People that over sell raw cards have to be prepared for a return! Ignorance and greed aren’t an excuse!
With that being said, returns need to be reasonable and people that return cards need to learn how to avoid situations like that in the future.
I recommend buying graded cards in the condition you prefer. Simplifies life and leads to more consistent satisfaction.
This is why I hate buying from random people sometimes. Did he lie/misrepresent the cards very clearly? Yes
The thing that makes me mad though is I can’t really tell if he’s lying about the health issues or not with his family. The fact that he took misleading photos to make a quick buck(that ex is not worth $40 with those scratches lol) makes me believe that he’s making up the whole story just to pull a quick one. If his family was actually going through some shit then I would just keep the cards and move on since he “has to do what he has to do” per say which I can somewhat sympathize for, I’d just never buy from him again and make sure others are aware about his listing practices
sorry you were put in this situation, it’s definitely a tough choice to make either way 
It’s interesting that we often argue the opinion of PSA graders but accept the word “mint” from a new Ebay seller.
that’s a really nice approach. I’m actually interested in that, but for the moment I’d rather put money towards PSA 10s before they go up in price or raw potentials. I’m keeping all cards below Ultra Rare that are NM to NM/M cards for ex series binders. That is funny that you messaged him and sent an offer before.
@hisoka107, as both a buyer and a seller, I would side with you on this one. The effort put into taking photos with good lighting on the holo reflects a certain level of awareness that holo surface is important to determining condition. With that in mind, I have to include that the seller intentionally chose angles that hide the obvious surface flaws. You are right in assuming this card would earn a Near Mint grade (at best).
I messaged the seller stating that it wasn’t a good practice to shift the blame and I wasn’t blaming them for the condition of the cards. This series is notorious and there were many good points here arguing both sides. I think I might just eat the cost and be consistent with asking questions. I’ve purchased over $5000 in product and I’ve only returned twice.
I just posted earlier the same thing happened to me but I hadn’t paid yet but still got tons of salt when I cancelled. In my case the corners were literally bent by a kid or the seller who knows but they were put back in place probably using a thick book. So when I was looking over the pictures I didn’t see it at first until I zoomed real close before paying. Now In your case and mine the seller clearly hide the damage on purpose which is completely wrong. If he was upfront about the scratch’s or in my case the bends then we wouldn’t have wanted the card. Now I never do returns but if it’s in damaged condition then I definitely would. I buy cards not looking for perfection I’m use to some whitening on the back but usually not a ton. But seriously damaged cards or scratched to pieces cards need to be sold clearly and directly noting the damage in description here’s a link. www.ebay.com/itm/BLASTOISE-EX-104-112-Ultra-Rare-Holo-Foil-Star-Pokemon-Card-Used/174252510360?hash=item2892424c98:g:4CAAAOSw8QReiqrR
The guy has 2 eBay feedback, so I wouldn’t have expected his opinion of “mint” to be actually mint. People list cards as “mint” all the time on eBay that aren’t. I highly doubt he took photos intentionally trying to hide flaws. He probably was just trying to get a decent photo. Most people don’t have as keen eyes when looking at cards as the people on this forum.
That being said… you should return the cards if you want. He needs to learn how to describe items properly and sometimes you just have to take your lumps when getting experience.
No he is the a-hole, or at best just has a lesson to learn. If there is damage he knows about it and hid it on purpose. Sounds like an immature person who only thinks of themselves not the common good.
I’d take the loss. It’s probably about the principle, but I don’t see a point in arguing over $30. End of the day it is still a NM card. Just pray T17 can carry this card to new record prices. heh
You gotta remember not every eBay seller is a serious Pokemon card collector that knows what we identify as flaws. For example, I didn’t even know what centering was when I first started collecting. To the untrained eye, a lot of cards look “mint”. I believe 90% of eBay sellers list their cards in good faith, and if any damage was concealed I tend to rule it as unintentional. If I were buying from an E4 member or a seller with a reputation I would hold them to a much higher standard than some rando 20 something selling their childhood collection on eBay.
Coin Flip, but I mainly lean towards eat the cost. Here’s why:
1.) You are an experienced buyer/seller in this hobby, so I hold you to a higher standard in this particular sale. You should know automatically that buying anything listed as “Mint” from a Seller with low feed back (like his 2) will 99% not be in a condition that you will be happy with. There’s over 38k+ listings that appear when you type “Mint Pokemon Card” are they really all “Mint”?
2.) You didn’t take the extra step to ask for additional photos and/or ask for clarification on Holo scratches. If it is that important to you, then I don’t understand how those questions did not arise from the beginning. Especially after reading his bland item description.
3.) “Mint” condition is subjective to begin with. To add the confusion PSA 6’s are literally labeled “Excellent-Mint”. Some people see the card conditions in those 6 slabs and think “oh wow that’s what my card looks like - must be Mint” (but conveniently leave the word “excellent” out). So for all we know this Seller could have thought because the back of the card is “Mint” it means the entire card can be classified that way.
4.) The card you got is the card in the photos. This is my strongest point. It’d be completely different if he sent you that card and it had a shoe imprint on it or something. He took photos at deceiving angles, but it still appears to be that card.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not excusing the Seller by any means, but this situation could have been avoided OR you knew this could be the end result and decided to take the risk, so here we are.
My opinion doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t do the return and/or that the Seller doesn’t deserve bad or neutral feedback, it’s just where I personally lean coming from my experiences as a buyer (and an eBay store seller).
In one of your comments you said you’d rather spend $ on raw potentials. If that’s the case you have to imagine you will be encountering a lot more of these situations. It’s just up to you if you want to spend all the time and effort on these returns. If you see “Mint” condition as a black and white determination then TECHNICALLY speaking you are doing nothing wrong by returning based on an inaccurate item description. My argument is that it’s more of a grey area, particularly in the trading/sports card hobbies.
Best of luck on whatever you decide and future endeavors !
I only read the first and last sentence but saw the link. Those cards and descriptions were decent for a zero rated person. Best to work with experienced sellers.
By not returning this, the seller is more likely to do this again. Do us all a favor and make the return. Sob stories are not the place for this and do not justify dishonesty.
Personally, it looks like both of you failed to meet each other’s expectations of what a buyer/seller’s responsibilities are.
As stated by other posters, I agree that an experienced collector should know better and do his due diligence when buying from an inexperienced seller.
On the other hand though, the buyer listed the card as mint, which being a subjective evaluation, leaves room for dispute, so you should be entitled to return the card if unhappy with the condition.
In the end, you will probably learn the lesson of digging further before buying from new sellers, and he will learn the lesson of not listing his cards as mint when they have damage, so both sides get improved perception of how to handle future transactions.
Regarding the guy’s personal story, it sounds incredibly sad, but is completely irrelevant to the situation. At this point I would say you have the discretion to either chalk it up to inexperience and bite the bullet, or return it for a refund.
Whichever you chose won’t make you an a$$hole in my opinion.
I think a purchase like this one is a gamble, and you lost this particular purchase.
The list of sellers you can trust in buying raw psa 9-10 cards is short. Buying raw cards outside of highly trusted sellers is simply a dice roll. Especially for english vintage or near vintage.
Personally when I buy raw cards I purchase LP-NM, they don’t hold an extreme premium, look the same as gem mint cards in a binder, and still hold value. If I want a mint card I will buy a PSA Graded card.
despite what level of seller or buyer or experience or personal take on said cards grade etc if the item is “grossly” not as described in the listing, you should be able to return it (this is why i don’t determine what grade a card is in mine). If the cards are not as expected but you believe the seller was not trying to pull a shifty on you, just pay to return them and as a decent person, offer to pay any cost incurred to the seller as a result. Non-refundable paypal fee or whatever…
I already decided to keep the cards and list them on my ebay site as Excellent to NM/M. It was a fault on both parties, and I accept that I should have done better due diligence when looking at the cards. I agree, that there is nothing against asking if you can return a card.
@fourthstartcg I decided to eat the loss and take it as a lesson. Can you close this thread.
Thank you guys for the feedback and advice.