Mini Rant - Why Do Some Sports Card Sellers on eBay Do This???

[@brad8671]

I hate hate hate when they dont take pictures of both back and front. definitely my number 1 on the annoyance list for me.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Brad. That one probably confuses me the most. Even if the picture isn't great, most collectors would like to see the back of the card, especially for vintage. So why not take a couple of seconds and show the back as well?

[@RetroJR3379]

I'll tell you what annoying... Commercial popping just when you're about to show something

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Yeah, I don't always get KZbin's methods for placing ads in a video. Seems like it's just random sometimes.

[@RetroJR3379]

@WadeBoggsFan Same here but sometimes funny. I would read the comments and end up reading the ad for Ozempic lol

[@12againsports]

Hi John! This is such a great topic to speak on. I am surprised that sellers don't put more effort into selling their cards. Most of us who purchase cards on eBay like to price compare. As a buyer we want to get the most value for our money. There have been many times that I narrowed my search to just a couple cards . . . and chose one or the other based on what I could see in the pictures. When sellers aren't photographing the back of the card, they are not giving potential buyers enough information to make an informed decision. If the price is low, I will make the purchase and hope for the best. If it is a toss-up in prices, I will go with what I can see. Very cool video!

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Danny! I totally agree. More often than not I pass on a card that doesn't have a good picture. Maybe some sellers are afraid that if people see the flaws in a card they won't get as much money for the card? But it is what it is. You can't change the looks of a card. If few people are interested in a card because of the condition then it won't sell for as much as one in a nicer condition. I think trying to hide the flaws just makes it worse.

[@HummBabyBaseball]

That Winfield was so bad I couldn't tell it was off center because I assumed the black border was the edge of the card. Until I noticed one side had like an inch of gray border.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

I'm really surprised that it didn't receive an OC or MC qualifier, unless the submitter asked for no qualifiers. If so it probably would have been an 8 or 9 with the qualifier.

[@cardboardandplastic9267]

Sometimes sellers take images of cards at angles to deliberately make the centering look better. However, some sellers take images at angles to try to show buyers the quality of the surface. I am glad that all companies are now putting images of cards on their websites with the cert number. Makes buying cards much better.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Good point. I don't mind if the seller has multiple pictures of a card including one on an angle to better show the surface of a card. That makes sense. Just don't make that the only image you have for the card. Yes, whenever I see a newer slabbed card with a poor image I go to PSA's website to see if I can find the images they took of the card. It's worked out for me once doing that. I wasn't sure if there was a hair on the slab in the listing or whether it was on the card and I looked it up on PSA's website and saw that it wasn't in their image. So I figured it was just on the sellers image and I was right.

[@CraigsCards62]

Totally 👍 agree! When I see poor pictures, I tend to think "shady seller " I am no expert with a camera, but I would want to present a card i am selling as nice as possible.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Craig!

[@jimbobrobertson3285]

I agree, take the time to make it sellable! Also, flip-side, I get asked is this the card I’m buying? I would never use a generic photo if it is not the actual card I’m selling!

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks! Totally agree...sellers should definitely use a picture of the actual card they are selling. Although I have seen listings for base modern cards by some of the big eBay sellers that use stock photos in the listings, just because of the volume of items they have for sale. But every time they clearly state that the image is a stock photo of the card.

[@dljtwo]

OMG I've been waiting for someone to call this out. It amazes me how lazy some sellers on eBay are with their listings... and not novice sellers either. The minute I see a card I'm interested in and it's in a scratched up top-loader, I immediately think the seller has something to hide. It's just next level laziness on the sellers part.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks. I do think some sellers show a card on an angle to try to avoid glare, but overall it does appear to be a combination of laziness and to a lesser extent, an attempt to mask a flaw in the card, mainly the centering.

[@caolanhogeweide6555]

I live in Japan and I often buy cards on Yahoo Auction (the Ebay of Japan basically) and almost every seller hides the /# number for some reason. Personally, I'm always looking for the player's number or 1's or ten's. Drives me nuts! They also don't show the back sometimes. I have to admit, I've taken pictures of cards and its not easy avoiding the shadow and getting the right background. It takes a lot of work and some people just don't have the patience.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

I remember checking out Yahoo auctions back when eBay was first coming out. I wasn't aware that they were still doing auctions, although maybe it's mainly outside the U.S. I admit, depending on the lighting you are dealing with it can be hard sometimes to take nice photos. If someone sells a lot though they should be able to find some consistent method that works.

[@RickAcostaDodgerCardCollector]

When I saw "rant" on your title I knew I had to watch cause you NEVER rant! I totally agree with you, John. If you're selling a car, a house or even a baseball card, take a nice picture! In the case of a sports card, I am not asking someone to hire a professional photographer like it's a wedding, but just get your phone and take a decent photo, it's not difficult. If the photo is so bad, I don't even bother with it cause it makes me wonder if the card is real. ALSO, if it's a graded card, don't crop out the PSA or SGC holder! I want to see the card AND the slab. hahaha! If I like a card, I want to see the back. If someone can't do any of these things I just commented on, I don't want to deal with this seller! Thanks for sharing, John!

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Rick! I figure I'm good for one rant a year! LOL Every once in a while there's something that just bothers me to the point that I feel the need to say something. I occasionally see pictures that crop out the top of the slab. When I see that, my first thought is that they are purposefully hiding the cert number so we can't look it up. It's probably not the case, but it instantly puts doubt on the seller.

[@topps85401]

The worst is when someone takes an overhead photo and their funky feet are in the photo listing background.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

I've seen that too! LOL

[@RipFan8]

Hi John. Very interesting topic and I agree 100% with you. If you’re going to sell a card(s), whether on a site or at a show, put a little effort into presenting it. Talk soon my friend.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks brother!

[@WayneDome-dm8iu]

I only Bid/Buy cards on ebay with clear front back photos. In my opinion its a real risk, no need to chance it. Somebody will have a clear photo and want my money. Thanks good rant !

[@JunkCardDawg]

Learned this lesson after getting a few cards that were sold by a guy who edits all the photos of the cards I am getting better at telling now white random line or barely off color to make a point on corners

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Wayne!

[@WadeBoggsFan]

That never occurred to me - that someone would try to edit the photos to make the card appear nicer. Sounds like it happens though. I'm not aware of any cards I've got off eBay that don't appear to be as nice as what the image showed. But I guess just like anything, when money is involved, some people will do shady things just to make a buck.

[@henrys3629]

I don't see this often. What I hate are "buy the cards you need" listings. Everything I every wanted sold out.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Yeah, I’ve seen that a lot when I’ve looked for certain Boggs cards.

[@scottmorrow3702]

Depending on the color the card I'll use different colored backgrounds to make sure the corners, surface etc. standout. In my opinion that helps people determine the condition of the card. Ebay also has a '"crop" feature that I find very helpful.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

That's a great idea Scott. I've seen some sellers do that. Whenever you have a contrasting background it highlights what you are trying to show off. I hope your listings are doing well!

[@KC_CC]

John, first time viewer of the channel. Great video! I think a lot of the pics of cards with issues are taken to show the cards “good side” 😂

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. You may be right. Not only to hide the issues, but try to highlight the good parts of the card. I've always been big on transparency. The card is the card. Just show it as it is. I'm sure someone out there would be interested in it no matter what it looks like. I'm big on centering, but I know others that centering is not very important to them.

[@deantimpone7432]

The 1979 Winfield looks like an old slab and. I have noticed that old slabs tend to have less strict grading

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Yes, it's in an older slab. And there have been opinions out there that PSA has become more stricter in their grading than they were in the past. I've seen some older slabbed cards and really scratch my head as to how it could have gotten such a high grade given the current examples I see in the same grade.

[@warrendinCLE]

Well said John. I agree on all fronts. Especially not showing the backs! I don't even bother with the listing unless it's a special card then like you I message the seller and most of the time I get no response. So I move on. Thanks ks for the rant! Lol!

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Warren. Yes, if it's a rare or hard-to-find card then you can message the seller. If they don't respond, then you have to decide whether to take a chance on it or not. But buyers shouldn't have to be put in those situations.

[@RetroJR3379]

Great video and thats why I dont buy single card for that reason and same goes with bobblehead. When I buy cards on Ebay most of the time is rack

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks. When buying rack packs, is the quality of an image a factor for you? Or is it more of just making sure that it's legit since you're probably not concerned with the condition of the cards within the rack pack?

[@RetroJR3379]

@WadeBoggsFan More about making sure if it legit. Remember one time I received the rack pack all taped so I had to carefully remove the tape so I don't open the pack

[@kevincurtis6550]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions on this, John. Totally agree with what you said. This not only goes for sports cards, but for other items sold on E bay, also.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Kevin. True!

[@billyballgamesportscards]

There are definitely horrible pictures on eBay for sure. You see a lot of pictures where you know the card is offcentered, but it's tilted one way or another to disguise just how offcentered it actually is. Buyer beware!

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Billy. You're right. I rarely see a picture of a well-centered card that is on an angle. It's always one that is off-centered. Like we can't tell.

[@CleanCheapShots]

I have to think that most of these cases can be attributed to laziness. Although, sometimes I wonder if they aren't trying to hide something.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

I'm sure it's a mixture of both Drew. I'd like to think that the majority of cases aren't because someone is trying to hide something and is more of trying to take a picture without a glare or shadow. But I'm sure there are some that do it to try to hide a flaw.

[@cryptonite8495]

Great topic! Sometimes it's blissful ignorance, other times it's an effort to hide or minimize a flaw. Like an angled photo might hide the skinny side of an OC card. If the cert is legible, I always look at the PSA or SGC scans if available. Sometimes those scans reveal a card that's just fine and I was able to win with a minimum bid because the eBay listing photo was horrible. And sometimes the professional scans revealed a problem not as evident on eBay. Like a blurry image might hide surface issues. Why don't sellers use the PSA or SGC scans if they can't take a good photo?

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks John! I too look to see if it's a newer slab and see if PSA's website has a better picture of the card. And if one is available, I don't know why some sellers don't choose to use them. They are nice quality images. Not sure if I mentioned it, but a blurry photo also irks me. Don't know how someone can take a blurry photo these days, but I've seen it.

[@cryptonite8495]

@@WadeBoggsFan I've seen it so blurry that I couldn't read the cert number. There is a seller with a ton of feedback and most of his photos are out-of-focus. He will gladly supply the cert if I ask, so he knows about the issue. Buy a $100 flatbed scanner, dude! Your eye/camera method isn't working!

[@wandtvdougwolfe1]

Great topic! Thanks!!!!

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thank you!

[@zackarydryer7048]

My biggest pet peeve is sellers not researching what their card is worth before listing it. You’ll see hundreds of cards being auctioned by a single seller and every one of them will have a starting bid that is orders of magnitude above what the card is worth. We’re talking something like a 100 card string of 1973 Topps commons in a PSA 8 with starting bids of $175. Waste of everyone’s time.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

It's either that, or they know roughly what their card is worth and purposely place a high starting bid or BIN price figuring they don't have to sell it, but if someone comes along and pays what they are asking for it then they make out great. Just like it seems that some dealers at a show are there to just show off their cards since they have them priced way too high and aren't willing to go down much. I see it a lot for both vintage and Wade Boggs cards on eBay. I guess as long as they don't get charged for just listing a card, they can put whatever price they want on it and there's no harm if it doesn't sell. To get rid of that, eBay should charge (maybe they are??) a decent fee for just listing an item. That way sellers would price items to sell, not just relist every 30 days because they are asking too much.

[@chicagolady6354]

Lots of sellers put up the card with little or no descriptions of it...They except YOU to be Sherlock Holmes and see any flaws by saying I'm not a grader so you look at the photo and be the judge..

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks. Yeah, if I were to see a listing, especially for an ungraded card, where the seller lists a grade but immediately clarifies that he's not a grader so judge for yourself, that means to me that whatever grade he listed it at is higher than it actually is. I've seen that a lot for ungraded copies of very expensive pre-war cards, like Ruth. They tiptoe around whether the card is real or fake - which means that probably 90% of the time it's fake.

[@mikelamberty2722]

Thanks, jon, for saying everything i always have issues with.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

My pleasure Mike!

[@Forgottenchannels]

Huge deal for me when I'm dropping major money on a card. I'm sure no collector is spending thousands or even hundreds on a card with no back photo. But even then, if it isn't a 1 of 1 or even 1/25 with recent printings when I know my chances are super limited to obtain said card, I won't be as picky. So many sellers of this stuff out there though that probably think have gold and are just trying to move something, just don't get it, the occasional oversight like you said and I'm sure there are a few very rare instances of shady sellers out there trying to hide a questionable back looking for a rube who doesn't know any better. Guarantee that does happen.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

I totally agree. If you are looking to spend a good amount of money (and the seller is asking for a lot of money) then there should be a pic of the back of the card. The exceptions as you point out might be a very rare or low serial numbered card that you want in your collection regardless of the grade because of how hard it is to find.

[@jude999]

My ebay seller rant: of the dozens of PSA slabbed cards I have bought, only ONE has ever put it in a slab sleeve that fits. They do that angle thing to try and hide off centering. Get off my lawn, John!🤣

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Most of the slabs that I've received with sleeves are also ones that don't fit. And when they do, they are often the ones with the PSA logo on them - distracts from the card so I always remove it and put it in one of my own.

[@whitesoxfancardcollector]

I remember the days before eBay had pictures for the cards. Now, those were some disappointing purchases.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Hmmm. I've been on eBay since it first started. Don't recall listings without pictures. But it's been a while. Does eBay force you to provide a picture when you list something today? Don't know why someone wouldn't want to use an image, even if it's bad. But I wonder if you can technically list something without a picture?

[@whitesoxfancardcollector]

@@WadeBoggsFan; it initially was an option to add pictures. Sellers often would not add them for lower valued cards, such as commons from the 70’s.

[@ACollectorsDream]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Orlando.

[@johnscoggins5696]

WBF. Lots of people are procrastinators, sloppy, and lazy. This simply reflects their character. If it ruins the listing, so be it. They don't care. Why should we?

[@WadeBoggsFan]

I suppose you're right. But when you're using those photos for a KZbin video it gets annoying sometimes.

[@geezmikey]

always amazes me the lack of effort some sellers put into their listings, cause boy do i see alot of cards that should sell for ALOT more than what they do, it even goes with the listing description.. these AI descriptions are all the same lol if you havent noticed that either.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Right?! Don't know why sellers would want to potentially short-change themselves on their listings. I haven't seen much of the AI descriptions, but to be honest, I don't always check out the description - something that I probably should do every time just in case.

[@backtothecardboard]

I usually don’t give those type of auctions a second glance. BTW, I think this is a full size rant.😁

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Maybe Shannon! LOL I guess I'm allowed a full size rant once a year. 😀

[@4LeafCards]

Welcome to the cranky old man club lol. People need to step up their games!

[@WadeBoggsFan]

And get off my lawn! LOL

[@4LeafCards]

@@WadeBoggsFan lol! Love it!

[@godisgreat8462]

Another great one 1️⃣

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Ken!

[@stevezeppieri]

This made laugh because everything you said is true.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Thanks Steve. 😀

[@jtom1309]

The back of that Winfeild is TRASH, that should have been qualified as OC

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Agreed. Like I said, given the age of the slab, I think the submitter had the option of grading it with or without a potential qualifier. So that card might have been an 8 OC, but was given a 7 without the qualifier. I'm not 100% sure, but I think I heard that PSA no longer does qualifiers at all??

[@corymcewen5943]

NO THE WORST is when sellers sell something they list incorrectly. Example a 1966 Topps O-PEE-CHEE will say printed in Canada at the bottom. I can't believe how many people list a card as an O-PEE-CHEE and it will say printed in U.S.A at the bottom.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

Sounds like those sellers are not very knowledgeable about sports cards. Or trying to pull a fast one on someone.

[@JunkCardDawg]

Any of yall witness a lot of people editing the pictures to smooth out flaws unless you zoom in and see color inconsistency’s and lines off and things? A lot of sellers it feels like

[@WadeBoggsFan]

I haven't. But would be interested in knowing if others have experienced that. Do you think this is a growing situation? Have you found it more with vintage than with modern?

[@JunkCardDawg]

@@WadeBoggsFan if you want I can send you screen shots pointing em out somehow . I am paranoid and really zoom in and look at changed pixels now but a lot of people are obvious I find it with all cards now really. No picture should be altered imo when posting on eBay and if it’s proven we should have a way to report that

[@mathbowler2782]

I do not like feet. They are disgusting. I can totally understand why you would not want to see hands in the pictures.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

If I see someone selling a card with a pic of it between their toes I'll really have a problem!!!! LOL

[@andrewchevrier]

It’s laziness. Takes time to remove cards from the sleeve and top loader. When doing 100 cards, they save hours….and provide bad service. But they figure someone will buy it it. All these suggestions you’re making make sense…but to the laziest of sellers, they all take more time than doing nothing.

[@WadeBoggsFan]

That's true. If someone doesn't want to take the time or effort to do quality listings, they won't change.

[@josefnitervol6415]

I happen to do number 1 lol HAHAHA i will change it

[@WadeBoggsFan]

I bet (and hope) that your listings do better if you do. Best of luck!