If anyone wonders how much of a grind it is to sell cards, here it is. Fly out to a different state, haggle with a random person that has no idea about values, drive almost non-stop for 7 hours. Work for 7 days full-time to pull in $2000. If that's not for the love of the game then I don't know what is.
I wouldn't have the patience to be a full time card dealer. I'd have ended up telling the guy to kick rocks. but I guess that's why you're the one with a successful RUclips channel lol. love the stories as always Chris!
This is my favorite YT card channel because Chris tells his stories like he's sitting with us individually in a room and telling a story to a friend. So many channels (card collecting or otherwise) feature some doofus yelling at the audience.
I think it might have been a somewhat dishonest tactic but the fact that Eddie said the guy really needed to sell some cards because he needed the money made it justified
This reminds me of an anecdote I heard about dealing with men from the middle east where price is always a negotiation. My friend said his father would be mad if you agreed to buy something for the price he put on an item. I said "he'd be mad??" I couldn't believe it. But he explained, if you agreed to the price so easily he would be mad at himself for not pricing it higher. And some people just love to haggle!
Great content. Collectors are more emotional then flippers. Never breakup a lot, always start negotiating for the entire collection. This way when you offer big money they are more inclined to move it.
This is definitely why I'm not a dealer. I couldn't deal with the hassle and drama involved after all the driving etc. Chris, you are the GOAT because of your patience, honesty, and flexibility. As a collector over the last 30 years, at some point I will have to sell but I certainly won't be selling for pennies on the dollar like people in FB groups want.
I really enjoy all of the "Adventures in Card Dealing" videos. My OCD personality gives a thumbs-up for the spreadsheet at the end of each video. Thanks, Chris.
Wow. Thought I was on an island with a similar seller -- took me 3 trips to figure it out myself - but great story for sure !! Old timers man - all i can say is im 38 and this guy was mid 80's .... A gap in knowledge and trust is a big gap to bridge - but it is possible !!
Not everyone has the mental fortitude to negotiate multi-thousand dollar deals. It is much more difficult than people think. And to do so in good faith in a tricky situation is even more difficult. If I was a teacher, I would give you an A on this "assignment" lol!
Actually, you dealt in good faith. You knew he wasn’t going to take your initial offer, so you “let the seller win the negotiations.” In the end, you both got the desired outcome. He got some much needed money and you got some inventory you could sell and make a profit. Nothing shady about that.
okay I am only at the stock photo and as a Cardinals fan I am drooling! I will come back and edit this after the video. Thank you....... Welll not exactly what I thought was going to go down, im happy that everything worked out and you got a deal and made some loot Chris. have a great day!
I thought you were about to say that you got the deal of a lifetime after you drove us stay away and back to get the deal done. But then I realized you did all that for $2000 before taxes, wow. What a grind.
Another great story, thanks for sharing. I recently bought over 1 million cards dates range from 1970 to 2009 asking price was 5k, I offered 3.5k and the deal was done the seller also helped load the u haul truck it took 4 people about 3 1/2 to 4 hrs to load by hand and it took me 9 hours over 2 days to unload it. the u haul with mileage cost me roughly 200.00 and I put 100.00 worth of gas in it.( @ $4.30 a gallon) now I have to sort through it over the next 6 to 12 months to see if I got any real value.
i think what ever you said to him was fair i run into guys like him all the time its part of dealing, you know that, for what you made, he got an awesome deal that drive to get the money alone was crazy, sellers usually have little to no clue what it takes flip everything, bravo bro
I have a car lot and no matter what price I put on a car people want to go lower. Now the matket is so crazy I just say I have three people I can call to buy this car if you dont just take it or leave it. Amazing.
Great story! Just goes to show that there are different ways to close the deal. Thank you for sharing these stories, Chris. Would love to see another installment of questions with the Texas Snowman.
These are my thoughts. You promised 1000, so you need to honor your word in order to create the trust with the seller. As you mentioned, after you honor your word, everything was easy ... I love your videos Chris =)
You know people only collect what they like. I know for a long time I collected everything. Took me a while to separate the wheat from the chaff. I’m getting up in age don’t have the urge to collect much anymore. Been selling off most last few years. Haven’t eBay for a while.🐎🌻✌️
Congrats on making the purchase happen. This is a great example of why I'm not wired to be in the hobby full time. I'd have told that guy to go take a long walk off a short pier. I don't like playing games.
Chris, great story, and i do love the fact that you trusted Eddie's advice, and the fact he knew this guy enough to know his character, and a different way have to approach him, another thing I have to give you credit for, the fact that once you realized he was at the point of trusting you, you still were honest enough to not take advantage of him and keep low balling ,and did give him fair market value. right on Chris,
I would have left immediately. Your patience is off the charts. I would never trust a seller who low balled me and then was willing to up their offer two or three times. That said, I’ve never sold anything that I didn’t know the value of already. 🧐
You have so much integrity. I always envisioned most people in this business were shady, and maybe they are, but you clearly or not. I probably wouldn't have played games with this guy and would have walked away.
That's a scary situation ..travel time .driving 8 hours Florida then back .. gas etc etc etc it's a stretch to go that far ..in my opinon ..glad it worked out for you
Not disingenuous my friend, you just demonstrated the platinum rule: treat others the way THEY want to be treated. Life is all about perspective and you found a way to a have a breakthrough with a human with his own unique perspective. Great content as always 👍
Great story. I feel like some of the info about how the negotiations should go down could have been shared with you before hand. You are way more patient and understanding than I am.
I must admit- when the map popped up, I imagined Chris Sewell effortlessly gliding across the freeway, looking out over the sunrise on Mobile Bay, with the windows down and the radio up… “get your motor runnin’, head out on the highway…” lol but I know that drive was probably not enjoyable at all with the time constraints and the possibility of losing the deal! Thanks for another great story, Chris. One of the highlights of all your followers’ days.
I think every deal is dependent upon the personalities involved. There was no ill-intentioned negotiating and everyone came out ok. He was likely into the cards under a thousand back then. Win-win.
I’d say from hearing everything you said, the strategy put the seller at ease and you did eventually gain trust and ultimately offers fair prices. You could’ve choose to continue the low ball prices but you didn’t and took the high road. For that I commend you. Sometimes whatever works to make the seller feel at ease is ok, worked for both parties. Keep up the great work!
I've done business with guys like this on numerous occasions, it can be extremely frustrating.. I don't know what it is with some collectors - but they can be kooky... Some of these collectors just do not understand value and the fact a profit needs to be made - they treat their cards like they're a form of legal tender currency - not only that - but their memories associated with the cards have monetary value... I just tried to buy a large vintage collection last week and the cards in the collection were very desirable but they were in rough shape - only one problem - this guy wanted high book - not only that but he believes dealers buy cards and then "restore" them - he actually believed/believes grading services like PSA restore cards - he kept on saying "once this card is restored it easily has to be worth X".. Look, needless to say I couldn't buy anything despite the fact I made a good offer on his collection - and it was a nice collection too - pre-1980 multi-sport - tons of stars/HOF'ers, excellent and very desirable cards just in lower grade but he just wouldn't budge because he was convinced cards can be "restored"...smh
The good old art of negotiations. Lol. I've been in these types of situations many times. I had this one guy who every time I tried to give him a good deal he thought there must be something wrong and didn't buy it. I quit ever giving him deals after that. I wanted to help the guy, but he wouldn't let me.
Love these stories! That was kind of weird to have to start that way to build trust, especially after you built the trust you could’ve really burnt him! But we all know that’s not the way you roll! People are strange some stranger than other’s, so at least you did him fair and and you didn’t walk away empty handed! And you still keep your honor as being straight up! Win Win!
Great stuff as usual Chris Glad it worked out because for minute I thought you were gonna tell us the dude had you guys tied up in the basement after you didn’t want to give him that 1st G 😂
You obviously had no choice but to approach the gentleman in that manner. Thankfully Eddie knew how this gentleman operated (with the lack of trust, and poor knowledge of card values), and was able to help orchestrate a decent deal, or the trip to Louisiana could have been a total bust.
Appreciate you sharing the story. This is why you are still the best sports card channel on RUclips and it’s not even close. These influencers as well as pump and dump people need to watch this video to really understand the hustle that goes in the cards. Great stuff my friend!
It's a very good tactic to use if someone truly doesn't follow the hobby or the value. Start low and let them feel in control by upping the price. At first I thought Eddie might have been in on a scam to get you to bid way up but he was actually right in then end.
I actually give you credit for staying there and working things out especially the way things started so no I think you did the right thing know when you’d pay fair in the end anyway great stories
Sounds like Eddie knew the way to play it based on the guy's personality. As long as everyone's happy at the end, the means are justified. These are our favorite Chris! Please do them more often if possible! Thanks! Great work!
What's funny to me is that's standard negotiating before the internet and anyone could find out what anything is worth in instantly. I followed my gramps around flea markets and antique stores for years, and this is exactly how it always worked. I kinda wish that was still the way.
Great story Chris. I do have a question though about this deal. Would you have still done it if you knew you were going to have to make that drive? Seems like you did a ton of work on this deal for not too amazing profit.
That's a tough way to negotiate but unfortunately you had to do what you had to do. The entire time he was "ripping you off " in his mind and at the end you gave him a more than fair price for the lot. Another cool story, thanks for sharing.
In this case, it's not disingenuous at all for using that particular tactic. That guy clearly had a certain personality that wasn't going to be easy to deal with. His friend said he needed to sell and needed the money. He recommended that tactic and you didn't rip him off. Ethics are sometimes a really fuzzy area when it comes to these things, but I think you were being ethical under the circumstances. Imagine someone low balling the guy and coming up to a price that still ripped him off? You weren't trying to do that. I love these story times and go back and re-watch the videos because you're a great story teller and they're so interesting.
Love these type of stories. I personally feel you did what was needed to make the deal. You might of low balled but it helped you establish trust and then you offered gained traction. If you kept low baking and swindled then it might be a different reaction.
I always love these stories Chris and I really look forward to the videos! I could only imagine how uncomfortable it was flying to New Orleans and not being able to come to terms on a deal early on, then the debacle with BOA which I seem to recall you had that same issue in another deal as well. I think it’s time for them to change their name to “Bank of Some of America” since it’s not correct 😁😁
![Natanael Cano - Amor Eterno [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EO4prCs6WpM/mqdefault.jpg)
If anyone wonders how much of a grind it is to sell cards, here it is. Fly out to a different state, haggle with a random person that has no idea about values, drive almost non-stop for 7 hours. Work for 7 days full-time to pull in $2000. If that's not for the love of the game then I don't know what is.
$2000 in 1999 is like $3500 today
@@willbryant9297 how did he buy a 2002 Topps chrome refractor set in 1999?
Yeah, it’s a passion business. You definitely won’t become wealthy.
Ehh.. most drug dealers work 25/8
Buy and sell locally.
These stories are always excellent. Your storytelling ability is second to none in this space. I wish you had one of these to upload every day!
SAME! Lol, this stuff is great.
I wouldn't have the patience to be a full time card dealer. I'd have ended up telling the guy to kick rocks. but I guess that's why you're the one with a successful RUclips channel lol. love the stories as always Chris!
I agree, dealing with wildly different personalities has to be a challenge but Chris has the proper mannerism and patience to do this stuff.
Dude Chris makes bank and I’ve seen him partying with hot chicks man it’s totally worth it
I love hearing the stories. If you run out, then just start making them up 😀
This is my favorite YT card channel because Chris tells his stories like he's sitting with us individually in a room and telling a story to a friend. So many channels (card collecting or otherwise) feature some doofus yelling at the audience.
This podcast is better than an Agatha Christie novel.... nice plot twist and great cinematography.
Great story. The tactics employed were not shady at all because you were catering to his needs and, in the end, he got a fair deal.
I think it might have been a somewhat dishonest tactic but the fact that Eddie said the guy really needed to sell some cards because he needed the money made it justified
This reminds me of an anecdote I heard about dealing with men from the middle east where price is always a negotiation. My friend said his father would be mad if you agreed to buy something for the price he put on an item. I said "he'd be mad??" I couldn't believe it. But he explained, if you agreed to the price so easily he would be mad at himself for not pricing it higher. And some people just love to haggle!
Great content. Collectors are more emotional then flippers. Never breakup a lot, always start negotiating for the entire collection. This way when you offer big money they are more inclined to move it.
These break downs are great. The stories are educational and your honesty is commendable.
This is definitely why I'm not a dealer. I couldn't deal with the hassle and drama involved after all the driving etc. Chris, you are the GOAT because of your patience, honesty, and flexibility. As a collector over the last 30 years, at some point I will have to sell but I certainly won't be selling for pennies on the dollar like people in FB groups want.
You seem like a very fair guy and it truly was adventures in card dealing!
Best hobby channel on RUclips hands down
I really enjoy all of the "Adventures in Card Dealing" videos. My OCD personality gives a thumbs-up for the spreadsheet at the end of each video. Thanks, Chris.
I love spreadsheets! :)
Any stories that end in harmony are great for the hobby 👍
Your level of patience is second to none, that’s for sure
No chance I would have been able to work a deal in this scenario. Awesome work.
You have the "PATIENCE OF JOB" my friend =) Well done and great story. You got skillz I wish I had lol
I love this guy's videos ... down to earth .. tons of knowledge. and keeps it real
Wow. Thought I was on an island with a similar seller -- took me 3 trips to figure it out myself - but great story for sure !! Old timers man - all i can say is im 38 and this guy was mid 80's .... A gap in knowledge and trust is a big gap to bridge - but it is possible !!
Maybe my favorite story of yours, of which there are many. Eddie there for the save 👏
Always good stuff Chris.
Enjoy your card dealing stories.
Not everyone has the mental fortitude to negotiate multi-thousand dollar deals. It is much more difficult than people think. And to do so in good faith in a tricky situation is even more difficult. If I was a teacher, I would give you an A on this "assignment" lol!
I appreciate that! And you are very right... it is much more difficult than it may seem.
Actually, you dealt in good faith. You knew he wasn’t going to take your initial offer, so you “let the seller win the negotiations.” In the end, you both got the desired outcome. He got some much needed money and you got some inventory you could sell and make a profit. Nothing shady about that.
Thanks for sharing this unique story. Respect.
Sounded all fair at the end. Still waiting for an episode of off brands like the Red Man or Exhibitions.
okay I am only at the stock photo and as a Cardinals fan I am drooling! I will come back and edit this after the video. Thank you.......
Welll not exactly what I thought was going to go down, im happy that everything worked out and you got a deal and made some loot Chris.
have a great day!
There are just awesome legendary stories. A+ Chris. Love these
I thought you were about to say that you got the deal of a lifetime after you drove us stay away and back to get the deal done. But then I realized you did all that for $2000 before taxes, wow. What a grind.
It sounds like your seller was possibly a hoarder. You are truly more patient that I......
Amazing story! Thanks for sharing Chris.
You were fair. Many people in commerce that involves haggling over price will generally low ball you rather than offer a fair price on the 1st offer .
Always excited for these videos !
Another great story, thanks for sharing.
I recently bought over 1 million cards dates range from 1970 to 2009 asking price was 5k, I offered 3.5k and the deal was done the seller also helped load the u haul truck it took 4 people about 3 1/2 to 4 hrs to load by hand and it took me 9 hours over 2 days to unload it. the u haul with mileage cost me roughly 200.00 and I put 100.00 worth of gas in it.( @ $4.30 a gallon) now I have to sort through it over the next 6 to 12 months to see if I got any real value.
Find anything good?
@@danmule4131 yes but I still need to finish looking at it all
Good story but would have been nice to see some of the cards in the deal other than the one set. Thanks for sharing.
Great story. Tuff call on over payment. Not sure what I would've done, besides feel guilty about spending more regardless of profit .
absolutely love hearing these stories
I think you played it perfectly. You were flexible enough to change strategy. Well done.
i think what ever you said to him was fair i run into guys like him all the time its part of dealing, you know that, for what you made, he got an awesome deal that drive to get the money alone was crazy, sellers usually have little to no clue what it takes flip everything, bravo bro
Not shady at all. The world is full of so many different characteristics and attitudes, having an outside perspective really helped out.
I can listen to these stores again and again.
I think I’ve actually watched/listened to all of them twice! haha
I have a car lot and no matter what price I put on a car people want to go lower. Now the matket is so crazy I just say I have three people I can call to buy this car if you dont just take it or leave it. Amazing.
Very interesting story! I agree you did the right thing!
last night this was my bed time story lol keep em coming!
These are the best deal breakdowns anywhere. Thanks so much for sharing.
Great story, great patience, in the end that paid off. I really enjoyed listening to this story.
Great story! Just goes to show that there are different ways to close the deal. Thank you for sharing these stories, Chris. Would love to see another installment of questions with the Texas Snowman.
These are my thoughts. You promised 1000, so you need to honor your word in order to create the trust with the seller. As you mentioned, after you honor your word, everything was easy ... I love your videos Chris =)
You know people only collect what they like. I know for a long time I collected everything. Took me a while to separate the wheat from the chaff. I’m getting up in age don’t have the urge to collect much anymore. Been selling off most last few years. Haven’t eBay for a while.🐎🌻✌️
Congrats on making the purchase happen. This is a great example of why I'm not wired to be in the hobby full time. I'd have told that guy to go take a long walk off a short pier. I don't like playing games.
You did what you had to do to get the deal done. You didn’t rip him off so you shouldn’t feel guilty or bad. Another great story.
Great content Chris. Thanks for posting!
Chris, great story, and i do love the fact that you trusted Eddie's advice, and the fact he knew this guy enough to know his character, and a different way have to approach him, another thing I have to give you credit for, the fact that once you realized he was at the point of trusting you, you still were honest enough to not take advantage of him and keep low balling ,and did give him fair market value. right on Chris,
I would have left immediately. Your patience is off the charts. I would never trust a seller who low balled me and then was willing to up their offer two or three times. That said, I’ve never sold anything that I didn’t know the value of already. 🧐
Shohei Ohtani is having another monster year.
You have so much integrity. I always envisioned most people in this business were shady, and maybe they are, but you clearly or not. I probably wouldn't have played games with this guy and would have walked away.
This is a great story and breakdown Chris
That's a scary situation ..travel time .driving 8 hours Florida then back .. gas etc etc etc it's a stretch to go that far ..in my opinon ..glad it worked out for you
Great story as usual....it amazes how different people view their card collections.
So glad I found your channel, thanks for sharing your experience. Never would of thought of that technique to negotiate.
Not disingenuous my friend, you just demonstrated the platinum rule: treat others the way THEY want to be treated. Life is all about perspective and you found a way to a have a breakthrough with a human with his own unique perspective. Great content as always 👍
Great story. I feel like some of the info about how the negotiations should go down could have been shared with you before hand. You are way more patient and understanding than I am.
I must admit- when the map popped up, I imagined Chris Sewell effortlessly gliding across the freeway, looking out over the sunrise on Mobile Bay, with the windows down and the radio up… “get your motor runnin’, head out on the highway…”
lol but I know that drive was probably not enjoyable at all with the time constraints and the possibility of losing the deal! Thanks for another great story, Chris. One of the highlights of all your followers’ days.
I like your image along with the song. We'll go with that as the way it went down :)
Dang, another great story, love these!
I think every deal is dependent upon the personalities involved. There was no ill-intentioned negotiating and everyone came out ok. He was likely into the cards under a thousand back then. Win-win.
cool story, thanks for sharing!
I’d say from hearing everything you said, the strategy put the seller at ease and you did eventually gain trust and ultimately offers fair prices. You could’ve choose to continue the low ball prices but you didn’t and took the high road. For that I commend you. Sometimes whatever works to make the seller feel at ease is ok, worked for both parties. Keep up the great work!
I've done business with guys like this on numerous occasions, it can be extremely frustrating.. I don't know what it is with some collectors - but they can be kooky... Some of these collectors just do not understand value and the fact a profit needs to be made - they treat their cards like they're a form of legal tender currency - not only that - but their memories associated with the cards have monetary value... I just tried to buy a large vintage collection last week and the cards in the collection were very desirable but they were in rough shape - only one problem - this guy wanted high book - not only that but he believes dealers buy cards and then "restore" them - he actually believed/believes grading services like PSA restore cards - he kept on saying "once this card is restored it easily has to be worth X".. Look, needless to say I couldn't buy anything despite the fact I made a good offer on his collection - and it was a nice collection too - pre-1980 multi-sport - tons of stars/HOF'ers, excellent and very desirable cards just in lower grade but he just wouldn't budge because he was convinced cards can be "restored"...smh
Yeah I have encountered that. Often, there is just nothing you can do there...
The good old art of negotiations. Lol. I've been in these types of situations many times. I had this one guy who every time I tried to give him a good deal he thought there must be something wrong and didn't buy it. I quit ever giving him deals after that. I wanted to help the guy, but he wouldn't let me.
Love these stories! That was kind of weird to have to start that way to build trust, especially after you built the trust you could’ve really burnt him! But we all know that’s not the way you roll! People are strange some stranger than other’s, so at least you did him fair and and you didn’t walk away empty handed! And you still keep your honor as being straight up! Win Win!
Love these purchasing stories. Keep the content coming, Chris!
Thanks for the great story
No Chris, I think you have shown that you are a fair and stand up guy. In this case, the end justified the means. Thanks for sharing.
Great stuff as usual Chris Glad it worked out because for minute I thought you were gonna tell us the dude had you guys tied up in the basement after you didn’t want to give him that 1st G 😂
What a great story. I wonder what happened to the rest of his collection.
Love these stories.
Chris, you ever think about doing an episode where you talk with Jeremy and/or others you do card deals with to talk about the state of the hobby?
Yeah I have been meaning to have Jeremy on again, we will soon
Hard scrabble work selling cards. Thanks for the story, Chris.
You obviously had no choice but to approach the gentleman in that manner. Thankfully Eddie knew how this gentleman operated (with the lack of trust, and poor knowledge of card values), and was able to help orchestrate a decent deal, or the trip to Louisiana could have been a total bust.
Appreciate you sharing the story. This is why you are still the best sports card channel on RUclips and it’s not even close. These influencers as well as pump and dump people need to watch this video to really understand the hustle that goes in the cards. Great stuff my friend!
I have had to negotiate record albums like this before , seller has to feel comfortable
You have a passion for doing card deals - love it! Keep up the great content
I think your crazy for always offering a fair price in the beginning
It's a very good tactic to use if someone truly doesn't follow the hobby or the value. Start low and let them feel in control by upping the price. At first I thought Eddie might have been in on a scam to get you to bid way up but he was actually right in then end.
I actually give you credit for staying there and working things out especially the way things started so no I think you did the right thing know when you’d pay fair in the end anyway great stories
Sounds like Eddie knew the way to play it based on the guy's personality. As long as everyone's happy at the end, the means are justified. These are our favorite Chris! Please do them more often if possible! Thanks! Great work!
Hopefully these weren't eddies cards to begin with.
What's funny to me is that's standard negotiating before the internet and anyone could find out what anything is worth in instantly. I followed my gramps around flea markets and antique stores for years, and this is exactly how it always worked. I kinda wish that was still the way.
This was fascinating! Ultimately the end goal was fair, so switching up the strategy was fair and an ingenious move. Way to save the day, Eddie!
This is a great story. Sounds like Eddie should have given you that advice earlier on!
Great story Chris. I do have a question though about this deal. Would you have still done it if you knew you were going to have to make that drive? Seems like you did a ton of work on this deal for not too amazing profit.
If I knew the exact numbers and situation up front, I would probably pass at the deal.
That's a tough way to negotiate but unfortunately you had to do what you had to do. The entire time he was "ripping you off " in his mind and at the end you gave him a more than fair price for the lot. Another cool story, thanks for sharing.
In this case, it's not disingenuous at all for using that particular tactic. That guy clearly had a certain personality that wasn't going to be easy to deal with. His friend said he needed to sell and needed the money. He recommended that tactic and you didn't rip him off. Ethics are sometimes a really fuzzy area when it comes to these things, but I think you were being ethical under the circumstances. Imagine someone low balling the guy and coming up to a price that still ripped him off? You weren't trying to do that. I love these story times and go back and re-watch the videos because you're a great story teller and they're so interesting.
Congrats on 50k subscribers Chris!
Love these type of stories. I personally feel you did what was needed to make the deal. You might of low balled but it helped you establish trust and then you offered gained traction. If you kept low baking and swindled then it might be a different reaction.
These stories are so fun to listen to. My anxiety would never let me get into buying collections and the negotiations of it lol
People are strange... You took a real risk on this one... loved the story...
I always love these stories Chris and I really look forward to the videos! I could only imagine how uncomfortable it was flying to New Orleans and not being able to come to terms on a deal early on, then the debacle with BOA which I seem to recall you had that same issue in another deal as well.
I think it’s time for them to change their name to “Bank of Some of America” since it’s not correct 😁😁
Honesty? Fair price? Trust?
No good deed goes unpunished.
Every single video it sounds like your saying "crystal here" i know it's not but i cant unhear it.