I won a case on eBay as a SELLER...

Here's my story.  I got the new iPad mini for Christmas this year, so I decided to sell my iPad 2 because no one needs two iPads.  The item sold on December 31st, which was great because I had a plan for what I was putting those funds towards.

I mail the iPad January 2, since the post office is closed New Year's Day and I get a message from the buyer...  "You sent it to the wrong address, that is my sisters house."  So I told the buyer that since it was her confirmed address and the only way to protect myself, even if she told me this earlier it was still going to that address for my protection since eBay "never" rules in favor of the seller.  She says ok, my sister will mail it to me...

January 27:  Buyer has opened a case.  Really?  No e-mail nothing, just opens a case.  Suddenly my mint condition, perfectly working, barely used iPad "stop working after 3 use"... Yes, that was English.  I asked if it was charged, if it was plugged in during a power surge, etc.  I tried every which way to help despite not offering a return.  I also looked up her eBay ID to see any other purchases recently, and she purchased the Square Trade Warranty on items up to $500.  She bought it yet clearly didn't try to use it, if in fact there was a broken iPad sold to her.

January 30:  Naturally eBay said she can return it.  Wonderful.  It was well documented that this iPad had traveled the world once I mailed it so I decided to one up this con artist.  I called Apple and got the serial number confirmed for my iPad so that I would be certain it was mine coming back....

February 5:  iPad arrives.  I opened the box, it was well packed.  The iPad box was completely crushed in one corner and that was not at all what was sent.  I open the box, immediately notice a scratch that mine did not have.  I check the serial number.... NOT THE ONE I SOLD.  Nice try lady.  So now I call eBay, explain the item is not what I sent her and that I have proof that I never owned this serial number iPad nor was it ever registered to my Apple ID or name.  They put me on hold to contact the buyer and find out what is going on....  Guy gets back on the phone, says well third party shipping is not covered by eBay Buyer Protection so they are ruling in my favor and she gets nothing back.

While yes, it is great that I don't get screwed in the situation but what if it had gone directly to her, would I still have had a valid case with eBay?  Their ruling is based on the 'ring around the rosey' shipping they did with the item not that she tried to pull a fast one.  I'm happy to have won the case but I am annoyed that this person will likely do this to another person in the future with no repercussion unless the seller can prove with serial numbers what she did.

I know I shouldn't be annoyed about this anymore but it is still bugging me.

Moral of the story:  If you sell any items with serial numbers, list them in the auction as proof so they can't bother even trying to pull a fast one.  Luckily I had mine verified and both mine and the broken one sent to me were given to eBay for the case file.

I accidentally won this card

I know what you are all thinking already, "she is forever searching eBay for nonsense and now claims she bid 'accidentally', ok". Well, that is sort of how it went down...

So I saw this card on eBay and as you all already know, I don't care for game used cards unless it's a sick patch and even then I would rather spend the same money for an autograph. You also already know that I hate plain swatches on any card with a passion. So why did I end up with this 2011 Topps Marquee Titanic Threads card?


Well... I saw that the auction was ending within a few minutes of doing one of my 2478534897537903490 daily Cano searches and decided that I was not going to let someone else steal it for what started at $3.25.

I bid $5.50... outbid. OK, I don't even want it. But then I bid again without even thinking about what I was doing.

I bid $8.00... outbid. I really don't even like this friggin card...

I bid $10.00.... outbid. Now I am just annoyed because either I let someone else have it cheaper than I think it would end for with just like 2 minute remaining or I...

Bid $15.00... you are the current high bidder at $13.05 with 6 seconds remaining.... tick tock tick tock tick tock. You won!

F---ing wonderful.

I started out mad that it was too cheap to not steal and ended up mad that I got sucked into a card I don't like. This is what is called stupidity for those kids reading at home.

#LOSING!

Game Used Jockstrap? Elastic Waistband?

Upon doing my routine "Robinson Cano auto" search on eBay I discovered a strange looking, low serial numbered 2011 Topps Triple Threads card. Look at this card and tell me what you think it is.

The seller uses the words "sick" and "nasty" to describe the card which leads me to think I'm right that it's his underwear, jockstrap, or waistband of his pants.

I honestly am at a loss as to where this patch is really from.

For the fan that has everything

It's almost October and that means Christmas is rapidly approaching. While I can't say I have given much thought to presents yet, I stumbled across something entertaining on eBay that would be great for a football fan/dog owner. How many of you are trying to think of something that has both things in common?

Now the only reason I even know this item exists is because I was doing a search for a something for my puppy and it was one of the items. I'm done laughing about it and wanted to share this item with all of you.

Please tell me you think it's awesome. I may even buy one for my dog.

Run Faster and Jump Higher

For anyone who ever wanted to go "Back to the Future", Nike is offering fans young and old alike the chance to try and do just that. There are new sneakers that are based on the movie and are made by Nike for sale on eBay. There is one catch... Since 100% of the proceeds are going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the shoes will cost you if you want them.

Here is the commercial if you haven't seen it yet, it's pretty awesome.



The shoes can be seen here on eBay, if you can afford them. I wish I could because I can honestly say I would rock these everywhere I went.

A break from Allen and Ginter

As everyone goes into Allen and Ginter overload, I thought it would be nice to take a break from the madness and look at some cards that I will never be able to afford.

That's usually how my days work. I search eBay for cheap cards to add to my collection. Then, I looked at the grossly expensive cards that I know I will never own.

First up:
1968 O-Pee-Chee Nolan Ryan RC - Graded 9.5

This is the only 9.5 on Beckett's population report. The next best grade for this card is an 8.0, and just 25 of them have been graded in Beckett's population report. I don't have a subscription with PSA and can't look up there pop report.

Our second selection is a more recent development, but it takes on old-school values. :)
2011 SP Legendary Cuts 1927 Murderer's Row auto booklet

These are both great cards. Of course, I would take the Murderer's Row card over the Ryan, being that I am a Yankees fan. If I pulled that card, I do wonder if I would sell it. Considering I need a car, I am sure that card would go up for sale quickly.

Gypsy Queen "Scan" Artists

Topps had to have seen this one coming, and if they didn't they are going to be bombarded with all kinds of non-sense. I will not say if I think they deserve it based on the fact that they did not include what was supposed to be in the boxes.... however....

Now we are stuck with people like this Kill Joy who are going to make this whole process take that much longer for people who want the cards. As of right now there are only one of these auctions up.

That being said, I will be here later organizing the cards into another box and prepping our codes to send out immediately to avoid delays.

You have been warned.

Here's your sign.

Every so often we like to post eBay idiots on here. Well, I like nothing better than to procrastinate homework by rummaging eBay looking for nonsense items. Today was no exception.

Here is our first bozo. This auction claims to have a "foil error". No, it's just poor quality control but thanks for playing. Here's your sign.

Next up will be a card that you will hate/love if you collect Stephen Strasburg. It's cool if you like having an obscure card in your collection, it's not so cool if you aren't willing to pay $20+ for a base insert.

Now these are interesting. There are a bunch of these no foil variations floating on eBay and I honestly can't remember if I saw any like this in the case. I really didn't look at any of the base cards at all. If anyone ended up with a sparkle card or a no foil card, please let us know. I'd be interested to see what really ended up coming out of that case.

I think the better question is why are they calling them variations? We all know how they ended up like that, but I don't see that as worth listing on eBay for $5.00 when I could get the actual card for a quarter.

I'm sure I will have more tales to share later. I am waiting on another offer rejection (Some people apparently think Cano autographs /50 are worth $150) for a card I reallllllyyyy want so I am sure I will troll around eBay looking for something else.

Sig Hansen auto spotted

Sig Hansen has finally surfaced.

When 2010 Allen and Ginter came out, Sig Hansen was on the checklist but he didn’t seem to show up in anyone’s cases. Sig Hansen relic redemption cards were found, but nothing regarding the auto.

Recently, Topps stated the relic redemptions would instead be autograph redemptions and Topps held to that. If you got the redemption already, you're lucky.

The company started shipping out the redemptions and the first one has popped up on eBay.

If you have a redemption card on hand, you're lucky. There doesn't seem to be anymore of these listed on ebay anymore.

Hansen is one the fishing boat captains from the television series Deadliest Catch. His card has a broad appeal with set collectors and fans of the show.

It’s unknown how many of these cards exist.

2010 Allen & Ginter 1/1

This is by far the goofiest eBay listing and might even be better than the revolving door autograph. You really need to check out this Felipe Lopez 1/1 "amazing pull".

You must tell me if you at least chuckled at this auction. It did make me feel better about some of the cards I've pulled from Ginter that were less than perfect.

2010 Allen & Ginter Mojo on eBay

While I pull cards of trees and sailors there are people pulling amazingly "mojo-esque" cards. I have no interest in these cards for my PC but I wouldn't mind pulling one to sell for some money to pay for school. I also thought some of you guys who love Ginter or plan on buying more to try and pull any of these cards would like to see what was pulled and what they were going for currently.

Beethoven Hair DNA Relic 1/1

Alexander Hamilton Hair DNA Relic 1/1

Jackie Kennedy Hair DNA Relic 1/1

I plan to watch these just to see where they end up.

Strasburg Superfractor back on eBay?

http://blogbeckett.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/strasburg-superfractor-owner-tries-for-hail-mary-in-wake-of-red-11-auction/Last week, Chris Olds had an exclusive interview with the Stephen Strasburg superfractor buyer (link). He talked about his impulse to buy the card and so on. He didn't know what he would do with the card.

I didn’t think of selling the card. I was just anxious to actually receive it.  As for this being a long-term purchase or not, it’s difficult to say. Luckily, my wife is very supportive, even though her first response was “Are you crazy?  That is a lot of money for one baseball card.” But I think after his first start, she was even more supportive.

I would like to keep it displayed at my office, but I suppose everything has its price.  I do consider it to be an investment, hopefully in the best pitcher of all time.  But with Strasburg-mania running so high, I have thought about posting it on eBay just to gauge the interest.  I guess we’ll see.

I guess it didn't take that long. After three stars, Strasburg is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA and, remarkably, 32 strikeouts and five walks in 19 1/3 innings.

So, now, the card is back on eBay (auction link).

According to the auction, the card is off in the grading house, but pictures are available upon request. Additionally, there is a reserve to this auction. I would imagine the reserve is around $20,000 since he paid about $16,800 for it.

I do have questions. I looked at the feedback for the seller. How come he hasn't been active apparently since 2008 and why wouldn't the original seller of the Superfractor card leave him any feedback? Things I think about at midnight while the Yankees are getting clobbered by the Diamondbacks.

Update: Beckett confirmed with the owner of the card, the auction is legit. 

Strasburg eTopps allocated

We waited - not so long. Topps issued Stephen Strasburg as part of last week's eTopps release. With a 1,999 limit, not everyone got their cards.

I put in for five. Yep, I'm greedy, but ended with one. I figured I would only get one, but thought I would go for a handful anyway.

Funny this is, I haven't even received the email yet from Topps telling me how many I "won." I hopped on my account to check it out and saw one sitting in my portfolio. eTopps also gives the option of checking to see the auctions on eBay of that card.

As of 7:37 p.m., 33 are already online. The cards ending soonest are selling for $30 or more.

Did you pick up any of these coveted cards? If you missed out on them, do you plan on purchasing on eBay?

All questions I wonder while sitting on the couch starting at eBay.

2010 Bowman Jason Heyward Superfractor - auction over

Even though our boy (I can't say his name again) has gotten most of the attention around MLB, eBay and our humble blog, there was another guy who had a big auction going on that ended Sunday night.

Atlanta Braves' rookie Jason Heyward superfractor ended. This was the official RC (auction link), so besides being Heyward - who is having a solid rookie season - there is only one of these cards with that fancy RC card logo on it.

Even more special, this card has an auto.

Any good Heyward cards in your collection?

I have a gold 2010 Bowman base card. That's about it.

Don't forget to enter our contest. 

Second of three 2010 Bowman Strasburg 1/1s found

Stephen Strasburg's superfractor auction ended at an absurd amount. Now, his base 1/1 red parallel has popped up on eBay (link).

The auction is set to end the day before he makes his June 8 Major League debut. The best part is the free shipping :-)

Chrome usually does better than its base counterpart, but this card is already above 1,000 bucks and it hasn't even been on eBay for 24 hours.

Does this card reach anything like the superfractor? Any guess?