peiklk
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posted on December 11, 2003 08:07:44 AM new
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3064930732&category=41070
He lists this as the game. In the game section. But is actually selling the baseball card. Odd.
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"Bend over backward for the customer. Don't bend forward."
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fenix03
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posted on December 11, 2003 08:17:51 AM new
That is a common stunt pulled by people trying to sell things that cannot be sold. They build it so that you are bidding on a perfectly legit item and then give you the restricted item free.
My favorite variation of this is people that used to sell bootleg videos. Their auction was for a slightly used video cassette. Sure it had a copy of Whatever the Event in Question Is on it but that was irrelevent. The were sure you would want to record over that because, afterall, what you were really bidding on was the slightly used video cassette *wink wink*
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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photosensitive
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posted on December 11, 2003 10:13:19 AM new
Wonder if he just got the wrong picture linked to the auction? If the game was not legal to sell it would till show in the search.
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The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
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peiklk
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posted on December 11, 2003 10:32:15 AM new
Both items seem legal to sell. What's odd to me is that he's listing it under the free item, but pitching (no pun) the ball card itself in picture and text.
I know it's common to sell a cheap item for a ridiculous price and throw in something that you cannot "sell" for free. But I'm not sure what he gains here.
BTW... he has MANY of these auctions listed.
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"Bend over backward for the customer. Don't bend forward."
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auctionACE
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posted on December 11, 2003 10:45:14 AM new
The seller may have only had the scanner photo of the card available to use with the free ebay photo and figured that was better than no photo at all. There may have been at least 4 million of the Smoltz cards printed so the card has very little value.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2771769966&category=28085
I STILL do not understand the grading costs. It has to cost a lot to grade the card yet the sellers get little money for many of the graded cards?
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
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ebayvet
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posted on December 11, 2003 10:50:18 AM new
auctionace - The reason people grade cards is the same reason they play the lottery. A card that has a book value of $10 will be worth about $5 if graded a 9, but could be worth $25 to $50 if graded a 10. People submit trying to get a 10, and the rest go really cheap. I actually pick up some of these for $1 each to give away in website contests.
Graded cards were really popular a few years back, but these days they are much less a big deal. I've had some clients who were dealing almost exclusively in graded cards go back to raw cards.
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auctionACE
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posted on December 11, 2003 01:29:51 PM new
Thanks ebayvet for the info. A few more questions on the grading. I know there are a few different grading companies and one is much more desirable than the others. What kind of rates do the grading companies charge? I think there is a volume discount and you can save the s/h by having them graded while you're at a sportscard show. Thanks.
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
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ebayvet
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posted on December 11, 2003 02:10:55 PM new
By far PSA is more desired than any other company. There are a lot of companies out there, small and large. Some decent companies include Beckett, SGC, and now even Sports Collector's Digest has one...
You can send in quantity for a bulk discount, I have seen $6 advertised for the SCD service. I think there was at one point a service that would pregrade the cards for you for a small fee, so if you didn't want it slabbed, you only pay like $3 for their opinion.
In my opinion, the market was due to collapse. There are just too many companies out there, and the difference between a 9.0, 9.5 and 10.0 is VERY subjective. I think people are starting to realize that something like a 1988 Smoltz, or a 1993 Tim Salmon, even at a 10, is not worth the price...
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peiklk
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posted on December 11, 2003 03:36:39 PM new
I agree completely.
Baseball cards SUCK now.
When I was a kid (late 60s, early 70s) cards were a nickel a pack and the last I paid then was maybe a quarter.
They are increased in price far more quickly than inflation would dictate. To the extent that I cannot let my kids enjoy the fun of actually collecting the things because they are $1.99 a pack minimum and that's for only 8 cards.
This add-on grading service has made it more of a joke than anything else.
When I found out as a kid that you could buy complete sets (instead of collecting) I was aghast! Seriously. The fun was waiting for the new cards each year (TOPPS ruled) and buying packs and actually trying to buy and trade for a complete set. We didn't care that we rubber banded our teams and sorted out our "extras" into separate piles. All we cared about was the cards and building a set -- especially of the home team.
We even used to fold up extras to use as bullets for rubber band guns  .
Now the focus has become business and the target ain't kids. Like the game itself, it's become the love of money, not the love of the game that drives it.
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"Bend over backward for the customer. Don't bend forward."
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magnetick
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posted on December 11, 2003 07:38:33 PM new
The guy is actually selling a COPY (read his text) of the video game, which is long out of print. He can't very well put a photo of a burned CD or floppy disc in the site, and it's against the rules to sell pirated/copied software. Hence, the legitimate worthless item (card) to make the auction legit. The bidders are bidding to get a copy of this "long-lost" game.
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peiklk
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posted on December 11, 2003 07:52:55 PM new
Out of print does not equal no copyright.
That loser....
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"Bend over backward for the customer. Don't bend forward."
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peiklk
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posted on December 11, 2003 08:32:59 PM new
You win!
I wrote and asked and he admitted it was a copy!!!!
I'm about to turn him in to the publisher (and it's NOT out of print)
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"Bend over backward for the customer. Don't bend forward."
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Libra63
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posted on December 12, 2003 07:14:15 AM new
He is also probably selling something else that is not included in this auction.
NOTEThe game does not contain any baseball seasons which are required to play. If you are interested in season disks email me for a list.
With this notation he will make more money from the buyer and not pay the eBay fees.
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peiklk
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posted on December 12, 2003 07:24:40 AM new
Yep.
Here's the email he sent me (which I forward to [email protected] and the copyright holder)...
[i]it is a copy and not the original. The original is $75. If you don't want to bid on the auction I will sell you a copy for $30 including shipping. It does not come with any seasons or teams to play, they are
seperate. I can send you a list of what I have if you are interested. I sell the seasons for $4 each and the stadiums for $3 each. Again they are not originals. I prefer Paypal but I will accept check and
money orders. Let me know what you would like to do.
Thanks!
[/i]
I could NOT believe he wrote this. He's also using the email from umich.edu -- I went to their staff directory and sure enough, he's a employee there (not necessarily a student).
If we weren't afraid he would get fired and come down and kill my whole family, I had a message to him that I was cc'ing to ebay, Miller Associates, as well as the IT Security team at umich.edu. Instead I opted to just inform the others.
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"Bend over backward for the customer. Don't bend forward."
[ edited by peiklk on Dec 12, 2003 07:25 AM ]
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magnetick
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posted on December 12, 2003 08:17:15 AM new
re: out of print -- oops! I guess I confused this title with something else. Well, that's even worse. Good job to everyone who jumped on this!
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