New auction platform - SNYPE - ( Probstein )

[Bosoxfan5990]

Snype dyed.

[ssbledsoe]

Originally Posted by Bosoxfan5990

Snype dyed.

So Shillstein123 could live

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by lighthouse

Effectively allowing shill bidding to occur on a platform is one thing (eBay and other platforms could perhaps be accused of this). But conducting the shill bidding yourself on the platform you own further shifts things toward the territory of "intentional deception for financial gain".

In addition, taking the site down citing "a system-wide technical issue due to high volume" while publicly exposed Apollo Server GraphQL APIs showed low bidder volume (aside from internally generated bids) could be considered false representation.

The problem is the SNYPE auctions were canceled and the platform was shutdown -- the auction winners who were charged will be refunded. Therefore, the apparent shill bidding deceptive behavior from Probstein didn't result in any harm being done to users, beyond the inconvenience of having their bids and auctions canceled.

Probstein is already back on eBay and it'll be up to eBay to police any shill bidding from him going forward. We all know he does it, but it's not like it isn't widespread and rampant on eBay, no matter the size of the seller.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by mfw13

All true.....

But you have to understand that the US legal system is barely functioning these days....there aren't enough judges, so cases take years to work their way through the system...and corporations have far more legal firepower than even the best-funded plaintiffs.

Organizing a boycott would probably be cheaper and more effective than filing a lawsuit.

Right -- don't expect the government, the corrupt corporate media or anyone else to do something about the fraud in the hobby; hobbyists and consumers need to adjust their behavior and show bad actors operating in the hobby that their abuses will no longer be tolerated. Individuals on social media need to spread the word about scams in the hobby to help others stay informed -- don't rely on so-called hobby watchdogs to do it for you. Crowdsourcing and decentralizing of the policing of the hobby is the best approach -- it needs to be a community-wide approach.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by Fulmer4MVP

You aren't wrong. I've went from buying cases, to boxes, to singles. And honestly I haven't even bought a card in months, I used to have at least 10 arriving weekly. I still have a decent Dingler and Riley Greene collection, and a Seider one in Hockey, but beyond that I've sold almost everything else.

The scammers in the industry/hobby are greedy and selfish and don't care that their behavior alienates regular participants. That's ultimately why this hobby will never grow long-term -- the scammers have a chokehold on it.

[Donkaylove]

DC sports is another example of big sellers/consignors shilling. A higher bid goes up within the hour consistently. There were 7 shills on a 20$ card by a 96% and a 92% accounts with low buy numbers. These accounts are made up just to do these shady things, be on guard, always.

[auburn35]

Absolutely hilarious that eBay welcomed Rick back, at least temporarily.
From the early data dump, I guess one positive is the hobby learned of a new account (Kevin Burge & Keith Koenig) to add to their blocked lists. Of course, a scammer would have their feedback set to private.
https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/cginc1?
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1304959


With all the other unresolved issues, does anyone know if a winner was selected for this disaster? Promote the site, get shilled, and your personal information stolen? Did people really not expect this to happen?

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by auburn35

Absolutely hilarious that eBay welcomed Rick back, at least temporarily.
From the early data dump, I guess one positive is the hobby learned of a new account (Kevin Burge & Keith Koenig) to add to their blocked lists. Of course, a scammer would have their feedback set to private.
https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/cginc1?
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1304959

What type of cards was Burge selling? I want to avoid trimmed cards.

[auburn35]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

What type of cards was Burge selling? I want to avoid trimmed cards.

Everything? This page has links to some of the many discussions on that topic.
https://www.sportscardradio.com/spor...r-kevin-burge/

[seanbros55]

Why the F won’t eBay create a Block Seller option

[mjohnatgt]

Originally Posted by seanbros55

Why the F won’t eBay create a Block Seller option

It doesn't make them any money to do so. Also, they have now (for a year, I guess) hidden the "Report this Item" button under a question mark instead of the text they used to have.

[Rooftop]

The whole system is cancer.

If EBay welcomes him back, there is no cure

[PuddleMonkey]

burn it down!

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by auburn35

Everything? This page has links to some of the many discussions on that topic.
https://www.sportscardradio.com/spor...r-kevin-burge/

I meant the ones he's currently selling through Probstein -- he presumably was shill-bidding his own cards on SNYPE; the account tied to him had 2,904 bids but only 7 wins: https://youtu.be/xWYp3UOImgw?t=674

The cards being auctioned off currently on Probstein's eBay account are not categorized, but there are 1,390 results for "Pokemon" out of a total of 5,661 listings. Only 67 results for "Lebron", 96 results for "Michael Jordan", and 41 results for "Ohtani".

[Bcr]

Been seeing a lot recently in terms of shill and defensive bidding. Hard to trust any of the auction house and consignment places especially when big money is involved. Unless it's a rare card then I would just stay away from those places

[seanbros55]

Originally Posted by Rooftop

The whole system is cancer.

If EBay welcomes him back, there is no cure

Too late. Already did.

[auburn35]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

I meant the ones he's currently selling through Probstein -- he presumably was shill-bidding his own cards on SNYPE; the account tied to him had 2,904 bids but only 7 wins: https://youtu.be/xWYp3UOImgw?t=674

The cards being auctioned off currently on Probstein's eBay account are not categorized, but there are 1,390 results for "Pokemon" out of a total of 5,661 listings. Only 67 results for "Lebron", 96 results for "Michael Jordan", and 41 results for "Ohtani".

I would start by avoiding Probstein, but looking at the items that Burge apperantly "won" on that sham auction site, would likely provide some clues

Being listed with Probstein, this is likely the first item from the list.
ebay.us/m/PmGT9G

WYN | 2002-03 Topps Finest Basketball #178 LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers RC Rookie PSA 10 ... | final_byd=$2,000.00 | closed=2025-11-18T01:22:49.722000+00:00
WYN | 2023-24 Panini Donruss Optic Basketball Amen Thompson #7 Rookie RC Rookie Holo Phazes C... | final_byd=$100.00 | closed=2025-11-18T01:04:13.046000+00:00
WYN | 2015-16 Panini Immaculate Collection Basketball Nikola Jokic RPA RC Rookie 3-Color Patc... | final_byd=$2,999.00 | closed=2025-11-17T23:58:36.632000+00:00
WYN | 2022-23 Topps Dynasty UEFA Champions League Soccer Black #AP-EH5 Erling Haaland Manches... | final_byd=$3,999.00 | closed=2025-11-17T23:49:27.001000+00:00
WYN | 2022-23 Topps Dynasty UEFA Champions League Soccer LIONEL MESSI Paris Saint-Germain Sig... | final_byd=$4,499.00 | closed=2025-11-17T23:45:54.352000+00:00
WYN | 1994 Skybox Emotion Basketball N-TENSE #3 Michael Jordan HOF Chicago Bulls PSA 10 Gem M... | final_byd=$1,000.00 | closed=2025-11-18T03:34:00+00:00
WYN | 2025 Pokemon Card Game PTCG TCG PRE EN Prismatic Evolutions #161 Umbreon Ex Special Ill... | final_byd=$3,100.00 | closed=2025-11-19T01:35:00+00:00
WYN | 2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball #1 Shohei Ohtani Batting Los Angeles Angels RC Rookie PSA 1... | final_byd=$1,800.00 | closed=2025-11-20T01:00:00+00:00
WYN | 1998-98 Skybox Premium Basketball Indimidation Nation #2 Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers... | final_byd=$2,000.00 | closed=2025-11-20T01:38:00+00:00
WYN | 1997-98 Skybox Metal Universe Basketball Championship Galaxy #3 Kobe Bryant Los Angeles... | final_byd=$1,500.00 | closed=2025-11-20T01:05:00+00:00

[rubendn]

Looks like he added everybody who signed up for Snype to a Constant Contact mailing list and is now spamming his eBay listings.

[Sisk]

This thread really delivers!

[PuddleMonkey]

Originally Posted by rubendn

Looks like he added everybody who signed up for Snype to a Constant Contact mailing list and is now spamming his eBay listings.

This industry is the worst for spammers. I had to completely block all emails from Topps and Fanatics because neither one cares if you opt out they'll just keep spamming you. Heritage is another one where once they get your email you're screwed. We need to bring back guillotining.

[rwperu34]

Originally Posted by seanbros55

Why the F won’t eBay create a Block Seller option

Under advanced search you can exclude sellers.

[corockies]

[ScooterD]

Am I understanding the timeline correctly?

-Rick gets booted from eBay for shilling
-Rick creates his own platform - which fails because it is fraught with shilling
-eBay welcomes Rick back despite the above

[towerymt]

Originally Posted by ScooterD

Am I understanding the timeline correctly?

-Rick gets booted from eBay for shilling
-Rick creates his own platform - which fails because it is fraught with shilling
-eBay welcomes Rick back despite the above

He got booted? News to me. I think he just left ebay

[ScooterD]

Originally Posted by towerymt

He got booted? News to me. I think he just left ebay

I thought eBay removed all of his auctions en masse