Hi all. I’m new to the forum and honestly a bit new to collecting pokemon in general (only sparsely throughout the years). I’m more of a sports collector and grader, but recently, in an effort to clean up my collection, I’m finding that it’s time to try for a PSA 10 zard. With that said, I found a seller and unfortunately, the person doesn’t have a huge online presence and is int’l (I’m in NYC and they’re in Europe). I’ve gotten a video of the card + paper behind it to give me assurances it’s in their possession, but even with paypal goods and services as payment, I’m struggling to proceed. Any advice on how to mitigate the risks of the transaction? I imagine my only option really is to fly over…
Paypal goods and services will cover you completely. If they don’t send the item agreed upon and listed in the invoice description then you can get your money back through a claim. The highest risk here is likely being lost in the mail, but those are very rare.
Wow, I mean I’d like to think so, but I’m imagining worse case is I open the package and it isn’t what I ordered. How do I prove that? Or would PayPal really just side with the buyer no questions asked? If that’s the case, couldn’t the seller risk losing it if the buyer just lies? With 40k+ on the line, that seems so risky for the seller.
Thank you for the reply. I don’t mean to question you. I guess I also want to get more info and learn. I’ve sold big ticket items but never considered that risky side…
No worries man! Paypal would side with you on that. Given the value I’d assume that there would be at least some kind of serious investigation, but if you protect yourself by doing things like keeping records of the conversations and opening the package on camera then you should be fine.
Yes, the seller risks losing it if the buyer lies. Scams like this are nearly unheard of with higher end items, chances are someone who has a PSA 10 1st edition base Charizard is a very serious collector and same with the person buying it. They will not want to risk their reputation or money by complicating a sale like this.
There is always the possibility of someone coming up with a new and unique way of scamming you though. As you mentioned you could fly over, that’s the most foolproof way to do it. A round-trip economy ticket is likely not going to cost you over $1000, and if you’re spending $40k then that might be worth it to you to avoid the risks. You could also do the sale through a trusted middleman you both agree on. They may charge a fee but it would likely be less than the cost of a flight.
If you’re talking about 1st edition base Charizard and you’re spending $40k+, I’d be extra careful. I’d make sure you trust the seller and see if he/she can provide any references for past dealings.
If the card is a 1st ed PSA 10 Charizard and your unsure of the seller, see if you can call the guy. If I was doing an internet deal for a $40,000 card I’d want every oz of proof he has the card.
Thanks all. I’m not jumping in too fast. We’ll try a few alternatives and I rather feel 100% secure than have doubts into something like this. If nothing else my first outreach to the community has been a super experience. You’re all good people
Use an actual middleman for this deal if you aren’t willing to meet with the seller.
Like you said, the seller has an online presence so chances are, he knows about the whole middlemanning business by sending the card to a trusted party to verify it. Once it’s legit you send the money to him and the middleman forward the card to you. Of course you have to compensate the middleman for his/her time.
@gottaketchumall I believe since June, eBay increased it to $350.
Have you ever been to Europe? If not then you might as well take the opportunity to go see the world and pick up a sweet card! Heck, even if you have been to Europe before, theres no such thing as too much vacation. If you’re spending 40 grand what’s another 2 or 3 grand? Plus there is nothing as reassuring as getting to see and evaluate the item in person first. Good luck!
if you’re spending 40K on a Zard; why not take a plane for less than 1K or just business class it to pick it by yourself? I mean, friday flight and back home on monday.
I’m noticing that there is a lot of conversations as of late about the big-business side of Pokemon that most people are typically inexperienced in (I’m also speaking for myself here).
I’ve found myself grateful of advice from @fourthstartcg , @garyis2000 , @smpratte , @thecharizardauthorty , @cullers , and @funmonkey54 in the past about these things and am wondering if there’s someone (or a couple of someones) who could make a guide on how to go about this side of things? Generally speaking, I feel like this will be a more common question in the future (we’re seeing larger numbers associated even with more modern sales) and having an open guide on how to handle big end sales will mitigate the anxiety newbies to that experience may field from both sellers and buyers alike.
Thank you, @pickacabin for feeling like you could ask these questions! As you’ve already found, this community is pretty willing to answer follow-up questions at any and all times. I wish you luck on the purchase!
Yeah man. So I come from sports trading and the community there is solid. Made it much easier to ask with that experience. Even so, the responses I’ve gotten and the offers to help floored me. Good people is always a breath of air wherever you find em.
Also, as an update, I slept on all the advice here. I’ll broach the middleman idea, but it’s not adding up for me why this person doesn’t just mail it to a co-signer like PWCC. Or just go thru eBay. Also I don’t even have a first name. Too many variables for me to feel good about it unfortunately. Hunt continues…
There’s not really much of a guide to write. It’s pretty much the same process as any other sale. Don’t buy from someone you don’t know with unsecured payment methods, avoid scammers, and package/ship with proper methods.
The only thing that changes is the $ amounts associated. Some people get nervous about that, I’d lie if I said I don’t have some reservations with big purchases. Most of my reservations are on the how do I get my money back side instead of the how do I avoid being scammed side. I’ve been around long enough to know all the scam methods that I catch nearly all of them now.
So I’m the end there’s not much change for the $5 package compared to the $50,000 package. Except when you get insurance, there’s a lot of extra looks from everyone else in the post office when you say how much you’re insuring for.
It’s funny. I remember being scared selling and shipping $500. Then all of a sudden I was shipping my first 20k. I remember walking into ups and not knowing how to work the shipping device so I asked for help. Nice college kid asked me how much I wanted for insurance so he could type it in. He literally could not breathe for a moment when I told him lol
