The Thread for eBay and Magic information on Fakes, frauds, and scams

[Tha Gunslinga]

Anyone with very low feedback who's selling lots of power cards is probably not legit.  I mean, there are so few Beta Lotuses out there.  If you're selling one on ebay, if you don't have a LOT of positive feedback for selling higher-end Magic cards you probably don't have a real one for sale.

Also, this guy's stuff is pretty much guaranteed fake or nonexistant.  Same scans used to sell multiple cards at well below market.
http://myworld.ebay.com/heymama410/

[chrissss]

What does "no longer a registered user" mean?

I hadn't checked ebay in months, still my account didn't have that.

[Tha Gunslinga]

What does "no longer a registered user" mean?

Banned by ebay or deleted their account.

[LoA]

It has been a long, long time since I posted here (hey to Steve, Andy, Keith and everyone else) but I was wondering what I could do as a seller to help ease the fears of a potential buyer.  I don't have an ebay account with any feedback to speak of, so I'll probably use my mother's, who has been selling off items from my childhood over the years and -does- have a decent feedback rating.  I haven't priced magic cards in ages, but I'm assuming it's probably worth getting my P9 certified through PSA or using a high-res scanner on them.  Certification can get pricey, so I'm hoping I don't have to go through that for the "nice, but not uber" cards, like the FBB duals.

I don't mind taking the time and the steps to do this right, it's not imperative I sell, but I know I'll get the most value for my collection if I present it in a reassuring way--for you, what would that entail?

-Andrew (formerly of Concord, Hartford, and Pittsburgh)

[Nickalisk3]

I unfortunately now know why the bend test works.  I spent 350 (plus 8 dollars shipping and handling) on an unlimited mox jet on e-bay.  I talked to a young lady for 15 minutes on the phone and everything seemed koshire.  She was a little over 50 feedback and it was 100% positive, but after getting the card (4 days later) I could immediately smell a stinker.  I didn't even need to bend it all the way..  I could hear glue crackling and see the paper seperate in the middle when I put just a little bend on it.  My heart sank.  Anyways, just thought I would share that.

Does it always mean the card is fake if it fails a bend test?

I ordered an ancestral recall ages ago (Unlimited) that I got from an ebay auction.  I just recently checked to see if it was real, it passed the blacklight test, the water test, the light test.  But failed the bend test.

I examined it under a loupe and it appears real...

Is there a chance the card just had too much wear or is it more than likely fake?

EDIT: I always thought the black light test was definitive.

[MirariKnight]

Sometimes if you do the bend test too much the card will crease even if it's real.

[MagicIsCardboardCrack]

I just recently purchased 2 Beta Power cards and I believe them to be fake. While trying to do just a normal light test, I noticed [splotches] when light was put through them both. I tried similar testing on all 8 pieces of my UL Power with none having the same results. I scrounged around and found my only original Beta card (a Beta Power Drain) that I've had since like '94 and no [splotches] as well. They seem to pass the same amount of light through as the UL Power with the exception where the [splotches] are, in which case it brighter. Also 1 of them has a [bubble?] possily. I took the best pics I could of the bubble, but the [splotches] I can't get pictures of because its too dark. Any help??
 

[Tha Gunslinga]

Is the bubble only on one side, or does it show on both sides?  If it's only on one side then they're rebacks.

[MagicIsCardboardCrack]

one side

[Octopusman]

Zero feedback on this one and pretty lousy description with no actual pic of the card. Too sketchy?

http://cgi.ebay.com/MOX-SAPPHIRE-BLACK-BORDER_W0QQitemZ200375529072QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2ea74fee70&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[snaga]

personally, i wouldnt buy anything without actual pictures of the item....

you can buy it if its cheap, and gamble its not a fake and then lodge a dispute when the card arrives. You'll still be out of pocket the cost to ship it back though when you win the dispute.

[Gabethebabe]

I bought an Ancestral and Jet on eBay two years ago and they were fake. I got the money back. They looked pretty good, but failed the light test. The owner played with them for a long time and never suspected anything.

Fake ones on the right.

EDIT: cut out the pictures and includes link. Pictures are wayyyyyy to big for this forum.

Jet

Ancestral

[Will]

By just saying Black Border Mox Sapphire you are basically saying to me it is collector's edition.  Congratulations whoever actually won this bid definitely lost out seeing as the guy made his description vague enough to hustle people into thinking its beta/ alpha when it is almost definitely not.  Why give away a Beta Mox Sapphire when you can give away a CE one with the same description?

[conboy31]

My friend tried getting some decent deals on ebay via the Bing 10% cash back.  Of the 3 people he bought power from, 2 of them were fakes.

girlgamercutiex3
Gilbert, AZ, United States

and

22hughbahnert22
Nowra, New South Wales, Australia

Both sent fake cards.

[kenoc]

Did paypal get your friend his money back and how long did it take?

And I noticed he didn't give negative feedback on the guy who took back the fakes.  I can maybe understand someone didn't know they were fake, but it really depends on how bad the fakes were.

What made him believe the cards were fake?  Just so the rest of us can look out for the signs.

[silvernail]

Looking t pick up some drains soon and found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/MTG-MANA-DRAIN-Italian-Legends-MAGIC_W0QQitemZ320482151268QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9e398b64

I'm not sure of the going rate for drains but that seems low- hence kinda sketchy to me, any advice ?

[Gandalf_The_White_1]

Looking at closed listings I found that several other Italian Drains have sold for similar prices:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Italian-Mana-Drain-Legends-MTG-Magic-SP_W0QQitemZ320475681181QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9dd6d19d
http://cgi.ebay.com/MTG-Magic-the-Gathering-Mana-Drain-LE-NM-BEST-COUNTER_W0QQitemZ250567160134QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_2?hash=item3a56f77146
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mana-Drain-English-Legends-played-condition_W0QQitemZ110484796654QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19b96834ee

[MirariKnight]

I obviously can't say anything for sure re: authenticity, but that's not a super low price for an Italian Drain on ebay.

[Tha Gunslinga]

That's normal, don't worry about it.

[silvernail]

cool - how do you specifically look at closed auctions for price comparisons like that ?

[Gandalf_The_White_1]

cool - how do you specifically look at closed auctions for price comparisons like that ?

Do a search and click "completed listings" under preferences on the left-hand side.

[Yare]

I think you have to be logged in to eBay in order to do a completed items search. Also, I'd like to note that eBay searches are one of the best ways to find out what the market price for a card is.