injury for me, is that these sellers with the wonderful specimens purposefully do not provide a decent scan....In terms of shilling, others are better experts how to detect this, but I can't help to think many of these auctions have a "shill" account as the final sales prices are much higher than the graded equivalent, and to me for that to happen consistently sets off some red flags. Many of these cards probably have been cracked out of holders OR contain an original flaw that the seller realizes would prevent it from getting a good grade so they don't send it in in the first place. Worse case scenario, some of these guys alter/trim cards to make them appear ultra high-grade.

In short, these auctions are very suspect and should be avoided IMO.

[wheels56]

Makes sense, Patrick. I was reacting more to CharleyBrown's comments on shill bidding and was a bit alarmed because I have participated in several auctions from this seller.

Guess I just want to know if I'm clueless, so I can get a clue.

[npa589]

Here we go again............................................. ..........................


http://cgi.ebay.com/1909-11-TY-COBB-...item3cb8c0ded1

[bobbyw8469]

WOW!! That green one is such a bad fake, that I can't believe anyone is even bidding on these cards!

P.S. I will be bringing more of this collection to Ebay in the next week or two, so please keep a look out. I will combine shipping for multiple orders.

Oh joy! I can hardly wait......