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Serious eBay CGC issue not to be overlooked
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88 posts in this topic

While I'm still in the return process, I felt I should post this as a cautionary tale to those interested. For now, I will not name the seller nor the book until the case is closed, but here are the details. 

I purchased a buy it now slight restoration GA cgc book for well over 3k ( A-1 ,slight color touch, cover cleaned, tear seals , spine split reinforced) When it arrived I cracked it out since I'm not a big slab guy. Immediately after taking it out I noticed the cover had several squiggily cover creases that seemed rather odd. Having owned a few restored books in my day, I suspected this didn't seem quite right. Not being a restoration expert, I decided to spend the 120 and send it express to have it looked at. A week and a half later I was mortified to see it come back as slight/moderate pieces added to cover A-2. I immediately contacted the seller and initiated a return claim. Naturally the seller respond in a hostile way saying that he called CGC and they couldn't explain it and the seller accused me of swapping out his restored book with another restored book. Not wishing to get into a 'issing match with him, I simply told him I'm not taking a bath on this since it has nothing to do with me. Bottom line here is apparently some major issues have been overlooked in the grading process and I just wonder if it happened here, how many other times has this occurred. This is beyond troubling as apparently not everything is as it seems.

Edited by Courageous Cat
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Unless the slab was somehow manipulated, You crack it, it's yours until you sell it!

Sellers risk much on eBay.  This is why I'll never sell there. 

At one point, wasn't the top sale recorded for a comic book sale, made through eBay? Maybe it was just a certain copy, and not the record.. A Sup book??

With FeeBay taking a small portion of sellers fees compared to big time trusted auction houses that make the lions share of the profit, it makes sense to many sellers to sell more expensive books on the ugly & terribly skewed platform.  I've not sold on eBay, and have bought comics (once I knew it was local and we could do a transaction in person.)  Too many shady folks for me, among the trusted sellers.

 

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On 7/31/2021 at 6:22 PM, Courageous Cat said:

While I'm still in the return process, I felt I should post this as a cautionary tale to those interested. For now, I will not name the seller nor the book until the case is closed, but here are the details. 

I purchased a buy it now slight restoration GA cgc book for well over 3k ( A-1 ,slight color touch, cover cleaned, tear seals , spine split reinforced) When it arrived I cracked it out since I'm not a big slab guy. Immediately after taking it out I noticed the cover had several squiggily cover creases that seemed rather odd. Having owned a few restored books in my day, I suspected this didn't seem quite right. Not being a restoration expert, I decided to spend the 120 and send it express to have it looked at. A week and a half later I was mortified to see it come back as slight/moderate pieces added to cover A-2. I immediately contacted the seller and initiated a return claim. Naturally the seller respond in a hostile way saying that he called CGC and they couldn't explain it and the seller accused me of swapping out his restored book with another restored book. Not wishing to get into a 'issing match with him, I simply told him I'm not taking a bath on this since it has nothing to do with me. Bottom line here is apparently some major issues have been overlooked in the grading process and I just wonder if it happened here, how many other times has this occurred. This is beyond troubling as apparently not everything is as it seems.

I certainly hope this works out for you, but there's a reason it's known as the PLOD. Right up there with black widow spiders and king cobras...

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On 8/1/2021 at 3:36 AM, Lightning55 said:

If you crack a graded comic, you own it.  You either leave it alone, or take the chance on your own dime.  Of course, this case won't work out that way - the seller, who did nothing wrong, will end up losing.  The buyer shouldn't lose, either, as it's likely CGC's fault in the first place.  But now the situation is compromised by opening the slab.  Just an ugly mess.  Back to the first comment - don't sell expensive comics on eBay.  It's amateur hour there.

100% could not agree more ebay and the NEW buyer mentality that I can get a refund no matter what is a never ending story of seller abuse. Try calling ebay ( assuming you can get a human you can understand) & they could care less if you lose $1 or 50k "it's the cost of doing business" Which is pure BS, for example in this case the seller did nothing wrong, ( yet the seller has no protection) now because the buyer decided to crack the case, the buyer expects to get a full refund, how is that ok or fair? Are there awful sellers, you bet but in this case the seller is 100% right not to want YOUR reslabed book back. Come on once you crack that book or any book its on you. Let me put it this way if the book came back as having NO resto and was worth 3x what you paid should the seller expect you top give them the current FMV? 

Edited by I am not Glenda
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On 8/1/2021 at 9:12 AM, Bird said:

I agree with everyone above, once you crack that slab it is yours whole hog.

I do not think ebay will agree to the return as item is clearly not the same, it will now have a different serial # as well, correct?  sorry, I see he had it looked at and not necessarily slabbed again

Thats not correct depending on how the buyer does the return the seller 95% is just beat.

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On 8/2/2021 at 12:06 PM, MatterEaterLad said:

"The most recent grade is the correct grade." (shrug)

Yes. Because it became "more" restored as it sat in the slab. IMO, once slabbed always slabbed. Crack it out and keep the label all you like. I wouldn't buy a raw book with a label in the mylar. No way it'll come back the same grade.

I'd love to see a census of all the books that have been cracked, label kept then sent in for regrading. My money would be on the bet the percentage they come back lower is higher than coming back upgraded.

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On 8/2/2021 at 10:42 AM, Hulksdaddy1 said:

Seller is without fault here. If you force him through ebay to refund your money, you're the bad guy. Just know that.

 

The buyer who received a misrepresented (factually, not just an opinion like grading) item is the bad guy?

lol No. :sumo:

The real bad guy may not admit responsibility or make it right if the transactions are backtracked to them, but that doesn't change their identity.

Also, while the seller may be blameless, that is not necessarily the case.

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On 8/2/2021 at 10:24 PM, Lazyboy said:

The buyer who received a misrepresented (factually, not just an opinion like grading) item is the bad guy?

lol No. :sumo:

The real bad guy may not admit responsibility or make it right if the transactions are backtracked to them, but that doesn't change their identity.

Also, while the seller may be blameless, that is not necessarily the case.

The buyer purchased a CGC graded book, sealed in it's slab. Not misrepresented by the seller at all. He got exactly what he purchased from the seller. 

He cracked it out, changing it from what was sold. That alone makes him responsible. 

As there has been nothing said about the slab appearing to be tampered with, we can reasonably assume that it was not. So, the grading, or mis-grading, is on CGC. The buyer's issue is with them, not the seller.

The seller is the only one to do everything right here.

And, while the buyer may be blameless, we really don't know. We only have his word the the book that was resubmitted was the same one he bought. That's actually the biggest "if."

BTW, even on these boards, almost all have a no return policy for slabs, since you actually ARE buying CGC's opinion, not the sellers.

So, yes, if the buyer goes after the seller for a refund on a product that was delivered as advertised, then admittedly altered, by the buyer...yup, he's the bad guy. In that transaction.

If anything, his problem is with CGC. Should seek restitution there, if anywhere.

 

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On 8/2/2021 at 9:48 PM, Hulksdaddy1 said:

Not misrepresented by the seller at all.

...

 

The seller is the only one to do everything right here.

...

And, while the buyer may be blameless, we really don't know. We only have his word the the book that was resubmitted was the same one he bought. That's actually the biggest "if."

So the buyer is suspect, but the seller definitely doesn't have a shady past, didn't submit the book, and wasn't pleased when it didn't note the added pieces?

Plus, if the OP provides pictures, there's a very, very good chance that we can confirm it's the same book.

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