Football Got a Great Deal!!!

CamaroDMD

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It seems like everyone is always finding steals on eBay...everyone but me. For once, I seem to have found a good one.

As many of you probably know, I tend to collect older stuff...1990s and before. Cards that I either collected as a kid or the vintage stuff that I dreamed of collecting as a kid. Many sets of those eras are dirt cheap and super common...and thus pose no challenge to collect. So, I try (when available) to collect rare versions of those sets...to set them apart. One example is 1995 Topps football.

It's not a set I was a huge collector of as a kid...but I certainly remember it. I remember really liking it. Again, today it doesn't present much a challenge. More cards from an over-saturated era. But, they do have a couple special versions. In 1995, Topps issued special stamped sets...one commemorating the first season of the Carolina Panthers and another for the first season of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Each set was a limited production of 4000. They are identical to the normal set except for the gold Panthers/Jaguars stamp on the front.

As a huge Panthers fan, it only made sense for me to gravitate towards the Panthers version. Being significantly rarer than the base set also made is special to me. The only down side to it is that these sets were released only as factory sets. So, one purchase and you have the whole set...not really the challenge of assembling a set.

So, I have kept an eye open for a Panthers set. I was looking for a sealed original box example...one that I get to be the first to open. Normally, I see them selling in the $40-$60 range. Heck, I recently saw a base factory set sell for $40 (which seems crazy to me).

Yesterday, I saw a Panthers set for sale. The shipping was high...$21.89 but it only had one bidder. The starting price was $2.50. The sale ended near midnight so I didn't want to stay up and snipe it. So, I put in a low bid (like $5) hoping I might get lucky. Sure enough...at $3.50 I became the high bidder. I went to bed figuring someone would out but me...but no. I checked this morning when I got up and...I won it. Paid for it immediately. I got it for $3.50 plus the shipping. Not the steal of the century but for just about $25...not a bad buy. Certainly well below retail.

Of course...the seller has a feedback score of 40 and only 2 feedback are as a seller. One positive and one negative...and the negative was from him "never sending the item" and both are from over a year ago. All recent feedback is as a buyer. So, perhaps I should contain my excitement until the set actually arrives.
 
first... how can you get excited about Panthers? lol..

second... good steal! I hope it comes in and is exactly what you were looking for and wanted! post up pics!
 
Well, it's been a week...no word from the seller and item hasn't been marked as shipped. I know it's a little early to get concerned...but he only has 2 previous feedbacks as a seller (and one was a negative for not shipping).

So, I went ahead and sent him an eBay message asking if the item has shipped yet. Hopefully I'm just being overly concerned but I have had a bad feeling about this one since the get go. I figure if it hasn't arrived in another week...then I should be worried.
 
I would give him 48 hours at the max to answer. if there is no answer, file an eBay claim. as a seller he should have shipped within 3 to 5 days max.

don't let 'em push you around Richie! sick the dogs on 'em!
 
I would give him 48 hours at the max to answer. if there is no answer, file an eBay claim. as a seller he should have shipped within 3 to 5 days max.

don't let 'em push you around Richie! sick the dogs on 'em!
I agree with you. However I have had items arrive before that were never marked as shipped and there is no tracking. So it might be enroute. My experience has been 10 days from pay until arrival isn't unusual. So I figure if the item doesn't arrive this week it's not coming.
 
Well, I hadn't heard anything from the seller until yesterday...then I got this message:

"I APPOLOGIZE IT IS GOING OUT MONDAY I WILL SEND U TRACKING INFO UPS."

He also sent me a tracking number which corresponds to a UPS label that it destined for my area. Hasn't shipped yet though...so we will see.
 
OK, so it arrived today. In original packaging...just as described.

Now...here is my question for you guys. When it comes to eBay feedback...I'm pretty easy going. Normally, if the item arrives as described, I will leave a positive and give 5-star ratings.

In this case, the item did arrive as described. But, I heard nothing from him and after a week I sent him a message. A full week later (literally a day before I was going to file an eBay claim)...he messaged me back and said he was going to ship it out on the following Monday (this was a Friday). It was shipped that Monday. So, it took him 2 weeks before I heard a word from him and a few days more for it to actually go out. He charged me $21.89 for shipping and when it arrived it had been shipped UPS ground. Based on my online calculations...shipping cost him $16.60 but a junky box he mailed it in (with no padding or anything inside...so it was able to bounce around). However...the total cost paid was acceptable for the item.

So, what do I do for feedback? My gut is telling me I should leave positive feedback as the item did arrive as described...but say something like "Item as described, very slow to ship." I also think I should leave a low star rating for shipping cost, speed and communication. He clearly is not someone who sells often so I doubt the star ratings will do a whole lot (he only has feedback from 2 previous buyers and they are both over a year old).

Like I said, I rarely leave anything but positives and 5 stars. I'm happy with the item and despite a poor packaging effort it arrived safely. Service, I'm not so thrilled with. What do you think I should do?
 
If you got the item undamaged, unharmed and in good condition I'd give him 5 stars. That's really all that matters. Just don't buy from him in the future until he gets his shipping act together.
 
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