Forum:Yu-Gi-Oh! eBay Scams

If it looks too good to be true, most likely it is!
If you see an auction that looks too good, it most likely is. Don't go for the grab bags. Pay close attention to the entire text of an online auction as the item you are attempting to purchase could very easily be a "random" item.

Read the fine print!
There are many grab bag/pot-luck auctions on eBay where the seller tries to lure the potential buyer by advertising great cards in the title and/or description. Too bad that you only have a very small chance, if any, to get these great cards - as there are always one or 2 cards in the list of possibilities that are much cheaper than the rest. So, you do a search for Necroface or Il Blud. The title reads GLAS-EN090 Necroface Secret Rare MINT!!!. Then you read the description. An example:

In this auction you will win one of the following (usually printed very small):


 * TAEV-EN088 Il Blud
 * AST-037 Enemy Controller
 * STON-EN000 Grandmaster of the Six Samurai
 * GLAS-EN090 Necroface

It's most likely you'll get the "Enemy Controller", which you can likely get elsewhere on eBay for about $1.

Random Picks
When the seller says that he will "randomly" pick a card to give you from a list, in 99% of the cases it's just a ruse to get your money. If you e-mail the seller and ask for a picture of the offered card(s), with a dated newspaper in the picture, you'll find, many sellers do not even own the card they're trying to lure you with. For example, many Shonen Jump Trophy cards are offered on eBay, when in reality there are only a few of each. It's highly unlikely that anyone would offer such a card in a grab bag. The best bet is to just avoid grab-bag auctions altogether.

Example #2
Title of auction: 3 Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, 3 ULT Cyber End Dragon, SJC-EN003 Shrink

Inside: "I am selling out my collection, you are bidding on one of the following listed:

1x SJC-EN003 Shrink 3x ULTIMATE rare Cyber End Dragon, 1st edt. 3x STON-EN000 Grandmaster of the Six Samurai 1x Jinzo (BPT version)

A lot of people don't notice that it says one of the following and may spend massive money on a single Jinzo.

It is also very important to read the Shipping/Handling fine print. There are auctions where the Shipping and Handling was very reasonable, but the small print states that you have to buy insurance at an extra $9.

Boosters via eBay
Avoid buying Yu-Gi-Oh! Booster Packs on eBay unless they come in a sealed box (preferably by manufacturer) and/or they come from a seller you know and trust. Most Booster Packs on eBay have been searched, be it through scaling or knowing the positioning of certain packs within a box. You might never find elusive Secret or Ultra Rares in Single Packs bought on eBay, but on average, you're better off buying sealed boxes. The same goes for buying from retail stores. Too many hobby retailers scale their product, and the poor buyer gets the leftovers.

Packs vs. Singles
It's almost always cheaper to buy the single card(s) instead of packs, unless you have a need for a lot of extra cards. It doesn't make physical sense to buy and open 24 packs to find the single Jinzo you might or might not find. Of course it's much more fun to find the card you want, but....

Collector or Player?
Most cards have been reprinted, be it in a Starter Deck, Structure Deck, or one of the various Reprint Sets (GLD1,DB1, DB2, DR1, DR2, DR3, DR04, DP1, DP2, DP03, DP04, DP05, DP06, DP07 & DP08). Often, these cards are much cheaper than the originals, since they are of decreased rarity. A lot of players don't care whether their "D.D. Warrior Lady" is a Super Rare from Dark Crisis or a Common from Structure Deck 5: Warrior's Triumph/Structure Deck: The Dark Emperor. The difference in price is significant. Buy a Structure Deck, and then go out and buy the extra singles you need on eBay.

Compare the whole deal
Especially the case for non-U.S buyers, you have to be careful as some dealers charge a lot in shipping and handling costs, some up to $25 to send a single card. A seller wouldn't list a "Buy It Now" auction for $0.01 (US) unless they're certain to make a profit on shipping and handling.

Please keep in mind that Shipping Internationally can often be rather expensive. If shipping via the Postal Service, the only methods that offer any sort of tracking service (usually for seller's safety), can be rather costly. In addition, eBay does not fee the seller for Shipping and Handling charges but does fee the seller to list the item and a percentage of the Final Value of the item once it sells. This is the reason most sellers will charge extra for additional auctions won. You should be aware of that any combined shipping of "Free" to "$1.00" is reasonable (Don't forget that even though eBay does not fee the Shipping and Handling, Paypal still fees the total amount of the transaction". Anything over $1.00 for each additional card is too much and should generally be avoided.

Check combined S & H
Many dealers have a flat fee per card or per auction (Which is a BIG difference), some dealers have a maximum in S & H, and many do not. This can make a really BIG difference!

Find a reasonable amount that you are willing to pay in whole for the card. This means that if you have already won an item and you are looking to purchase more from the current seller. The seller is charging $1.00 for each additional card. You are willing to pay a total of $5.00 for the card. Include the $1.00 in your total purchase and bid on the card up to $4.00. Remember that even though the card is selling for $4.00, you are actually paying $5.00 for it.

Also, it is possible for seller to jack up the shipping without your consent. A eBay user named "Rareteen" once charged $41 shipping for $21 items while it says shipping is combined.

Always check Seller feedback
Yes, a few negative comments in 100s or 1000s transactions doesn't mean a lot - there are bad apples out there, on both sides. BUT, the moment the feedback goes beneath a certain number (for larger-volume dealers, 98%-98.5% is acceptable, anything below is not), there is a problem. Yes, 97% on a math exam is great, but if on average 3 out of 100 people are not happy with a dealer, there is a 3/100 chance that it will be YOU.

It's suggested you take the time and read what the negative feedback is concerning the seller. A lot of times, especially with eBay's new feedback policies, a buyer will try to threaten a seller with Negative feedback (after they have paid and received the item), if the seller does not refund some/all of the purchase money. This, of course, is wrong, unethical, and against eBay policies as well. Buyers will sometimes take advantage that most sellers leave Feedback as soon as the item is paid for, and knowing that sellers are unable to leave Negative or Neutral feedback, buyers will often try to get an upper hand in a transaction. This can cause in sellers who handle a large volume of orders to receive unwarranted Negative Feedback.

Moral of the story: Do your research before committing your money to a single seller!

Be firm but fair with Dealers
Check the negative (and of course, the positive comments) in their feedback. If they're mostly from eBay newbies who thought that three days were too long to wait for the card to reach Rome from Toronto, ignore them. Check the feedback of the buyer - is he/she a regular complainer? Does he/she have often delivery problems with other sellers? It's not the seller's fault sometimes. Note the volume, though. Easy math, but a seller with 90% can be a good seller if he only has 9 positives and 1 negative (say the negative is from some nutcase who complained that his Japanese card wasn't in English). Check the history as well. If a dealer has had great feedback as of late, perhaps he had some bad luck in the past and turned a corner. The reverse can often be true, too.

Compare, Compare, Compare
Don't just check the auction, you should also check the eBay stores. Many great deals can be found in the eBay stores. Sometimes Dealers forget to update their store(s), and that rather hard-to-find Smashing Ground (a $6-10 Short Print Common from Invasion of Chaos at the time this article was created) could still be tucked away in some store for US$1.

Know your locations
Make certain that you know where the card is coming from. Know that cards shipped from foreign countries might take longer to arrive (In some cases, even weeks). Feedback is international - a local dealer with 94% feedback is NOT a better choice than a foreign dealer with 99.9%. Also, make certain that the card you purchase is tournament-legal where you live.

Pre-sell Auctions
Beware pre-sell / pre-sale auctions! There are strict rules for this on eBay, BUT, unless somebody complains to eBay, these rules are often NOT followed. Sellers can NOT pre-sell items, unless they can guarantee a shipping date within a 30-day time frame after the auction has ended! They also have to clearly mark their auctions as a pre-sale and indicate a shipping date. If the auction ends August 31st, the auction cannot then state "Will ship by the end of October". Yet, more than half of the pre-sale auctions on eBay break the rules in this way!

Also, you often can buy the same item cheaper upon the official release. Much cheaper, in some cases. Yes, it's nice to be the first to have a certain card - but especially with pre-sale items you often will receive your items AFTER everybody else has been served, and in some cases, a long time after. Some buyers have received their presell card purchases 6 WEEKS after the cards were being sold in local retail shops. After all, the seller already has your money. Certain dealers also use the pre-sale auctions as a bankroll to actually buy products.

Check item condition
If the condition of an item is not mentioned in the description, ask the seller. If he does not reply, do not buy.

Insurance
If you have had problems with deliveries in the past, check to see if insurance is offered. Does it make fiscal sense to insure a US$0.50 card? No. Does it make fiscal sense to insure that Ultra Rare Des Volstgalph, valued at US$450? Yes! Avoid dealers who will force you to insure even the most worthless of cards. Avoid dealers who insist that insurance is not available, period. Do not deal with people whose feedback indicates that their product is often lost in the mail.

Direct Pickup
More often than not, it is much safer to simply pick up the card from the seller if they live close enough. However, many sellers will deny this is possible. There could be many reasons why. Most likely they are trying to make an easy buck on the exorbitant shipping prices or they do not actually have the card in question. Avoid sellers who strongly refuse pickup (especially ones that cannot provide a reason).

Keep your dealers minimal
Pick a few dealers you had a good experience with and keep on checking their items. You have a favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! store in real life, why not online with eBay?

The important scams
There are now MANY sellers on eBay offering deals which are almost impossible - 2 Crush Card Viruses in the same auction - without a photo of the actual cards (just a stock picture), by a seller with VERY low feedback. Now, if you had US$3000+ worth of 2 cards, wouldn't you at least bother to take a picture and provide some backstory (Say, "Card A was won by at an SJC in Seattle, card B was won by at an SJC in Honolulu"). Also check the other bidders - if they're mostly 0-10 feedback bidders, forget about high-priced cards!

Shill Bidding
An increasing practice with some sellers is to create "Shill" accounts, self-created by the seller, whose only purpose is drive up the price of the item. This is against eBay's Terms of Service.

Check the Return Policy
Check to see if the seller offers a return policy. As with card games, most sellers will not offer a Return Policy if the item description matches the actual item. This is to ensure that the cards are not being "rented" for a given time period, only to be returned for a refund.

Scans vs. Photos
Some sellers will use a scan of the actual card up for auction so the potential buyer can see the actual card. They don’t want to steal someone else’s photograph. That’s also why a lot of sellers have their pictures (scans or photos) marked, but marking the images doesn’t always work very well. So then you have a lot of honest sellers loading images they created, without markings, into their eBay auctions. It's OK to use stock photos at times, but you should always read the item description to make sure the item you are getting matched exactly with what you see in the photo (Rarity, Edition, Etc).

Price Inflation
On many auctions sellers will use the shill method and then when the auction ends they will e-mail a bidder and say that the self created account won't pay and ask you if you want it for the inflated price. If this EVER happens never pay the inflated price. Ask the seller to take the last price you bid, considered to be a "Second Chance Offer". A Seller will sometimes have multiple copies of a given item and would be willing to sell it for your final bidding price. Please be aware that sellers do have a comment box where they can offer you this 2nd item for the cheaper price but under other conditions (Unlimited Edition instead of First Edition, Out of its factory sealed wrapper instead of factory sealed, Different Language instead of the language listed on the original auction, etc.) so read your "Second Chance Offer" very carefully.

Have a limit
In any auction, set a limit on how much you will spend. This practice will, if adhered to, help to prevent being conned by shill auctions and price inflation.

Tiny White Letters
Some dealers put hidden msgs like tiny white letters, so look out for them. They mention rolling dice, it's never true. There are some dealers who intentionally scroll down very far in the description section of the auction then in microscopic sized letters usually the color yellow or something very light say that this auction is a random draw auction or a dice roll or something to that effect. If you ever see an auction that says they are not responsible for those who do not read their auctions and then you have to scroll really far down to see their shipping options this seller is hoping that you scroll down fast and skip past their notation of the true nature of the auction. THIS IS A TOTAL SCAM ALL THE WAY. PLEASE BEWARE. THESE SELLERS DO THIS ON HIGH END CARDS!! The best way to check where there are tiny letters is to highlight all the text from top to bottom and checking for the letters.

Bold Text not included
There are auctions that say "no hidden text" and "no Dice roll" but when read carefully at the bottom it would say cards that are bolded are not included. These scams would often start with some cheesy phrase "i have overstocked dark armed" or something like that.

In these auctions, the scammer offers an incredible deck full of suspiciously great cards (all 1st Edition and Ultimate Rare). Almost all of the cards, including every single card that's at all rare, is written in bold or a different color font to accentuate it. There's a block of text in tiny font below the auction with tedious information - the seller's getting out of the game, he needs money for vacation, the cards in bold aren't included... A bidder might bid enormously on this auction, only to receive the cards that aren't in bold.

Card Not Card
Some sellers will list their auction under a long name designed to trick people into bidding. This is similar to the Random Picks example, although the seller doesn't pretend to have the rare cards. These auctions will have titles like "Big Core not Plaguespreader Judgment Dragon Necroface Il Blud". Be sure to read the description.

How to pull it not the card
In some cases the seller will say how to pull a card. For example u want to buy a crush card virus. You would search it up then it says how to pull it. People might see that the price is really low like 50$ but when they buy it is just paper telling u how to pull it.

Fake Cards
When buying cards on ebay, make sure you examine the pictures carefully and make sure the card name is correct. A water mark does not guarantee that the cards are authentic. Sometimes, reading the card names from pictures is not possible, so it's important to look at the approximate length of the names. For example, if you see a card with a picture of dark paladin but the length of the name appears to be much more than dark paladin (i.e. Superior Devil Swordsman), Don't buy.