unforum

[rlp6028]

Possible Ebay PXC Scam?

[European Chris]

Be careful. It might scare them

[Ifurita]

1. Don't buy sealed packs from ebay
2. If you do, just leave feedback = "bought 10 packs, found no silvers/blacks"

BTW, people have been 'peeking' into sealed packs since the days of Magic: The Gathering.

[Soulsproximity1]

I did not think you could peek into a pack of cards. Well that means no more buying packs on ebay for me anymore.

[Lysithea]

[Ifurita]

Yes, you are correct. I should have qualified my statement. In any case, I would only leave feedback if I had very very strong suspicions that everything wasn't above board. I agree that you can easily get 10 packs with subpar results and negative feedback shouldn't be left haphazardly.

[Joe]

I've opened two full boxes of cards, it's possible (but not probable) for it to happen where you open ten packs and get no blacks.. I've also seen my share of resealed cards (none perplex, but to the point where I had one that was stapled closed.. seriously..) and if you know what you're looking at, they're easy to tell as the heat sealers don't seal the same as the ones used by the card companies (I'm sure everyone has seen the EuroSealer infomercial..)

the one thing I did notice about the cards is that they are not random.. for example I'd open two packs and they'd have the exact same common cards in them and only the one rare would be different) I don't have enough data to prove this (in fact I just ripped em all open and have no data) but it is possible that there is a pattern to which packs contain the rare ones.. it's as simple as cracking that (and I've done it with magic/pokemon/neopets/etc..) and you can pull a silver every time..

[poozle]

I've read about things like card weighing before on trading cards, it requires a REALLY acurate set of scales and only works on some types (I imagine it woulnd't work on perplexcity cards as some of them have special things on like scratch and sniff) but it requires being able to see < 1g difference of weight between packs and knowing which ones are which type of premiums (in some they've started changing the weights for each series so its harder but usually gets worked out eventually).

I still don't know if any technique is possible for PPC cards but I'm sure someone has found a method, i just think it takes all the fun out of it.

[Sophiecat]

Hi,

have just posted this on the PXC forums, but thoguht I would add it here as well.

I was actually wondering about this last night having opened some black-less and silver-less packs, and then discovered this thread today.

As someone new to ARGs I was innocently buying booster packs off ebay in the hope of getting the last few cards (Riemann, 13th Labour and Shuffled) that I don't already have, thinking I was getting a bargain and not aware of any scams that could be done.

I have bought 81 packs from 4 different ebay sellers.

The only packs that had any silvers in were from plusmarketing which also had a couple of blacks (not bad in 12 packs).

I received 2 wave 1/2 blacks in the packs from one seller, none in those from the other two.

I didn't want to pay £13 upwards for a Riemann or any of the others, and enjoy the fun of opening packs of cards, however I just feel really upset now at being ripped off. Particularly as I have another 9 packs on the way from one of these sellers.

[poozle]

Tbh even buying from reputable dealers (firebox, borders, etc.) can be risky, in 20 packs (from the wave 1/2/3 packs) I've had 1 silver and about 3 blacks, I know this isn't quite as low as the "scammers" but its much lower than it should be.

[duckiemonster]

To quote the most often quoted thingle in medicine: Common things occur commonly.

Buying boosters pretty much lives up to that. You're going to get lots of low-value cards, because the higher ones are rare, which is the way that it is supposed to be.

If you're going to be wise with your cash, buy the higher ones separately. This stands regardless of whether you're buying from Firebox, Borders or some allegedly dodgy ebay bloke.

[Curlytek]

Must agree with duckie here, you will always lose out trying to finish your set of high end cards (blacks/silver) from boosters, unless you are REALLY good at selling or trading common cards.

While it should technicnically be possible to 'search' sealed packs (has been happening in other collectible card media for ages), I believe it is far harder with PXC cards because of there larger size/weight and seemingly uniform thicknesses for all card levels. And yes, ebay or firebox, either way you can wind up getting no silvers. I bought 45 packs of the original release from Firebox for 0 silver cards. I was not happy, but then again not overly surprised that it could happen. Then I bought 12 packs of the Wave 3 and got 4 silver. So it all evens out.

In terms of eBay sellers, I could imagine that someone who bought a factory sealed box of 36 packs couldd bust them until they found 2-3 silvers then sell the other packs for about the price they bought them originally (or to make a profit even), then invest in more boxes. But there are all levels of marketing to be found on eBay, from the most honest and reputable sorts to the bottom of the pile scum. It is just a matter of working out who's who before buying.

[thereverendeg]

aye wellll

[friggly]

Re: aye wellll

[UKver2.0]

Re: aye wellll