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 Post subject: Ebay Selling Scam?
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:24 pm 
Unnamed Stormtrooper
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Has anyone heard of this? Someone buys a few cases. They then open boosters from one case, one by one, until they get all the VRs from the case. They then stop with that case. Then they open the next new case, getting the VRs, then stop.

At the end, they take all the boosters that contain non-VRs, and sell them on Ebay....

Question - do you feel that this is dishonest? I have heard of people doing this, which is why you can't buy individual boosters from Ebay. I have even heard that some store owners do this....

Mez


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:26 pm 
Jedi Council
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I've heard of it. Never had a problem with stuff I've bought though.

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:49 am 
Imperial Dignitaries
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That's why if I buy cases I check to see that it says "Factory sealed" or something similar... and if it's not, you can just ask for a refund without opening them, since it doesn't match the item description...

I tend to buy from online stores to avoid this kind of hassle.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:43 am 
Warmaster
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It depends. if they are selling single or cases. You can tell if a case has been opened. if you buy SEALED cases and it has been opened just give bad feedback stating why. If he is not stating it is a sealed case there not a lot you can do.
Always read the auction details.

But i do think its poor practise and do recommand giving bad feedback.

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:56 am 
One of The Ones
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If the ebay Auctioneer is selling individual boosters, than sure, it's a possibility that they ganked those from cases that they already pulled the VRs out of. However, in a Huge set, that's not really that likely. Since there's only 6 boosters in a case, there is usually only 1, maybe 2, boosters left once you've found the VRs. So, it's not really a a very good money making thing. It's easier for those types of people to make money that way with the normal sets that have 12 boosters per case.

Anytime I buy boosters online, I always buy a case. One, it's just plain cheaper that way (heck, you practically by 4, get 2 free with huge sets). And two, you get the security of knowing your case should have the expected distribution. The other option is to purchase from an online store (if you must purchase online, instead of at a local store) that has a good reputation (like the ones in our 'Banking Clan' that help support the site here).

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:09 am 
Third Jedi from the Left
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I've only ever bought a handful of boosters off eBay, mostly D&D. But the last booster I bought off there, quite a while ago, was a Rebel Storm one and I pulled Boba Fett. So I certainly wasn't scammed on that one.

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:53 am 
Ugnaught Master!
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How about this one? When Universe wasn't too easy to come by, my LGS owner bought a few packs online. When he got them, he noticed the TAPE on the bottom. Now THAT is pathetically dishonest.

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:28 am 
One of The Ones
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Fool wrote:
I can't see how this could be done without obviously re-sealing as how is a guy supposed to GUESS everytime it's a VR.


They aren't guessing. They sit down, and pop open a case. With Force Unleashed, you know that your case is guaranteed to have 4 Rs and 2 VRs (not counting huge pieces). If you pop open 3 boosters, and 2 of those are VRs, well, then you know that the last 3 boosters in your case are all Rs. So, those are obviously not as valuable as they would be if you knew they were VRs. So, the inclination is to buy many cases, and open up the boosters one at a time, and then stop once you've found both VRs. Sometimes, you might open all 6 boosters before finding them both, but sometimes, they might be in the first 2 you buy.

Now, if you're able to go back online and sell each of those extra boosters for $15, well you've just made as much as $60 off the extra boosters from one case. When you figure the person probably only paid $80-$90 for the case to start with, they end up getting a pretty decent deal on the two VRs they just pulled.

Honestly though, I don't really think this works out very well with the Huge boosters. Like I said before, in cases of 12 regular size boosters, the numbers work more in favor of the unscrupulous person, and allows them to generally have more boosters left over from each case.

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 11:34 am 
Black Sun Thug
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In general, individual boosters are not that hard to open and re-seal (the glue is hot-melt, so a clothes iron, paper towel, and a putty knife is all that's needed). It takes only a few minutes per booster and is almost undetectable if done right (no creases on the flap, and no scorched carton).

I mainly do it when I get boosters for my nephews, to make sure they get similar value in their boosters and don't duplicate (if nephew #1 has a Darth Vader already and I find another in a booster, that one goes to nephew #2, or so that both get a VR instead of one getting 2 and the other none).

If I can do it, I'm sure a lot of other people can too, and thus I would never buy boosters off E-Bay (I buy singles from Auggie anyways, then supplement with a booster here & there or through trading). I'm betting the cases are also sealed with hot-melt glue, and could also be opened and examined (I think unsealing & re-sealing a case would take longer and be trickier, but would be possible - I've never bought a case so haven't tried).

Eric


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:33 pm 
Imperial Dignitaries
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tvknight415 wrote:
In general, individual boosters are not that hard to open and re-seal (the glue is hot-melt, so a clothes iron, paper towel, and a putty knife is all that's needed). It takes only a few minutes per booster and is almost undetectable if done right (no creases on the flap, and no scorched carton).


A friend and I were talking about this same thing when Universe came out. I took one of the 6 boosters in the case, opened it with the iron and then resealed it with a note inside. I then made a bet that if he could show me the opened booster before he opened it I would give him the case.

He couldn't so I got a case from him instead. :D

I do not buy boosters, but that is an economical thing, not a fear of being cheated. I still purchase cases online occasionally. As long as the auction states "Sealed Case" or something and there is good feedback I feel confident I will get what I ordered.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:50 pm 
Jedi Council
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ChonChuuk wrote:
I do not buy boosters, but that is an economical thing, not a fear of being cheated. I still purchase cases online occasionally. As long as the auction states "Sealed Case" or something and there is good feedback I feel confident I will get what I ordered.



That's how I found the guy i buy my online cases from. Had some great cases from him too. Pulled 4 Boba's from them. One RS, 2 BH, 1 A&E.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:37 pm 
Moff Disra
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I don't buy single boosters from anywhere besides my FLGS. A few years ago at Gencon, a guy had UH boosters for $10 each. I can assure you there were no Rancors or AT-ST's in those boosters.

Factory sealed cases are the only way to buy boosters on-line.


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 4:40 am 
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If he'd only cherry picked the heavy ones out and I still needed a lot of the set I might have still bought some of those for only $10.

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:56 am 
Moff Disra
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homer_sapien wrote:
If he'd only cherry picked the heavy ones out and I still needed a lot of the set I might have still bought some of those for only $10.

You can buy most of the R's from UH for $4-7. The ECT does go for more than a R (strange that it's a UC).


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:12 pm 
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Prices were different back when the set was new. Now I wouldn't buy any older Huge set booster. Back then I'd only have bought them on the chance of a VR. If he'd gone through and was only selling ones with the rares I wouldn't have bought any, but if he'd only taken the heavy ones out because he wanted the big stuff like the rancor and AT-ST I'd have bought them back then.

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