Ebay Shame - Peterson Edition

I don't pretend to understand the inner-workings of some EBay seller's brains. At what point do you have to reach in life where you think it is okay to copy someone else's scan and try to sell it as your own? Seriously, what level of crack-whore desperation must you possess?

Notice anything similar about these 2 Petersons?

Why, they look amazingly similar! Except one of them adjusted the contrast.

How about now? I layered the one on the right above the one on the left with 50% opacity. Meaning you are literally looking through one to see the other. See any differences? Neither did I.

I emailed both of these sellers and inquired about the scan. I asked them the same question so I wouldn't skew the result, all the while knowing that the one on the left has to be the legit one based on the case in the picture.

Want to guess who responded and who didn't? The seller of the left Peterson said that it was indeed his scan and he has reported the other seller. He also thanked me for bringing it to his attention.

Seller 2 never responded. But what makes him worse is this quote from his auction, (Caps not by my hand)

"You are bidding/buying now/making offer on the card in the picture- EXACTLY:

2007 07 ADRIAN PETERSON PLAYOFF CONTENDERS AUTO RC MT! This is limited to ONLY 355 copies, and this one is perfect!!

PLEASE LOOK AT OUR OTHER ITEMS (INCLUDING STORE ITEMS) WE HAVE SOME SUPER NICE ITEMS AVAILABLE NOW!!!

THIS CARD IS AN ABSOLUTE GEM. IT WILL GRADE NRMT + OR HIGHER, SHARP CORNERS, SMOOTH SURFACE, AND SLICK EDGES!!"

What an absolute douche. So if you have a list of sellers to avoid, add him to it. If Obama hadn't just outlawed its practice, wouldn't this guy be a prime test subject for the Insect Box? I say yes.

Here is your links to Auction REAL, and Auction DOUCHE.

Donruss Called . . .

And they want their card back.

I know. Go ahead and call me naive. Call me stoooopid. Call me what you will, but make sure you include the word honorable.

I ended up contacting Donruss about the Extra Kevin Smith that they sent me for one redemption card last month . Here is their reply:

Hi Russ,
There seems to have been a shipping error and the card was shipped twice to you. We ask that you please return one of the cards along with a brief letter of explianation. We will make sure to reimburse you for the shipping and to also send you something extra for your honesty. Thank you for your support and have a great day!

I feel pretty good about it. I was thinking if I send the card back, Donruss was gonna stiff me so I say, 'Hey, Paninuss how about a little something you know for the effort?' and he goes, 'There will be no money, but on your death bed you will receive total conscienceness'. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

When Honesty Meets Absurdity

Ever run into someone in business that is so honest that you don't know whether to slap or applaud them? Kinda like the husband felt like here (possibly nsfw).

I put an offer on a card this week for 5 dollars under what the exact card went for in an auction 1 hour prior.

It got declined without comment. Yall know my thoughts on this practice.

I then put another offer for $5 more than that same auction. Meaning I was going to pay $5 more than an auction that literally ended 1 hour before. This time I left a note informing the seller of the other auction and that I would be prepared to pay immediately.

Again, I got declined. But this time he left the following note:

Thanks for your offer. I'm not really looking to get auction price on this one. Item: 220363788741 sold for $145 +S&H. Also, Ebay fees are doubled in fixed priced listings versus regular auctions. Respectfully,

I have read this message about 20 times and each time I leave more perplexed than before. Never have I ever experienced such honesty from a seller.

First of all, the auction he lists was the first time this card had ever hit Ebay. I know, cause I have watched these cards. This is $40 higher than any of its other closing prices. Which is expected as it was then a new product and usually the first card of a kind that shows up goes for a premium.

But more importantly, the seller pretty much tells me that he doesn't want 'auction price' (meaning the going rate for the card), he wants to match the initial listing. And seeing as how 'Ebay fees are double in fixed priced listings', he expects me to pay for it. That is amazing!

Again, I believe that you can ask whatever you want for your card. It's yours and nobody has to buy it if they choose. So it's not the fact he won't sell it to me at the going rate that weirds me out. It's the fact that he flat out says that auction prices don't matter, and that he expects the buyer to happily pick up the tab for his listing fees. A $40 premium to pay off listing fees seems steep though.

What was he expecting me to say exactly? 'Oh, I see your point. I will gladly offer you an additional $40. I just wanted to make sure I knew where the money was going. Consider it a tip! Heck, make it $60! Then you could pick up that DVD set Gallagher -The Sledge-O-Matic Collection you've had your eye on. I am glad that I could be of service. Is there any way you could send someone over to kick me in the groin upon its delivery? Respectfully of course.'

I guess I'll wait until the next one pops up. With my luck though it will be from Wolverine24.

Pointless Redemption

By now most of you realize that I have an intense love-hate relationship with redemptions. Here is another example of hate.

I pulled this redemption months ago from Leaf Limited. I redeemed it with the hope and prayer that they wouldn't actually fill a Chris Henry Auto Jersey from an '08 product seeing as how he saw as much playing time as Lucas.

I guess it's a redemption win as I got the card I was supposed to. But it is most assuredly a checklist fail as who in their right mind puts Chris Henry in the Material Monikers subset. It actually is a pretty rare card seeing as how it features a swatch from a game-used jersey. There are only a couple of these in existence.

Pretty sure Eric Shelton will make an appearance in the '09 set.

And yes, this was the box hit.

BAM

I am not going to say a whole lot about the NCAA Tournament other than that I am now richer in life and in my wallet now that the Heels won the Championship. Love 'Em or Hate 'Em, you have to respect what they just did. I didn't make any comments about it before as I am very superstitious about saying anything during a tournament run. So here is my post to say thanks to my boys for such a fun season.

Oh, and as sad as it is, I am going ahead and putting money aside for some Press Pass basketball this year. On card autos in their college uni's are fun. And no, I don't plan on buying them early at triple the cost. That would be dumb.

The Cutler EBay Infusion

While the impact of the Cutler deal will be determined in coming months, the EBay impact is in full bloom.

# of Cutler Autograph cards listed in the week leading up to Thursday = 23

# of Cutler Autograph cards listed in the last 24 hours = 73

Just wait until Vick comes back.

One Redeeming Redemption

Ever gotten screwed over on a Redemption card? Yeah, so have I. Ever get a 2 for 1 deal on a Redemption card? Yeah, neither had I. That is until last week when 3 months after I received the first Kevin Smith Leaf Certified Patch Auto #/5, I received a second one.

As most know, on the Donruss redemption website when they send out your card, they update your case as closed and it gives you a date of when it was sent. When I received the first Smith 3 months ago it came out of the blue; a beautiful gift from the Redemption Magician. I never got the notice on my account saying that it had been sent. So you can imagine the surprise when I got it in the mail.

Well 2 weeks ago I got that update. I actually figured that they had discovered that they never updated that case and just closed it out. But when I went to look, it actually had a new delivery confirmation number next to it. And last week it showed up in my mailbox.

So here I sit on this moral dilemma. You see, this card is actually someone else’s. Someday in the future, someone may redeem their card only to find that there isn’t one. Then a few months later they will receive one sweet Malcolm Kelly Auto. I understand that this will probably never happen, but the fact is that it may. So what do I do?

In my mind, my options are as follows:

A) Contact Donruss and explain the situation and most likely end up sending the card back; clearing both my conscience and my small victory from the books

B) Sell / Trade it immediately to get it out of my hands in case the error is recognized and to maximize my paypal account

C) Hold it for a while after posting this, giving Donruss ample opportunity to come for it if they want. Which would mean that someone there either reads or was forwarded my blog. In that case, I could possibly hold them hostage for some contest wax to open here for contests. Or more likely, hold their card until the cops come and take it.

D) I can spare them the inevitable industry crippling embarrassment at having sent someone a 2-fer on a Redemption and quickly take down this post and act like I have no idea it ever happened.

E) Bronze it and proudly display it as living proof that the ‘Man’ can’t keep you down 100% of the time

F) Send it to get graded by BGS to increase its Awesomeness Factor by 1000 and then list it on EBay for $10,000 because I can.

I realize that for most people out there, this isn’t much of a dilemma at all. These companies put out so many redemptions every year (many of which have no chance at ever being signed/redeemed) that to come out ahead on one is a bonus. And that is fine to feel that way. At the end of the day, I may end up right there with you. But it makes for great fodder nonetheless.

So let’s hear what you would do. I am going ahead and putting Gellman down for option ‘F’.

Yet Another Blog With A Cutler Post

I started to write this post as a comment on SCU, but it got so long that I figured it would be better served here.

In short, I think this is a great deal for both sides. Here's why:

The Bears have been stunted the last few years because of the lackluster play from the QB position. They saw an opportunity to get a young Pro Bowler with a rocket arm that will sure up that position for years. Those opportunities don't come by very often.

Their problem has also been that they don't have a solid #1 receiver. And please don't say Lloyd or Hester. They are at best 2's and 3's on most teams. This is a problem that will most likely stay that way for a while. No draft picks to get a quality prospect or trade for a Vet. This is where the Cutler move makes even more sense. He is going to not only make the current receiving corp look better, but he is also going to take pressure off of Forte and the running game. Something that Peyton Hillis can attest to.

The Broncos also come out ahead. They got a serviceable QB in Orton, who may end up looking a lot better with the stellar Bronco O-Line and Receivers. And they also got a load of picks to set up their Defense for the next few years.

As far as hobby impact goes, I think you'll see short term spikes in Cutler and possibly spill-over to Forte. So if you are looking to buy now, then I hope you are getting a share of the TARP funds. Smart move would be to wait until after the draft, when attention gets diverted for a couple months.

I think you may see small drops in Marshall and Royal, but not enough to make any money on it. Their talents will be tested this year for sure as Orton isn't the owner of the most accurate or quickest arm.

Who knows though. Now that I say all this, expect the complete opposite. Let's just hope that Cutler can check his ego at the door when he gets to camp. Based on Urlacher's comments, the Bears aren't all that giddy about it.

Victory.

Squigi took his auction down. Someone just saved some money and a headache. Paypal was also saved the time having to work it out, which means that they have more time to work over Melbournecowboy.

I don't care if we had anything to do with it or not really. But if you see your card turned into a piece of Mr. T's jewelry to mock you, it's not a bad idea to end the auction.

That being said, I hope he does have an even better one in the wings that he was telling the truth about. It would be nice for once.