This is a pretty unique type of week. Not only have we started to see Contenders retail start to show up on shelves, but the Andrew Luck Contenders Championship Ticket 1/1 has crossed into ridiculous bidding territory. The championship ticket 1/1 auto is definitely one of the most valuable PANINI cards of the year, and the seller has posted it up for auction. That is the problem.
The card’s sale is likely to fall incomplete, as a sad reality of eBay is going to take hold as soon as the auction ends. People can place bids on anything they want, at any price, and no one will hold them accountable. It takes A LOT for eBay to drop the ban hammer on a buyer, and without negative feedback, there is no way to truly penalize a buyer from placing a $50,000 bid. For this reason, the bidding on the Luck Championship ticket has gotten out of control. That hasnt stopped Panini from going nuts though.
Almost on cue, as if to fully capitalize on the national attention brought by the other sale, the Andrew Luck Topps Chrome Superfractor Auto 1/1 has also been posted as an auction after selling for more than $10,000 a few months ago. This card WILL have the exact same result, as there is no way it can end well at the prices many people will see:
2012 Topps Chrome Andrew Luck Superfractor Auto 1/1
Even funnier – every possible Andrew Luck 1/1 that can be offered up is getting posted with Michael Jordan level price tags:
2012 Bowman Sterling Andrew Luck Superfractor Auto Patch 1/1
2012 Topps Finest Andrew Luck Auto Superfractor 1/1
2012 Topps Finest Andrew Luck / Robert Griffin III Dual Auto Patch Superfractor
Here is the one saving grace that both cards can have – enter the story of the Stephen Strasburg Superfractor from 2010 Bowman. The card was shooting up in price as Stras was tearing up batters on the way to tearing a tendon in his elbow. A casual buyer with a ton of money, who was basing his purchase on national news coverage, placed a legit bid over 20K, and won the card. The same thing COULD happen here too – but not likely – with both auctions likely ending past the price of a Mercedes.
There is also the situation of the perceived value condition of both cards. The Championship ticket has a TERRIBLE surface, the Chrome looks relatively great. The Chrome Superfractor IS a more valuable card, but may end below where the Contenders ticket ends. Both factors are ridiculously nuts.
What I want everyone to understand, is that the hype will fly with these two cards. Dont get caught up.
The seller will never see that money. As a seller on Ebay who relies on sales to help make ends meet, there is no limit to what a buyer can get away with now and sellers take the fall for the slightest BS.
Oh, and final value fees for items sold have now gone up AGAIN. Almost 10% now.
The only way to crack down on the deadbeat bidders (trust me, there are tens of thousands of them) is to require a credit card number when registering an account on eBay, for sellers AND buyers. Or automatically charge their PayPal account afterr 14 days. That’s the only way the deadbeats are going to take shit seriously.
Once this card got over $8k everyone knows its a fake auction. Im not sure I understand paying that much. You could get game used uniform for less…
I cant believe that it is not possible to leave negative feedback for buyers on ebay. Its obvious the unpaid item process doesnt get rid of the deadbeats either and because of this, even the paying bidders feel empowered to act like tyrants and make all sorts of ridiculous demands…
It is also obvious no one reads the auction listing. One of the worst things they did was to put the picture of the item on the main listing page before you had to click on the auction and at least scroll past the verbiage before you could see the pic…
I had multiple Russelll Wilson cards go unpaid after he dropped out of the playoffs. They get to keep on bidding with no penalty. Ive had bidders send me emails with insults and profanity and nothing is done…
Ive gotten proactive and have been blocking bidders that ask dumb questions or cancelling bids and blocking people with less than 10 feedback.
You should have to put $$ in escrow when you register on ebay and keep a funding level in there until you get past a certain level of feedback say 25, and than still be set up with cc as 2nd funding source that would automatically pay seller after 4 days.
If I have to abide with all these silly shipping and handling rules to protect myself it is the least ebay could do to help me get paid… And to allow the bidder to rate me on shipping costs is ridiculous, Im sorry but it costs to ship cards and it is only going to go up…
Also dont forget to add in paypal’s cut to the cost of doing business.
I only sell cards on ebay that I dont want and living in OH how else am I going to get rid of Lemichael James cards or a NeNe auto
Beef&Spice –
“And to allow the bidder to rate me on shipping costs is ridiculous, Im sorry but it costs to ship cards and it is only going to go up…”
Tell me about it! I got 2-3 low ratings (1 star, I guess) for Shipping and Handling charges eight or nine months ago. They are still holding me back from qualifying for a 20% final values fee discount. I never knew $3.00 was too much to ship a card with delivery confirmation. The shipping alone then was $2.80, now $2.97. Many bidders are clueless and should never be allowed to rate how “fair” shipping and handling charges are.
Ebay is becoming more and more of a sham every year and this Andrew Luck auction is just one more example as to why.
Same ebay issues as the above post. Charged $3 shipping on some higher end cards (bubble mailer w/ DC and even added insurance on one pkg that sold for $75) The bidder, who won multiple auctions, give me a bad rating on shipping months ago and I’m still on “double secret probation” with Ebay.
I primarily Buy on E-Bay.
I usually pay immediately after Auction is over or next day.
I am not familiar with what the E-Bay problems are from the Seller perspective.
I love the E-Bay experience.
I buy super cheap cards and if Shipping is too high I go to the next Seller who Ships at a lower rate.
It seems stupid as a Buyer to pay more then you want on Shipping then blame the Seller.
Are Shipping Costs subject to E-Bay fees or are they exempted?
A couple of Sellers I have bought from haven’t been perfect in their Auctions.
I would quietly send them a “seller contact” email and voice my problem.
In every Seller I found a person of Integrity willing to refund my money.
I got what I wanted and the Seller got a Positive Feedback.
I think that Buyers should be judged, as apparently they are not!
Sincerely,
MrBallCard
Good post. Every board, forum, etc. is talking about this auction (and the possible shill job with it). When the card doesn’t get paid for, the buyer will re-list with a ridiculously high BIN and will probably be to hard-headed to accept what this card is actually worth.
My biggest beef with eBay has been increasing valuation fees and the fact that you are dinged twice, once by eBay and a second time by an eBay subsidiary, PayPal.
You would hope that eBay would appreciate your business and give you a break from paying fees their PayPal fees on top of what they’ve already charged you. Seriously, this is like me negotiating the price of an old TV at my garage sale and then my wife charging you an extra fee when she collects your money.
I recently discovered the fee on shipping costs and I was in disbelief. They’re taking a cut of my $3 shipping. This makes no sense. Sure, some people charge higher amounts to get some extra cash and eBay wants a cut of that, but taking a cut of $3?! If I charge a nickel for shipping are they still going to take a cut? Is the government running eBay now?
Back on topic, that’s crazy that has basically no hope of completing a high-end auction with no recourse. This contributes to the eBay “BIN Museum” where higher-end items sit with no hope of ever being sold.