eBay sellers....hmmmm wonder who

[mattkoz]

If you're dealing anything meaningful, there is NO REASON not to use tracking features. They are not that expensive and you can always be willing to pay for them if the dealer is shady. Any trader/seller not willing to use tracking and provide that information is shady, IMO.

agreed. I've always used tracking for anything I've sold worth more than $5 because I always want to cover myself. Plus, the truth is that things DO get lost in the mail (or severely delayed) and I would want to provide a solid answer to anyone buying from me. since that's how I feel when I'M selling, I tend to agree that if a seller refuses to use tracking, ESPECIALLY when the buyer offers to foot the $, then it DEFINITELY seems shady!

I should amend to say at least providing a Delivery Confirmation number. The USPS Delivery Confirmation service is cheap. There are some other more complex tracking options they have that are more expensive, I guess. But all I really need to know is some number than I can look to see that it's on the way. I don't necessarily need to know every time someone handles it at the PO. Either way, the US Postal Service is a confusing mess. No wonder it is in financial ruin.

[Bullio]

I can't remember if I ever did business with Orange King, but the name rings a bell from way back when.  Think he was associated with David Marotta somehow, assuming they're not the same person (pretty sure they aren't).  I find it hard to stomach some of the prices he has, though.  He and bornagain both have pretty high prices that keep me from doing any sort of regular business.  Too many character+specials bundles when generally all I want is a character or a special or two.

I made a purchase from bornagain...last year, maybe?...through his website.  I initially tried to trade off some dupes as a means of credit but I guess I was too stubborn or not giving him the deal he wanted because he decided to close trade negotiations and I just bought from him instead.  I didn't have any problems with magic price adjustments, but some of that may have to do with my consistently quoting his prices at him.  I ended up getting everything I wanted, some rarer 3 stat heroes and all of the Wildstorms inserts I needed except Crystal which he apparently lost, for around $24.  He shipped quickly and the cards I received looked fine.  A couple had slight signs of wear, but what do you really expect from cards printed over 15 years ago that were meant to be played with?  That said I probably wouldn't do business with him again.  The e-mails weren't always entirely clear and never were they well written (though thankfully I didn't detect any sort of attitude) which I found unprofessional and made me feel like I was dealing with a 10 year old.  He also didn't seem very keen on the idea of price matching his eBay listings; I think I ended up only buying cards from his website that weren't otherwise listed as singles on eBay.  In the end I got what I paid for and was happy, but also relieved that I got anything at all after PayPaling the money over to him despite the apprehension I was having about the deal at the time.  I found his "5%" thing kind of gimmicky too.  10 cents off of a $2 card isn't much of an advertising gimmick.

Thankfully some new sellers seem to be showing up on ebay now, so hopefully some new deals will be popping up more regularly now since some of the other more semi-regular ones seem to have vanished.  I've seen some stuff that I'd have probably bought already if I could afford to spend a little on the side for gaps in my collection, but alas expenses are an annoying bitch.