Tales Of eBay

Some people on eBay are strange. This card on the left is one that I picked up with at least 6 other Frank Thomas cards, that totaled $1.75 all together, that cost me over $13.00 in shipping. This shipping charge was not anywhere on any of the card pages. The seller also claimed to combine shipping. His version of "combining" meant that he knocked off the shipping cost for one card, but charged full shipping price for each card. I hate to deal with sellers like this. I swallowed everything and moved on. Another lesson learned, but I take notes and know which sellers manipulate like this.

Beware of sellers with a lot of items at a Buy It Now price of 1-25 cents. If the card is really worth that, that's one thing. But if it's too good to be true, it probably is. The cards I did get were the only examples I had seen for sale, so it wasn't all bad. I'm definitely not purchasing from that seller again. No, I'm not naming names, but I've given you enough information to figure it out if you really wanted to know. This is why I have one of the lowest shipping costs on eBay and combine shipping. People still bitch, but I suppose you can't please everyone.

Another type of person I love is the one who tries to keep getting a better deal out of you. Yes folks, that was sarcasm. I have no problem cutting deals when it's possible. I'll throw in freebies when I can. One woman e-mailed me about some Marlins cards asking me if I could sell her what was in my store for no more than 20 cents a card. I wrote back that it was fine for the commons.

She wrote back that these were for her son. I forget the age, but it was under 10. He really liked 3 star players on the Marlins. He was collecting some type of card but she couldn't recall what it was. He liked all the Marlins cards in my store. She again offered a maximum of 20 cents a card. Most of the cards that "her son" liked were between $2 and $5. Some were less, some were more.

I scanned through my back stock and took out players that "her son" specified and other Marlins cards. I countered with, "for every dollar you spend in my store, I will throw in 8 additional cards of your son's favorite players and other Marlins cards". I sent her a list of specific cards that would really wow any kid who's a fan of these stars and a fan of the team. They were everything from 2007 Topps commons to one of those Predictor cards from Upper Deck this year. They were all cards that I was too lazy to individually scan and sell or ones that I thought would sit there for an eternity if I put them up. Never heard back from her.

You can bend over backwards for people and some will never be satisfied. This still doesn't sour me on being helpful or being open to suggestions. I just don't let these people get to me. They aren't worth it. Plus, for every one like that, there are at least 10 who are wonderful to do business with.

I've sold cards to Joe Bisenius' father, Matt Stairs' cousin and one of Carlos Quentin's relatives to name a few. Joe Bisenius' father is a wonderful man. He's very approachable and wrote back a few times with information about his son. I even suggested that his son consider the White Sox as an alternative to the Phillies, if he should ever find himself on the outs.

Everyone else has been nice too. Some volunteer the information and some I inquire about if they have the same last name or live in the same small town or both. They are always pleasant about it. The good people on eBay tend to not stand out as much as the bad ones and that's a shame.