Sterling Gold Update

The card you see to the left is the lone remaining piece to my 08 Sterling Gold Patch Auto Set. It's the Matt Ryan #2/20.

It is also currently on EBay. And it can be mine for the small price of $300.

Yeah, you heard me. My Flacco 3 color was had for half that amount. Shoot, the Flacco / Ryan dual patch I got for nearly 25% less.

But it is his card. And legitimately he can ask for any amount he wants for the card. It's more the reasoning behind the price that had me puzzled.

I offered him $180 so I could finish my set, expecting a counter of some kind. What I got was decline notice without explanation. A real peeve of mine. So I emailed him asking what ballpark he was thinking as I was very interested in completing my set. Shall we dissect the response? Of course we shall. Red emphasis mine:

Dear ah999,The card books at $300 (UGH. Right out of the gate)....I understand that most cards dont sell at book value (Then why mention it?) but at the end of the season Matt Ryan was selling pretty close to book. Hell, some of his high end cards today are selling close to book. (Still looking for the relevancy of this comment. The Sterling Market has been established for months) The card is also #2 of 20. You know as well as I do that that adds more value to the card being that it is Matt Ryan. (Jersey # Inflation of $100 seems steep)Someone like Ray Rice maybe not but you know that the jersey numbered card of a star sells for a lot more than a regular one. (why crap on the Rice family? Just unnecessary) The card is also in absolutely mint condition. If I can't get at least $300 for the card then I would probably just keep it. I know the card will triple in value over the next few years if Matt Ryan does what everyone thinks he will do....look at Adrian Peterson. (This is possibly the most ignorant thing I have ever read. Someone PLEASE show me a Peterson card that has Tripled since his rookie year. In fact, Peterson was so inflated his rookie year that it will take a years of herculean efforts to make it grow in substantial value. If anyone thinks that buying big name rookies at really high prices will consistently if ever bring a premium upon resale is fooling themselves) I am a big Matt Ryan fan and have like 80 different rookies and stuff of him. I know you probably dont want to hear this but if you are looking to get a good deal you should probably wait for another one to come around.(Not looking for 'good deal', I would pay over market for it to complete the set, but just not 35% more)...I would love to sell it to you for the $180 so you could fill your set but the card is worth a lot more.(The word worth is funny. I'd love to hit him on it, but I can't distinguish if he means worth more to him, or worth more on the market. The true market worth for this specific card will be established at the end of auction)....thanks...

I guess the set will go a bit longer without the Ryan. This patch sucked anyway. I'd pay $250 for a 3 color. I really would. Oh well. At least I know that it will be forever in the hands of a true 'Matt Ryan fan' who now has 'like 81 different rookies and stuff of him'. Which is good.

I'm Back!

Sorry about being gone for the last week and a half. Thanks so much to those few that checked back everyday in hopes of seeing something new. I am sorry I disappointed you every one of those days.

But hey! There's always tomorrow. And with it comes an opportunity to TOTALLY REDEEM MYSELF!

Busy

I'll be busy with meetings for a week or so with very sporadic internet. So don't expect any updates for a little bit. Feel free to comment on other stuff, just don't expect them to immediately show up.

Thanks and I look forward to when life settles down again.

Counter Intelligence

In my continued quest to improve the EBay experience, I decided to tackle the elusive Counter Offer.

Some of you may have never experienced an actual counter offer. I weep for you.

Let me start with one example of how it is supposed to work:

You have a card that you feel should fetch $100, but you would take maybe $85. I see other auctions have gone for $80 so I offer you $75 hoping to open lines of communication. You counter at $90. I think, hey this guy might be reasonable, so I offer you $80 because I really like your card. After realizing you don’t have any other offers, you decide to offer me $85. I can either take it, or offer you back $80 with my last offer. For fun, let’s say you come down to $83 and I take it. Now we are both happy and we give each other positive feedback so good that it makes you question your sexuality.

Here are 2 examples of how it actually works:

Example A) I see a card I like listed at Feckett (not misspelled) Value for $225 with a best offer option. After seeing that similar cards go for $80, I offer the seller $75 to open lines of communication. I receive a decline notice with the added note that says, ‘Way too low. Books for $225.’ I wait a week to see if another option comes up. None does, so I offer the seller $80 with the note, ‘I think this is fair market value based on completed listings. Thanks for your consideration.’ I then wait 3 days until the offer finally expires. Then 6 months later, he sells the item for $75 and I pray that the buyer pays for it with hand-delivered pesos.

Example B) I see a card I like listed at $95 with a best offer option. After seeing that similar cards go for $80, I offer the seller $75 to open the lines of communication. I wait 3 days for my offer to expire. I then offer $75 again. Then I get decline notice without a note. Then I say screw it, and wish many an outbreak of scabies.

Why is this? It really doesn’t have to be this way.

If you are a seller, please realize that if you are 100% firm on what you need for a card, then just put the stinking thing up for sale with a BIN without a best offer option and save others the effort. Or put a higher BIN price on it than what you need, and then have a starting bid at what you have to have.

DO NOT put a best offer on a card if you are a) unwilling to communicate, or b) too sensitive to take a low offer without getting all pansified (my word) like TO after someone rips his QB.

One of my biggest peeves is when someone just doesn’t respond. I realize the some people like to wait the full 3 days before answering. And while you are totally within your right to do so, please be courteous about it. I for one am not a big fan of waiting that long or making someone wait that long for the simple fact that it locks up funds for the person bidding. But hey, to each his own in that respect. Just don’t let the offer expire. That is rude and petty. I don’t care if the offer is ridiculous. Respond. You might be surprised by the counter.

You see, in business, they teach you to start low to leave yourself some wiggle room. Somehow we have gotten in the mode of expecting a maximized bid from the get-go. That’s just bad business. This isn’t CarMax, it’s Ebay. The reason nobody feels like they got a deal from CarMax is because nobody likes to pay sticker price. Ideally you want to bring the price down some. People will throw a low bid out there to see the seller’s intent. What’s the harm in countering as you normally would? If the potential buyer isn’t serious they won’t reply. If they are, then they may come back with a more respectable bid. Either way it’s good customer service.

I would love to ask one of these girdle-lined sellers if they have ever offered less on a card than the asking price. I would looove it.

One more thing. If someone EVER counters my offer by quoting Feckett Value, then expect a decline accompanied with a lesson in beta males and links to your card and their sold listings. I may even Rick-Roll you.

Sorry for the rant. Believe it or not, it could have been longer. And this probably isn’t the last one on this topic. It’s just all I can muster at the moment. Now, talk amongst yourselves.

Hope and Change Baby! Hope and Change!

Apparently the era of "Hope and Change" has hit the card community.

You see, if you 'Hoped' to get a Matt Ryan Auto in your Leaf Certified Materials Box but didn't. Then simply 'Change' the jersey card you got into one!

And then 'Hope' you don't get arrested.

I have never seen this card before. And I couldn't find it on the Donruss Checklist. I have also asked the seller a couple questions. I will keep you updated.

But let us all pray for this to be real. Because if not, then the next place you'll see THIS CARD is slabbed in 2010 Razor Cut Signatures.

Oh No They Didn't!!

I am going out on a limb here and wrongly assume that nobody that reads this blog, doesn't actually get here through SportsCardsUncensored. But if by chance, somebody has accidentally gone here first, PLEASE do yourself a favor and read this post.

He has linked an article HERE describing what looks to be a major traveshamockery of the industry as we know it.

Again, I asked the same question earlier, how far are we willing to suspend belief in order to convince ourselves that everything is kosher in the Lollipop Guild.

Then, after you read all that, do youself a favor and press play below. You'll thank me later.

*Editors Note - I got to thinking last night about the situation. Doesn't this all fit into the movie Tommy Boy? At one point in the movie he says, "What's a guarantee? I could slap a guarantee on a box of crap and all you got there is a guaranteed box of crap." I think that is just about as perfect as they come.

Things that make you go 'Hmmm!' - Part Deux

In this installment of the 'Things that make you go Hmmmm!' segment, I ask the question; How far are you willing to suspend your belief in the authenticity of a patch in order to convince yourself to buy it? I am guessing that some must go really far. I have seen some VERY questionable stuff online lately and considering the economic situation, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

I will say this about card patches, if there is a question in your mind about whether it is real or not, then its fake. I have used this rule without fail for about 3 years now and it has saved me money, shame and jail time from the inevitable assault charge that would ensue when I google-earthed the sellers house and hit him in the head with a factory sealed '87 Topps set.

I even go as far as ask the seller if they pulled the card themselves. This puts the honesty onus on them. If there is a shred of decency in them, and the patch is fake, then they will not answer the email. If they answer any form of the word 'no', followed by any explanation, then they are a hopeless dingleberry. If by chance they say 'yes', I actually tend to trust them, as they know that they are personally vouching for its' authenticity. It takes other-worldly balls to say yes to that question and lie.

Here is my favorite example of someone on ebay that probably has those other-worldly balls. Not only does this guy label basically every card as some kind of 1/1, but he actually has the cojones to list all his fakes together. If someone is that bold (slash stupid) to list a number of fakes at the same time, then they will definitely answer whatever they think you want to hear.

Check out just 2 of his 'SWEET 1/1's!' Here, and Here. Trust me, there's more.

I'll let you find the Leaf Rookies and Stars card that he describes as 'The Holy Grail'. Even if they inserted a flippin piece of the Holy Grail prop from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and it was signed by this guy, there still would never be a Leaf Rookies and Stars card that should EVER be called a Holy Grail.

Wait. Scratch that. Leaf Rookies and Stars is in fact the Holy Grail of Manufactured Patch Autos. My bad. See, that's what happens when you use finite words like 'never' and 'ever'.

So be on the lookout for more of these types of shenanigans. As the economy plummets, jerk stores from all over will be trying to flip these for a quick buck. Don't be the guy who gets stuck with it. If you have a question about one, I urge you to contact me and we will let the community decide. That means that like 3 people including my wife, will take a look. And you can't beat that kind of service.