An unfortunate incident

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Posted By: leon

Well, at the risk of inserting foot in mouth again let me try another thread. I am only going to give the straight facts here.....and there is an email circulating with some of this too. Recently I bought a card on ebay from Jeff Powell. I got it and put it away for a few weeks. I then went to catalogue it in my collection and looked at it closer, comparing it to another one from the same series. I found that the new card was about 1/8th of an inch short l-r and wavy on the right border. It compared extremely unfavorably with my other type from the set too. He said he got it from a Mastro auction and sent a pic from the catalogue....I said "so what"..... I asked the seller for a refund as he stated the card was in EX condition on ebay with no mention of a trim. After several emails he said he would take the card back but only give me $125 for it. I asked why and he said that that is all he would pay in an auction for it. The card, in my estimate, was only worth about $60-$80 in trimmed condition so I said ok to the $125 and return of the card. NOT that it was right but that I just didn't want the card and I would figure this was a cheap learning lesson. After about a week I asked if he had gotten the card. He said "no" so I tracked it and UPS (or Fedex, I forget) had left it on his door. A few days ago he said he got it from his neighbor (who obviously took it from his doorstep). Today I reveived a money order for $120 from Jeff......Thanks buddy.....now I know who NOT to deal with again...regards all

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2741336771

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Posted By: mrc32

That sucks.

Hindsight is always 20-20, but that bottom edge looks pretty suspect....

Sorry

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Posted By: Wesley

Sorry to hear about the trimmed card. I don't think this is the first time with this seller. At least you got a partial refund.

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Posted By: Peter Thomas

Leon: as the past owner of way to many trimmed cards I have found a way to catch most of them on ebay auctions. First you need a good card from the serries then copy that card and draw two rectangles. The first with the immage and the second with the correct border size. Next copy the ebay immage and scale it so the immage is the same size as your good sample. Then compare the border immage to the good template it will pick up trimmed cards in either or both directions. You can also do this in photo shop. Regards Peter

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Posted By: scott brockelman

from the scan of the front, the card looked a bit deceiving, but the back was and is usually the giveaway and in this case it certainly was, look at the back scan and you can see the borders were quite different, the right is full size with rounded corners, the left is narrow and the corners were way too sharp. a good way to compare is with a card from the same series (and the same player preferably) as they will often have the same cut and centering, sue to sheet position. but just a card from the same series may help to detect a small card.

also, when i look at many cards for potential trimming, i look and loupe the back first, not the front, the unscroupulous, nonthinking scammer never thinks to cover their trail on the back, they leave shaggy edges, paper pulls, etc.

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Posted By: leon

I pointed 4 main things out to the seller.

1. The card is 1/8th of an inch short left to right.
2. The card measures very unfavorably with another from the series.
3. It has a wavy cut to the right border.
4. The 2 right corners, as you look at the front, come to much more of a point than the other 2.

Your points further enhance my theory. He also pointed out that I said the same thing as BCD said about putting together a registry set and that he didn't care.....well, I don't care if he evers sells another card.....as always it is very caveat emptor in our little hobby......hope this can teach a little more about how to detect trim jobs. I am getting better all of the time.....regards all
ps...a pic of a card I don't mind being trimmed A scarce Baseball Bats -red background variety (thanks Dan)

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Posted By: dan mckee

Hey you are quite welcome my friend! Enjoy it, it is a cool issue. Sorry to here about Jeff Powell, I have dealt with him before without incident but never had to return anything. I can see in the scan where the Marquard is trimmed now that it has been pointed out but I also would have missed that I am sure. Obviously he doesn't want happy customers, that is a shame. Dan.

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Posted By: Brett Domue

Leon,

Thanks for posting the picture of the Baseball Bats Bender. You just identified one of the cards in my collection that I wasn't sure of.



Always good to be able to put one down with the right information.

Brett

Brett Domue
okeedokee@pipeline.com
http://members.aol.com/METSBWD/wantlist.htm