#MagicCards #Counterfeit #CardShop #MTG #SellingCards
Hey there, so my sister recently decided to sell her collection of magic cards and took them to a local card shop. The shop quoted her a total of 42,000 USD for the lot, which included some valuable cards from the 90s. However, things took a turn when the shop alleged that the cards were counterfeit and refused to pay up or return the cards.
🔍 Lack of Substantial Proof
The shop has yet to provide substantial proof that the cards are fake, which leaves us in a difficult position. We are aware of the legal implications of selling counterfeit items, but we believe that the cards may actually be authentic.
🛡️ Seeking Independent Testing
One option we are considering is having the cards tested by an independent party to verify their authenticity. This would provide us with concrete evidence to challenge the shop’s claim.
🔒 Legal Grounds
It’s important to note that the shop may not have legal grounds to hold onto the property if they cannot prove that the cards are counterfeit. It’s crucial to understand our rights in this situation and seek legal advice if necessary.
🔎 Suspicious Behavior
The fact that the shop listed the same cards for sale on their website shortly after receiving my sister’s collection raises suspicions. While this could be a coincidence, it’s worth investigating further.
In conclusion, it’s essential to gather as much information and evidence as possible to support our case. Seeking independent testing, understanding our legal rights, and investigating any suspicious behavior are key steps to take in this situation. Your support and advice are greatly appreciated as we navigate this challenging situation. Thank you! 🃏🔍
Sounds like its time to lawyer up.
You could get a lawyer and try to sue them but if you don’t want the expense of a lawyer I’d suggest just reporting the theft to the police.
42k is definitely lawyer territory.
This whole thing sounds really fishy. You would typically see major transactions on collectibles like this when the product has been sealed and rated by an authority. This would mean it has documentation and has been determined legitimate by that authority. Were your sister’s card rated? Or were they just loose cards that she’d collected?
If the shop offered to pay that high a price for loose cards with no guarantee of authenticity, it starts to smell like a scam because that’s a crazy way to operate. Even if your sister gets her cards back, how will you know they are the same cards and haven’t been swapped out for frauds in the time they’ve been in the shops possession? This whole thing is very complicated by the fact that the shop already has her cards before you had a trusted 3rd party look at them.
Did she have a contract?
The issue I would foresee besides the ones that have already been brought up is that if the cards are in the shop’s possession and they claiming they are counterfeit, your sister has no idea if the cards are gonna try and give back or her actual cards, or they took the valuable ones switched them and I just trying to give them back
How did this go down? Why didn’t she receive payment at the time of handing over the cards?
Do you have pictures of any of the cards? The main hurdle is going to be that you have to prove that the cards they have in their possession are the cards she shipped. There is a chance some of the cards were real, but have now since been replaced by counterfeit copies.
Very important question: What shop did she sell them to? Several of the biggest buyers in the country will not send you back counterfeit cards and they will even destroy them.
If you’d like to reach out to me, I can help with some of the Magic side of things, but I am not a lawyer. I just have a lot of experience with Magic.
Was it a major retailer such as SCG or Channel Fireball? If they believe they have received counterfeit cards they won’t return them, they’ll destroy them.
Take the website and do a control s on it. Save everything you can as proof of what they are doing.
Get police involved NOW. The more time that elapses the more time the shop owner will have to acquire fakes to swap out with your highest value cards. Also in the future never let some random small local company hold on to 42k worth of your property like that. If your doing large value transactions you need to work with reputable companies who specialize in those kind of transactions.
Sending 40k+ worth of cards via mail (even insured/registered) is pretty wild. I would drive my ass over to my nearest large city to sell that kind of inventory.
Unless you took meticulous care to do high resolution documentation and scans of each card with magnification, there may not be a way out of this that satisfies your suspicions.
I don’t believe that most of the super large vendors for MTG would risk their reputation over 40k but it’s not completely impossible. Unfortunately, even if they return them now you don’t have any way to prove that any counterfeits they return are the exact cards you sent in.
Try to get a lawyer to draft a demand letter for the return of your property which should not be too expensive. Unfortunately; see above point about traceability…
>We do have reason to believe they may be real
*may* be real? Sounds super suspicious to me. So, as far as you know, they could be fake? Where did they come from? When did she acquite them?
Did she sell the collection sign unseen? Or did the store’s buyer look the cards over first? I don’t know any buyers who wouldn’t authenticate high end magic cards before making an offer, let alone handing over cash.
Something to keep in mind: a common scam in online magic sales is buying an authentic card, requesting a refund claiming the card is counterfeit, and the returning a counterfeit card instead of what you originally sold them. Don’t accept counterfeit cards returning to you.
If this was any of the big mtg seller like Card Kingdom, CFB, or Starcity Games then their policy is to destroy counterfeits as it’s illegal for them to mail back illegal products so that someone else can be scammed.
People will then just report that they switched out the cards for fake ones.
It’s very easy to counterfeit old MTG cards.
If they are real show them proof. Did you do the green dot test on them? A $5 loupe from Amazon would have been quick and easy to do.
IN THE UNITED STATES IT IS ILLEGAL FOR YOU TO KNOWINGLY RETURN A COUNTERFEIT BECAUSE UDER 18 U.S. Code § 2320 IT IS A FELONY TO KNOWING SHIP A COUNTERFEIT except by court order, to turn it over to the FBI, or with written permission from patent/copyright/trademark holder
Can you clarify the “we do have reason to believe they may be real” bit?
It sounds like the expectation was that they were *not* real until you saw those cards listed on the website.
Also, did they ever actually offer her 42k, or did they just say “these *could* be worth up to 42k, and we’ll know once we’ve had them graded”?
This story sounds like it will end badly. Hate to be a downer but good luck
$42k you should’ve driven them to the store regardless of distance and you should have kept them in eyesight. Either this never happened or y’all are regarded and deserve to get hustled.
At this point they’ll probably swap her real cards for fake one. You shouldn’t of given up the cards without getting cash in hand
I side with the shop. Ur scamming.
Lawyer up and don’t trade back. They may have already had counterfeit cards ready for the switcheroo and would keep hers and keep then also keep the money. Since they are “experts” they should have caught it at point of sale.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate and guess that these cards are in fact fake. For so few cards to total 40000 these cards would have to be pristine copies of dual lands power nine and other things that your sister wouldn’t likely own copies of unless she played competitive legacy. Many of these very large stores card kingdom and star city games have other copies of these cards and at buy list prices are already getting a good enough deal that they don’t need to steal your sisters cards.
I would ask you sister specifically where she got these cards unless these were specifically opened in packs by her 25 years ago she should remember spending 20k on these cards as they have likely always been expensive. Also if you have a list of the cards you should share them.
If she didn’t A. Open these cards herself 30ish years ago or B pay hundreds to thousands of dollars each per card within the last 20ish years then I would be 99% certain they are fake. Did she save back any of these expensive cards that she got around the same time? There are fairly easy tests you can do in living a jewelers loupe on the Green dot on the back of a card to tell if it’s counterfeit or not. Look up Green dot test.
Sue for defamation if you cant fet anything else
Whether they were counterfeits when you gave them to them, I can guarantee what you get back, if you get them back, will be counterfeits.
There’s a popular store online that does the same thing with Barbies and Beanie Babies/Buddies. They say they’ll pay shipping, but you have to let them determine how much they’ll for sure give you once they receive the item. When thinking of selling my collections bulk, I researched them and was instantly turned off. I’m glad I listened to my gut and didn’t do it. Sorry you guys are going through this.
Why would you give up the cards without the money?
42k is definitely get into a plane and bring them to them in person.
Its also, a malicious employee or company is likely to swap them out territory.
Lawyer up, like, right now.
Did your sister do the green dot test on any of the cards? That would be the only valid reason to believe they are real. Also, it is unlikely that someone would purchase or sell such high value cards without at the very least doing that check themselves.
Buy the cards on some credit cards, after receiving her cards back. Dispute the charges with the credit card as fraud.