Seller backs out--what would you do?

[bigben7]

Just my 2 cents. I looked at the photos of the Greene jersey and I am not convinced this jersey was authentic game used. The jersey did not have the Steelers exclusive tags and no year tag. I have seen a few authentic Steelers Jersey's from the 74 and 75 Season and this jersey did not look like those. I would want to see the jersey up close and also look at the wear. Early Steelers jersey's should be beat up with alot of team repairs.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Out of sheer curiosity... Genius offered in the ballpark of $20K which was in turn rejected for a higher price of $4K more. You seem confident that the jersey will be sold by auction. Just how expensive is a jersey like this one? The seller would have to get $30K at auction just to break even after the hammer fees.

I actually don't know. I think the jersey is worth 20K, 25K tops. I guess a collector bought the jersey, because it doesn't seem like a flip is worthwhile. It seems it won't be at auction, just in a personal collection.

[otismalibu]

I'm no Steelers expert. Did Greene often wear the long sleeves?

[onlyalbert]

I'm no Steelers expert. Did Greene often wear the long sleeves?

Heck, that looks like a match right there. Look at the 5 on the tight shoulder and the indent at the top point of the 5. Looks pretty close to the pic.

[both-teams-played-hard]

I would like to know if the rip was repaired on the yellow stripe on the right sleeve. If then, a photo-match. Definite style match.

[legaleagle92481]

I'm curious how you know that the jersey actually exists? Anyone can pull pictures from old auctions and claim they own anything. The fact that the seller asked for funds to be wired makes me believe the entire situation was a phishing scam.

agree 100%. i am still mind boogled how some people are so trusting. all my big dollar transactions and none have been close to 20k were with some sort of protection, whether it was via ebay, an auction house, etc. if i was spending 20k under these facts i think the only safe way would be to meet the seller in person somehow examine the jersey in person then tender the funds once ones satisfied and immediately take possession of the jersey. heck whats cost of a plane flight when your spending 20k?

[genius]

5 kids (ages 14 years to 7 months!) got in the way of that idea! Oh to be single and free to spend away on g/u and take off at a moment's notice...wait a minute there's no way I would want that! Plus I'm building a great inventory of all my kids' g/u items for when they hit the big leagues. Or, for when I finally finish the basement. I keep every shirt!

Obviously all concerns and comments are valid on this type of transaction but it's still a tough defeat to take, this one would have been taken care of and would have been on public display someday if I could have gotten my hands on it. But darnit I'm going to keep looking, there may be others out there! I appreciate all of the replies on this thread, even though hope is pretty much lost with this particular item it helped to see other perspectives on it. For what it's worth I did a transaction through GUU a couple of years ago that enabled me to establish a fund so that I could make a run at this sort of item!

[solarlottry]

That does look like a photo-match! The 5 is spot on...

Regardless of the match, leagle is completely correct with regards to big ticket sales or purchases.

I learned the hard way with a high end sale that I had made, where the buyer bailed out of the purchase half-way thru. I was nice (or dumb enough) to send the buyer the jersey to "check out" and then allowed payments over time. There was never an ill intent on either parties side but when one side has financial issues and the sale cannot be completed, then both sides are in trouble. As the buyer had sent me $ over time, I spent it. When he unexpectedly bailed on the purchase, I did not have all of the cash to pay him back promptly. Thus a no win situation emerges where the failed buyer has the jersey and all of the power and the seller, who was nice enough to send it in the first place, has to come up with $ fast, to get it back. In this case things are amicable and are in the process of being resolved but it could have easily turned quite ugly fast!

In the future, unless it is someone who I know and trust, I will never send an item without being paid in full. If the buyer wants to "check out" something then some sort of escrow deal will have to be worked out in advance before I send anything. This stops problems before they start.

This hobby has its fair share of unsavory characters (the failed buyer is not such a person and he genuinely felt bad about the situation) so to give these type of people any chance of making a quick buck is not a good idea. If a deal sounds too good or too easy-it probably is.

Always buying 49er GU and ALL 1994 49er GU items!
Paul
garciajones@yahoo.com

[GameWornJCollector]

@Genius.... in my opinion that was really stupid sending 20K to canada... i would've done that via ebay and paypal .. you'll get your money back there..
but I never sped 20K on a jersey...

[cohibasmoker]

Hey, I live in NJ - if anyone has any transactions in my State but are afraid to send money to the Seller, contact me. For a small fee, I'd be the middle man. The Buyer and Seller would work out the deal with the Buyer sending me the money. Once I get the cash from the Buyer, I'd be willing to drive to the Seller's location, exchange the cash for the item and send the item to the Buyer.

Jim

flaa1a@comcast.net