$2 Million in Baseball Cards Believed Stolen from Ohio Hotel

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by CaptSpaulding

Here's an idea. Save the grand. Ship the cards to the rep at the BW for delivery on a day he will be there and not 3 days prior.

You can't leave it to chance...theres no guarantee usps or ups or fedex doesn't mess up the delivery - and leaving them with the hotel is just an insanely stupid idea.

[AllHofers]

Right after that article, on the bottom page there is another article about a guy who used company cars to buy sports cards...

[CaptSpaulding]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

You can't leave it to chance...theres no guarantee usps or ups or fedex doesn't mess up the delivery - and leaving them with the hotel is just an insanely stupid idea.

Nothing is ever for certain. There is inherent risk in everything. If the cards had been shipped to be delivered on a day when the agent for the company was present at the hotel, and the box never shows or is damaged and the contents destroyed, the insurance would kick in to at least cover the loss.

Shipping a box to a motel in care of someone who is not going to be there for 3 days is...irresponsible, at best. ML's insurance is not going to pay for this lapse in judgement.

[dschubring]

I was a winner on two cards in that auction. A 1958 Mantle PSA 8 and a 1961 Mantle PSA 8. I have been asked to pay still. I sent them an email asking about the status of these two cards and have not received a reply. I want to pay my commitment but unless I know I'm going to get the cards I am going to hold off on payment. I have a feeling they are going to come after me for payment. The only thing I can think of that will give me a sense that my cards are okay is a picture of the card next to today's newspaper. Then I may be more inclined to pay.
What would you all do if you were in my shoes?

[Zauron]

Originally Posted by dschubring

I was a winner on two cards in that auction. A 1958 Mantle PSA 8 and a 1961 Mantle PSA 8. I have been asked to pay still. I sent them an email asking about the status of these two cards and have not received a reply. I want to pay my commitment but unless I know I'm going to get the cards I am going to hold off on payment. I have a feeling they are going to come after me for payment. The only thing I can think of that will give me a sense that my cards are okay is a picture of the card next to today's newspaper. Then I may be more inclined to pay.
What would you all do if you were in my shoes?

Man I wouldn't pay lol, they don't have the cards. Why pay for something you won't get.

I think they could get a heavy lawsuit selling cards they physically don't have. I gotta imagine that's illegal in some fashion, especially requiring payment.

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by dschubring

I was a winner on two cards in that auction. A 1958 Mantle PSA 8 and a 1961 Mantle PSA 8. I have been asked to pay still. I sent them an email asking about the status of these two cards and have not received a reply. I want to pay my commitment but unless I know I'm going to get the cards I am going to hold off on payment. I have a feeling they are going to come after me for payment. The only thing I can think of that will give me a sense that my cards are okay is a picture of the card next to today's newspaper. Then I may be more inclined to pay.
What would you all do if you were in my shoes?

That's absurd and terrible business practice.

[NYRE2PECT]

There were 1700 cards in the auction...There is no way ML would make you pay for a card that they didn't have. No way. The optics would be so bad and they would get destroyed.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by pspa123

Ship the cards to the rep on the east coast and he puts them in his carry on. NO added expense. Or have box held at Fed Ex in Strongsville till rep can pick it up.

Show me another moron who uses FedEx to ship $2M worth of collectibles.

[notfast]

Originally Posted by dschubring

I was a winner on two cards in that auction. A 1958 Mantle PSA 8 and a 1961 Mantle PSA 8. I have been asked to pay still. I sent them an email asking about the status of these two cards and have not received a reply. I want to pay my commitment but unless I know I'm going to get the cards I am going to hold off on payment. I have a feeling they are going to come after me for payment. The only thing I can think of that will give me a sense that my cards are okay is a picture of the card next to today's newspaper. Then I may be more inclined to pay.
What would you all do if you were in my shoes?

Cool cards but not the type of cards they were going to bring to show off at a show.

[SaveMeTheGum]

Originally Posted by dschubring

I was a winner on two cards in that auction. A 1958 Mantle PSA 8 and a 1961 Mantle PSA 8. I have been asked to pay still. I sent them an email asking about the status of these two cards and have not received a reply. I want to pay my commitment but unless I know I'm going to get the cards I am going to hold off on payment. I have a feeling they are going to come after me for payment. The only thing I can think of that will give me a sense that my cards are okay is a picture of the card next to today's newspaper. Then I may be more inclined to pay.
What would you all do if you were in my shoes?

I would just say "I'll send payment if you can coin the card for me with today's date". Simple. They don't have your item, they can't require payment.

[CaptSpaulding]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Show me another moron who uses FedEx to ship $2M worth of collectibles.

Fed Ex was not the issue here. The cards should have been carried on the flight. We are talking about 54 cards.

I use an insurer who most use in the hobby. My sublimit for transit is not this high but it is up there and Fed Ex is an acceptable method for transit as dictated in my policy.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by CaptSpaulding

Fed Ex was not the issue here. The cards should have been carried on the flight. We are talking about 54 cards.

I use an insurer who most use in the hobby. My sublimit for transit is not this high but it is up there and Fed Ex is an acceptable method for transit as dictated in my policy.

I understand FedEx was not the problem. I’m just saying you either transport items of this value yourself, or you use a company that specializes in secure transportation of extremely high value items. When Goldin sells a seven figure item, they don’t ship it UPS like they do everything else.

[CaptSpaulding]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

I understand FedEx was not the problem. I’m just saying you either transport items of this value yourself, or you use a company that specializes in secure transportation of extremely high value items. When Goldin sells a seven figure item, they don’t ship it UPS like they do everything else.

And I was not saying there are not other ways to ship but ML's policy may very well have provided that they could use Fed Ex as a means of shipment. I can envision instances where carrying them on you might not be the safest thing to do.

Curious why Fed Ex seems like so much of a risk to you? If it were that risky a means of shipping valuable items, they and UPS would not be listed as the preferred methods on these policies. Again, no clue what the carriers requirements are for a 2 million dollar shipment.

I do agree that shipping with a specialized company is a valid choice but they are incredibly expensive and slow. Not always feasible. Again, I defer to what the policy requires.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by CaptSpaulding

And I was not saying there are not other ways to ship but ML's policy may very well have provided that they could use Fed Ex as a means of shipment. I can envision instances where carrying them on you might not be the safest thing to do.

Curious why Fed Ex seems like so much of a risk to you? If it were that risky a means of shipping valuable items, they and UPS would not be listed as the preferred methods on these policies. Again, no clue what the carriers requirements are for a 2 million dollar shipment.

I do agree that shipping with a specialized company is a valid choice but they are incredibly expensive and slow. Not always feasible. Again, I defer to what the policy requires.

Even if the insurance policy allows for a $2M shipment via FedEx, that doesn’t make it the smart thing to do. There are safer methods available than mixing in your high value package with a bunch of other packages. The risk of unintentional loss, damage, or theft is too high compared to those methods. That was mistake #1. Mistake #2 was delivering it to a motel for safe keeping. Talk about stupid.

I don’t have any problem using FedEx. I do it regularly for low five figure packages. UPS is actually so bad that my Collect Insure policy doesn’t cover any shipments with them. It’s FedEx or USPS.

[hermanotarjeta]

They’ve probably been shipping cards like this for decades. This is probably the first time the process actually screwed up on a large scale.

[bub838]

In a previous life I used to travel with 100's of thousands worth of luxury watches. Carry on, generic bag that never left my side. Never entertained the idea of shipping ahead. Can't believe they did that with millions.

No way they get paid out on any insurance claim.

[SaveMeTheGum]

Originally Posted by bub838

In a previous life I used to travel with 100's of thousands worth of luxury watches. Carry on, generic bag that never left my side. Never entertained the idea of shipping ahead. Can't believe they did that with millions.

No way they get paid out on any insurance claim.

Exactly. Lazy and stupid. Some lessons are cheap. Some are very very expensive. And this is going to cost them a lot going forward too. Would you want to send your 5, 6 or 7 figure card to them if this is how they secure it? When I would go to to big shows and bring high end stuff with me, it's carryon only.

[BoSoxFan1999]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

Who the heck with 2 million in cards stays at a best western

Hey, there are some pretty snazzy Best Westerns out there! I don't think this particular one was one of them though.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by SaveMeTheGum

Exactly. Lazy and stupid. Some lessons are cheap. Some are very very expensive. And this is going to cost them a lot going forward too. Would you want to send your 5, 6 or 7 figure card to them if this is how they secure it? When I would go to to big shows and bring high end stuff with me, it's carryon only.

That’s the last time they hire millennials for their shipping department!

[Bunny Hop]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

They’ve probably been shipping cards like this for decades. This is probably the first time the process actually screwed up on a large scale.

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

That’s the last time they hire millennials for their shipping department!

Well? Which is it?

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by Bunny Hop

Well? Which is it?

Both.

Born from 1980-1999, the shipping staff would be between 25-44 years old now, with the younger ones taking more short cuts!

They get their fast food delivered safely everyday, why not cardboard?

[JohnnyAppleseed]

Being cheap sure is expensive sometimes.

[majestik101]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

All these companies seems to cut corners so they can profit more and then when it finally hits them, it really hits them

Such an underrated comment because it's so true.

[NYRE2PECT]

Originally Posted by JohnnyAppleseed

Being cheap sure is expensive sometimes.

I always felt this way when shipping higher-end cards to PSA for grading without insurance.

Luckily, it never blew up in my face, and I was lucky.

Same premise - saving a few bucks ($50-$100) that could have ended up costing thousands.

[CaptSpaulding]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Even if the insurance policy allows for a $2M shipment via FedEx, that doesn’t make it the smart thing to do. There are safer methods available than mixing in your high value package with a bunch of other packages. The risk of unintentional loss, damage, or theft is too high compared to those methods. That was mistake #1. Mistake #2 was delivering it to a motel for safe keeping. Talk about stupid.

I don’t have any problem using FedEx. I do it regularly for low five figure packages. UPS is actually so bad that my Collect Insure policy doesn’t cover any shipments with them. It’s FedEx or USPS.

Of course there are safer ways to deliver packages but each situation calls for different approaches due to practicality. Damage and theft can occur carrying 54 cards on you. I know of a few guys who were held at gun point in the parking lot at card shows. Most of us are targets at these shows.

Again, Fed Ex was not the problem here. In some ways it makes the contents less conspicuous because Fed Ex deliveries are quite common. Mistake 1 and the only mistake was sending it by any means to a motel in the middle of no place and expecting them to protect the box for 3 days. Height of carelessness.

I use Fed Ex very frequently and use it for 6 figure purchases and sales when it should be abundantly clear the contents are hobby related. I have been in business since the 1990s and I have had one loss with them for 11K and it was an inside job at the sub station that PSA used to use.