You list an item for 100.00 on eBay.
It sells and the buyer pays.
You realize before you ship that the card is worth 5000.00.
The buyer will accept nothing less than the card they won.
Now be honest…
DO YOU SHIP?
P.S. If you don’t ship, what maximum amount would that 100.00 item have to be worth for you to ship? 2000.00? 1000.00? 500.00?
Hmm. I wouldn’t relist the item on ebay afterwords… at least for a bit, but yea… it’s not like it is a $250 item… it’s 50x the error value.
No.
I don’t think there’s a single seller who’d willingly absorb $4000+ loss. If buyer leaves negative feedback take it like a man and do your homework better next time.
Wow so this adds to the thread before… I agree with whats been said, theres no way anyone can accept a 4900.00 loss no matter the fault. I would explain as best as possible to the buyer, cop the neg feedback and give it a little while before re listing.
So he actually did buy it?
Weigh it up, you’ve probably had some amazing scores in your time that has netted you thousands (early promos).
There has been plenty of chat on here about doing the right thing, owning your mistakes etc. The buyer is entitled to their purchase BUT 4K plus is crazy! If it was a $500 card or something you may consider copping it but the buyer should be a bit smarter and realise that no-one is going to send that. Should of picked out a nice 300-500$ card theyve had their eye on and just accepted the apology. At the end of the day everyone makes mistakes.
If you are concerned about negative feedback, maybe you can offer a consolation gift/offer on another item(s). Just a thought
No snap. He didn’t buy it and the cards version is still unknown.
It could have happened here though which is why I’m asking this question.
fair enough, I don’t think anyone would be surprised if the seller didnt send the item and believe pretty much anyone would make that decision as well. Make sure you let us know what the verdict is upon return to PSA (if you choose that path), im very intrigued 
I agree with others, if i were in the position, i’d rather be hit with the negative feedback than loose out on that much money. First thing would to work it out with the buyer and see if he agrees to cancel the transaction.
I’d be willing to take a $100 hit on a mistake, anything more and I’d have to pull the plug on the transaction.
I would let the buyer have the card for $100 and chalk it up as a lesson learned.
I would also take into consideration the fact that I had probably paid less than $100 for the card in the first place — which is why I didn’t know the real value of the card.
This kind of reminds me of how, back in the 1990s, I had sold dozens of Birthday Pikachu cards for $20 each. I soon discovered the buyers were reselling them for $500 each. 
Nevertheless, I still fulfilled all outstanding orders for the cards even though I could have simply canceled the orders. I didn’t think canceling the orders would have been ethical. (Of course, I stopped taking any new orders for the card at that price.)
About 6 months ago I placed a bid on a jumbo and won. I was the only bidder, after shipping my bid was $10 for about $50 card. Three days later the seller who had less than 100 referrals emailed me saying it was his son’s card and it had damage. I was buying it for my wife’s collection, so I was not worried about condition. I replied go ahead and ship. I never heard anything else. Never received the card. Had to open a dispute with eBay. So these things go on.
Morally, you should ship the card. It’s your mistake for not recognizing the actual value of it, and the buyer’s gain for jumping on it.
However, if there’s that much of a discrepancy value-wise, it’s hard to justify shipping it from a business standpoint. The loss far outweighs the possible gain.
To me, it boils down to one thing. Do you teach yourself a lesson and be morally correct, or do you run a business “right,” from a money standpoint.
$5,000.00 is nothing to you Glenn. To the rest of us, we couldn’t handle that kind of a loss LOL…
I’m curious as to what this item is now.
me too if it is a tmb that would be amazing as I beleive it would be the only 10 example the only other 2 that are graded are 8’s I believe.
LOL! If only that were true. I’m a small-business owner whose company has its ups and downs just like any other small company in a tough economy.
In any case, I don’t see this as a question of money, but rather a question of ethics.
And it’s not a “loss” if you didn’t pay hardly anything for the card in the first place, right? Just like those Birthday Pikachu cards — I paid $15 each and sold them for $20. I didn’t lose anything (though I certainly could have made a whole lot more).
It depends on what you think is more important: fulfilling your end of the bargain as the seller or making more profit by deciding to relist the item at the proper price.
I’ve made that mistake…
When I first started ebay, the second item I sold was a 1st edition base set complete / shadowless set / unlimited all 3 in mint condition / 1 auction. I didn’t set any of the keywords correctly, crap photos, and only allowed local bidders in sydney by accident. It sold for $660, when it was well worth between $2000-$3500 at the time.
I went through with the sale…
and mailed it out and all…
tried to be honest about the whole thing…
Learnt my lesson to actually learn how to list an item correctly online so I can reach more bidders. and not rush things.
And felt crap about it ever since.
DO NOT GO THROUGH WITH THE SALE!!!
DON’T DO THE RIGHT THING! >.<