How to avoid getting scammed when selling a collection ?

Market
1

I need some tips on how to sell my childhood Pokémon card collection without getting scammed for “some hidden defects” by buyers even though I will list it as used and not in a good conditions. This is really important as I’ve seen a lot of sellers get scammed by buyers who said they found some undisclosed defects on cards even though the seller clearly said it was no were near a PSA 7-8.

In brief, I really need any advices to avoid scamming buyers.

2

Meet in person. Deal in cash.

3

The situation you’re describing is not nearly as common as you appear to fear. Just include clear, in focus photos of your cards and describe them accurately. This has only happened to me once ever, which mathematically comes out to 0.001% of my sales. It was resolved in my favor because I had clear documentation in my listing that refuted the claims of the buyer. It was an inconvenience. It could happen. But this is really infrequent.

Just be honest and forthcoming in your listings.

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4

Isn’t there anyway I can notice eBay that my collection have a lot of flaws or list the item as defective to diminish the risk of getting scammed, because my town has a really low demand in old cards and finding irl buyers will be really hard tbh. Thanks for the reply anyway

5

Is this your first time using eBay?

This is all information you put in your listing. There are no less than three places where you’re able to indicate and describe condition. This is your responsibility as a seller.

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6

What value are we talking? 5 figures? Fly it to them if they in the same country and deal in cash.

7

Thanks a lot for your advice. I’m gonna sell like 15 cards, so should I take pictures of each of them (back and front) or take a picture of my binder pages (they come in a binder) and lastly I have 2 jumbo cards they don’t fit in the binder, am I forced to buy 2 jumbo sleeves ? or I can pack them another way.

8

So here’s what you want to do, at minimum.

  1. A clear, up close photo of the front of the card.
  2. A clear, up close photo of the back of the card.
  3. Describe your card using common terms (“Good, Excellent, Near Mint” or “light play, moderate play, heavy play”) since this is the frame of reference most people use.
  4. Include something in your listing that says something like “please review the photos carefully and let me know if you have any questions” — put the onus on the buyer to review everything and contact you if they are uncertain about something.
  5. Be honest with yourself. Don’t say your cards are in better condition than they’re in. If there is conspicuous damage, make sure it shows in the photo. If you say your card is in near mint condition and it obviously is not, your buyer will probably be unhappy to receive it.

You could also go further than this. You could provide photos of holos at multiple angles, you could add up close pictures of each corner, you could list any damage on the card yourself in the description. If you’re not confident using terms from the grading scale, you can forgo them and just be sure you provide adequate images for your buyer to make their own judgement. If you do all these things you’ll be fine. The more you disclose in your listing, the less vulnerable you are to anyone claiming you misled them about the product — which you wouldn’t want to do anyway.

If you’re selling multiple cards at once in a mixed lot (like a whole binder page) it’s okay to include multiple cards in the same picture. Just make sure you include the fronts and backs.

If it’s your first time selling cards, obviously you want top dollar and it’s tempting to give as little information as possible as to not discourage buyers. But you want to sell with integrity and you want your buyers to be happy. That means being forthcoming about what you have to offer. The more honest you are in the listing the more confident your buyers will be and it becomes a lot harder for any potential would-be scammer (which is uncommon) to poke holes in your listing.

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9

You have very little protection on eBay as a seller. If you happen to sell the collection to someone who is intent on scamming, they will most likely get away with it and you will be left crying.

Even if you list the conditions, the buyer can still open a case, and will most likely win or at the very least, get a partial refund. If you are worried about being scammed, eBay is the last place you want to sell. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and IG are probably better options for finding local buyers. If you don’t want to worry about being scammed, I would highly recommend meeting in person, and dealing in cash or crypto. That’s really the only way that you will be 100% protected.

10

Just be super clear with obvious proof/condition of your cards. Although, like @justanothercollector said, ebay can be quite a bit difficult at times if it goes awry. Good luck with selling your collection!

11

I think you may overthink it.
As others have said, just be clear in your listings. Worst case accept a refund?
what value are we talking here?
if it’s high and you feel nervous, you could consider submitting your cards to pwcc and let them sell the cards for you.