That was exactly the plan. Keep it held up at customs until your window to file a claim through eBay was closed. Then he could have possibly gotten the book back and kept the money... and its another reason why I say EVERY SINGLE book should have graders notes. And nobody should have to pay extra.
Glad you were able to recover your money. Fortunately, eBay has gotten a lot better about protecting the buyers from this kind of stuff. Now they need to work on protecting the sellers from scams, as well. I have had many people try to scam me on sells and some have been successful. Thanks for the info, Bry. Always appreciated.
Without a CGC "Purple Label," this book very likely never would have made it out of CGC grading. I'm glad you got your money back. People who go into these costly sales with a crooked angle don't realize (or even care) how their duplicitous behavior can tarnish this otherwise passionate hobby. At this rate, your display-wall is going to need an expansion...
This video/story provides a valuable service to the community. Thank you so much for sharing. I am personally of the mind that honesty is the best policy, and your videos make it clear to me that I am not alone in that way of thinking. Kudos and keep up the great work you're doing.
I’m not so sure the picture you showed was evidence of a scam. I looked at some books I submitted to CGC around 2012 and they also have that glue-like appearance around the top corner posts of the case. I think it’s slight warping to the inner well resulting from the sealing process. I received these books directly from CGC so there is no reason to suspect book swapping. If the book was trimmed, I think it’s more likely this was just missed during the resto check.
The posts in the case also looked to have been tampered with, there were other spots on the case in question too…I would be so shocked if CgC missed it, it’s 100% obvious even to an amateur, other mentioned your point though about the glue, so thanks for that
@@BrysComics hmm that’s interesting . One thing I noticed as well is that the newer cases don’t have this effect at all- it’s only the earlier generations that have that inner well ‘melting’ effect around the corner posts which could be mistaken for glue (although I’m pretty sure it’s not glue). If you google ‘cgc corner posts sealed with glue’ you can find a forum thread discussing this effect and the conclusion seems to be that it’s the inner well, and not glue. In any case, I’m glad this worked out for you and I’m a big fan of your content. I particularly liked your video about buying the FF #1. That is an AWESOME book that any collector would be proud to have.
I really appreciate the information man, I am newer to graded comic collecting and its really nice to have resources like this to learn from as opposed to learning the hard way
I’m extremely grateful you put out this video. Even though I’ve been collecting a long time, it has taught me things that I’ll always keep with me and I’ll never forget. I really appreciate it! Keep up the content!
Getting scammed is probably the biggest reason I don't take advantage of great deals. The whole "if it looks too good to be true it probably is" keeps me from moving on them.
I'm happy to see you caught what was going on. This is one reason I worry about buying graded slabs. I inherited my father's collection after he passed when I was a kid but I never went out of my way to add to it other than free comic book days. The last year or so I've finally jumped in and am still trying to navigate the comic buying world. Love the entertaining and informative videos you share. Keep up the good work from one Bry to another.
THANK YOU for this video! I recently bought a suspect book that cost about $7k, and thought I was going to have to just resell it and eat a loss, but after watching this video I looked a lot closer at the case and found a lot of evidence the slab was tampered with. I was able to present all the evidence to the auction house and got a full refund. This video saved me $1.5 to $2k!
A couple years ago, I found a 8.0 35-cent Star Wars #2 from a guy. He was pushing for me to pay outside of ebay. Nope. Paid through ebay. And then he hemmed and hawed about shipping until I sent a refund request through ebay. Boy, I tell ya, I sweat bullets until that book showed up. Thanks for the public service announcement, Bry! Always enjoy the videos!!
Couple things: 1. I bought an original Lora Zombie painting a couple years ago and it got stuck in customs from Canada. They basically held it for ransom because it was valued over $3k. That said, once contact was made, it was easy peasy and I got it quickly. 2. I don't know who needs to read this, but one great way to not get scammed is to buy your books from Bry. I've spent well over 4-figures these past 6 months or so, and Bry is super honest and I damn-near consider him a friend at this point. (Thanks, Bry!)
Glad that worked out in your favor! Buyer protection looked out for me recently when the book was just never shipped and the seller wasn’t communicating at all. Another great video! Keep up the good work!
And now I will be checking all of my slabs!!!lol. I have like 7 so it won't take long.lol. thanks for the info and will be looking out for this new fear!!!
I don’t think the average collector would of never noticed the book was trimmed. Good for you on doing the detective work. Glad you got your money back.
Wow! Quite the journey! Glad you ended up with the refund. Thanks for sharing the experience! It's good for the rest of us to see/ hear about this stuff to help see the signs and avoid or handle them.
Whew! Thanks for sharing your story! The only problem I’ve come across is missing pages - I’ve yet to get a complete Tales to Astonish 63 after three tries! Got refunds on all, though, and one let me keep the book.
Great info and I'm glad you were able to get your money back! Makes me feel better about buying expensive keys on eBay knowing that they have your back if something goes wrong.
Yikes, my anxiety is rising just thinking of having that second guess moment when you question previous purchases on being a scam🤦♂️ It's definitely appreciated when you share these experiences and share on what to look for because ain't nobody got time for scammers. Glad you got the refund instead of having to go a few rounds with the seller/scammer.
Excited to hear and soon see another Zu exclusive!! Happy to know eBay had your back for the refund. Always learning from you so just another thanks!! Very appreciated!
I've been buying and selling books on eBay for over 20 years, and never once have I bought or shipped anything overseas, and never will. It's my number one rule. Heck, I don't even deal with Alaska and Hawaii.
Shocked that there weren't any notes esp on an older label and a 5.0 grade! On cgc newer cases, they went through a period of time when books were being slabbed without the inner plastic protector. I have one and the book feels a bit loose inside. I also don't like it when there is that plastic tab inside the slab that kinda looks like it helps to hold the book in place (normally back right side). I always feel that it must cause an indentation esp on thicker books.
I think you're doing a great job by spreading the word about scams. I've only been scammed once on eBay and it was for some ghost spider raw books. I spent about a $170 on the books and total and the seller when it was time to send them never sent them and they deleted their account and it was past the time that eBay would allow me to do anything about it and I couldn't get my money back. So yeah keep up the good work Bry
If I get a slabbed high value book, I want to take the time to look it over real close, if for no item reason than to admire it and take it in. Usually if something is fishy you’ll pick it up upon looking at the book and case. The problem is when you buy solely for investing in a book and don’t take the time to appreciate it, that’s when you can get snookered.
Thanks for relating the experience. The higher the price, the more likely someone is out there looking for a way to get that from you, and not necessarily in an ethical way. Even with low grade raw, folks pushing the grading to get that last little profit or get you to bid it up in anticipation of that grade.
Having been scammed once on a major grail on eBay I now use PayPal Credit on anything over a couple hundred dollars. That way I always get the item before making a single payment.
Thanks for sharing your story. Good to hear it all worked out for you. Ebay refunded your money 💰, but does the "scammer" still retain your original payment to him? If so, he still wins and that sucks.
Damn! Scammers gonna scam. I have been very hesitant to buy the old labels, but do have a few. Thanks for putting your experience out there. Keep grinding bro!✌🏼
Wow. That had to be pretty stressful. I’ve heard of things like this happening before but this is the first time I’ve actually seen it. Glad you were able to figure it out and get your money back.
Always get great stuff from you….. X-men 11 at a great price discounted because the case was scratched….. received it and the scratches were on the back …. Great addition to the PC and it presents nicely
Last Ronins are in horrible magazine cases that feel so flimsy and break easily. So kinda makes sense someone may complain. But anyway, thanks for the informative content.
This seems to be a thing with big books. Golden Age Guru had a story that was the same thing. A high grade Hulk 181, but it was switched out with a low grade in the case
Honestly since I am a new collector I wouldn’t have even know that I was getting scammed but that is why I watch your videos so I know for sure how to catch flaws! Thank god EBay made everything go by smooth for you.
Damn, sorry that happened to you. Glad you were able to get all your money back. Hopefully CGC makes a change to prevent scams like this from happening.
Damn that's crazy! Someone always will try something even in sneakers. I've had that happen twice with sneakers but never comics. I also don't own any graded but I would like to start collecting them.
Been there! Bought a silver age Thor graded as 9.0. I checked it, saw signs of wear that immediately seemed like I was looking at about a 7.0. Then I scrutinized the case and yup - tiny evidence it had been pried open and meticulously glued shut again. I took detailed pix and complained to the seller through eBay. He accepted the return and I got a full refund. This is a prolific seller and I really don’t think he did the scam. I think he got scammed, and with the number of books he’s buying and selling all the time, just didn’t notice. I scrutinize the seams of all cases under bright light now!
I had an attempted scam about a year ago with a "Killing Joke" book. The seller fought the return like a banshee, but finallly agreed to send me a refund. It the first time in over 10 years tho, so I still buy on Ebay. I'm just a lot more careful now.
I'm curious: so should I never buy a comic that has been trimmed? Like I would never try to buy an ungraded raw comment that had been trimmed, but should I also like stay away from trimmed comics even if they've been graded?
Ebay came through on that debacle so, good on them and good for you. I bought an item on ebay (not a comic) and it came from Russia!!! The ship charge was fine but the time frame sucked to the point I thought I had been scammed. I did receive an RF from ebay and then a few weeks later, the item came. I contacted the seller, told him I would pay and how to work it out. Short story shorter, I paid him and all was well. Bottom line for me, I will NEVER buy from abroad again. I was glad to get the item but man, it was like a CGC submission, time frame wise. Anything I now search for on ebay's platform is only for domestic sellers.
Agreed. I've recently run into timeframe issues regarding orders from Canada, the UK, China, etc.. Evidently, Covid devolved international shipping back to an era before the Stone-Age. When I see a fair-priced graded spec-book on Ebay that's shipping International, I typically cringe...
That was exactly the plan. Keep it held up at customs until your window to file a claim through eBay was closed. Then he could have possibly gotten the book back and kept the money... and its another reason why I say EVERY SINGLE book should have graders notes. And nobody should have to pay extra.
Glad you were able to recover your money. Fortunately, eBay has gotten a lot better about protecting the buyers from this kind of stuff. Now they need to work on protecting the sellers from scams, as well. I have had many people try to scam me on sells and some have been successful. Thanks for the info, Bry. Always appreciated.
Without a CGC "Purple Label," this book very likely never would have made it out of CGC grading. I'm glad you got your money back. People who go into these costly sales with a crooked angle don't realize (or even care) how their duplicitous behavior can tarnish this otherwise passionate hobby.
At this rate, your display-wall is going to need an expansion...
Thanks for giving the community a clear understanding when it comes to scams, we need more of this information, awesome!!!!
As someone whose new to the hobby, it’s great to see a video about scams and the warning signs! Your videos are always great. ☺️
This video/story provides a valuable service to the community. Thank you so much for sharing. I am personally of the mind that honesty is the best policy, and your videos make it clear to me that I am not alone in that way of thinking. Kudos and keep up the great work you're doing.
Thank you my friend!
Thanks for the video. Will definitely be inspecting these older cases more carefully moving forward.
This was a great customer service video thanks so much. How many scams out there this is just one of them
I’m not so sure the picture you showed was evidence of a scam. I looked at some books I submitted to CGC around 2012 and they also have that glue-like appearance around the top corner posts of the case. I think it’s slight warping to the inner well resulting from the sealing process. I received these books directly from CGC so there is no reason to suspect book swapping. If the book was trimmed, I think it’s more likely this was just missed during the resto check.
The posts in the case also looked to have been tampered with, there were other spots on the case in question too…I would be so shocked if CgC missed it, it’s 100% obvious even to an amateur, other mentioned your point though about the glue, so thanks for that
@@BrysComics hmm that’s interesting . One thing I noticed as well is that the newer cases don’t have this effect at all- it’s only the earlier generations that have that inner well ‘melting’ effect around the corner posts which could be mistaken for glue (although I’m pretty sure it’s not glue). If you google ‘cgc corner posts sealed with glue’ you can find a forum thread discussing this effect and the conclusion seems to be that it’s the inner well, and not glue.
In any case, I’m glad this worked out for you and I’m a big fan of your content. I particularly liked your video about buying the FF #1. That is an AWESOME book that any collector would be proud to have.
I really appreciate the information man, I am newer to graded comic collecting and its really nice to have resources like this to learn from as opposed to learning the hard way
👍💯
I’m extremely grateful you put out this video. Even though I’ve been collecting a long time, it has taught me things that I’ll always keep with me and I’ll never forget. I really appreciate it! Keep up the content!
Getting scammed is probably the biggest reason I don't take advantage of great deals. The whole "if it looks too good to be true it probably is" keeps me from moving on them.
Very good saying to live by
Thanks for the awareness. Sad to think of scammers in this hobby, but scammers are everywhere
Thanks for the heads up. Glad you managed to spot it. Great eye👍
I'm happy to see you caught what was going on. This is one reason I worry about buying graded slabs. I inherited my father's collection after he passed when I was a kid but I never went out of my way to add to it other than free comic book days. The last year or so I've finally jumped in and am still trying to navigate the comic buying world. Love the entertaining and informative videos you share. Keep up the good work from one Bry to another.
THANK YOU for this video! I recently bought a suspect book that cost about $7k, and thought I was going to have to just resell it and eat a loss, but after watching this video I looked a lot closer at the case and found a lot of evidence the slab was tampered with. I was able to present all the evidence to the auction house and got a full refund. This video saved me $1.5 to $2k!
Wow glad you were able to avoid that nightmare!
Thanks for the heads up.
A couple years ago, I found a 8.0 35-cent Star Wars #2 from a guy. He was pushing for me to pay outside of ebay. Nope. Paid through ebay. And then he hemmed and hawed about shipping until I sent a refund request through ebay. Boy, I tell ya, I sweat bullets until that book showed up. Thanks for the public service announcement, Bry! Always enjoy the videos!!
Couple things:
1. I bought an original Lora Zombie painting a couple years ago and it got stuck in customs from Canada. They basically held it for ransom because it was valued over $3k. That said, once contact was made, it was easy peasy and I got it quickly.
2. I don't know who needs to read this, but one great way to not get scammed is to buy your books from Bry. I've spent well over 4-figures these past 6 months or so, and Bry is super honest and I damn-near consider him a friend at this point. (Thanks, Bry!)
We are 100% friends! Don’t you forget that 😜
I just got back into collecting and I bought some slabs from Mercari and the cases were open.
Good job catching it!
Glad that worked out in your favor! Buyer protection looked out for me recently when the book was just never shipped and the seller wasn’t communicating at all. Another great video! Keep up the good work!
And now I will be checking all of my slabs!!!lol. I have like 7 so it won't take long.lol. thanks for the info and will be looking out for this new fear!!!
Thanks for sharing your experience. Stay vigilant out there..!
I don’t think the average collector would of never noticed the book was trimmed. Good for you on doing the detective work. Glad you got your money back.
Thank you for another great video. Really helps on what to look for when buying a really big book. Looking forward to see your next exclusive!
You rock man. I thought I knew everything...Your knowledge is out there...also...I'm in love with the girl who does your intro. hahahahaha
🤣🤣
That could have gone so much worse. 😕 any tips for pricing when you live in a country not able to ship through eBay?
Wow! Quite the journey! Glad you ended up with the refund. Thanks for sharing the experience! It's good for the rest of us to see/ hear about this stuff to help see the signs and avoid or handle them.
Scammers have gotten a lot more sophisticated so I really appreciate vids like this one.
Great that this was resolved. I run a full-time eBay business and they have also been great to deal with when customers have tried to scam us.
Whew! Thanks for sharing your story! The only problem I’ve come across is missing pages - I’ve yet to get a complete Tales to Astonish 63 after three tries! Got refunds on all, though, and one let me keep the book.
Can’t beat free!
Great info and I'm glad you were able to get your money back! Makes me feel better about buying expensive keys on eBay knowing that they have your back if something goes wrong.
Yikes, my anxiety is rising just thinking of having that second guess moment when you question previous purchases on being a scam🤦♂️ It's definitely appreciated when you share these experiences and share on what to look for because ain't nobody got time for scammers. Glad you got the refund instead of having to go a few rounds with the seller/scammer.
Ain’t nobody got time for that!
Man good eye. Glad you didn't get hosed. I never realized the older cases were possible to crack without shattering. Great advice! Great video!
Excited to hear and soon see another Zu exclusive!! Happy to know eBay had your back for the refund. Always learning from you so just another thanks!! Very appreciated!
I've been buying and selling books on eBay for over 20 years, and never once have I bought or shipped anything overseas, and never will. It's my number one rule. Heck, I don't even deal with Alaska and Hawaii.
Great content as always but.. I don’t seem to be getting any new letters?! How often are they sent out?
At least once or twice a week…shoot an email to bryscomics@gmail.com and Cade can check for ya
Will do! Just checked and I’ve definitely received ZERO emails in the last 3 months. Haha.
Shocked that there weren't any notes esp on an older label and a 5.0 grade! On cgc newer cases, they went through a period of time when books were being slabbed without the inner plastic protector. I have one and the book feels a bit loose inside. I also don't like it when there is that plastic tab inside the slab that kinda looks like it helps to hold the book in place (normally back right side). I always feel that it must cause an indentation esp on thicker books.
It absolutely causes an indent, so frustrating
Glad that you were able to get your money back and thanks for the helpful info.
Good stuff I collect signatures I just got started with graded comics it can be intimidating
Now I know what to look out for glue and to compare it to any graders notes.
Thanks for the info! Glad you got it sorted out.
Thank you for sharing your story, so informative, and glad you were refunded and washed of this issue! 🙏
I think you're doing a great job by spreading the word about scams. I've only been scammed once on eBay and it was for some ghost spider raw books. I spent about a $170 on the books and total and the seller when it was time to send them never sent them and they deleted their account and it was past the time that eBay would allow me to do anything about it and I couldn't get my money back. So yeah keep up the good work Bry
Damn that sucks! Sorry to hear that bud
@@BrysComics I mean I'm sure it happens to everyone at some point. It is what it is. I just have to be careful in the future that's all.
If I get a slabbed high value book, I want to take the time to look it over real close, if for no item reason than to admire it and take it in. Usually if something is fishy you’ll pick it up upon looking at the book and case. The problem is when you buy solely for investing in a book and don’t take the time to appreciate it, that’s when you can get snookered.
Scams are everywhere, good advice too
Glad you got the refund, I've been looking for that book for a while... I could even deal with some superficial resto, but no trimming!
Thanks for relating the experience. The higher the price, the more likely someone is out there looking for a way to get that from you, and not necessarily in an ethical way. Even with low grade raw, folks pushing the grading to get that last little profit or get you to bid it up in anticipation of that grade.
Some of those things I wouldn't even think about. Great info as usual. 👍
I just looked at a book I just bought on eBay and looks like glue on the edges ☹️
Having been scammed once on a major grail on eBay I now use PayPal Credit on anything over a couple hundred dollars. That way I always get the item before making a single payment.
Very nice strategy
How did you miss that it was trimmed from the photos? The right edge is laser straight.
Thanks for sharing your story. Good to hear it all worked out for you. Ebay refunded your money 💰, but does the "scammer" still retain your original payment to him? If so, he still wins and that sucks.
I highly doubt it but not sure…
Great video. Awesome info, great story, and yet again, looking out for the community. Glad everything worked out for you, man.
Kudos to you for keen detection skills and eBay for refunding the cash.
Essential info for us when buying the older high end stuff….thank you!
Damn! Scammers gonna scam. I have been very hesitant to buy the old labels, but do have a few. Thanks for putting your experience out there. Keep grinding bro!✌🏼
Lots of scammers out there. Thanks for the information, Bry.
Wow. That had to be pretty stressful.
I’ve heard of things like this happening before but this is the first time I’ve actually seen it. Glad you were able to figure it out and get your money back.
Thank you for the heads up
I might be getting a really high value raw book is it safe to send it to CGC? I want it slabbed but nervous about sending it.
I bought a Jim lee signatures series alpha flight 51 in an old case and I was convinced it was tampered with because it was slightly cracked.
Ebay is great with buyers protection. I've always had good experiences with returns and refunds
Yeah, but they suck horribly with seller protection.
Always get great stuff from you….. X-men 11 at a great price discounted because the case was scratched….. received it and the scratches were on the back …. Great addition to the PC and it presents nicely
Well done, Bryan! Thanks for looking out for the community.
Thank you for the heads-up gonna add it to my check list when looking at books 👍
Last Ronins are in horrible magazine cases that feel so flimsy and break easily. So kinda makes sense someone may complain. But anyway, thanks for the informative content.
The more something costs, the more likely it is to attract scammers and fakes.
Happy to hear you worked it out and didn't get screwed, nice catch!
This seems to be a thing with big books. Golden Age Guru had a story that was the same thing. A high grade Hulk 181, but it was switched out with a low grade in the case
Honestly since I am a new collector I wouldn’t have even know that I was getting scammed but that is why I watch your videos so I know for sure how to catch flaws! Thank god EBay made everything go by smooth for you.
You hate to hear stories like this. Glad you was able to get it sorted out thanks for the tips 🤘
Damn, sorry that happened to you. Glad you were able to get all your money back. Hopefully CGC makes a change to prevent scams like this from happening.
Damn that's crazy! Someone always will try something even in sneakers. I've had that happen twice with sneakers but never comics. I also don't own any graded but I would like to start collecting them.
Been there! Bought a silver age Thor graded as 9.0. I checked it, saw signs of wear that immediately seemed like I was looking at about a 7.0. Then I scrutinized the case and yup - tiny evidence it had been pried open and meticulously glued shut again. I took detailed pix and complained to the seller through eBay. He accepted the return and I got a full refund. This is a prolific seller and I really don’t think he did the scam. I think he got scammed, and with the number of books he’s buying and selling all the time, just didn’t notice. I scrutinize the seams of all cases under bright light now!
I had an attempted scam about a year ago with a "Killing Joke" book. The seller fought the return like a banshee, but finallly agreed to send me a refund. It the first time in over 10 years tho, so I still buy on Ebay. I'm just a lot more careful now.
Glad you didn’t throw the baby out with the bath water 🤣
Great advice and insights. Strange interaction from this guy from Italy.
Happy it ended up in your favor and thank you for looking out for the community!
WOW! Great catch! Another very informative video! Great job!
Wow, I'm just getting started with collecting and I'm hoping to learn from this. Appreciate the content!
How do u know it's old label or a new label .
Thanks for the information. Always gotta be cautious of scams especially high priced comics
Thats crazy..Im glad it all worked out for you..thanks for sharing this with us so we can all be aware.😀
Great you got refunded, them scammers keep looking for an angle to get your money
Great video buddy. Certainly made me more wary of fraudulent activity.
Odd that the person used white glue on the case? Had it been superglue, I imagine it would have been hard to detect.
Nice to see that you will be putting some ungraded books up on What Not.
Great scam story!! Glad it worked out for you!!
So glad u got your loot back bro! This is why I try to buy from people I trust like u lol. Please put me down for 2 of what's coming up lol
😜💯
I'm curious: so should I never buy a comic that has been trimmed? Like I would never try to buy an ungraded raw comment that had been trimmed, but should I also like stay away from trimmed comics even if they've been graded?
If it doesn’t bother you then it’s a great way to get expensive books cheaper. Not good for resell value tho, harder to sell
WOW - glad eBay did right by you Bry! And great details and info as always!
Thanks for sharing your experience. Can hardly wait for the next Zu exclusive!
Wow. Great info. Thankfully you knew how to handle this properly.
So the book looked real just restored?
Yeah
Hey bro, glad it worked out. Congrats on the New upcoming exclusive, ur killing it over there, and rightfully so, ur vids r awesome 👍
Thanks a lot!
Ebay came through on that debacle so, good on them and good for you. I bought an item on ebay (not a comic) and it came from Russia!!! The ship charge was fine but the time frame sucked to the point I thought I had been scammed. I did receive an RF from ebay and then a few weeks later, the item came. I contacted the seller, told him I would pay and how to work it out. Short story shorter, I paid him and all was well.
Bottom line for me, I will NEVER buy from abroad again. I was glad to get the item but man, it was like a CGC submission, time frame wise. Anything I now search for on ebay's platform is only for domestic sellers.
Yeah I’m totally with you…
Agreed. I've recently run into timeframe issues regarding orders from Canada, the UK, China, etc.. Evidently, Covid devolved international shipping back to an era before the Stone-Age.
When I see a fair-priced graded spec-book on Ebay that's shipping International, I typically cringe...
thanks for the advice.
Always great content. Thank you.
Damn great info, all info helps to avoid these damn scammers
Glad you got sorted Bryan. This type of scam may lead to security features on labels
I’d be all for that
Scary stuff. I need to check out some of my books.