The sports card community has some of the biggest scumbags of any hobby

[Giantrobot]

I have collected or been a hobbyist of many different things over the years. By far, the absolute worst people overall are into sports cards. Yes, most of you are fantastic and honest, but there are far too many scumbags drawn to these things for whatever reason. In person? Not so bad. Selling/buying/trading online? Forget it. So many unreasonable, lying, dishonest, two-faced people looking to one-up or outright steal from people. It never changes. This whole explosion has amplified it. I don’t really have a point here, lol, just venting. Every once in a while, I just have another experience that makes me want to gtfo all together.

[Smarti5051]

I suspect what you are complaining about are not members of the "sports card community" so much as scammers seizing on the latest hype. They hear about big money in a particular industry and try and find an angle to take advantage of others. I don't think any real hobbyists are creating fake slabs, misrepresenting cards and/or conditions or faking autographs/patches, etc. These are just con-men that happen to see the opportunity in sports cards right now. The worst members of any group are typically not really members of the group they purport to be. It is true of everything from religion, to politics, to sports teams, to business. For every bridge you see, there is a troll under it posting on the internet.

[DontToewsMeBro]

While there are scumbags in every business, I agree there are a very special type of scumbag in this hobby. Fraud is too easy to perpetrate.

I have been priced right out of the hobby for the most part. I just simply cannot afford most of the insanely high prices for boxes and cases.

Case in point.... watching some 40 year old douchebag buying all the available Star Wars Legacy 3.75" action figures at my local Walmart. I just happened to be there when this jacka$$ came to the register with about 40 action figures - he bought out the Walmart apparently. Really?

[shrevecity]

Just sounds like someone has their feelings hurt bvecause they go beat to them.

[Giantrobot]

Just sounds like someone has their feelings hurt bvecause they go beat to them.

Personally, I don’t play that game....but yes, the whole flipper/hoarder thing has reached sad and disgusting levels of greed. My little vent session was after another eBay buyer tried to claim damage and came immediately with the aggression and name calling. When pressed for pics, he went silent.

[shrevecity]

Personally, I don’t play that game....but yes, the whole flipper/hoarder thing has reached sad and disgusting levels of greed. My little vent session was after another eBay buyer tried to claim damage and came immediately with the aggression and name calling. When pressed for pics, he went silent.

Never press for pics just respond if not happy return for refund. It gives you the best chance to come out on top if they opena claim. I have had 4 returns opened in the past month against me I have won all but 1 and in the one I lost the buyers neg was removed as was the strike and I got to keep 50% of the refund.

[Giantrobot]

Never press for pics just respond if not happy return for refund. It gives you the best chance to come out on top if they opena claim. I have had 4 returns opened in the past month against me I have won all but 1 and in the one I lost the buyers neg was removed as was the strike and I got to keep 50% of the refund.

I offered a refund, but then he said he tried fixing it, so he can’t return it....:rolleyes:

[Y2Hood]

It's a crapshoot on the internet, but in person I have my own personal policy. When I visit a new (to me) shop I find a generic common box and flip through the cards or just browse in general, and listen to the conversations going on. I pay close attention to the employee/owner's words. Generally you can get a good feel on how they operate based on what they're telling a present customer. Or if they're spinning tall tales. If there are no other customers you pretty much have to chat them up on your own and try to only talk about cards/sets/players you're very comfortable with discussing without indicating that's your PC. If they start spinning bs you kinda get the gist of how they operate. It's not a perfect process, but if it's a down year for the hobby and the shop owner is telling his friend that he's selling stuff like a crackhead be wary.

[GOTcollector]

You can tell a lot of new people in "card collecting" (aka flipping) would trample over their own mother to get their hands on a 1st year LeBron Lakers rookie Prizm eBay 1/1. It's evident in the way they talk and handle themselves, bro.

#Drainthecesspool

[Dragonman]

Terrible people in this hobby...Walk around a card show and take a look at alot of dealers....Dirty, Raggedy Clothes, Overweight...It doesn't cost anything to put on clean clothes, take a bath and exercise once in awhile...And lets not forget all the scammers and thieves in the hobby and the losers sitting at Target and Walmart buying out products that are for children to make a few bucks.

[Wolf8MeVillie]

Any time there is money involved, then there are people who will do just about anything to make it. Steal, lie, cheat, what ever it takes, it's humanity. Sucks, but that is what it is.

[natbornkiller]

https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-09-2015/Xy3z4R.gif

[valleynuckfan]

Terrible people in this hobby...Walk around a card show and take a look at alot of dealers....Dirty, Raggedy Clothes, Overweight...It doesn't cost anything to put on clean clothes, take a bath and exercise once in awhile...And lets not forget all the scammers and thieves in the hobby and the losers sitting at Target and Walmart buying out products that are for children to make a few bucks.
I get your take on the Walmart lurkers.
Not so much on your card show dealer comments. Sounds to me that you have a few issues...

[Spicoli]

You should play poker sometime and tell us what you think of those people.

This hobby is not that bad, and I bet it is better than it was in 1989 when it boomed the last time.

[OriginalRapsfan]

I have collected or been a hobbyist of many different things over the years. By far, the absolute worst people overall are into sports cards. Yes, most of you are fantastic and honest, but there are far too many scumbags drawn to these things for whatever reason. In person? Not so bad. Selling/buying/trading online? Forget it. So many unreasonable, lying, dishonest, two-faced people looking to one-up or outright steal from people. It never changes. This whole explosion has amplified it. I don’t really have a point here, lol, just venting. Every once in a while, I just have another experience that makes me want to gtfo all together.

I feel the same way frequently. I get sick of the greed of the card companies and many collectors/investors, who mark up prices at ridiculous margins. I was in a card shop a couple weeks ago and bought a Bo Bichette card for $20 Cdn. I was skeptical that it was a true RC (it was a rookie year topps chrome insert card, but not his true RC) and I should have checked the price on ebay or COMC first. The guy at the card shop said "that's a $20 card all day!". I was a little skeptical but don't collect other sports besides basketball, in general, so I didn't know the market or product well. On COMC there are 30 copies of the card, starting at $1.69. I understand you need to make a profit, but to me that is excessive pricing.

Despite the good people there are definitely a lot of scammers/dirtbags. I can't really compare to other 'hobbies' because I only collect sports cards and occasionally silver coins. Unfortunately this is not a hobby anymore..

[shrevecity]

Nobody is forcing people to pay the flippers prices. If people did not buy it they would not sell it

[Brady7799]

I feel the same way frequently. I get sick of the greed of the card companies and many collectors/investors, who mark up prices at ridiculous margins. I was in a card shop a couple weeks ago and bought a Bo Bichette card for $20 Cdn. I was skeptical that it was a true RC (it was a rookie year topps chrome insert card, but not his true RC) and I should have checked the price on ebay or COMC first. The guy at the card shop said "that's a $20 card all day!". I was a little skeptical but don't collect other sports besides basketball, in general, so I didn't know the market or product well. On COMC there are 30 copies of the card, starting at $1.69. I understand you need to make a profit, but to me that is excessive pricing.

Despite the good people there are definitely a lot of scammers/dirtbags. I can't really compare to other 'hobbies' because I only collect sports cards and occasionally silver coins. Unfortunately this is not a hobby anymore..

that's a crappy LCS owner/employee. they would lose my business forever for a comment like that. i hope it was worth the $20 scoop in favour for potential regular customer money in the future.

based on your handle and card purchase, was this LCS in Toronto?

[OriginalRapsfan]

that's a crappy LCS owner/employee. they would lose my business forever for a comment like that. i hope it was worth the $20 scoop in favour for potential regular customer money in the future.

based on your handle and card purchase, was this LCS in Toronto?

It was outside Toronto. I will not go there again. Should have trusted and followed my instinct more and done research.

[Brady7799]

It was outside Toronto. I will not go there again. Should have trusted and followed my instinct more and done research.

true, but a business owner should plant the seeds for future visits by showing a little more integrity instead of trying to make a couple extra bucks.

i stopped going to LCS in the city when they didn't have single card bins to dig through and most of their window display is overpriced hockey.

[OriginalRapsfan]

true, but a business owner should plant the seeds for future visits by showing a little more integrity instead of trying to make a couple extra bucks.

i stopped going to LCS in the city when they didn't have single card bins to dig through and most of their window display is overpriced hockey.

I agree with you. That is often not reality though unfortunately.

[regionrat]

I saw some scumbags at a Target this morning for the 8 o'clock sports card rollout which took forever. Most of the people were nice but a small percentage were scumbags. Some people got there in the middle of the night. I saw two guys arguing about when one guy arrived at the parking lot. I got there a little bit before 8 am. A couple of the guys that were waiting were trying to play boss with some of the other people there for cards.

[airforce21one]

duplicate

[airforce21one]

I get your take on the Walmart lurkers.
Not so much on your card show dealer comments. Sounds to me that you have a few issues...

Interesting. I've been hearing that some of the lurkers at retail stores are dealers.

[valleynuckfan]

Interesting. I've been hearing that some of the lurkers at retail stores are dealers.
Probably- it stands to reason. These days everyone fancies themselves a dealer/seller in some fashion.
But at card shows? My experience says way more stinky slobs on the floor vs the guys behind the tables.
When government policy with C-19 allows us up here in the GWN to finally get back to having shows it might be a whole new ballgame- we'll see.

[Bowman1951]

Truer words have never been spoken, I think about this often. I'm not even talking about the standard "flipper" type, I was finding shady people back in 2018 before any of the sold out retail issues began.

I've tried to identify the cuplrits as best as I can and stay away from them. While I may buy less than others, I can't think of a time yet where I got taken advantage of. Always protect yourself with payments that can be charged back.

[Giantrobot]

I just found out via the Baseball forum that a nearby shop has been doing some shady eBay fraud type stuff. I’ve met the guy, he was perfectly friendly, even heard another acquaintance had been doing breaks with him. You can’t trust anyone.

[MoreToppsPlease]

Nobody is forcing people to pay the flippers prices. If people did not buy it they would not sell it

Without flippers, prices would be 75% cheaper.

[shrevecity]

Without flippers, prices would be 75% cheaper.

Without people buying items there would be no flippers. It's a 2 way street.

[Retired hobbist]

While there are scumbags in every business, I agree there are a very special type of scumbag in this hobby. Fraud is too easy to perpetrate.

I have been priced right out of the hobby for the most part. I just simply cannot afford most of the insanely high prices for boxes and cases.

Case in point.... watching some 40 year old douchebag buying all the available Star Wars Legacy 3.75" action figures at my local Walmart. I just happened to be there when this jacka$$ came to the register with about 40 action figures - he bought out the Walmart apparently. Really? The industry has this problem because there is very little governmental oversight. Many of the "experts" are self proclaimed and have records for fraud in regulated industries ie real estate, stocks, banking.

When you have big money and little oversight it's an oasis for fraudsters.

This is part of the reason why I got out of collecting in the early 90's and have bought 3 or 4 cards since.

That said most collectors are honest and store owners are honest and if the fraud is provable the police will arrest counterfeiters and other fraud artists.