Man that’s some Ocean 11 sh*t right here.
At this point this should be a job for the police. Should not be very difficult to trace back through tracking information, postal purchase records, paypal info, etc even with the shady stuff. At some point the money has to go to the actual thief and that’s when you’ll get them. Any more info you post here will just tip them off.
This also reeks of an “inside job,” your standard burglar will only take things that are either utilitarian/able to be used by them or quickly flipped/pawned for cash (jewelry, electronics). I highly doubt that anyone with no knowledge of your collection had the requisite knowledge and information to steal only high value items and then list them.
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Yeah the goal at this point is just to see if I can track down the buyers so they know what is up. The lugia so far is in good hands, and that goes a long way in mitigating my financial loss (I bought that one and graded the rest myself as raw cards well-below graded value).
It probably is somewhat of an inside job. I buy and sell a lot of cards locally, probably one of the customers I have had in the past that are aware I own collectibles. Won’t be doing that anymore…
A P.O. box is one of the best investments any eBay can make. A couple hundred bucks a year for peace of mind is well worth it. Sure people can still fairly easily find you address if they really want to, but thankfully I have found most scammers/criminals/lowlifes to be quite dumb.
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** Major Recovery Update **
Besides the Lugia that was sold on ebay, low and behold all the other cards that were stolen were placed into a ziplock bag and put into my mailbox this morning shortly after I left. It was discovered by my roommate leaving for work.
Looks like all the heat from the police, paypal, and ebay got to him and he cut his losses and ran. My suspicion levels are through the roof right now. I’m just extremely relieved. Thank you all for your guidance and support on this.
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Great news! Glad to hear the cards were returned. No apology letter or anything?
Wow that’s a huge sigh of relief and great to hear. Really glad you got most of your stuff back. It’s funny when people realize they have committed a real life crime that comes with real life consequences and try to make it right lol.
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Wow. Good to hear!
After this story just going to tell people I collect base set ratata.
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Is there a chance your room mate stole them?
Short answer is yes, but by a different one than the one who found them. Waiting for the police to conclude their investigation, but he knows now he is my prime suspect.
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I’m glad you have finally recovered your cards!
This story has made me rethink how I should proceed when I buy or sell cards. In Ebay I found difficult to base set, jungle and fossil Spanish cards at a reasonable price. They usually are priced higher than the local shops. Therefore, I use a national app for the second hand market to find the cards.
I approach the sellers offering to send a PDF with the cards I’m looking for. From my experience they never tell what they have, understandably. Consequently, they can deduce what I already have. And if I finally purchase the cards, as I have always given my home address, they would be able to know where to find my cards. More or less the same would apply when if I sell, because I put my address in the envelope in case there is a problem. Though currently I do not own really valuable cards, I expect to have it on the future, and lose what I have it would be a moral punch.
So, from this post I think I can learn two main points:
1- Be careful who you tell about your cards and their price.
2- Study the possibility to pay for a postal box to send my mail there.
that’s fucked up lol
anyway, he is very likely reading this thread, so stay safe.
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Congrats on getting your cards back, really glad to see this was the result
Hmmm. Any signs of forced entry or maybe he used a spare key from when he lived there. Wow
Really glad that you got your cards back 
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Glad to know you managed to recover your cards. Were your careful enough handling the ziplock bag that it may allow police to check for fingerprints from the person who left it there? Should enable them to narrow it down.
Anyway, just good to see that you got your cards back safe and sound and can move past this ordeal.
I’m so glad you managed to recover your cards. Definitely someone you know, as they knew you owned high end cards.
I wouldn’t let up on the legal side of things. People can be terrible and when they are they should pay for their actions.
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Yeah I have a few pieces of information with the identity of the seller. It’s frustrating because things are moving slower than I would like considering the thief if figuratively right in my sights, but gotta let the police do their jobs.
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good job on your end making them squirm and getting them to return the cards. It definitely sounds like it was someone close to you.