Basically, I find a lot with some early WoTC cards (I’m a sucker for these) and a Gold Star Mew and decide to bid after quickly checking the price of the mew as I’m not too familiar with GS cards. As someone who has a hard time justifying paying $200-$300 for a single card, getting an expensive GS like Mew in a lot with some WoTC cards seemed like a good opportunity.
I won the auction for less than I thought it would go for, so I was pretty excited, but also curious as to why it didn’t go higher. I understand you can’t see the condition of the card, which is why I was only willing to pay so much, but I still thought the auction would end at a higher price ($200+). I look over the pictures again very carefully (especially around the mew), and this is where I spot the almost completely hidden border of the mew card between the 2 pidgeots. Today, I learned that there are 2 different english GS Mew cards. One with a yellow border, and one with a dark, silverish border (much less valuable). When I found out about this, I became angry with the seller as it looked like they were intentionally trying to hide the border of the card, as well as the signature or whatever on the bottom right of the artwork. There is also no mention of this being the world championship version.
At this point, I’ve been debating for the last couple hours if I should pay or not. I feel like I’ve been purposefully mislead, but at the same time feel like it’s partially my problem for not knowing about the world championship version of the card so I could look for signs of it, even if they were mostly hidden…
This is a really rare case… but I agree and wouldn’t pay. Let him file a claim if he wants (there’s not much you can do to stop him). It’s totally staged.
Edit: In the future you should always ask for more info to better understand what you’re buying. Lousy sellers trying to pull tricks like this, though, I have no sympathy for.
I bought a big lot of around 1200 pokemon cards. Many shinys included such as a charizard half covered by a blastoise in the pictures on top. The rest of the shinys were hidden. The description read the whole lot were in 99% excellent condition with some played.
I then receive the cards and check that the charizard was completely laminated! Not visible in the picture. The rest of the holos, around 25 were all heavily played and damaged besides a couple. The rest of the non holos where in great unplayed condition apart from just 1.
The seller clearly did this on purpose and I opened a case against him. He argued saying it was my fault and to read the description next time.
I opened a case with ebay after a week of waiting before I could do so. Thankfully I won as I pointed out the charizard had been tampered with and wasn’t as described. The seller was annoyed and even said before that I wouldn’t win the case.
Basically the lesson here is always ask for pictures if you can’t see something hidden or clearly enough.
In your situation you can just politely back out by asking you don’t want this item anymore. If he refuses then simply don’t pay. It may hinder your ebay sellers account but at the end of the day you will save and disappointment and hassle.
Let’s get something straight first: You are responsible for winning this auction. You saw the pics. You read the description. You placed the bid. You made the mistake. You have not been ‘purposely misled’ - you were simply uninformed about the different versions of the Gold Star Mew card. I have made the exact same mistake. It was also my fault for not knowing the difference (in my case, Gold Star Latias).
The good news: if you have not already paid, you are not obligated to send your hard-earned money to the seller. When I made this same mistake, I asked the seller if he’d be willing to cancel the order if I sent him a few bucks through PayPal F&F afterwards (he accepted the offer). In this case, both parties leave happy.
The other option would be for you to just not pay. Unfortunately, this means the seller is able to hit you with a non-paying bidder claim, which may prevent you from bidding on/buying future listings from some sellers.
The photo was taken in a way that is meant to mislead the less knowledgeable bidder. There is zero chance that the card was accidentally placed in a way that hides both the entire silver border & WC signature. “Gold Star Mew” is the first in the title and yet this card is mysteriously covered by three cards and the remaining border is miraculously out of frame? If the photo was not so intentionally doctored I would certainly have a different opinion. In this case the seller knew very well what he was doing in pulling this stunt
Also looks like suspicious bidding going on up until your winning bid. To help you with identifying the differences, if borders are covered try and make out the holo pattern in the card window since the WC cards are all non holo.
When it comes to eBay’s policies - what you think the seller may have done doesn’t matter compared to what they actually did as far as the listing and eBay’s Buyer Protection is concerned.
What they actually did: Put Gold Star Mew in the title, included a picture of the Gold Star Mew in the listing
What you think they did: Put Gold Star Mew in the title and intentionally framed the card to block the card’s border color in an attempt to trick bidders into thinking they were bidding on a non-promo Gold Star Mew
One is fact, the other is speculation. When it comes down to it, you have no evidence to prove your speculative claim as you have no way to probe the seller’s mind and find out their true intentions when they were taking the pictures. I know this sounds like a completely inflexible and unreasonable way of thinking about what this seller did, but that’s the kind of perspective you should take when dealing with eBay’s platform (in my opinion). If you can point out to eBay that their policy says so-and-so and you have tangible evidence that you can point to either in the seller’s listing or the seller’s messages, you will have much more success dealing with issues when they arise.
My argument is not that the seller did not try to mislead the naive bidder - my argument is that, according to the seller’s listing, any buyer that won the listing received exactly what was described and would have no grounds to open a SNAD case.
@hypernova I see and we agree, then . I reacted with emotion… It makes me a bit angry to see our less knowledgable fans of the hobby be tricked into spending more… it just rubs me the wrong way…
@hypernova : I’m thinking of going your route and asking if I can send him a few bucks through paypal. How much should I offer? Is it supposed to be enough to cover a specific fee?
Also, would it be appropriate to ask that he upload clearer images of the mew before I cover any fees for him? Assuming he relists and accepts my offer. Part of me feels like this is a big no-no, but I’m not sure, and I’m tempted…
Yikes, that placement looks intentional as hell. Sure, the seller has a compelling argument/defense about how he titled the listing, but nefariously composing misleading photos like that surely will lead to bad reviews down the line. Or is he protected from that as well since it’s all a matter of calculated speculation? Glad you didn’t spend as much as you were likely willing, under the assumption that it was the right mew.
Here’s what happened if anyone wants to know (start from the bottom) imgur.com/a/Mewyi. I feel like I may have been in the wrong in my first message to him when offering him money in exchange he provide better pictures. If someone could fill me in on that I’d appreciate it.
I replied to his last message with “Ditto” and haven’t heard anything since, though it’s still early. He has also relisted with the same pictures as before.
For future reference, telling someone they’re deceitful (and/or a scammer) and then trying to resolve a conflict is generally a bad idea.
When I look at the messages you and the seller exchanged, all I see is a lot of wasted time and hurt feelings on both sides. Completely unnecessary. Was the seller lying about the Mew being a non-promo card? Probably (Here’s a previous listing from a month ago with the exact same cards that includes a promo Gold Star Mew). Was the seller lying about eBay sending them a warning message about off-site sales? Probably. Do you think the seller is going to change their ways after being called out? Probably not.
As an upside to everything, the seller cancelled your order which means you don’t have to worry about a non-paying bidder claim or negative feedback. I’d advise blocking the seller and moving on from the whole thing, for your own peace of mind.
I tried to reverse image search this photo and was greeted with no results. It’s very likely he actually owns this card. The listing is indeed very suspicious but I don’t see any non-circumstantial that suggests this guy is truly being deceitful.
Also even if this was an act of deceit, there’s a lesson about personal responsibility that comes with the story. You admit yourself that you were purchasing the whole lot for a card that you really knew nothing about in unknown condition. Not that the sellers (potentially) deceitful actions are acceptable; just reckless behaviour like this opens you up to scams.
I agree, you should have looked closer but I have been totally guilty of that. I just message the buyer after I’ve bought/paid and request to cancel. I’ve never had anyone not cancel if I do it before shipping or not accept returns. It’s business, treat it as such.
It seems very clear to me that his intention was to deceive. Especially because he provided a picture of a different mew gold star card. Sadly he’s got the rules on his side when it comes down to it.
*although I just read Scott’s post so if that’s true then you should be fine not paying.
. I reacted with emotion… It makes me a bit angry to see our less knowledgable fans of the hobby be tricked into spending more… it just rubs me the wrong way…