Is this really "sealed," or am I being petty?

nosignofland · 05-17-2025, 10:43 AM

I'm leaning toward just chalking this up as a learning experience and letting it go. But I'm curious to hear what you all think.

Tl;dr -- "Sealed" team set came in a resealable bag. Is that really "sealed"?

Anyway, I recently started collecting "first cards" of superstars -- think Tiger Woods' SI for Kids card, Kurt Warner's Iowa Barnstormers card or Endrick's Brazilian Panini sticker -- so I figured I'd try to get ahead and pick up a Gavin McKenna first card, which is his team-issued Medicine Hat Tigers card from 2022-2023. Raw copies go for about $70.

I found a "sealed" team set, which really appealed to me because the team-issued cards seem pretty condition sensitive. You can see the finished auction here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/127003128841

I received the item yesterday. But it's in your standard resealable Polypropylene bag. There's no way to know if the original McKenna card has been switched out with a worse-condition card or not. And, unless I'm missing something, there's nowhere on that auction to let you know it's in a resealable bag. (No pictures of the back of the bag, conveniently.)

Had I known it was resealable, I would've just stuck with a raw card for $25 less. Personally, I wouldn't label something "sealed" if the cards inside can be easily messed with. I did not know the team-issued cards were sold that way, and I don't know how I would've come to know that beforehand. (I checked the team website's shop beforehand to see if they sold this year's cards online ... but they did not.)

It's a $25 difference, so I'm not losing sleep over this. But I am still a little bothered. I've been on eBay for more than 20 years, and I've never returned anything. So what say you, Blowout: Am I an idiot, or is the seller dishonest? Or both?

ThatGuyPal · 05-17-2025, 11:02 AM

I think you gotta chalk it up unless you find evidence it didn’t come in a team bag. These team sets are packaged horribly you can find some for Connor Bedard still if you want comparison, issue was basically the same tons of people complained cause the packaging was terrible and the condition of the cards were sensitive. Honestly you shouldn’t expect minor league hockey to worry about your PSA 10’s just cause a hot guy is in the league/on a team, not a diss to you just saying it’s minor league it’s like when I used to get a team set from minor baseball it came in a small team bag. No one really complained cause cards aren’t what they are now, I’d say this is more symptom of the card craze that anything and peoples new expectations.

Now if you find out they didn’t come that way originally ignore all the above

05-17-2025, 10:43 AM	#1
nosignofland Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 121 quasimojo216	Is this really "sealed," or am I being petty? I'm leaning toward just chalking this up as a learning experience and letting it go. But I'm curious to hear what you all think. Tl;dr -- "Sealed" team set came in a resealable bag. Is that really "sealed"? Anyway, I recently started collecting "first cards" of superstars -- think Tiger Woods' SI for Kids card, Kurt Warner's Iowa Barnstormers card or Endrick's Brazilian Panini sticker -- so I figured I'd try to get ahead and pick up a Gavin McKenna first card, which is his team-issued Medicine Hat Tigers card from 2022-2023. Raw copies go for about $70. I found a "sealed" team set, which really appealed to me because the team-issued cards seem pretty condition sensitive. You can see the finished auction here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/127003128841 I received the item yesterday. But it's in your standard resealable Polypropylene bag. There's no way to know if the original McKenna card has been switched out with a worse-condition card or not. And, unless I'm missing something, there's nowhere on that auction to let you know it's in a resealable bag. (No pictures of the back of the bag, conveniently.) Had I known it was resealable, I would've just stuck with a raw card for $25 less. Personally, I wouldn't label something "sealed" if the cards inside can be easily messed with. I did not know the team-issued cards were sold that way, and I don't know how I would've come to know that beforehand. (I checked the team website's shop beforehand to see if they sold this year's cards online ... but they did not.) It's a $25 difference, so I'm not losing sleep over this. But I am still a little bothered. I've been on eBay for more than 20 years, and I've never returned anything. So what say you, Blowout: Am I an idiot, or is the seller dishonest? Or both?

05-17-2025, 11:02 AM	#2
ThatGuyPal Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Posts: 3,551	I think you gotta chalk it up unless you find evidence it didn’t come in a team bag. These team sets are packaged horribly you can find some for Connor Bedard still if you want comparison, issue was basically the same tons of people complained cause the packaging was terrible and the condition of the cards were sensitive. Honestly you shouldn’t expect minor league hockey to worry about your PSA 10’s just cause a hot guy is in the league/on a team, not a diss to you just saying it’s minor league it’s like when I used to get a team set from minor baseball it came in a small team bag. No one really complained cause cards aren’t what they are now, I’d say this is more symptom of the card craze that anything and peoples new expectations. Now if you find out they didn’t come that way originally ignore all the above