So frustrated with EBAY dealers

[FlyingDonut]

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but Comix32 is only the latest in a long line of eBay IDs for this seller. The seller is not a Mary Macri, but rather a guy who changes his name as frequently as I change my socks (OK, so that's not that frequent...)

 

I bought some 'NM' books from him when his eBay ID was 'lastmanstanding' and they turned out to be some of the biggest POS bits of junk I've ever had the displeasure of fouling my mailbox with.

 

As soon as the negs pile up too high, or eBay rumbles to his 'split personality' problems, this guy simply opens another ID and continues towards his personal goal of making 'stkwizrd', or whatever the 's ID is, look like a CGC grader.

 

Sorry, my friend.

 

Telepath, thanks for the info. In all honesty I was not ALL that disappointed with this lot in question (the one with the trimmed GSX #1) but I was certainly very displeased with the trimming on this one. All in all the rest of the books were not that bad and not that inaccurately described. However, without the key book being described (and pictured) as an NM, my bid would have been considerably lower. My 5.0 #94 certainly came in lower than described too, but at least that one was not trimmed.

 

IMPORTANT (to me at least) remember those 3 copies of Hulk #181 that I described in the initial post on this thread? Well, here's the deal. I got them back from CGC saturday all graded much lower than what was promised (see first post). I e-mailed the guy right away and he just got back to me today. He wanted to be good to his word and offer me a full refund plus CGC fees as offered in his return policy. Great, right? The guy, who appears to be honest (am I being too trusting again) stated that as a small seller he is currently out of funds due to Christmas and etc, and wants me to ship the books back to him so that he can sell them and then pay me back as soon as he can retrieve the funds through the sales and other means. He has feedback of almost 300 with a 99.7 rating (I don't want to mention any names as he may actually be a good guy that just made an honest grading mistake). Not bad marks and almost all feedback is as a seller. What do you guys think? Sounds reasonable to me although he will have the books AND my money for at least a few weeks. Thanks again (as always) ----Sid

 

I think you're crazy to send the books back. YOU sell them and have the guy pay you the difference from what you paid for them out of his pocket.

[Timely]

Smart thinking!

 

timely

[sfilosa]

Regarding flipping:

 

If it was easy, everyone would do it!!!!!

 

The problem (just like most opportunities in this world), is once too many people understand the game, it becomes increasingly hard to make a profit.

 

For all the profits you make, it usually only takes one bad deal to wipe out 10 good deals.

 

Regarding buying from reputable dealers, it is very unlikely that they are going to sell you a raw book that you could then grade and flip for a decent profit. That's of course why you want to buy from the small seller (yet they are reputable). A catch-22.

 

Remember, OVERGRADING has been around for 30 YEARS. I've stopped collecting several times because of rampant overgrading from reputable dealers. And the fact is (but know one really wants to admit this) is that it is VERY HARD for a true dealer make a living without either OVERGRADING when selling at least some of the time or UNDERGRADING when buying some of the time. It's not like everyday, someone comes in with some really nice high quality books and can't wait to sell them for half their value.

 

 

[BassGMan]

Regarding flipping:

 

If it was easy, everyone would do it!!!!!

 

The problem (just like most opportunities in this world), is once too many people understand the game, it becomes increasingly hard to make a profit.

 

For all the profits you make, it usually only takes one bad deal to wipe out 10 good deals.

 

Regarding buying from reputable dealers, it is very unlikely that they are going to sell you a raw book that you could then grade and flip for a decent profit. That's of course why you want to buy from the small seller (yet they are reputable). A catch-22.

 

Remember, OVERGRADING has been around for 30 YEARS. I've stopped collecting several times because of rampant overgrading from reputable dealers. And the fact is (but know one really wants to admit this) is that it is VERY HARD for a true dealer make a living without either OVERGRADING when selling at least some of the time or UNDERGRADING when buying some of the time. It's not like everyday, someone comes in with some really nice high quality books and can't wait to sell them for half their value.

 

 

Well, flipping is easy on moderns, and even some silvers in my case. But then again, I have spent way too much time scanning Ebay looking for deals. But in my spare time at least, and it's fun. But, what you said about the one bad deal wiping out the good deals. Yes, that is true for me. But those big deals, as described above involve the bigger dollar books that I do not have as much experience dealing with. As long as I stick to the "tweeners" as someone put it, or the books that guide for $100 or less, I have done very well. And it does seem almost as if "everyone is doing it". Not literally, but so many people that it almost seems like it. Anyway, just my opinion and just my experience. ----Sid

[ericc123]

BassGMan I don't feel bad for you at all. You have mentioned more than once you know what you are doing but when you get burned you come looking to the boards for advice. What do you want us to say? Yeah it sucks you lost your money but A) if you knew what you were doing (which you admit with big books you don't) you wound't have gotten burned this bad and B) you are trying to flip books for a profit and I don't think your going to get alot of sympathy for that. There is nothing wrong with flipping but I'd feel a heck of a lot worse if you were a collector who got snuckered than I do now knowing you know what you are doing and are flipping books.

 

 

[Bonds25]

Who cares if he's flipping the books or if he's a true collector? He was screwed over by some real scumbags, and no one deserves that. I guess since he's trying to make a profit it's OK for the seller to not refund his money or mail the books to him that he won???

[Darthdiesel]

funny how he loves to flip and has "gman" as part of his name? Coincidence? Copyright infringement! George, get in here and get your name back!!!

[ericc123]

When did I say it was ok for him to get ripped off??? Did I say I was happy they wern't refunding his money? I just don't think he needs to come looking for sympathy if he's in it to make money. He's not exactly the innocent naive buyer after all.

 

 

[Darthdiesel]

advocate time again...

 

Who cares if he's flipping the books or if he's a true collector?

Damn modern flippers...it'll be the ruin of us all!

 

[Darthdiesel]

Did I say I was happy they wern't refunding his money?

 

I'd say you were revelling in it and planning a party because he got screwed over

 

Actually in a dog-eat-dog way of looking at it, that's less flipper capital to compete with out there on ebay while he's incapacitated trying to rectify the situation

[BassGMan]

 

 

I think you're crazy to send the books back. YOU sell them and have the guy pay you the difference from what you paid for them out of his pocket.

 

Thank you for the input. I appreciate it. Another option. But this is the way I see it. When I am involved in a transaction as a buyer and there is a problem, I realize that in some cases the seller may be suspicious of me as a buyer. Just one small example: six months ago or so I bought what was advertised as an ASM #238 Near Mint + (with tattooz-can't forget those) for about $80 or so. Kind of a high price on that one but I didn't have any high grades. Anyway, it was packaged well but for some reason the comic slipped out of the bag during transit. Somehow there was a slit on the side of the bag (unusual) and the comic slipped out catching on a piece of tape, thus removing a bit of paper. So, since this was advertised at such a high grade, and then accidentally damaged in this strange fashion during shipping, I e-mailed the guy, told him the situation and wanted to see what he would do to fix it. now this WAS a large dealer with very high ratings and selling hundreds of books at a time. So, he offered to "PayPal me" $20 to make up for the damage and I accepted. The damage was minor, however it most likely brought the book down from maybe a 9.6 down to a 9.2. anyway, alhtough this dealer cooperated, I could tell by the tone of his response and accompanying questions that he was suspicious of me. I could have lied about damage to get some cash. It has probably happened to him before. Since he was a reputable guy and I had not left feedback yet, he pretty much knew he had to take my word for it but I still sense he didn't believe me.

So, that brings me to my 3 Hulk 181 situation. How does this guy know that I did not send in (or already have) additional copies of these #181 issues that I am trying to "replace" with his better copies? I could be keeping his 8.5, and 8.0 or whatever and then sent in lessor quality books to get slabbed. Is he supposed to remember all the tinyflaws in his books to make sure he gets the right ones back? I suppose with high quality scans he could. But you get what I am saying. Buyers can lie as much as sellers do, although I believe less frequently due to the nature of the seller/buyer relationship. I have been a little suspicious of a few of my buyers as well, although I always made sure they were satisfied with the end result of the deal. But ya' never know. So, in dealing with a situation like I am in now, I do need to consider what the seller may think of me. I do not want to be selfish or have an unfair bias. I want to be fair and honest but my transaction partner may think I am full of it on either end. Anyway, just some thoughts. ----Sid

[Darthdiesel]

But you get what I am saying. Buyers can lie as much as sellers do, although I believe less frequently due to the nature of the seller/buyer relationship. I have been a little suspicious of a few of my buyers as well, although I always made sure they were satisfied with the end result of the deal.

 

Yesss. I see now..I hate my buyers too...every last one of them...They are all taking advantage of me! I'll get them all in the end, I swear it! I make sure they are satisfied as well and if they are not, I make sure they STAY QUIET...PERMANENTLY! MUAHAHAHAH! The wheels are in motion

[BassGMan]

funny how he loves to flip and has "gman" as part of his name? Coincidence? Copyright infringement! George, get in here and get your name back!!!

 

I know you are just joking but I was completely unaware of some "gman" guy when I registered. I first registered under the name "BassGtrMan" since I play bass guitar but I did it incorrectly and could not reuse the name for some reason. So I just shortened it to "BassGMan" on my second try. Pure coincidence if it is similar to another name. -----Sid

[Darthdiesel]

definitely always joking, but your MOs are very similar...it's like you both came from the same clone stalk...

[BassGMan]

 

 

I think you're crazy to send the books back. YOU sell them and have the guy pay you the difference from what you paid for them out of his pocket.

 

Hello, I thought about it all last night and I have decided that I will contact the seller with this idea. Thanks Donut. I had thought about it briefly before but not seriously until you mentioned it. The guy seems pretty reasonable so I don't know why he would reject the idea as my feedback is even better than his and I will be selling these books among many other CGCs, so I should do all right with them. I figure I should be able to cover my $1,100 plus CGC fees with the 181s at 7.0, 5.0 and 4.5. I'll list them one at a time starting in mid-January.

 

On another subject, a couple people here have mentioned that they do not have any sympathy for me as a victimized "flipper". I have never wanted or needed any sympathy and only claimed that I wanted advice from other serious collectors and dealers about how to handle some sticky situations. No "oh you poor baby" talk needed by me, not even from my wife.

As far as experience goes and my comments about that, yes I do have alot of experience. But not ALL the experience needed. After owning a comic store for a year, working for the now closed Capital City Distribution, buying and selling on Ebay for three years and being a collector/convention dealer for over 20, you bet I have experience with comics. But I am like a GP or General Practice Doctor. My experience does not branch into the specialties like dealing with the older high end books, working out problems with Ebay dealers on expensive items, detecting hard to see restoration and many other areas. That is why I am here. To help learn from you guys that do have specialty experience. Already I am better off and I thank you guys for that. ----Sid

 

 

 

 

[joe_collector]

I think you're crazy to send the books back. YOU sell them and have the guy pay you the difference from what you paid for them out of his pocket.

 

I agree totally, and I would NEVER send back something like this, and so late (no protection from EBay/Paypal), without at least half the cash up front.

 

You got taken once, don't compound the problem.