While there are many legitimate sellers, there are many scammers waiting for you and your money. Reduce your vulnerabilities with smart and safe buying practices.
Best practices when buying collectibles:
- Buy items through reputable collectible sites/apps, dealers or social media groups. Read: Where should I buy my collectibles?
- Ensure that the item for sale is authentic and not altered. Research or ask knowledgeable collectors about assessing the condition and rarity of an item. Sprunger Originals offers free ai grading for raw vintage trading cards. Use the pictures in a seller's listing to determine the grade. Read: Where should I get my cards graded?
- If there are only one or two pictures in the listing, ask the seller to post or send you quality pictures of the item. Multi-angles, sharp, good lighting, no shadows no glare. For trading cards, ask seller to remove card from protective case where possible and place on dark background. You want pictures of full front and back, close up of all corners (both sides), surface by holding the card on an angle to capture light reflection (known as raking). Screen shot the listing and download the pictures for comparison to the real item if you do end up purchasing it.
- The seller should provide the price in local currency and a detailed description of the item. Year, subject, card number, manufacturer, printer or card company, condition, measurements, how was it stored, how long have they owned the item, where did they obtain the item. A high value item should have shipping, tracking and insurance costs included. The seller should provide preferred method of payment. Avoid Friends & Family transactions as these don't offer buyer protection on damaged or lost items.
- Ask seller for proof of seller and proof of possession. A Seller Verification Certificate can provide this. Ask for item provenance: a receipt, paper COA or Web3 COA. If the seller is listing through a platform account, determine the age of the account. Newly created accounts can be a red flag.
- Read or ask for the seller's shipping policy based on payment gateways, processing time, carrier, tracking, insurance, signature, duties, returns, lost or damaged items. Consider escrow for high-value item.
- When purchased, ask the seller for images or video of the actual item beside the addressed envelope or package. Also ask for images of the parcel showing shipping address and stamp, pre-paid label or waybill. Confirm that the address is correct. Scammers will ship an entirely different package. A high value item should have tracking, insurance coverage and a signature requirement included.
- Take a picture of the parcel prior to opening (this could be helpful for the seller's insurance claim if the item is damaged).
- Take pictures of the item. Compare them to the pictures that you downloaded from the seller's listing. Any concerns, initiate a dispute with the seller.
- Consider ordering a Web3 COA and security label for proof of ownership of your item.