Don't Jump To Conclusions in the Hobby

There are a lot of scammers in the trading card hobby, unfortunately. Avoiding scammers was actually on my short list of blog topics to write about. CRT Sportscards wrote a piece recently, and did a masterful job, and there's nothing more I could add.

We, as collectors, do need to be cognizant of who we are dealing with, but also be careful before jumping to conclusions about a trading partner or someone you are dealing with as a buyer or seller.

My example is a recent trade. I received a bubble mailer with some Cubs cards, but there was insufficient postage on the mailer. It was shipped (likely from a self-service kiosk) as first class envelope, when bubble mailers need to be sent as first class package. There's a few dollars disparity, and on this package I was stuck with a $2.64 postage due charge.

It's not terribly common this happens to me, even with all of the trading I do, but it does arise from time to time. I always like to snap a picture of the envelope with the postage, and the insufficient postage stamp and tweet it out to make people aware you cannot put a few stamps on a bubble mailer, or ship it first class envelope. I do not call the person out.

In my most recent example shown above, I simply sent a direct message on Twitter to my trading partner and let them know the difference and how to ship. My trading partner was not an experienced shipper, and expressed sincere apologies and thanked me for not calling them out.

This trader not only sent me $3.00 (more than was necessary), but also sent additional Cubs cards. Communication is key. My day job is in the logistics industry, and communication is vital. Not just within our office, but with my clients, and my clients' clients. Same should be said in any sort of transaction. If you receive postage due, don't jump to conclusions and call somebody out. Talk through it first.