I purchased a first edition base charizard back in September. Upon receipt, I marked the item as arrived on paypal. I was just recently informed the slab is a fake. It is a very good fake - see if it fooled you (two imgur video links below)
I did some research and by miracle find the original slab on ebay and compared the two and confronted the seller with the evidence and he confessed. Unfortunately, he also can’t refund because he spend the money and has only $30 left. He admit that someone sold him a fake slab which he then sold to me. Long story short, I opened a paypal case and now paypal is telling me to send the slab back before I can get my refund.
A few questions on this.
If I send it back and did signature requirement, is there any chance he will say he didn’t receive it and that the signature isn’t his?
How do I prevent other people from falling for this in the future? If I send this slab back, I am fairly certain he will try to sell this again to other unsuspected buyers. Do I contact SGC and get the certificate number cancelled?
I know there are some solicitors on here, surely attempted fraud at 10K or something is enough to get the police involved?
Depends on how far you’re willing to go. You won’t prevent anything unless you’re willing to get your hands dirty.
Obviously the guy should go straight on the blacklist here, no-one here is ever going to touch that 4270177 cert ever again (even if it is a pretty clear fake to many of us) but might as well get it on paper.
Also, if he willingly admitted to selling a counterfeit good (and this was a purchase of >$5K, which is almost certainly was…), you can probably contact the local authorities.
Just want to get my money back and prevent other people from buying this fake slab again in the future. I am 99% sure he will sell it again once he gets it.
For fake booster boxes, at least people can mark an X at the bottom so that future buyers will know. Should I use a permanent marker and write fake on the slab as a warning? Will that void my return with paypal?
Also just to share knowledge, can you share how it is a pretty clear fake? It fooled me and I only got suspicious because I purchased a FPO Charizard from the same seller and that card turned out to be a fake which made me question if this slab is also fake.
To my knowledge, these are the methods that I use to tell if it is fake or not
Star’s in the holo don’t move (because it is printed on) - the holo in this one looks real.
White outline surrounding the charizard - fake ones will not have this white outline
Very pink color - this one has the orange and red color
If it is a thick stamp - there will be space between the edition and the 1st circle. But if it is a thin stamp (like this one), then there will little to no space between the edition and the circle. This also checks out on this one.
Anything else I should know to look out for when buying?
Just to clarify, is it a real card, in a fake slab? Or a fake card in a real slab? or fake card and fake slab?
Edit: After watching the video closely appears the card is fake. The outline of the holo around the image box looks rough and jagged, the evolution box image is a bit blurry, the borders are too big, and the first edition stamp is off.
Honestly, that is the best fake card I have ever seen. When it comes to something like this, I feel like the only way to tell it’s fake is because you’ve been in the hobby so long you’ve had your fair share of facetime with 1st edition charizards. The outline around charizard itself seems off. The biggest thing for me was how holo the card is. You can see the entire holo pattern without a lot of movement, which is not how it typically works.
As far as the fake slab, I don’t deal enough with that company, so I wouldn’t even know.
That’s a pretty good fake. The only indications I can see are the stamp’s alignment. I recently sold a shadowless Zard, and the holo is scarily similar(but this one does seem to have a bit more going on than your usual shadowless/1st edition holo but it’s still close)
Do you have pics of the back? Usually with fakes, it’s the backsides that are done poorly because they focus on perfecting the fronts
That really sucks, hope it’s resolved soon. I think the most obvious on this is the gestalt of the holo; it’s too glossy almost, just feels wrong. I also am not familiar with these slabs but I wonder how they got it into a holder.
That looks scary good for a fake. I’m slightly color blind so I always have trouble telling if color is an issue. I only stick to PSA and trusted sellers normally for this reason. I can see myself being fooled which would really suck.
Here is what the back looks like. I have a feeling it is a sticker (ie: the back is a real pokemon card but the front is fake and taped on).
Obviously not a real SGC 8, I was lucky and managed the find the real SGC 8 on ebay and compared the back and was able to determine I got a fake card. But had the seller stuck this in a lower grade slab (ie: PSA/BGS/SGC 5), I would have never questioned.
ALso, the same seller sold me a fake FPO card which turned out to be a sticker and made me question this slab. Scammers getting creative these days. The back is a real pokemon card so you wouldn’t be able to tell just from the back (poor fossil Grimer).
Considering the op said the seller sold him the fpo and the zard… I think its more than obvious… The seller also admitted they knew the card was fake and resold it…
If you open a case with paypal, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have the money. It will send his account into the negative and give you your money back assuming you win the case which isn’t that unlikely to be honest. Signature confirmation might be the way to go and I would keep documentation of his admission of guilt if it really comes to that so you have proof in your back pocket.
This is what I assumed would happen. I wonder what this guy already spent the money on, galaxy brain move to instantly spend money you scammed someone out of when they can easily open a case against you.
The seller may also be fibbing about already spending the money. Paypal likes to hold big sales for a while. But definitely use the fastest delivery service and signature.
One time I was scammed and resolved it through paypal. I sent the cards back with 1 day tracked and sig confirmation. When the package was sent to the correct address (Paypal will request the seller send their address in the return case… Use this address no matter what) the seller did not sign the package and it was sent back to me.
The paypal case was closed in my favor as Fedex tried to deliver the package to the correct address but was denied.
This should be a cut and dry case in your favor if you follow everything Paypal says and BE POLITE even if the seller backtracks what they say. Remember to submit all message logs to Paypal in the required/additional documentation section.
