Shady Dealers

Posts: 2130 · Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 7:30 pm

Badmike wrote:

I'm going to hammer this guy like he's a ten penny nail when he pulls his head out of his ass to list again. If anyone wants to join me, nothing illegal (law wise or ebay wise), just maybe a few questions for him on his items. Like Is it a fake or is it the real card? Like asking that on every single one of his card auctions......you guys known the drill. The more moronic the better. If he posts the question, you get bonus points. I'm thinking about making a little game out of it, with prizes and everything...... Twisted Evil

Also, like our friend Cougie, I'm a bit dyslexic, so I'm unfortunately going to refer to him as "Dayecock" in all our communications....who knows you might slip up also and forget the "n" at the end....

Mike B.

Let me know when it happens, I will participate as well Very Happy

Posts: 1076 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 10:56 am

Kires1 wrote:

Are those, Magic the Gathering cards really worth something? I have a deck that I bought like 7 or 8 years ago that I never used. I just looked at them once or twice and stashed them away.

Your deck may have some cards that are worth money. You should be able to find an online price guide to look up their value. The booster packs were where the real money was.

[happy flashback of having Steve Jackson of SJG signing a Mox]
[happy flashback of trading all my MTG for RPGs]

Posts: 347 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 1:43 pm

Magic cards can be a REAL treasure, especially from years back...

When I sold my comic collection five years ago, I let it go for $300 bucks and threw in a "starter deck" of Magic cards I had only looked at once.

Today I still cry, as I was told by someone knowledgable it was a BETA starter deck.

Crying or Very sad

Posts: 35 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 1:59 pm

Dang! I'll have to go through those cards and look for a online price guide! I know I'll never use them...

Posts: 2616 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 2:03 pm

If that doesn't work for you, Magic is still a strong enough game to have price guides printed in a number of gaming publications.

There's Inquest and Scrye, for example, both of which publish pages and pages of Magic prices every single month. They also have some halfway decent gaming articles, although the RPG stuff is definitely weighted toward D&D 3e/3.5/4e/8e/23e.

I bring this up because I've always found long lists like price guides much easier to read in printed form than in online form.

Posts: 45 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 3:31 pm

Kires1 wrote:

Dang! I'll have to go through those cards and look for a online price guide! I know I'll never use them...

The problem with price guides (such as Scrye and Inquest) are that they get most of their data from stores-who sell cards. So do you think that these stores are going to down grade prices which would be indirectly shooting themselves in the foot?

Anyways, if you want an opinion of someone who is a little more in touch with the world of MTG sales, feel free to PM me with what you've got (text list or pics). I still collect the older cards and do some selling on ebay. Or I have a an older copy of Scyre I could send you for next to nothing (i.e. shipping).

Now I have to go get some kind of cool avatar like X's.

Posts: 592 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 3:59 pm

Easy enough to tell the price of Magic cards in general - find out the Expansion theyre from.

Cards from most expansions are worth very little - the only exceptions really are:
Alpha and beta (black bordered, no expansion symbol)
unlimited (white bordered, dark print, no copyright date)
arabians
legends
antiquities
revised - dual lands only

Most other stuff isnt worth the hassle of searching for it.

Cheers,
Mrs Malcolm

Posts: 4716 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 6:24 pm

Somewhat true. Some rare cards from newer sets can command a bit, especially foils. Damnation, from the newest expansion, goes for $15-20 easily.
As always, the best way is eBay completed auctions.

Posts: 269 · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 12:42 pm

I hope no one has purchased anything from the seller willowbrook123 lately. I've been waiting for some items (about a week overdue) and just noticed that he is not a registered user anymore.

Posts: 272 · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 7:40 pm

Ouch, sorry

Posts: 109 · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 10:54 pm

Not sure if this is a true "scam" but it sounds shady as heck.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Large-Lot-of-Dungeons-and-Dragons-Books-Modules-Ot her_W0QQitemZ130110571624QQihZ003QQcategoryZ44112QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrd Z1QQcmdZViewItem

Story goes that the auction ended. I didn't win. Next day I get a second chance offer. Well.. I check the auction then the sellers page. Lo & behold they had already left positive feedback to the winner for a prompt payment.

So I send this:
Item: Large Lot of Dungeons and Dragons Books, Modules, Other
(130113655229)
This message was sent after the listing closed.

-------------------------------------------------------
I appreciate the offer but no thank you.
Out of curiousity.. why leave positive feedback to the previous high bidder
if he backed out of the auction?

"Very quick Payment! Thank you!"
Seller:
May-14-07 130110571624

The response:

Unfortnately, someone gained access to my ebay account and sent out a bunch of second chance offers. The person who won the auction paid on time and was shipped the item yesterday and ebay is looking into the issue. In retrospect, I should have notified everyone that it was a hoax, but I was pretty busy making sure everything else was secure.

Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks

So, I don't know. True scam? Maybe not.. but they sure as h3ll won't be someone I buy from. Ever.

Posts: 109 · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 11:00 pm

Stay away from this guy.. I bought stuff a month ago and it still hasn't arrived. Claims it was "lost" in the mail. ha
Best of all I paid $15.00 S&H!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260098615857&s sPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=016

Posts: 5905 · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 11:07 pm

argyrebasin wrote:

Not sure if this is a true "scam" but it sounds shady as heck.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Large-Lot-of-Dungeons-and-Dragons-Books-Modules-Ot her_W0QQitemZ130110571624QQihZ003QQcategoryZ44112QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrd Z1QQcmdZViewItem

Story goes that the auction ended. I didn't win. Next day I get a second chance offer. Well.. I check the auction then the sellers page. Lo & behold they had already left positive feedback to the winner for a prompt payment.

So I send this:
Item: Large Lot of Dungeons and Dragons Books, Modules, Other
(130113655229)
This message was sent after the listing closed.

-------------------------------------------------------
I appreciate the offer but no thank you.
Out of curiousity.. why leave positive feedback to the previous high bidder
if he backed out of the auction?

"Very quick Payment! Thank you!"
Seller:
May-14-07 130110571624

The response:

Unfortnately, someone gained access to my ebay account and sent out a bunch of second chance offers. The person who won the auction paid on time and was shipped the item yesterday and ebay is looking into the issue. In retrospect, I should have notified everyone that it was a hoax, but I was pretty busy making sure everything else was secure.

Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks

So, I don't know. True scam? Maybe not.. but they sure as h3ll won't be someone I buy from. Ever.

I also got a second chance offer on this auction. I was like number 5 down on the bidding list and so I was immedately suspicious. Here is the email that I received on the second chance I offer I got:

Quote:

You showed interest on an item titled: Large Lot of Dungeons and Dragons Books, Modules, Other (Original Item ID: 130110571624)I m the owner of this item on which you ve recently bided on through the eBay system.However the auction has ended with another member as the high bidder which is no longer interested.In compliance with eBay policy I m giving you the chance to buy the item at your last bid price.If you accept this offer the eBay policy automatically proclaims you winner by default.The transaction will go strictly according to eBay s rules and policy and will be supervised by eBay Trust & Safety Department.Just replay me back whit a copy of this message to the email wui43h@hotmail com if you are still interested.

I am fairly certain that the seller did get hacked for a couple of reasons. For one, notice in the note that the supposed "seller" directs me to email him off Ebay to complete the transaction. Secondly, the second chance offer did come through Ebay, so it was a legit second chance offer request, which means if I would have taken it on Ebay, he would have been on the hook for the transaction, which really wouldn't have done him any good to direct me off Ebay when he had nothing to gain by it.

More importantly, look at the Q&A from the original auction. The last Question with the link is without a doubt a fishing attempt :

( WARNING: The link below in the Q&A I am quoting is a FAKE EBAY LOGIN SCREEN. PLEASE DO NOT USE IT!).

Quote:

Q: This is your listing? http://item23010802697.by.ru/view_private_listing_02697.html I find the same listing, to see.. view the link. I waitting a answer. May-13-07
A: I'm afarid I can't view that link. This is the only D&D listing I currently have.I have two other listings for a camera and a Zip drive. Hope that helps.

(WARNING: The link above in the Q&A I am quoting is a FAKE EBAY LOGIN SCREEN. PLEASE DO NOT USE IT!).

The seller being new and naive must have fallen for it which allowed the real scammer access to the his sellers account to send out the second chance offers. I wouldn't blame the seller for the scam as it seems he didn't realize he was hacked until it was too late, although I do agree that he should have made more effort warning off others from the second chance offers that were sent out to make sure that they were also aware of the potential problem.

Posts: 2616 · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 11:34 pm

Wow ... I'm torn here. On the one hand, it sucks that a newbie got taken in by a shameless crook. That blows hard.

On the other hand ... well, I'm sorry, but how do people fall for stuff like that? Some random guy who speaks English like a fifth language sends you some random URL, and you not only check it out, but then log on to a totally fake-looking page? Ugh. The hamster needs to start running faster if that's the case ...

Either way, the question-asker should be reported (obviously); I doubt the seller knows how to report stuff. He sent the message through the eBay messaging system, so hopefully that will be his undoing.

Posts: 1200 · Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 3:01 pm

I am not sure if this type of auction is shady or stupid.... Laughing

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Ten-Assorted-Roleplaying-Books-Random-Pick-Old-New_ W0QQitemZ290116604409

Posts: 4716 · Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 4:31 pm

Both.

Posts: 318 · Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:53 pm

Deadlord39 wrote:

Both.

Stupid, I'd agree with; but shady?

Okay, why? It's not a .pdf, not a bunch of DVD's. not a bunch of CD's with books on them, not photocopies, not audio recordings of the books.
On the face of it, it is what it is--one random hardback book (at minimum) plus the other books (up to 10 total) as modules/softbacks.

I'm not being sarcastic here; I don't quite understand . . . unless you're saying that because it's a random collection of books/modules, there's no way these can be checked for condition (which would concern me under the circumstances).

THe reason I am puzzled, is that there have been auctions in the past where one could bid on an amount of random dice--usually one pound--but the description said that it was a random selection already.

Posts: 1200 · Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 9:09 pm

sleepyCO wrote:

Stupid, I'd agree with; but shady?

Okay, why?

Well, to my way of thinking, presenting a picture with a nice looking copy of Van Richten's Guide to the Ancient Dead on the top might mislead some buyers into thinking that what they might be buying is of similar quality/value.
Buyers should also note the fact that the listing does not mention condition. Sounds like a nice way for the seller to reduce the size of their slush pile. Razz

Posts: 318 · Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 12:47 am

jasonw1239 wrote:

Well, to my way of thinking, presenting a picture with a nice looking copy of Van Richten's Guide to the Ancient Dead on the top might mislead some buyers into thinking that what they might be buying is of similar quality/value.
Buyers should also note the fact that the listing does not mention condition. Sounds like a nice way for the seller to reduce the size of their slush pile. Razz

You're right about that; as many posts on here have been along the lines of, "the photo doesn't match what I received", I should've figured that out. And I do agree: the question of how can condition be checked in a random pile, none of which are seen beforehand:

sleepy719 wrote:

there's no way these can be checked for condition (which would concern me under the circumstances).

Posts: 347 · Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 1:35 am

I can't sell any of the "Van Richten" books for more than $3-4 each...so I think that is a pretty fair representation.

Just the presence of that on the top - if that is the "best" in the lot - would keep me from bidding.

Just my two cents...