TOPIC: Suspicious (?) eBay auction

Does anyone know anything about this auction:



I’m always suspicious of this kind of “pig in a poke” auction where someone is:

A. Selling a large lot of collectibles
B. Has a few choice items front and center (greater onyx quicksilver charm, lenses of divine sight)
C. Maintains that they don’t know what this stuff is worth
D. Has an asking price that is high relative to what is pictured.

The composition of tokens here is very strange - it included volunteer tokens, adventurers guild tokens, unused treasure pull chips, and at least one transmute.

It makes me worry these might be stolen as I’m finding it hard to believe someone with both volunteer times, large purchase reward tokens, and transmuted tokens woundnt know how to price these.

If not that, then I worry this is a dishonest seller whose listed $200 of tokens for $500 and is putting on this “I don’t know what I’ve got” act in hopes someone believes there are some hidden URs in the pile.

Matthew Hayward wrote: Does anyone know anything about this auction:



I’m always suspicious of this kind of “pig in a poke” auction where someone is:

A. Selling a large lot of collectibles
B. Has a few choice items front and center (greater onyx charm)
C. Maintains that don’t know what this stuff is worth
D. Has an asking price that is high relative to what is pictured.

The composition of tokens here is very strange - it included volunteer tokens, adventurers guild tokens, unused treasure pull chips, and at least one transmute.

It makes me worry these might be stolen as I’m finding it hard to believe someone with both volunteer times, large purchase reward tokens, and transmuted tokens woundnt know how to price these.

If not that, then I worry this is a dishonest seller whose listed $200 of tokens for $500 and is putting on this “I don’t know what I’ve got” act in hopes someone believes there are some hidden URs in the pile.

he or she knows what they have based on past auctions. So they know and are trying

Matthew Hayward wrote: Does anyone know anything about this auction:



I’m always suspicious of this kind of “pig in a poke” auction where someone is:

A. Selling a large lot of collectibles
B. Has a few choice items front and center (greater onyx quicksilver charm, lenses of divine sight)
C. Maintains that they don’t know what this stuff is worth
D. Has an asking price that is high relative to what is pictured.

The composition of tokens here is very strange - it included volunteer tokens, adventurers guild tokens, unused treasure pull chips, and at least one transmute.

It makes me worry these might be stolen as I’m finding it hard to believe someone with both volunteer times, large purchase reward tokens, and transmuted tokens woundnt know how to price these.

If not that, then I worry this is a dishonest seller whose listed $200 of tokens for $500 and is putting on this “I don’t know what I’ve got” act in hopes someone believes there are some hidden URs in the pile.

It is interesting how many Lenses of Divine Sight the seller has sold recently, and there is one in this lot as well.

I'd certainly not bid $500 for that lot, I'd assume that any valuable tokens are visible. It does seem clear from completed auctions that the seller knows which tokens are URs. Regarding (c) on your list though, I don't see where the seller said that they don't know what they've got or what it's worth. It's true of course that they aren't revealing all the tokens, likely hoping someone will think there are some hidden treasures buried there.

I've seen auctions like that with Magic cards numerous times.

The basket is the part throwing me off. Um, why a basket like that? It would be a terrible way to store them and weird way to present them.

I'd definitely assume the most valuable are the ones visible. I'd be even more wary of doing business with them because they are claiming they don't know what the tokens are worth but have sold URs before. If anything, that raises a HUGE red flag - even to the extend that I'd wonder if the tokens are authentic.

Fred

so I made an offer based on what I saw. The seller countered with $50 more than buy it now. So I shall be recountering with$1..and add a dollar every time I can.

Fred K wrote: The basket is the part throwing me off. Um, why a basket like that? It would be a terrible way to store them and weird way to present them.

I'd definitely assume the most valuable are the ones visible. I'd be even more wary of doing business with them because they are claiming they don't know what the tokens are worth but have sold URs before. If anything, that raises a HUGE red flag - even to the extend that I'd wonder if the tokens are authentic.

Fred

Hi Fred, where in the auction does it say he doesn't know how much they are worth? He does say he doesn't know how many there are, so he didn't bother to count them.

I did send him a message asking if there were any valuable tokens that aren't visible in the photo, I haven't heard back yet.

He says 5 lbs worth,
That basket is part of that’s at 3-4 pounds,
It’s his Hustle,
So you want $500 and you can’t
Even give us a total token count,
How long would that take 3 mins.
Scam!

Mike Steele wrote:

Fred K wrote: The basket is the part throwing me off. Um, why a basket like that? It would be a terrible way to store them and weird way to present them.

I'd definitely assume the most valuable are the ones visible. I'd be even more wary of doing business with them because they are claiming they don't know what the tokens are worth but have sold URs before. If anything, that raises a HUGE red flag - even to the extend that I'd wonder if the tokens are authentic.

Fred

Hi Fred, where in the auction does it say he doesn't know how much they are worth? He does say he doesn't know how many there are, so he didn't bother to count them.

I did send him a message asking if there were any valuable tokens that aren't visible in the photo, I haven't heard back yet.

That's true - I interpreted it as he didn't know but your take on it is reasonable as well.

Chad - I like your counter - I've never seen someone increase the cost beyond buy it now on a counter. I've had them stay at the same number. Countering with $1 is a funny response (unless it was just a typo to come in higher than the buy it now).

Overall - an odd scenario, I'm definitely staying away from it.

Fred

I saw this as well and decided to ignore it based on the lack of information. It felt pretty shady to me.

Fred K wrote:

Mike Steele wrote:

Fred K wrote: The basket is the part throwing me off. Um, why a basket like that? It would be a terrible way to store them and weird way to present them.

I'd definitely assume the most valuable are the ones visible. I'd be even more wary of doing business with them because they are claiming they don't know what the tokens are worth but have sold URs before. If anything, that raises a HUGE red flag - even to the extend that I'd wonder if the tokens are authentic.

Fred

Hi Fred, where in the auction does it say he doesn't know how much they are worth? He does say he doesn't know how many there are, so he didn't bother to count them.

I did send him a message asking if there were any valuable tokens that aren't visible in the photo, I haven't heard back yet.

That's true - I interpreted it as he didn't know but your take on it is reasonable as well.

Chad - I like your counter - I've never seen someone increase the cost beyond buy it now on a counter. I've had them stay at the same number. Countering with $1 is a funny response (unless it was just a typo to come in higher than the buy it now).

Overall - an odd scenario, I'm definitely staying away from it.

Fred

Well, there isn't really a buy it now option on that auction, just a starting bid amount and the option of making an offer. I could see a rationale of having a counter-offer that's higher than the starting bid amount, if the seller is expecting to get multiple bids and that the final selling price will be above the opening bid amount. Hopefully of course there won't be any bids at $500 or higher unless the seller reveals more high-value tokens in the auction.

Anyone else notice in the lower right corner of the first image. It is a token holder. They are also selling a single relic fragment and an adventure guild token from 2019. Tokens look like they are from a lot of different years.

Just bid based on what is visible and assume nothing good from what is not pictured. That's what I do on these. So clearly this is not worth $500.